7 inches is convenient and it's perfect for what I need it for. For myself this will see use at artist alleys at conventions for recording sales and looking up art references. Outside of cons I'll use it for presentations and gathering information on the fly. I'm very mobile and I appreciate being able to pull something out for a short amount of time and stowing it away quickly. I also don't like the attention the size of an iPad attracts.
It'd be nice to see a larger option in the future for those of you that want one though.
How is 9.7" necessarily an industry standard when many tablets that are coming out are smaller than that?
While I think the 7 inch option will make it much easier to carry around, and hence much more likely to actually be used, I must admit that having the larger size on the iPad does have it's advantages. I use Jump Desktop from the iPad to remote access my desktop while traveling. It's not perfect, but it's good enough that I never have to take my laptop on the road anymore. I absolutely love the idea of integrating with my 9800, so I will almost definitely be getting the PlayBook, but I have to admit that the thought of remote accessing a desktop on a 7 inch device is not something I look forward to. Just my $0.02.
The 9.7" size is nice. I can however, see the advantage in additional portability of a 7" tablet as a nice convenience. If it's cheap enough, I'll get a PlayBook in addition to an iPad 2.
I'm with the other folks - how on earth is 9.7" an industry standard? If anything, 7" is the industry standard that is beginning to emerge e.g. Galaxy Tab, Play Book, etc...
How in the **** is 9.7" an "industry standard"?????
Some people believe ANYTHING Apple does is an "industry standard." While I think the iPad is a nice piece of equipment, it had some fundamental design flaws. The lack of cameras, any kind of port other than the standard Apple connector and, IMHO, the lack of Flash support; make it a less than perfect device. It's flaws keep it from being a standard. That being said; I don't think one 9.7" screen makes a standard. The fact that both RIM and Samsung are releasing 7" devices would lead me to conclude that is the de-facto standard.
i got a chance to play with the galaxy tab.. and after playing with it, 7" is perfect. it makes the ipad look too bloated
I agree, with the iPad you can't do the double-thumb typing thing while holding it. You have to set it down to type normally or with hunt and peck (if that's your skill level, lol)
I like the 7" screen. 9.7 is definitely too big and there are even rumors of Apple making the iPad smaller in the next generation. 8.9" would also be a good size, right in the middle.
wow i must have missed the memo about apple being the frontier in the tablet industry. afaik the industry standard for consumer tablets was/is/will be 12.1" as this by far is the biggest selling atm - slates (that includes iphad) on the other hand are diverse and come in many shapes and sizes and again here apple is not the frontier.
about the size of the playbook, i love that they have added a beefy bezel (or whatever you call it) so typing should be a lot easier than on the ipad where there is no room for your palms and 7" seem to me as a good size for a device that can be carried around and not pose the same problems a laptop or conventional tablet pc causes.
