[Guimove]

Hi all,

I'm new in crackberry.com and in blackberry world in general.

I want to buy a tablet and I don't know which one. I wanted to buy an 8 inches Windows 8 tablet but still no news about that and I don't want to wait more.

I want to try something different than what I have now (Windows 8/Windows Phone 8) and the Blackberry Playbook seems to be really interesting. I have a lot of questions to ask, because I really don't know Blackberry.

First of all, I can have the Playbook for 150� (180$ I think ) in 64GB, is it a good price for such a device ? This tablet is still good for a user in 2013 ? I saw that this tablet was released in 2011 and I'm a bit afraid about that, you know it's old technology and probably that sometimes some lags appears ...

If I want to add some videos on the tablet, I must connect the tablet to my computer and use a specific software or the tablet is viewed like an USB storage ?

Thanks for your help !

PS - Sorry if my english is not perfect, I'm French .

[MC_A_DOT]

Hi all,

I'm new in crackberry.com and in blackberry world in general.

I want to buy a tablet and I don't know which one. I wanted to buy an 8 inches Windows 8 tablet but still no news about that and I don't want to wait more.

I want to try something different than what I have now (Windows 8/Windows Phone 8) and the Blackberry Playbook seems to be really interesting. I have a lot of questions to ask, because I really don't know Blackberry.

First of all, I can have the Playbook for 150€ (180$ I think ) in 64GB, is it a good price for such a device ? This tablet is still good for a user in 2013 ? I saw that this tablet was released in 2011 and I'm a bit afraid about that, you know it's old technology and probably that sometimes some lags appears ...

If I want to add some videos on the tablet, I must connect the tablet to my computer and use a specific software or the tablet is viewed like an USB storage ?

Thanks for your help !

PS - Sorry if my english is not perfect, I'm French .

You need to go and test the device yourself.

This is CrackBerry ...most people here will say buy the Playbook...same with anyone on the other platform sites.

I have no lag on my Playbook and if you want to upload videos you can download BlackBerry Desktop Software for free which will allow you to do it through the application or, I'm sure it shows up as a USB device if you don't have the software.

Good luck with your choice.

[Wongsky]

Hi all,

I'm new in crackberry.com and in blackberry world in general.

I want to buy a tablet and I don't know which one. I wanted to buy an 8 inches Windows 8 tablet but still no news about that and I don't want to wait more.

I want to try something different than what I have now (Windows 8/Windows Phone 8) and the Blackberry Playbook seems to be really interesting. I have a lot of questions to ask, because I really don't know Blackberry.

First of all, I can have the Playbook for 150� (180$ I think ) in 64GB, is it a good price for such a device ? This tablet is still good for a user in 2013 ? I saw that this tablet was released in 2011 and I'm a bit afraid about that, you know it's old technology and probably that sometimes some lags appears ...

If I want to add some videos on the tablet, I must connect the tablet to my computer and use a specific software or the tablet is viewed like an USB storage ?

Thanks for your help !

PS - Sorry if my english is not perfect, I'm French .

You need to install BlackBerry's desktop manager software to directly connect a PlayBook to a PC - as to how it's viewed from a storage perspective, it kind of appears as a networked drive when the PlayBook is directly connected via USB.

Depending on how much video data you're talking about, you don't necessarily need to use USB connectivity or install BlackBerry's software - if you have a windows networking client or Samba / CIFS client you can connect to a PlayBook over WiFi and copy files in that manner. That just requires WiFi file sharing turned on, on the PlayBook and sufficient savvy to be able to connect from your computer.

I suspect you'd find most video files OK - the PlayBook won't deal with video that has AC3 (DD) or dts audio, though, natively (so if you had such video, you'd either have to convert the audio, say with avidemux, or use a payware video app on your PlayBook (like Kalemsoft)) - although the video codec support is pretty good in my experience.

[torndownunit]

I have a Playbook and a Nexus 7. While I still like a lot of things about the Playbook, the Nexus 7 is peppier at pretty much every task, especially web browsing (though Fast Browser has helped on the Playbook). The screen is far nicer on the Nexus, and there's is obviously a difference in apps available.

