All around Penang and indeed in other parts of the country, Samsung Malaysia seems to be shipping their tablets out faster than they can get them in. Hunting for a Galaxy Tab 8.9 or 10.1 proved to be a challenging task as most major retailers do not have stock for the WiFi only version. SenQ and Harvey Norman have the Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi only but it comes with a “YES” 4G huddle which raises the cost from RM1299 to RM1699. This is equivalent to the Galaxy Tab 8.9 3G+WiFi version. Furthermore, I do believe that quite a few buyers like myself would already have a data plan for the smart phone and would not appreciate having to maintain a separate data account specifically for the tablet. Indeed, I could just use whatever WiFi is available or enable WiFi Hotspot on my smartphone.
This led to the hunt for the Galaxy Tab 8.9/10.1 WiFi only tablet. Gadgetzone in Queensbay Mall does carry the said tablets. However, they had already run out of stock before I managed to get one from them. Not to be deterred by that, I headed to Prangin Mall/1st Avenue to see if any of the shops had it there. First stop was the shop in 1st Avenue which is a Samsung Elite Partner. This entitled them to sell their Samsung products with 2 years warranty. However, they do not have stock of the WiFi only version. Best in 1st Avenue did not have stock either.
In Prangin Mall, the situation was about the same. Until the last shop I visited before leaving. There stood 2 units of Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9. One with 3G, one with WiFi only. After confirming the price is the same, I left the shop and pondered over it. To buy or not to buy, that was the question.
In the end… Well, I bought it of course. But not for myself. Its a 30th Wedding Anniversary gift for my parents. Now, they are the proud owners of a Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi only.
… Well, now the hunt for a casing/screen protector begins.
Prices:
RM1299 – Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi only
RM1699 – Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 3G+WiFi
RM1699 – Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi only + YES 4G huddle
RM1499 – Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi only
RM1899 – Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 3G+WiFi