Blackberry Playbook

[Razar]

PlayBook order starting today for retailer!

Bulletin stating shipment is done today for order processed today, no sales before April 19th (no surprise there)

same price listed everywhere:
16GB 499.99
32GB 599.99
64GB 699.99

Already ordered for my store, hope I don't get BO'ed! and I get mine like tomorrow

[Joelle]

I tried one yesterday. I liked it.

Sent via the HowardForums Android app

[koolin]

I tried one too and mostly loved it (webOS multitasking ftw!), would like one but RIM hates me cause I dont already have a BB and therefore can't use any PIM features , and therefore I can't use the device so no point in buying it. Way to go making your market ONLY your existing customers, who thought of this plan like really?!

[Joelle]

I tried one too and mostly loved it (webOS multitasking ftw!), would like one but RIM hates me cause I dont already have a BB and therefore can't use any PIM features , and therefore I can't use the device so no point in buying it. Way to go making your market ONLY your existing customers, who thought of this plan like really?!

Yeah that's one thing. I have a Blackberry, but I would rather my tablet not depend on another device. I like the Playbook, but ill probably end up getting an Android tablet with 3G.

Apparently there is a 3G Playbook coming around summer though.

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[Gquie]

Native email coming to the Playbook in 60 days guys

[Rico250]

Surprisingly, BlackBerry hasn't learned its lesson yet. Remember how rushed the BlackBerry Storm felt? The device was full of defects- to the point that it was frustrating to use. While the PlayBook may not be plagued by poor software, it definitely falls behind its competitors. Think about it like this, RIM has had at least 2 years to make this device. After 2 years, the so-called "Professional tablet", as RIM calls it, cannot have email access on it without being synced with a BB device? I understand that RIM plans to change that this summer.

In addition to that, the applications available for BlackBerry are awful. It's a good think that RIM teamed up with Android. From what I understood though, only RIM approved apps will be available.

RIM needs to start being a leader, or close follower- not a laggard.

[Poseidon]

For those that have played with one, does the small size throw you off? It looks tiny in the hands of people.

[DennyCrane]

Wirelessly posted (WhiteBerry Bold 9780: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9780; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.8+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.0.534 Mobile Safari/534.8+)

For those that have played with one, does the small size throw you off? It looks tiny in the hands of people.

That's what's holding me back. I prefer the iPad size screen.

[Que_Ball]

I'm wondering if tethering it to the old Unlimited $15 plan will cost $8/MB or if it's considered device data and included.

[Joelle]

For those that have played with one, does the small size throw you off? It looks tiny in the hands of people.

I thought it was a nice size, but I'm a girl.

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[Mr CDMA]

I thought it was a nice size, but I'm a girl.

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Overall Playbook is just a bit more then half the size of an iPad due to the different screen size and aspect ratios of the two. RIM claims that the smaller size makes it more portable and that makes it more likely that you will take it with you when you leave the house then a an iPad because an iPad does not fit in a purse or coat pocket but a Playbook will.

Oh, and as for tethering Que_Ball if you own a blackberry its free on any plan using BB Bridge because with bridge it is device data and the Playbook is just the Window to whats on the device. If you don't own a BB then you have to use tethering and then it's the Playbook that makes the call for the data to the network through the device and Telus can see that.

[bek816]

The free "tethering" or "bridging" is a huge selling point. Lack of native email isn't a big deal. I have a BB and use gmail. I haven't used a native email client in five years.

[nikolas4129]

A few thoughts on the Playbook which I just bought:
1) Size is nice, I can see it being more portable than the iPad.
2) Native BB apps will come in the next two months, and a good app called Early Bird does the trick for all the usual e-mails anyway.
3) Feels unfinished, because it is. BBM is not bridgable yet, neither is text messages. ie only e-mails can be read from your phone to your Playbook. RIM will fix this, but it's not there yet.
4) Can't see into my folders on my phone. eg I can see the "music" folder of my phone, but can't see any of my music files inside, so can't open or copy them to the PB. This could have been done on purpose for business use, as BB does bluetooth transfer right now, so it's an easy function to implement. Still, I'd rather it be there.
5) Screen is really nice. Multitasking works like a charm. Fast. responsive.

Basically, hardware is there, core OS (QNX) is there, but the final touches need to be finished. I'm sure an update in 3 months from now will fix most of it, but as of now it's WIP.

Lastly, I'm questioning if I even need a tablet in general. I tried the iPad, and i'm not impressed with it either. My laptop works fine, so maybe I'll save the money for my next phone...

[DennyCrane]

Wirelessly posted (WhiteBerry Bold 9780: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9780; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.8+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.0.534 Mobile Safari/534.8+)

The free "tethering" or "bridging" is a huge selling point. Lack of native email isn't a big deal.

As a BlackBerry owner, I completely agree.

Size is nice, I can see it being more portable than the iPad.

But what about the on-screen keyboard? How is it for typing, and how much real estate is left for the rest of the screen when the keyboard is up? I really want to use this to take notes in meetings, but it has to be easy for me to type on.

[Supa_Fly]

Think about it like this, RIM has had at least 2 years to make this device. After 2 years, the so-called "Professional tablet", as RIM calls it, cannot have email access on it without being synced with a BB device? I understand that RIM plans to change that this summer.

WHERE do you figure RIM had 2 years?!
- QNX was purchased less than 12-13mths ago.
- TAT was also acquired just under 7mths ago and was NOT involved with the UI; that was from an outside company paid as a consultant to create UI.

Just because a competitor, Apple, launched their device, iPad 1, before RIM does NOT mean RIM had 2 years to come up with their product.

Hardware wise this thing SCREAMS and LEADS the competition:
First to announce Dual-Core A9 Cortex CPU (Tegra 2 is based on Cortex A9 ARM).
First to announce a full HD camera - x2!
First to announce standard MicroUSB charging (suits Euro standard) and MicroHDMI port with 1.4 support.

@Denny,
Typing on the screen is great ... keyboard size is small - only takes half the screen via landscape and 1/4 in portrait mode - really looks smaller in both.

ODD: No native spell-check (WTF?), yet when typing emails or in Bridge Browser or other Bridged apps spell check is there. I even tried to type "mypin" on a forum (bbforums) and the BB's pin resulted, hmm. btw, my PB has a PIN but not augmented via the BES.

Many of our criticism's debuted with the first Java BB in colour yet look how successful those emerged to be?! We'll see more software debut.

PS: My only hope is that this gets incredible apps - after May's BlackBerry World and the Native SDK in Beta gets released for easier C++ coded porting using native API's and QNX library's. IF this fails ... then RIM better release a solid boot loader that allows for Android OS to debut on it.

That brings a question in my mind and off topic for another thread: As Android OS begins to progress just how long with older versions be supported?? Hmm.