- BlackBerry Tablet Os, 1 GHz dual-core processor.
- It has 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB for storage.
- It has 7 inch multi-touch capacitive LCD screen, 1024 x 600-pixel resolution.
- Wireless-N Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n).
- 0.9 pounds (15 ounces).
A bit about me first I am a techno-nerd. I LOVE gadgets. Large, small, you name it. After eyeballing many tablets, including the iPad, Xoom, Samsung and others I chose the 64GB Blackberry Playbook. Why? For one, because it is the right size. I can put it in my purse and carry it about with me. More reasons it has spectacular graphics true 1080p HD and it supports flash. It has a camera and an HD camcorder. It has a solid feel in your hands, the touch screen is very responsive and intuitive. After playing with it for a short span of time I now zoom from app to app. One of the (many) things I find amazing is that the tablet does not lag while running many concurrent apps I'm not talking small apps, but processor intensive ones. The battery life is pretty good too I've played for over 10 hours before I had to recharge it. The screen is spectacular I said that already didn't I?
One thing I have read on various sites is that there aren't "many apps" available. HELLO it is new just released actually. How many apps were there for the iPad when it first came out? New apps appear daily and this summer it will run Android apps. That just exponentially increased the quantity of fodder for app hounds like me. The Android apps will be available through Blackberry App World. Read more about this on Android Central. Angry Birds anyone? It's also a boss gaming tablet for you gamers out there.
I have a huge iTunes library. One of the reasons I purchased the 64GB version was for the music. RIM made it so easy to import tunes from iTunes. First download Desktop manager and install. Plug in the Playbook. It installs the drivers and voila! It sniffs the installed iTunes and asks you what you would like to sync to the Playbook. I also read a lot of technical magazines I get electronically. I have these saved off to a folder on my PC. Now I copy them to my Playbook and read them where ever I am.
I can connect to the internet a few ways with the wireless ability it has, or tethering to my mobile phone or, if you have a Blackberry running version 5 or above you can use the Bridge to gain access to the internet while about. I have scratched just the surface of this amazing tablet. It has so much more I could talk about.
I love my Playbook. I am so glad I waited for its release. WOW
Update 7.01.2011
I've had the Playbook for over two months, use daily and have taken it with me everywhere I go. As such, I have more information and thoughts to share.
My Playbook recently traveled to Universal Studios and Disney's Magic Kingdom. Beautiful pictures and video were captured. I am a camera fiend my Nikon D80 was left at home by an oversight and panic (withdrawal is more like it) set in. I must say that my Playbook saved the day. Would this completely replace my Nikon? For me, no. I am a lover of SLR/DSLR's. However it does a very nice job rendering photographs in a pinch. I shot beautiful 1080p video as well.
Apps I have 183 apps so far on my Playbook and the choices available increases daily.
The browser is something to behold on this thing. It is fast, renders pages beautifully and the flash content looks incredible. As the Playbook supports flash, a great deal of things can be had directly via the browser without the requirement of an app.
RE: the noise about the 'too small' power button non-issue really. You turn the Playbook on by swiping the screen from top to bottom. If the timeout is too long, you can alter this through the settings. About the only time you ever have to touch the button is to turn it on from a total power down. It's more an issue of a habit to use a button than anything else. Once you drop the button desire, the puny size is perfect.
RE: the noise regarding it wasn't ready I've used my tablet daily for well over two months and I haven't encountered a single issue. No freezing, nothing at all. Ask me how many times I've had to reset my iPod or my PC/laptop?
RE: the noise regarding the immediate OS update as a software engineer I appreciated the fact RIM had an update issued right after the tablet shipped. That means they fixed/added new features that the initial install didn't contain. This doesn't mean the OS wasn't ready it was. They just were able to roll out an update soon after the release. How often is iTunes updated??? How often is Windows OS updated? Why is RIM bashed for a standard process? Ah, the Bizarro World we live in...
