[narci]

Simple - count activations.

Minus how many were given away for free via launch parties, developers rtc.

[Daeve]

I had a similar experience. PCWorld, leicester and on release day at 6pm. i walked in and spent ages looking for the Playbook. No signs, no displays... i found it lonely on the end of the aisle of well marked/advertised working tablets - not powered on, not set up, no label, price on a bit of a4 paper laid near it. no advertising whatsoever. if i hadn't researched it i'd never have bought it. Eventually a customer service guy helped me get one and was surprised i wanted to buy it, checked and loads still in stock. RIM should be angry at the lack of advertising.

[weezul]

I went looking at one today at Phones4u... the orientation would not change, and every time I went to the settings page, it locked up on the WiFi tab and just showed a spinning circle and so I couldn't change any settings. Pretty disappointing. Once it connected to the wifi, it was nice to use though. I wanted to see if it was viable to buy one to replace my music (im a musician, and using a playbook instead of carrying multiple real books would be nice) but it's just too small so i'm glad i got convinced out of it by the various bugs. They also got a brand new one out for me, but it would not load the liscence agreement as it would not connect to the wifi either. If they make a 10" i think i'll be more keen

[miktro]

rimm need to do some damage control and fast.

[TheScionicMan]

I got the OK to pick up a couple of iPad 2s when they were released. Went to a couple different VZW stores and they all had big displays, but no demo units and no units in stock (they all went to the Apple stores). One rep did tell me that they had the XOOM so I went to check it out, but it was locked up with an error screen and the guy had no interest in actually doing any sales pitch or caring whatsoever. They did have a Galaxy Tab that was working and the size just made me more excited for the PB.

It all depends on the store. A lot of the big electronic stores don't pay commission, so although you get less sales pressure, you also get less motivated sales people. Also, if you know very much about electronics, phones and computers, you can probably get a better paying job than a non-commissioned salesman.

[Phillyosophy]

I found the Selfridges tech section had a booth about the Playbook and had a lady on a mic telling people to come by and have a play with it. She spoke in a very patronizing way, like as if nobody has ever heard of Blackberries before, but oh wells, at least there was marketing involved by them. The guys were helpful very knowledgable. brought out their own BBs (from their pockets) to demonstrate the bridge function and all. It was good in Selfridges but i think that's about that only place where the Playbook was launch in a LAUNCH-DAY-PARTEH! manner.

Though i agree, reading what some of these places have been treating the Playbook, best i get some of my BB techi friends and head over to some of the outlets and have a go at them. Like how we pwn the 'geniuses' at apple store. hehehe

[ScottsdaleHokie]

if i may ask when was this and witch store was it, there is two in Atlanta (concourse A/B).

Memorial Day weekend, pretty sure it was concourse B, but not 100% sure.

[Coachbulldog]

This also goes for those who are dismayed that RIM would announced how many shipped, but not how many sold -- how the heck would they know?

I would suggest you listen to the latest CrackBerry podcast. Kevin states RIM knows exactly how many PlayBooks have been sold.

[magician1]

Just went into my local cpw today to pick up a screen protector for the pb. Had the usual bb buy one and get another playbook accessorie half price so decided to go for 2 screen protectors......have to say that i well and truly wasted the first one and managed to peel of the correct side first.....and wow!!!!!! you cannot tell it is there. really well amazed. Just for your ref it is made by a company called uunique.uk.com and it fab.
BUT they had a playbook and a bb on displayand decided to have a blast on it.......it was alerting to do the big update and tried to do this and for some reason it would not do so. At least they have the thing on display although not a mega sparkling display.
Sent from my uber amazing PB

[WJF84]

I've had similar experiences in PC Worlds in the UK.

First PC world had the Playbook lined up next to all of the the other tablets. Everything worked great but it hadn't been set up to connect to the WiFi. I asked 3 different reps if they could enter they WiFi key but none of them knew what it was. The Playbook will only sell if it is connected to the internet as the preloaded apps are minimal.

The second PC World I went to had never heard of the Playbook and had no display units are advertising. I was told to try a different store.

Third PC World was slightly more successful. They had the Playbook hidden away on the end of an aisle far away from all of the other tablets. They actually had the bridge working with a demo Curve unit which was pretty neat. However, it seemed slow and buggy. I checked the settings and they were rocking one of the super early builds. I'm not even sure how they managed to pass activation. Regardless, I started the update process for them but it was going very slowly so I bailed.

All in all a very disappointing experience.

It was quite amusing seeing people tapping the screen like crazy trying to exit apps or change apps. No-one had a clue! Why is there no 3-step instruction guide next to the Playbook?

I even saw one guy trying to move the car with his finger in NFS...

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[esqlaw]

I think RIM needs to work on building better partnerships with retailers. My purchase experience at best buy was somewhat similar. I was surprised to see that they didn't have a display model, although I didn't care, but more so that the people working there were hardly aware the thing had come out today. Even though I had them calling me a little too persistently to remind me that my preorder was available today (as if I'd forget).

RIM, work with retailers to promote your product better!

[Jonathan-Archer]

I was with Belcompany in the Netherlands and had much of the same issues stated above. Slow wifi because of too many connected Pb's, unknowing employees (one lady kept calling it the 'Blackberry Tab') and many uninterested customers. Despite a promoted special 'opening night' event it was slightly lacklustre. The RIM rep was very kind however, but no one really pushed me into getting one, even though I was there playing with it for nearly half an hour.

[Megacharge]

Sounds like some complaints should be lodged about it. I would certainly complain to the manager of the store about it. You should be allowed to try before you buy, the store needs to be more responsible for the products it is selling.

I bet RIM would be pissed to hear about this lol.

[adrenaline_x]

heh... Just wipe the ipad (erase all settings) and walk out.

I might have done this already hehehe