T-Mobile Springboard Tablet Released
T Mobile Springboard (7-inch)
There was a bit of confusion early on in terms of the release date for the T-Mobile Springboard tablet, however it looks like any confusion has come to an end as of today. Yup, the T-Mobile Springboard tablet has been officially released.
The Acer Iconia Tab A100 and others have beat it to market, but its arrival in the US is timely nonetheless: it joins the petite tablet party at about the same time as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus and forthcoming Toshiba Thrive 7″, to name a couple.
We already knew that when the MediaPad landed here in the States it would be known as the T-Mobile Springboard.
The tablet has launched with T-Mobile as the Springboard, however some may recognize it by the proper name — the Huawei MediaPad.
But naming aside, the tablet has arrived sporting features to include Android 3.2 Honeycomb, a 7 inch (1280 x 800) display and dual-core 1.2GHz processor.
T-Mobile Springboard Specifications:
Some of the other specs include 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, 4100 mAh battery, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, a 5 megapixel rear facing camera and support for the T-Mobile 4G (HSPA+) network with pre-installed apps to include Netflix, T-Mobile TV, Blockbuster On Demand and others. The Springboard measures in at 7.48 x 5.08 x 0.41 inches and weighs in at 14.1 ounces.
As for the pricing, that will vary a bit depending on how much you are willing to shell out on the day of purchase. The tablet will retail for $429.99. Otherwise, the tablet is priced at $179.99 for those willing to make some monthly payments (in addition to your monthly data plan).
As for the monthly payments after the downpayment option, those will come after a $50 mail-in rebate and on a two-year agreement. In other words, you will need to shell out a minimum of $229.99 on the day you buy. And those monthly payments, those will come in the form of “20 interest free monthly payments of $10 on approved credit.” For those looking for the math, the 20 payments of $10 will bring the $179.99 downpayment up to a total of $379.99.
Bottom line
The Springboard may not be the most talked about tablet on the market right now, but with a relatively nice way to get in without having to shell out $500 (or more) upfront — it seems like an option worthy of consideration.