Buy Blackberry Playbook 7-Inch Tablet (16GB) Now
I own the iPad 1. I like it. I don't love it. The apps are great. But it is large and cumbersome. It doesn't really multi-task. And I hate the way it handles email. I use a Blackberry Torch phone. I love the way it handles email. And the apps are very good. Fewer. But very good.
So it was with some trepidation and excitement I bought the Blackberry Playbook. The trepidation was because of the advanced reviews which universally panned it. I looked at it, held it, and bought it. And I will tell you it is one piece of stunning equipment.
The build is much better than the iPad. In fact it is extraordinary. The screen is absolutely stunning. The machine loads the applications fast but NOT as fast as you see on the commercials. The browser blows the iPad Safari browser out of the water. It is very fast and of course has Flash. The camera front and back are very good.
But do you know what makes this tablet? The OS. It is extraordinary. You bring out Apps with a touch. You scroll through open apps by beginning at the left or right bezel and swiping toward the center. The context menus are opened by swiping down when the application is open. See a subtle alert in the top left hand corner, swipe diagonally from the the bezel to the center and viola there is a notification of your email. To wake it up swipe from the top bezel to the bottom. No more clicking a darn button. Thank you Blackberry. That alone was genius.
As I said I carry a Blackberry so through the Blackberry Bridge it tethers to my Torch. Emails and files. Everything, except the apps (different OS of course) is available on my Playbook. And I don't have to add on a data plan for 3G. A 3G phone Playbook is coming out in the summer they say for those who do not carry Blackberry phones.
I am waiting for the following apps Dropbox (although I can transfer files in and out via the web), a free hand note taker and a better PDF program or a more beefy Adobe Reader app. And I am sure they will come.
Now to the reviews: They claimed the OS was not finished. Not true. They claimed multiple shutdowns and freezes. Not true. They poo-poo'd tethering through Blackberry Bridge. OK I am saving myself $30 a month up here in Canada or $360 a year in not having a 3G capability under a separate plan. And the tethering is flawless for both email and web surfing since the Playbook comes with a Bridge Browser that uses your phones' plan. So a person saves $360 a year and it gets criticized? Unbelievable! The apps. Yes there are fewer but there are new ones appearing everyday and they are above average and to my mind are as good as or better than the iPad. The negative reviews are baffling; truly, truly baffling.
I couldn't wait to get the iPad. I was enchanted. With the new iPad 2 I wasn't enchanted. In fact it is anything but.
The Blackberry Playbook on the other hand is simply astounding. I throw it in my briefcase. And away I go. I pull it out at a meeting or airport and it is understated and private. Will it take its rightful place in the tablet market? Not if jingoistic reviewers have their way. But it should. It should if build, function, cost effectiveness, reliability, and fun mean anything to anybody.
Read Best Reviews of Blackberry Playbook 7-Inch Tablet (16GB) Here
"It's coming soon" is a refrain you will hear quite often with respect to the BlackBerry Playbook. I have had my 32GB wifi model for about a week. (I bought it from Staples for less than you see here.) The physical tablet is four and half stars. It is a perfect size, the screen is beautiful and the weight is ideal. It is roughly the same size as a 3d generation Kindle. Half a star deduction for the top buttons which do not feel like they are very high quality.
Included in the box are some brief instructions, a folding blade charger, a micro-usb cable, a nice foam pouch case, and a screen wipe.
There are a few negatives: (1) a lot of websites think the browser is for a blackberry phone and auto-direct you to the mobile version of their website; (2) the browser does not allow you to rename bookmarks, reorder bookmarks, or put bookmarks into folders; (3) the GPS is not yet functional it's in there, but has not been enabled by the firmware this feature is "coming soon"; (4) there are two very high quality cameras, but the software is limited only only permitting you to chat with other PlayBook users; (5) there is no Kindle App.
When linked to your blackberry smartphone via bluetooth you get a mirror of the email, contacts, calendar, to do, BBM and memo pad found on your phone. You also get access to files on your blackberry (even the microSD), but cannot open video or audio files just documents. There is something called the "bridge browser" which allows you to surf the internet through your phone's web browser and 3G connection. This is different from tethering because the carriers don't charge for it. The PlayBook also allows tethering which gives you full data access (although not to app world for some reason). Some carriers charge for tethering, some don't. Apparently AT&T doesn't even allow their customers to use the Bridge which is a HUGE drawback if you happen to have AT&T.
