Blackberry Playbook 64Gb Wifi only

The Playbook was potentially going to be refurbished – really big discount- but it worked out to be a brand new item (though in a slightly shop soiled box). It needed immediate upgrading to OS 2.0 but that didn’t take long. Very few instructions in the box but it had the charger, a cable and a small carry bag. All of the instructions were on line but very few were needed.

Build: It is build like any other Blackberry - solid. It is a very well constructed bit of tech, nothing loose or shoddy about it everything fits together perfectly, no give clearly built to tight tolerances with quality parts. My only gripe is the on/off/sleep button is difficult to press with the pad of your finger and I need to resort to a finger nail.

Performance: All of the ‘native’ apps work well and fast, although there isn’t anywhere near too many of them. No crashing, reasonable range within the home network. I found it hard to reconcile that the touch screen on the Playbook was a similar technology to my smart phone - it was that much more responsive and accurate. The secret to the user interface it to imagine that RIM wanted a bigger screen, the operating functions are all stored off screen and you need to drag them down to access them, they aren’t just sitting there taking up limited screen space while they aren’t being used.

Functionality: It is bigger and more ‘viewable’ than a smart phone but smaller and more portable than the usual 10 inch tablet. It is about the size of an A5 diary and weighs a noticeable amount more than one but still not much anyway. There are some basic apps but real functionality needs to be downloaded onto it. The wifi is responsive to my home system and gets decent reception where my smart phone is marginal.

Android: I have mentioned that there are not too many apps. The number is increasing every day, due to the Android emulator/player built in with OS2.0. Unfortunately lots of it is just dumpware, quickly converted and shovelled onto App World with little or no testing. Converting your own android apps is pretty simple but if you have a favourite widget or it requires specific android only functions, then you are probably out of luck. There are still plenty of decent apps out there either on BB App work or Good ereader, they take time to find.

Summary: I really like the Playbook. I have never had a blackberry or a tablet before but the form is ideal, it feels solid and competent, the OS is solid and competent, it is quick and more and more functionality is becoming available through more apps. Some of the larger concerns are not supporting Playbook, the most obvious being Kindle but the current available ported over Kindle app is an old one and works so much better than the latest iteration I have on my smart phone. Skype’s ported version does not work at all and amazingly there is neither a decent alarm clock built in or one available as an app nor is there a decent backgammon game. I can watch movies in various flavours, listen to most types music and audio books, I can read most near anything I want AND play Angry Birds on a big screen. The browser is reasonably good but I’d really like a version of chrome and whilst the soft keyboard is accurate and responsive, to do work on it will require a Bluetooth keyboard.

I realise now a big draw back is the lack of mobile phone internet connection, and the lack of ‘big’ support is a worry but on the whole I really do like my Playbook.

a tool and assistant, not just a toy.

the playbook is simply awesome. its fast and nothing seems to slow it down. i like how it integrates with my blackberry handset and the screen resolution is jaw dropingly good. For a 1st edition unit it shows just how good of a job RIM can do. Anyone remember the 1st edition ipad? full of snags, lags, and battery issues. it took apple about a year to iron them all out. Droid? its 3 almost 4 years old and its still buggy. anyone who wants something serious and not just a toy should look into the playbook, and remember look at what it is and not what professional babies complain it to not be or have. one more winning point: anyone wanna lay in bed and try to read an ebook with the ipad's giant, overly bright, cartoonish looking screen? might be sharp i will admit but it strains your eyes over time. the playbooks screen intensity can be lowered to an almost kindle brightness level so you can read without strain. its also light enough to not kill your arms (tho so is the ipad) *this review written using a playbook.

Good hardware, crappy software.

A good size, a good price, a good built quality but really poor applications choice !!!! The built-in apps are good but a lot a functions are missing. For a professionnal use for example, impossible to retrieve mails more thant 30 days back at the begining and impossible to search on the server. Really un professional ! To much apps on appworld which aren't native but android based and slow. GPS is not assisted but the chipset could allow it...hum hum please spend money on developers and fire some of the managers that lose time seated on a confortable chair and don't understand the new technology world ! Well, to conclude, hardware is really good (better than some leaders), but software is awful crap ! With these conclusion it's obvious why apple still leads thanks to the apps and a great sdk for developers.