One thing the Playbook is great as is a media player though. The HDMI out is great when I am travelling and at hotels. It has much better built in speakers than most tablets, which makes it a great media player on it's own. It's the device I grab to throw in my bag when travelling.

Seeing what the Nexus can do at it's price point, and the fact that there is a new version out soon, I'd have a tough time recommending the Playbook though.

[bluenote]

Dont buy a Playbook yet. Wait to see if it will get a software update to the newest operating system (right now it looks like not).
If it will not, prices will come down dramatically.

To my mind, Blackberry is throwing these customers away "for the future", not realizing these customers are also the future.

[maxdaniels]

I have a PlayBook 32GB and I love it.

The gesture-based UI is the best solution on the market in terms of ergonomy - after you use it, all the others seem dated. No lag in mine, also.

The only problem could be the apps - there are not so many of them, compared to iOS or Android (don't know about Windows). I am using the PlayBook mainly for websurfing and reading, so this is not a problem for me, but I think it might be for some other potential users. So you may want to search the apps you need on BlackBerry World, prior to make a buying decision.

The browser has Adobe Flash and JavaScript capability, so it could became a little slow on some script-heavy pages - but if you switch those off, the pages are rendered very fast.

With all the pros & cons, I recommed you to buy it, it's a good product for that price.

P.S. The GPS module could be problematic also, mine is very slowly aquiring the GPS signal (it is not a universal problem, but it was reported by other users, too).

[Mohamed Ali Mchala]

I have Playbook and i started to hate it because of the broken promises of BB, i did not used id since January. I will not touch it since i get a BB10 update, or sell an Ipad.

[uncle_numpty]

Find a store thats selling it and try one.

If it does what you want now - then it's an excellent tablet for the price.

HOWEVER do not buy it on the chance it may get BB10 and/or newer apps cos that is looking increasingly unlikely.

[torndownunit]

I have a PlayBook 32GB and I love it.

The gesture-based UI is the best solution on the market in terms of ergonomy - after you use it, all the others seem dated. No lag in mine, also.

The only problem could be the apps - there are not so many of them, compared to iOS or Android (don't know about Windows). I am using the PlayBook mainly for websurfing and reading, so this is not a problem for me, but I think it might be for some other potential users. So you may want to search the apps you need on BlackBerry World, prior to make a buying decision.

The browser has Adobe Flash and JavaScript capability, so it could became a little slow on some script-heavy pages - but if you switch those off the pages are rendered very fast.

With all the pros & cons, I recommed you to buy it, it's a good product for that price.

P.S. The GPS module could be problematic also, mine is very slowly aquiring the GPS signal (it is not a universal problem, but it was reported by other users, too).

I agree with that statement. But a lot of people buy tablets strictly for entertainment use, and at this point a great UI doesn't make up for the lack of software. EG the built in Facebook and Podcast clients are horrible, and there are very few alternatives. The entire time I have owned the Playbook, Fast Browser is the first really decent browser alternative that has some around. There are some fantastic apps like Tablet TV, but for every good app there are 4-5 apps of similar quality available on other platforms.

Also, saying the browser 'can be slow' is an understatement. There are plenty of threads on here relating to that issue. If the browser performed better, I likely would have never ended up trying a Nexus.

I know this is a Blackberry forum, but people people should be realistic. This is an aging device that has little support nowadays and likely won't get an OS revision. It's issues are kind of being underplayed here. With some of the other options becoming available now, it's touch to recommend a Playbook.

[Bertie Bear]

I’m a 2013 buyer, bought mine 6 weeks ago & haven’t put it down since. Yes, after two years, its old technology in computing terms, but for me it works great. The guys in PC World were talking it down, but I loved it from the start.

Transferring files from the laptop is easily done wirelessly through your home network – have copied over about 15GB of music, plus videos, DVDs, Excel & Word files, photos, etc. Having 64GB onboard storage is great. Once the wireless connection is made with the laptop, the PlayBook shows as an extra network device, & you can then copy & paste files.

Browsing speed depends, so I’m told, mostly on how quick your broadband connection is. I haven’t had much of a problem – there is sometimes (not often) a lag with BBC iPlayer say, but I’ve seen the same complaint from Nexus 7 owners.

