[dntutley]

Went to Best Buy today to show my wife the wonderful new gadget that I am considering buying (She of the iPad persuasion) only to find no such display. I figured... it must be back by the Xoom but nope.. nowhere! I ask an associate and was told it's over in the Mobile Phone section. No problem... except there was no display there either. I asked another associate and he said "oh... we don't display it, it's locked in a cabinet"! Ok... how can this wonderful tablet be bought if noone knows its existence? There is no product info, no big bb playbook display... not even a playbook dummy unit. RIM should be outraged. Thoughts????

[sasquatch99]

That's the experience I had at Walmart where I bought my 32GB PB. At my local Best Buy, there were PB posters at the entrance and display units next to the XOOM.

[Oncastillo]

It all depends on the place, the one where I got mine they do have one on display but for the few days it was out they kept it lockout away as they were trying to figure out how to secure it. I have been there a couple of times and they now have a small display, with a 32GB one for display.

[beandoc]

The situation is the same at my local BB, with one exception. There is indeed a small, hidden area of the mobile phone section with official-looking "BlackBerry PlayBook" signage. It has three slots for demo devices, two of which have BlackBerry phones attached. The third one is empty, presumably where the PB should go. It has been like this since before launch.

I don't get it.

[T_Touch]

the way RIM has run its marketing, i wouldn't be surprised if the reason is because RIM is sending marketing materials.

[bbtax]

I think it depends on where you live. Walmarts around here have different ways of displaying products. In bad area, it displays it with a lock, while in good area, it just displays it freely.

[BB.David]

Here in my area NONE of the Best Buy stores have the PlayBook on display. Not even Staples or Office Depot.

[TheFarmer]

My local Best Buy doesn't have one out on display either. However the Staples 200 feet away does

[smokeyjo]

that does seem kind of odd. im in S.E. virginia here, went into my best buy yesterday to look for cases. couldnt find any palybooks or stuff anywhere. finally i ask the guy,who asked another guy,who ask a lady who said.
"we only have a cple and all are locked in a cabinet (more like a closet) along with 2 cases thats it" i asked had anyone been asking bout it and was told nah not really.......funnny how i couldnt walk anywhere without trippin over ipad crap around every turn

[UnifiedTechs]

Same here, had a hard time finding the playbook display at my BB, it was hidden in the mobile phone area (there were other tablets there) but no device on display. At the time I assumed it was sold out but now I have to wonder.

[smokeyjo]

i bet it was in that same closet....behind the sales guys lunch and flipflops lol

[Mvor7]

In DFW I have not seen a single BestBuy with a playbook display either. They did offer to sell me one though a day before the official release date.
Staples and Office Depots around here do have them out and working, so guess who got my patronage.....

[Vidge]

that does seem kind of odd. im in S.E. virginia here, went into my best buy yesterday to look for cases. couldnt find any palybooks or stuff anywhere. finally i ask the guy,who asked another guy,who ask a lady who said.
"we only have a cple and all are locked in a cabinet (more like a closet) along with 2 cases thats it" i asked had anyone been asking bout it and was told nah not really.......funnny how i couldnt walk anywhere without trippin over ipad crap around every turn

I'm in SE VA as well. You may have just saved me a trip

[jhamilton3#CB]

Being an iPad 2 user, I'd find it hard to even consider switching to the PB without being able to demo it in-store..

[rexxenex]

Best buy in my area has it on display. Been playing with it every time i go in there

[pri79269]

I went the the local Best Buy here on South Houston to try it out and had the same experience. They had to find it for me since it wasn't on display and the guy couldn't answer any of my questions about it nor did he seem to care. Unlike the other person who posted, this Best Buy didn't have "iPad crap" all over, but they did have both ipad generations on display for demo purposes.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[jvictor77]

I was equally outraged at my local Walmart in Port Elgin, Ontario. They have about 10 units locked away in a glass cabinet close to the floor where you have to bend over to see they are there at all. Originally I was told that it was because of the store size - and it's a big Super Walmart! Next time I was in on Sunday they told me that maybe Wednesday they would have some sort of display. No iPads either but they had a dedicated Apple stand with iPod Touch etc in a prominent location. Bah!

[dabears580]

my best buy store has the playbook on display....but that is also mainly because i made sure we had it out there

[Mvor7]

Or you may love it. Trust ME

[jvictor77]

Exactly - only trust yourself - you'll be pleasantly surprised!

[dcburke789]

The BB here has one unit on display next to a Galaxy. The display underneath it is LOADED with Galaxy cases and screen protectors...PB is always empty.

Office Max has a dedicated display with the unit on...but no wifi connection.

Staples had a display with some cardstock pictures of the PB listing its features (very compelling )

Office Depot had a working unit (with wifi) and a notice to customers about the necessary os update before you could use it.

[TheFarmer]

Being an iPad 2 user, I'd find it hard to even consider switching to the PB without being able to demo it in-store..

I have an iPad 2 (and the original iPad 1) and I love my PlayBook. Size is an importance to me (travel a lot in trains and subways), and being able to watch flash videos off the NBC website is really awesome. I do like my iPad 2 as well and use it daily for games and Netflix but on the go, it's all PlayBook.