Why You Can Trust CNET Amazon selling T-Mobile's 3D-enabled G-Slate
The new LG 4G Android tablet goes on sale today at Amazon for $799 without a contract, but with free shipping and a pair of 3D glasses. It's the first tablet to sport 3D.
T-Mobile's new LG G-Slate tablet, the first enabled with 3D, went on sale at Amazon today for $799.
The Amazon price covers the new 4G tablet off-contract, so buyers aren't locked into any long-term data plan. In contrast, T-Mobile is selling the G-Slate for $549 after a $100 rebate, but that price includes a two-year contract. Either way, the data plan will tack on an additional monthly charge of $29 for 200 MB, $49 for 5 GB, or $84 for 10 GB.
Following in the footsteps of the Motorola Xoom, the G-Slate becomes the second Android tablet to run the Honeycomb operating system. It also differs from rival tablets in a number of ways.
With a display size of 8.9 inches, the G-Slate is a bit smaller than the Xoom, the iPad, and other larger-screen tablets. T-Mobile and LG are also capitalizing on the 3D frenzy by offering a 3D screen that does require glasses (which are included for free in the package). The tablet supports 4G out of the box, running over T-Mobile's HSPA+ network.
Powered by a dual-core Nvidia Tegra2 1GHz processor, the G-Slate comes with a 2-megapixel camera in the front and dual 5-megapixel 3D cameras to capture images in 3D, 32 GB of internal storage, and 1GB of RAM. The tablet also offers ports for mini-USB and mini-HDMI and the usual Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections.
The question facing T-Mobile is whether buyers will be drawn to yet the latest Android tablet. The G-Slate faces competition not just from the Xoom and similar tablets but most critically from Apple's iPad 2, which has seen huge demand outstripping supply since its debut last month.