hehehe seems I get the last laugh, after I posted this:

"You guys seem to have your math twisted.

Just buy the tab at 1849 with the cheapest one year contract and even if you throw away/don't use the 3G, you end up paying 1849 plus rm48 for 12 months which is 576 so the total you pay for the device is rm2425.00. Tell me I am wrong - I can't be because I just did it by buying it. I suppose the only catch is that you need to buy under a Maxis user's line."

and many of you replied/posted that Maxis can't be trusted even if you dont use the data, they will screw you.

Guess what, I just terminated the contract yesterday and paid a rm500 penalty so my cost is 1849 plus 500 for basically an outright purchase.

If I had kept the data plan going, even if I don;t use the data, I would have ended up paying nearly rm600 (12 months x rm48) and also the possibility of nasty Maxis charges! So there another nearly rm100 saving...

yes you have to go to maxis to cancel because you have to pay for the cancellation on the spot; different contracts have different termination fees but i am sure it wont cost an arm and a leg. you can also sell off your desire (at a profit since you got it cheap) and use that profit to bu a tab outright and keep the original data plan and use it for the tab.