The lack of apps is the largest drawback. As of this writing, there is no Kindle app (a huge drawback), no Skype app, no Netflix app, and no MLB app. You cannot watch Netflix videos on the browser or your MLB.tv subscription. You CAN watch amazon instant videos. They look beautiful. The app content is neither quality nor quantity.
There is a huge amount of potential, but unfortunately a lot of that is "coming soon" and isn't there right now. When is "soon"? Nobody knows. One good thing is that firmware updates come out every few weeks and each adds functions. Since there are no carriers involved in rolling out firmware, RIM has full control and can do it quickly.
Some have mentioned problems with battery charging I haven't had that. My battery charges pretty quickly and goes to 100%. I can use it for nearly 15 hours before I get a low battery warning with about 10% left. Some have complained about the power button being hard to push. Mine is small and recessed, but I can easily push it.
The screen is absolutely beautiful.
You can use your existing blackberry charger, but it will take much longer to charge. The included charger can charge your existing blackberry (micro USB) without harm. There is also an available quick-charging stand it is expensive but works really well (I have it).
The BlackBerry PlayBook could be an amazing tablet five stars. However, it is now a bit of a work in progress at this point and I can only give it three stars as it currently stands It is only OK.
Want Blackberry Playbook 7-Inch Tablet (16GB) Discount?
If you're like me then you've probably been waiting for a while for RIM to enter the tablet market with their long-overdue BlackBerry Playbook. RIM's been touting a couple of features that were a first for any tablet at the time namely two cameras, one front and one back, HD output and a mini-HDMI port, along with finally releasing the new QNX OS (which RIM badly needed).
Well, unfortunately for RIM, they once again took their time getting this to consumers, and the end result is once again a whole bunch of those new features aren't really new anymore. IPad 2 introduced the two camera system for Apple, and I believe the new Galaxy 2 tablet coming out in a few months will have it as well. A bunch of tablets are also now HD-capable, and a bunch also have HDMI ports.
Anywho I picked this device up today from Best Buy, and to sum it up in a sentence: classy, but expensive.
For a more detailed review, here goes ---
PROS:
1) The OS. By George, RIM finally has a decent OS!! If anyone has ever had or messed around with a Blackberry phone, one of the biggest gripes you'll have is that the OS is just... well, crappy. OS 5 and 6 were big improvements but they still each leave alot out (like the browser god, does Blackberry's browser suck at times), especially when you check out an IPhone or Android phone. The QNX is RIM's newest OS, and I hope they move their phones over to it ASAP. Clean, snappy, and doesn't actually use all that much memory if you delve into the settings of the device. I will add, though that as soon as I turned on my device, it had to update the OS. Nice RIM already pushing out updates.... Doesn't bode well, but we'll see.
2) Screen. I'll give RIM credit, they did awesome here. The screen on the Playbook is nothing short of stellar. I played the movie Megamind (great movie) in HD on it, and it looked fantastic. Even better, hooked it up via HDMI to a projector, and it looked fantastic on the wall too. 7" may be a little small to people IPad's is almost 10", and so is Galaxy 2 (supposedly we'll see) but I like the 7" screen personally. I don't really need a bigger screen that's what I have a laptop for.
3) Weight. This also might be a touchy subject but again, I personally like a device that feels solid in my hands. The Playbook definitely fits this bill. Although it only technically weighs 1 pound, it feels much heavier. The construction seems excellent putting pressure on various points, the device barely bends.
4) Blackberry Bridge. Hell yeah RIM I do NOT want to pay extra for another 3G data plan. Instead, what RIM does is by tethering your Blackberry phone to the Playbook, you can use the data plan on your phone to get the internet on your Playbook and it works right out the box!! You don't even need a cable it also works via BlueTooth!! Only problem just works with Blackberry phones. If RIM updated this to work with all phones, that would make it literally perfect.