The PB screen is very nice – as a TV, video player, photo viewer, newspaper reader, etc.

Rear camera takes very nice snaps in daylight, same with video camera. (A bit grainy in low light, but better than most tablet cameras.)

The PB comes with a nice selection of ready loaded apps – BBC News, BBC iPlayer, Bing maps, Docs2Go (a fairly basic Office type suite – but you can create basic spreadsheets from scratch & the Word program isn’t bad). The selection of 3rd party apps is much less than with Apple or Android tablets, but doesn’t bother me. There’s enough about the PlayBook already to keep me happy.

Email works great for me (there is a 30 day history cut-off but emails remain on the laptop anyway).

From doing some research, a hardware weak point is the charging port which is also the mini USB connection to a laptop/PC. So I bought the ‘rapid travel charger’ for �14.99 which connects to the PlayBook by a three pin magnetic connection. Using this (& the wireless method of transferring files) means not having to risk using the mini USB ‘weak link’ at all. And the ‘rapid travel charger’ is rapid – charges twice as quickly as the standard charger.

This was built as an expensive quality machine & originally sold at �559! I bought mine at �129 which is tremendous value for what it does – maybe I’m easily pleased & I’m by no means a techie, but at the moment I consider it’s the best purchase I’ve ever made.

[Guimove]

If I buy a tablet, it's mainly for videos and web browsing - I don't really care about the applications so it's not a problem if the store is not full of games/applications. I don't like the UI of Android and the iPad is too expansive for my needs.

I read on the internet that it's really tricky (or impossible) to watch mkv videos, is it still right ? I saw that the resolution of the tablet is 1024*600, that means that we can't read 720p videos or the tablet can downscale the video by itself ?

Yesterday there was a BB conference and I heard that BB10 will be - probably - ported to the PlayBook. It's just a rumor or it's confirmed ?

By the way, thanks so much for your answers guys !

[Wongsky]

If I buy a tablet, it's mainly for videos and web browsing - I don't really care about the applications so it's not a problem if the store is not full of games/applications. I don't like the UI of Android and the iPad is too expansive for my needs.

I read on the internet that it's really tricky (or impossible) to watch mkv videos, is it still right ? I saw that the resolution of the tablet is 1024*600, that means that we can't read 720p videos or the tablet can downscale the video by itself ?

Yesterday there was a BB conference and I heard that BB10 will be - probably - ported to the PlayBook. It's just a rumor or it's confirmed ?

By the way, thanks so much for your answers guys !

I watch mkv videos all the time on my PlayBook - the likely ony problem you may have is the audio used. The PlayBook won't natively play AC3 (DD) or dts audio - so if the videos you want to watch have such audio, you'd either need to re-encode the audio (using something like avidemux) or install a payware video player like Kalemsoft.

As to the resolution the PlayBook can deal with, it's not restricted by the pixel resolution of it's native display (since it can output video via HDMI) so you'd be able to play 1080p videos, and it would downscale on it's own display.

[Cynycl]

kalemsoft media player app will handle all video formats, at least all I have tried so you shouldn't have any issues. as far as any os updates there are only promises and nothing solid to back it up. Expect to get the os that is on it now only

[Guimove]

Hum ok, this seems to be pretty good !

I will wait some weeks to see if BB10 will be available on the PB.

Merci beaucoup .

[Dallin Crump]

I just ordered a 64 GB PlayBook from Amazon and explain why I chose it over an iPad Mini, Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD, and Galaxy Note 8.0 in a blog post.

Even if it never gets another OS update, I think it offers some great features out-of-the-box that no other 7" tablet does.

True multitasking, flash support, and presentation mode are just a few areas where the PB shines.

I plan to make good use of my PB for at least the next year - hopefully longer.

[FF22]

The things you seem to be interested in can all be done pretty darn well on the pb. The browser can be sluggish but it generally works (yes, there are sites that crash it for unknown reasons but not many do that). It is terrific as a media player, either hooked to a tv or standalone. As mentioned, Kalemsoft a $4 or $5 investment can play most video formats and display subtitles.

