Galaxy Tab tops consumer survey

Korean consumers picked Samsung’s Galaxy Tab as the most satisfying tablet PC on sale here, a recent consumer satisfaction survey found Tuesday.

The National Council of the Green Consumers’ Networks in Korea said that the 10.1-inch tablet PC of Samsung Electronics scored the highest at 3.78, followed by iPad 2 of Apple Inc. with 3.77 and K-Pad of KT Corp. with 3.65.

The consumer rights advocacy group, sponsored by the Fair Trade Commission, questioned 522 people on their use of five tablet PCs: Galaxy Tab, iPad 2, HTC’s 4G Flyer, Motorola’s Xoom and KT Corp.’s K-Pad.

Galaxy Tab, running Google’s Android operating system, earned the best evaluation in terms of exterior design, convenience of handling and other functions.

Apple’s iPad 2, which tied Galaxy Tab in handling convenience, ranked first in areas such as wireless Internet use, data processing, multimedia play and applications.

But its lack of support services such as those for iOS upgrades hurt its overall ranking.

K-Pad, a lower-end gadget that does not support third-generation wireless Internet services, earned the highest score in price competitiveness.

Its market price was 495,000 won ($437), the lowest compared to 676,000 won for the Flyer, 735,000 won of the Xoom, 872,000 won for the Galaxy Tab and 886,000 won for the iPad2.

HTC was found to charge the most for repairs, with the K-Pad charging the least. The cost for repairing a broken mobile display panel was 328,000 won for HTC, more than double the 123,000 won of the K-Pad.

Considering the high cost of repairs, the group advised consumers to subscribe to an insurance plan when they purchase a new device.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)