Some people have been poo-pooing the iPad ever since it debuted, claiming that better, cheaper tablets running Google’s Android operating system were coming real soon now, and, last I heard, the Samsung Galaxy Tablet was going to be the one that finally delivered.

I don’t know what those people are claiming now, but now that the Galaxy is here, I’m not real impressed. Verizon is selling it for $599, only $30 less than what they are selling the iPad and a bundled MeFi mobile WiFi hot spot for.

I’m not surprised by the weak showing. Android phones have done as well as they have because mobile carriers and handset makers were terrified at the prospect of Apple getting all the goodies. It helped that their true price was hidden by the carrier hardware subsidy, and paid back over the life of a two year contract. The iPad is sold without a subsidy and so far at least Samsung is following suit. The result though is that the prices seem much more comparable, and so the deficiencies of Android, which Google themselves don’t think is ready for tablets, and the hardware are much harder to look past.