CONS:
1) Price. Jeez, 499 for the base model 16 GB. 64 GB rings in at 699. (These prices come from Best Buy). It's a nice device, don't get me wrong, but 500 bucks for the base model?? There's a bunch of cheaper options out there. Especially with the size of the device it's a little hard to justify. I hope RIM fixes this problem soon, for their sake.
2) Apps. Always seems to come back to this as well for RIM. The apps for the device at the time of this equal less than 100. Yeah, that's right. With the new OS, that means that all apps have to be rewritten to be able to work with the device and be able to handle the bigger screen. I believe the IPad has over 25,000 apps specifically made for it, and the Galaxy and XOOM both use Android and have its market to work with. Clearly RIM has an uphill battle here. Hopefully RIM supporting Flash on the Playbook will help the apps roll in, but I wouldn't hold my breath...
3) No e-mail support. As of right now the Playbook does not work with BES servers. That means no enterprise e-mail support, or ability to control the device via IT policies. You must be joking RIM. Seamless e-mail support is the main reason people get Blackberries, and you can't make the Playbook to support this?? Fail....
There's a couple other things too I can think of for both categories but these delve deeper into the enterprise features of the devices, so if you're interested, leave me a comment and I'll reply
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The Blackberry Playbook is definitely a good entry for RIM worthy of giving some of the other tablets a run for their money. RIM has of late been really lagging behind when it comes to keeping up with the tech of the day, but with the Playbook, they've finally stepped up to the plate. As for hitting a home run ehhh, I've give them a double. The Playbook shines in a number of areas but the key feature to me is the Blackberry Bridge. This is something that I hope a bunch of other tablets start incorporating being able to use your phone's data plan on your tablet, without having to pay an extra 50 bucks for a separate one.
RIM, fix the weak spots on your device (either by updates or in the 2nd generation), and you could have a real winner here.
As far as recommendations go for the average user, if you're feeling adventurous, go ahead and get a Playbook. It's a great device at what it does, but expanding those functions are difficult, especially with so few apps. For everyone else stick with the IPad, XOOM, or Galaxy at least until the apps get rolling on this device.
-I'll update this periodically as more information and my usage time with it increases so check back every so often --
UPDATE: Someone asked me in a comment if the Playbook had a memory card slot which I forgot to include in my review. Unfortunately, the Playbook does NOT have an SD card slot although, by using the Blackberry Bridge software, you can get the SD card that's on your phone to work with the Playbook. But as far as plugging in a card to the device itself no. Thanks to J. Scheider for asking.
UPDATE (5/4/2011): RIM has announced that they'll be releasing the Video Chat app a video conferencing app that will take advantage of the front and rear cameras, very much like Apple's FaceTime. It's supposed to be part of an OS upgrade that will get released sometime this week I'll let you know how it is once I've tested it out.
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OK. First off, it is a tablet with a fast dual core processor and 1GB of internal memory. So, its up to the task. The issue really is, what's the task?
I am a BlackBerry user and, truth be told, lover. However, I didn't get here by blind loyalty. I followed the advice of others and researched/used the products. So, I assume that's why you are reading this, both general user on the fence and RIM loyalist alike, for perspective.
The real deal is what can this tablet do right out of the box, independent of a BB device (AKA cell phone)? The answer is a lot but not as much as other tablets (specifically Apple or Android). The Playbook is poised to strike but lacks the refinement of options and applications enjoyed by other tablet types. For someone taking it out of the box and using it, they will find a smooth and effortless operating environment. All the menus flow and the graphics fly. No hesitation on most all switching of applications and functions. Screen orientation is fluid and not clunky. The Playbook gets a bad rap for lack of apps and, as i have mentioned, this is true. To be honest though, most people are surfing the web and checking email. The Playbook excels at these tasks with one large caveat, for email you need to use your e-mail provider web interface (mail.yahoo.com, gmail.com, aolmail.com...etc)or the mysterious "...BlackBerry Bridge." As of this posting, there is no email function native to the PlayBook nor is there an application for it.
