Samsung Galaxy Tab Too Pricey To Beat Apple iPad?

T-Mobile launched the Samsung Galaxy Tab touch-screen tablet on Wednesday, taking orders for Samsung's Google Android answer to the widely popular Apple iPad.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet clocks in at 4.7 inches by 7.5 inches by 0.5 inches and weighs 13.4 ounces. It boasts a 7-inch touch-screen with multi-touch and Swype technology that lets users slide their fingers of letters when typing; text and picture messaging; mobile video chat; a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and a 3 megapixel camera with LED flash; video capture and playback; and a host of other features and functions.

The problem is, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which packs Google Android 2.2, or Froyo, has an uphill battle versus the touch-screen tablet incumbent, the Apple iPad. And the Samsung Galaxy Tab's price-point, $399.99 with a two-year T-Mobile contract and $599.99 without a contract could make its entrance into the market even more of a struggle.

T-Mobile is the first U.S. carrier to offer the Samsung Galaxy Tab and is offering two separate data packages for the touch-screen tablet and iPad rival: 200 MB for $24.99 and 5 GB for $39.99. The data plans come with unlimited text, picture and video messaging.

And while the Samsung Galaxy Tab is being billed as the first touch-screen tablet competitor for the Apple iPad, its price may hinder its tablet market coup. On the surface it may seem that the Samsung Galaxy Tab is a more affordable option, but with the Apple iPad users know what they're getting and know the capabilities going in. iPad users also get a slightly bigger screen with 9.7 inches versus the Samsung Galaxy Tab's 7 inches.

The Apple iPad has been a proven winner and starts at a price-point of $499 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi model without any type of additional data plan and increases up to $829 for the highest-end model with 64 GB and 3G capabilities. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is only available in a 16 GB configuration. Additionally, AT&T offers 3G data connectivity for the iPad for $14.99 per month for 200 MB and $25 per month for 2 GB, a dramatic savings compared to T-Mobile's Samsung Galaxy Tab data plans.

And, yes, the Samsung Galaxy Tab will create a new touch-screen tablet divide between Android fans and Apple fans (or enemies, if you will), but it might have a better change at unseating the true tablet king if it dropped the price tag a few ticks.