Fantastic hardware. Operating System is a beast! More apps on the way.

Okay, first things first. The only reason I'm not rating this a 5 out of 5 is because of the limited app selection and the still missing native email, calendar, and contacts support.

Regarding the email, calendar, and contacts support, it's the universal belief and understanding that this will be coming by the end of the summer (2011). This NEEDS to happen or RIM is in trouble. For now, one can STILL access his email and (google) calendar in the playbook's web browser (which is pretty awesome btw).

Regarding the app selection. At the moment, it's REALLY not that bad.

GAMES: There are some really great ones like Need For Speed, Gravitee Wars (AWESOME), DoodleBlast, A Zombie Stole My Toaster, Automaton 2015, PhysiCat, and plenty more. No Angry Birds, but I'm sure it will come. Some games I have on my android phone that aren't on the playbook include, LineUp, Unblock Me, Enjoy Sudoku, Super Tumble, and GeoQuiz.

SOCIAL APPS: An official Facebook app comes installed, there are a few twitter apps (blaq, Blackbird-free, and Tweedless-free), no Linked In app which is a huge bummer for me. Still missing skype which seems to be a HUGE MEGA ISSUE for many, but I don't see the fascination with it, ... Regarding Linked In, there's this thing called a web browser. I use it.

NEWS: Fantastic. 3 free apps will give you everything you need: the official RIM news app, GeeReader, and News360. There are others, but these are my favorites.

MEDIA: Comes with Slacker, which is okay, but I prefer Pandora (nope, not available yet). Good music player, and music store. Never heard of 7 digital before, but they're great. YouTube app. GREAT for viewing. Missing tons of functions. Cannot access your account, favorites, subscriptions. Cannot share to facebook, twitter. The YouTube app was made by RIM and my thoughts are that because YouTube is a google thing, google only wants the official app to have that functionality. So, until google makes an official app there won't be any favoriting, and sharing. At least not through the app. Maybe on the Browser? But, again, it is a very nicely made app and fun to use. Photo app, great. Camera, great. Video player is what you'd expect.

NOTABLE ABSENCES: Where the H*ll is my Netflix?! Good luck with Netflix and Hulu. It's not available at the moment. Coming in the near future? My conjecture is yes. Skype is missing (boo hoo hoo). There IS some video chat application, but I haven't tried it out. The official Twitter and Linked In apps are MIA. Various google apps such as Maps are missing. GeeReader syncs with Google Reader and is fantastic. Bing maps is nice and works fine for me as a substitute for Maps. There is a paid Magellan Compass app that uses Google Maps and LOOKS to be quite good. Where the F is Pandora?! Not available, and when I attempt to use it in the browser, it doesn't work. Tune In Radio is also missing! WTF I love Tune In Radio. Luckily this DOES work online. I want the app but this will do in the meantime. Kindle: nope. Hopefully it will come. Comes with Kobo which is NOT compatible with your kindle books.

Regarding these shortcomings. This is a new operating system (QNX based) and the playbook is only about 2 months old. There are no QNX phones yet. When the QNX phones come, the apps will come. Patience.

Running out of room.

Hardware and OS. FANTASTIC IN EVERY WAY. Dual core processor, beautiful screen, brilliant user interface

BB playbook an affordable gadget

The BlackBerry PlayBook is the latest – and most unique – Apple iPad 2 challenger. Running a new OS called QNX, with quirky features like bridging to a BlackBerry phone for secure email and an oddly confusing initial setup, the PlayBook is a stark departure from the more iPad-like Motorola Xoom. Business-minded features such as built-in viewers for spreadsheets and word processing files are welcome, and it gets extra credit for being fast and nimble on a dual-core 1GHz processor.

Throw in a 3MP front-facing camera, a 5MP rear-facing one, a bright and crisp 1200x600 resolution screen, a light 425g body and all the typical gyro, accelerometer and GPS sensors and you have the makings for a powerful 7-inch tablet.

The PlayBook is sorely lacking third-party apps, but does show promise.
The powerful multi-tasking, where you can run a video in one window and play a game in another with both apps running concurrently, is a first of its kind for a mainstream tab.

File storage capabilities, support for an HDMI connection for playing 1080p video and a slick interface make the PlayBook an interesting anomaly.
The price is very affordable and if you're so game for gadgets this is a very good one.