If you don't own a Blackberry cell phone, don't plan to own one or don't ever use (or plan to use) the email function then wait for RIM to deliver the impending software update to the Playbook that will carry with it a native email application like you see on all other tablets. If you do own a BB cell and use the email function then the BlackBerry Bridge is for you. The BlackBerry Bridge is a native function that runs out of the box. The bridge function is awesome and it basically extends your phone features (mail, tasks, calendar, BBM and some file management) to your Playbook. What this really means is you admin your email and such through the Playbook via BlueTooth to your phone. This is good and bad. The good is you can hop on and generate emails, appts, tasks and xfer some files. The bad is it requires a good BT connection and both items relatively close together and charged to the point they can use the BT radio. The real solution for this is RIM should allow your Playbook, via a native app not a bridge, to use your BIS or (if company sanctioned) BES information. Plain and simple. They have to conquer the one PIN per account issue that currently requires you to bridge to the phone, the device that holds you PIN to the BIS or BES services. Is the bridge function enough to entice someone to buy a BB device along with a PlayBook or enable emailing on their current BB at a price to the provider? No. To finish the thought, they should include with native email all the PIM functions (tasks, calendar, notes...etc) that provide a fluid information chain that is accessible and completely sync'd with a BB device (or other smart phone through Google apps or something).
The web experience is excellent. Fast and uses Flash. Not much you cant do. It has its tablet downsides like sometimes you get an ad or some other in window pop up that just about requires a mouse...but that issue exists on all tablets.
Unless you're a news, movie or media junky, the applications (available via a native PB application called AppWorld) will most likely fail to impress you. The news, weather and media stuff is solid. The PB comes with the music store. The store isn't as extensive as iTunes of course but there are other services you can use (BestBuy just announced a cloud based music service for PB, iPad and Android). You can rent movies from Amazon and YouTube via web. No Netflix streaming app yet for PB. The good news on the app front is the supposed addition of Android applications that will run on the PB. This happens via a virtual machine (meaning its not native Android processing on the PB so it can't be as fast for sure) so it remains to be seen how good it will be. Angry Birds is coming as well.
The final deal is what do you want? If you want a smaller tablet then this is a good one...but if you want a smaller tablet with tons of apps then either go Android or wait for the supposed Android App player that will allow PB to run them. The real deal is this tablet surfs the web with the best of them and, lets be honest, most people want that. They hate a hot laptop and want something lighter, cooler, easier and with less of a footprint. Secondly they want apps that probably enhance what they can do on the web. so if its news, media or movies, you're good.
Some people have complained about the power and volume buttons. They are a bit of a pain but you get used to using them pretty quick. Something you shouldn't have to deal with but not a show stopper.
The PlayBook is expensive and does less than the iPad; unless you actively use your BB device. Android bridges the gap in price and physical options but is still clunky in app switching and fluidity of operating environment. Final word, the PlayBook is as fluid and dialed in as the iPad as far as use and operating environment but lacks the options, a gap partially bridged by use of an existing BB device enabled for email and internet use.
5 stars for BB users who aren't app junkies
3 stars for someone buying now without a BB and waiting for native email, Android Apps compatibility (and more native apps in the BlackBerry App World) and using your BlueTooth Headset (not possible as of this posting). The PlayBook is evolving leaps and bounds with every automatically delivered software update. But should someone pay top price for a comparatively lacking product now?
these are the things i do:
Surf (native)
Watch rented movies on Amazon/YouTube (web, native)
RSS news (app)
News 360 (app)
Podcasts (native)
BB Bridge Email, BBMessenger(native) -must have BB device and email accounts configured
SSH to servers (if you don't understand this it's OK...its for techies) (app)
VNC to my home machine for admin use (app)
Video chat via ReelPortal (app)
Word, Excel doc editing (app)
File share to and from the PB on my home network (native)
Play "Need for Speed" (native) its fun :)
