[_BB10_]

Need some advice here from perhaps the more hardware oriented among us.

I don't plan on using the 4G aspect of the new Playbook, but am curious to know if the incremental processing power justifies the purchase price.

Said another way, what kind of performance improvement is expected from the 4G?

Thanks!

[SCrid2000]

a 50% increase in ram is significant. It's more of a jump than the iPhad.
I personally don't intend to get one though, the PlayBook runs pretty well for me.

[rupam95]

Not worth it.


If only the RAM increased to 1.5 GB.


On a side note, is the 4G LTE Playbook also WiFi ready? Most likely yes...but haven't seen any specs on this.

[SCrid2000]

? The RAM did increase to 1.5gb.
And while I don't work for RIM, I don't expect for a second that the 4G PlayBook wouldn't have wifi.

[rupam95]

? The RAM did increase to 1.5gb.
And while I don't work for RIM, I don't expect for a second that the 4G PlayBook wouldn't have wifi.

No, the RAM stayed the same. (1GB)


The CPU changed from 1.0 Ghz to 1.5 Ghz.

[higherdestiny]

1.5GB Ram?

no, no. It's the CPU power that's 1.5Ghz, people. And it provides a noticeable boost in speed. Apps launch quicker, browser is faster and smoother. It's an amazingly smooth experience.

And yes, they still feature wifi radios - you can have both active at the same time, but it will preference wifi over cellular if both are active.

If you want the speed boost, and want mobile cellular benefits, get the new PlayBook.

[SCrid2000]

Ah geez you're right, the cpu was increased, not the ram.
I need to go to sleep

[Rello]

Not worth it....

Like others are saying, RIM needs to add more RAM before bumping up the processing power. As I'm typing this, I have 258.3 Mb of RAM left and all I have open is the browser with no extra tabs. Ridiculous.....

[anon(3870164)]

I think not worth it as well. I rarely have lags due to the processor but the RAM instead. With an android twitter app open and simplebrowser+ with one tab it can drop to 200+ mb ram available only.

If the RAM is 2gb and/or resolution bumps to around 720p then yes.

[BoloMKXXVIII]

No. My Playbook has never stuttered so a boost in speed is not necessary. Of course, we haven't seen how BB10 runs on a 1 gHz processor. Perhaps that is why they increased the new Playbook to 1.5 gHz. If that is the case, it might be worth it.

[brucep1]

Not worth it for a small spec bump. I would get the 32 gb version for $249 and save a couple of bucks.

[_BB10_]

Still need the official specs to drop, but I was half expecting 2GB of RAM - especially at $550.

[mikeo007]

a 50% increase in ram is significant. It's more of a jump than the iPhad.
I personally don't intend to get one though, the PlayBook runs pretty well for me.

What are you talking about? Playbook and iPad have the same amount of RAM...

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Faster is always better.... but what I really want to know is how long will the battery last?

Will the 4G Radio cut the battery life noticeably?

Will the extra .5GHZ of processor power affect the how long the PlayBook can operate?

What will the smaller battery (-500mAh) mean to the overall performance?

I know many will say RIM will take care of it with an OS optimization.... but will that be release on day 1, or in the "near future"?

[silvanus55]

I agree faster is better, but the cost is not worth it to me.

If it will be anything like the 4G phones, the battery life will be short. My wife has a 4G smartphone and she had to upgrade here battery.

With streaming videos at a faster speed, I am sure the battery life will be short unless they compensated for that.

It's the cost that bothers me the most.

[kingbernie06511]

im 99% sure they have decreased the die/transistor size and increased hardware efficiency (they had 12mo to do it!) so in my opinion battery life should be identical.

[higherdestiny]

I don't think the pricing is that bad.

$550.00 for the 32GB 4G PlayBook outright. Keeping in mind one may find it cheaper through promotions, and cheaper again when on a contract.

The processor enhancements make it a very fast device, very smooth and enjoyable to use. It benchmarks in sunspider faster than virtually any of the competition at this point in time.

For those who love PlayBook, this is a great upgrade. $550.00 isn't cheap, but it's also not the most expensive thing in the world. iPad users have to fork out $729.00 for the 32GB 4G iPad if they want to upgrade from their current model, so PlayBook users are left with a fair bit more cash in their pockets to spend on chips and gravy

When BB10 drops, the new PlayBook will become even more amazing. It's future upgrade path is already sorted, and BB10 is going to be a much more exciting upgrade than something like iOS6.

If you love PlayBook - this is a great upgrade. I'm betting it will be dirt cheap on 24 month contracts with data plans too, so for those who want the benefits of go-anywhere cellular data, I say go for it.

And remember, RIM will probably drop the price at times, have promotions at times etc. So those who can't fork out the $550 just need to wait for the specials

[mikeo007]

I don't think the pricing is that bad.

$550.00 for the 32GB 4G PlayBook outright. Keeping in mind one may find it cheaper through promotions, and cheaper again when on a contract.

The processor enhancements make it a very fast device, very smooth and enjoyable to use. It benchmarks in sunspider faster than virtually any of the competition at this point in time.

For those who love PlayBook, this is a great upgrade. $550.00 isn't cheap, but it's also not the most expensive thing in the world. iPad users have to fork out $729.00 for the 32GB 4G iPad if they want to upgrade from their current model, so PlayBook users are left with a fair bit more cash in their pockets to spend on chips and gravy

When BB10 drops, the new PlayBook will become even more amazing. It's future upgrade path is already sorted, and BB10 is going to be a much more exciting upgrade than something like iOS6.

If you love PlayBook - this is a great upgrade. I'm betting it will be dirt cheap on 24 month contracts with data plans too, so for those who want the benefits of go-anywhere cellular data, I say go for it.

And remember, RIM will probably drop the price at times, have promotions at times etc. So those who can't fork out the $550 just need to wait for the specials

Links to those benchmarks please.

[higherdestiny]

Links to those benchmarks please.

Trust me on this one, you'll see soon enough

[mikeo007]

Sorry, I don't trust you. Unfortunately, your claims are baseless unless you can provide proof?

Current PB gets about 2300ms, and the iPad 2 gets about 1800, with terra 3 units coming in slightly faster. So you're telling me a slight processor bump is going to almost double benchmark performance? Sorry, but that I have to see to believe.

[higherdestiny]

Sorry, I don't trust you. Unfortunately, your claims are baseless unless you can provide proof?

Current PB gets about 2300ms, and the iPad 2 gets about 1800, with terra 3 units coming in slightly faster. So you're telling me a slight processor bump is going to almost double benchmark performance? Sorry, but that I have to see to believe.

Think 1,3XX ms values.

And if you don't believe me, try sunspider on a BB10 Alpha device.

[app_Developer]

The BB10 alpha is down in the 1400 range. I can see how the PB could beat that.