You will probably NOT find it in stores to test it any longer. It is pretty much online sales only.

Oh, and Welcome to Crackberry (CB)

[Guimove]

The browser is it more or less efficient than Safari running on an iPad 2 for example ?

The initial video software doesn't know how to read some simple HD videos format ? (at least .avi is enough for me ...)

[TheSprings]

Hi all,

I'm new in crackberry.com and in blackberry world in general.

I want to buy a tablet and I don't know which one. I wanted to buy an 8 inches Windows 8 tablet but still no news about that and I don't want to wait more.

I want to try something different than what I have now (Windows 8/Windows Phone 8) and the Blackberry Playbook seems to be really interesting. I have a lot of questions to ask, because I really don't know Blackberry.

First of all, I can have the Playbook for 150� (180$ I think ) in 64GB, is it a good price for such a device ? This tablet is still good for a user in 2013 ? I saw that this tablet was released in 2011 and I'm a bit afraid about that, you know it's old technology and probably that sometimes some lags appears ..((Actually, unless you just have to possess the "latest" as a status thing older technology is often more reliable and cheaper. Depends on what you want to do with it))
If I want to add some videos on the tablet, I must connect the tablet to my computer and use a specific software or the tablet is viewed like an USB storage ? ((Depends on how you use it. If you want you can use it as a Book Reader and Music Player. There you don't need any other software. Just hook it up via USB to your computer and transfer files as though it were any other storage device))

Thanks for your help !

PS - Sorry if my english is not perfect, I'm French .

[Wongsky]

The initial video software doesn't know how to read some simple HD videos format ? (at least .avi is enough for me ...)

Not sure what you're asking, here?

With experience of plenty of other similar types of gadgets, I'd say the PlayBook has the widest range of video format and codec choices I've seen, natively. That it doesn't currently support AC3 / DD or dts audio, is often mistakenly used as a means to suggest it has problems with mkv (or other containers) video compatibility.

[Guimove]

Not sure what you're asking, here?

With experience of plenty of other similar types of gadgets, I'd say the PlayBook has the widest range of video format and codec choices I've seen, natively. That it doesn't currently support AC3 / DD or dts audio, is often mistakenly used as a means to suggest it has problems with mkv (or other containers) video compatibility.

At worst, I want to watch AVI videos on my tablet, but watch MKV videos with the simple player would be cool .

[zeratul65535]

I purchased a PlayBook for the same reasons as you: browsing away from my laptop, and media (music, videos). An important buying factor for me was the fact that I can actually use the PlayBook as a storage device, i.e. I can access it's storage space as and when I please.

I'm leaving for a trip on Friday and right now I'm copying a lot of movies and songs over to the PlayBook for the 10 hour flight. I purchased a Y-audio splitter so both my wife and I can watch something together and have both our headphones plugged in.

I use Kalemsoft as my video player and Neutron as my audio player.

As a portable media and entertainment device, the PlayBook is perfect for me. I have a few family members who use it for the same purpose as well and they're very pleased.

Regarding bb10 on the PlayBook, I don't think that's a concern because the PB is running a bb10-type operating system. It's gesture based and very efficient.

Posted via CB10 on Z10

[Wongsky]

At worst, I want to watch AVI videos on my tablet, but watch MKV videos with the simple player would be cool .

I watch plenty of avis and plenty of mkvs on my PlayBook using the native video player.

In my experience, the only gotcha, is video that has AC3 (or at a push, dts) audio. If that's not a factor, then everything should be cream cheese.

I look at it this way, my Nokia N8s are capable of playing AC3 audio. Yet they are more picky about video codecs than my PlayBooks. With my PlayBooks, I only tend to have issues with any videos that have AC3 audio, on something like my Nokia N8s, they can be much more fussy about the type and characteristics of the video encoding.

[willowbeast]

Fwiw, I bought a 32g pb for 120 used but mint condition. We use it all the time it replaced the laptop in our house.

Posted via CB10

[Guimove]

It's a good point if the player is efficient out-of-the-box.

Now, I will try to test the tablet before buying it .

[Cynycl]

There is no comparisson with the price. Just buy it.