[baldo]

When you are on the road and there is no wifi you connect via a bridge to your BB I assume. Wouldnt that be the same as tethering your BB to a laptop? If so thats a deal killer for me because of the stupid tethering charges Bell has.

How is it for typing email or docs?

Thanks in advance.

[Chrisy]

Bridging your Blackberry to your PlayBook isn't the same as tethering. Bridging Is free.

As for typing on the PlayBook I consider the keyboard to be easy to use, especially since I'm already used to a touch screen keyboard with my Android phone. Nicely spaced and respective. However the PlayBook does not have spell check, auto capitalization or double space for periods (I believe).

[shootsscores]

The PB does indeed have spell check. Auto suggest does exist in word to go. Auto cap works in bbm.

Never listen to fandroids when it comes to the PB.

[Chrisy]

He asked about emails and documents. Not BBM.

[shootsscores]

He asked about emails and documents. Not BBM.

Why don't you head to a forum where you have actual experience with the device being talked about?

[npunk42]

At least inquire, research, and meditate on this matter until Black Friday. Then take the plunge, at discount prices.

[FF22]

When you are on the road and there is no wifi you connect via a bridge to your BB I assume. Wouldnt that be the same as tethering your BB to a laptop? If so thats a deal killer for me because of the stupid tethering charges Bell has.

How is it for typing email or docs?

Thanks in advance.

First, Bridge is automatically on the Playbook. But there is a separate Bridge App you have to install on the phone (mentioned first because of AT&T below)

Bridging is not the same thing as tethering. BUT one carrier in the US, AT&T, has managed to get Rim to produce a special version of the Bridge function (app) which does not allow Bridge Browsing (AT&T treats it as a form of tethering and charges for it). So far no other carrier has gone that route. Bridge works for Browsing (already mentioned) as well as email (data) and just simple things like Calendar, Contacts, Memo (none of those use data). It also has been used in some 3rd party apps but no mention has been made and folks have discovered that bridge-data works in some 3rd party apps (they did not initially work - only after a bridge update).

As you have already seen - opinions vary on how well it works in email and other contexts. Email does have some of the bb phone aspects - it will capitalize "i" and add a PERIOD after a SPACE/SPACE. It can also change "dont" to "don't"

It will underline miss-spellings in email but will not offer any fixes - you have to know the correct word. (it will offer fixes in word-to-go). Some of us find it very difficult to place the cursor to fix typos and some don't seem to mind. I cannot get the cursor where I want it to fix typos. It jumps up a line, back 6 characters or forward 3. So folks wind up erasing an entire word to fix one letter. In email you canNOT pinch/zoom to get a larger target.

In text boxes on web-sites like this (entering a reply in Crackberry), it does not change "i" to "I" and will not change "dont" to "don't" and it does not capitalize a new sentence. But you can pinch zoom to make the text larger to try placing the cursor (still a problem for some of us). In other words it does not do what my bb phone is capable of doing.

Contrary to some popular opinions, it is not a full browser - some sites insist on presenting a mobile view and cannot be changed. Some sites will allow a change. GoogleMaps does not work in the browser so I consider it NOT A FULL BROWSER.

And, you've gotten a taste of replies. Some think the pb is perfect and others less so. That leads of some strong differences of opinion. And OPINION is the applicable word.

If you can find a working one at a store, try it out.

No kindle app (cloud reader with limitations). No skype app.

Great video. No a2dp (wireless stereo).

Poor follow through from Rim on system updates.

edited to add: Maybe I should start a poll on how accurate these particular comments are, particularly as related to the question posed. They have already been the subject of a target shoot and I guess I thought that they were fairly reasonable. So, if you think that these comments are negative, please feel free to fully ignore them. Buy the pb and use it in good health and watch it bring on World Peace and Goodwill to Man (and Woman).

[Mikey_T]

For all intents and purposes bridging is pretty much the same as tethering, except you won't pay tethering charges and you'll gain the added functionality of the bridge email and BBM apps.

Opinion is split on the typing experience. I find the keyboard to be extrememly lacking and difficult to use in most applications due to the lack of proper autocorrect and autopronunciation. As has been mentioned, a few of the apps like the email and BBM (and possibly docs?) will have some built in auto-correcting but by and large it is a weak approximation of a proper phone or tablet keyboard.

However, all that is supposed to change in February, so if you can live with the limitations until then we should receive some much-needed improvements. Native email and PIM will be nice but the keyboard functionality is what I'm anticipating the most.

The good, bad and ugly of the Playbook in its present form is a very polarized topic here. Some will tell you it's terrible and some will tell you it's perfect the way it is. The truth is somewhere in the middle and your mileage may vary. Best bet is to try one out and keep in mind that a major upgrade has been promised (for a while) and is expected in February.

[RCCollins]

Buyer beware!!!!!

The playbook is still very rough around the edges, and no where near as polished as other devices available, lost of missing features, and very little developer support.

[shootsscores]

Not as polished but a true gem in the rough. Diamond to quartz.

I wouldn't really trust F2's evaluation either. He's a well known basher. His post contains accuracies but he also leaves a great deal of information out. More out than in as he always tries to paint the PB in a negative despite there being easy work arounds for many if not most of his complaints. There are testamonials from many posters of them successfully using the PB in business and play. Polls show that a large majority of owners on this site are happy with their PBs. It's serious detractors are few but they do post a lot.

[shootsscores]

Buyer beware!!!!!

The playbook is still very rough around the edges, and no where near as polished as other devices available, lost of missing features, and very little developer support.

Actually, Devcon was very positive re support going forward. The RIM did a very good job there.

And there's flash. If you like sports, it'll make you happy enough to learn your own correct spellings.

[Kitt4]

My family just got 2 playbooks two days ago... I don't have a BB phone and it seems to me this makes it more challenging to use....It is the most beautiful crystal clear player I have ever seen...the volume is excellent. Surprisingly loud and clear. My son has already downloaded various TV show and movies to it. The touch screen works well. The on off button does not. Connections to the internet are very fast. There are very few games...I just went through almost all of the apps ..business, utilities, games etc. this morning and last night. I can't find a calendar that is usable that is either not on line ie Tungle or is easy to read or just not a hassle to use or figure out. There are tons of clock apps, converters, so many calculators, many business apps. But no usable calendar??? wierd... This tablet is the perfect size for reading a book. a bit heavier than the Kobo touch and about the same as the Vox.... BUT now Kobo isn't working...and this is not Blackberry's fault. Ever since Kobo downloaded new software for the Vox..which I tried for a week when it came out...and it wasn't a very good tablet..but an amazing crystal clear reader..Kobo has therefore had many many issues.
On the PB I haven't been able to figure out how to transfer epub free library files (probably because they are (DRM?) to my Playbook and open them. I wasn't sure if you were suppposed to put Calibre on the computer or the Playbook. & evey book I did manage to download wouldn't open. SIGH...
If you have a web-based email program you would be okay...we don't..
We initially had trouble sinking the Playbook to our computer. The guy on the playbook phone help line...never told us to make sure that we had turned off the wi-fi, BTW also make sure its fully charged and I believe he also said make sure the PB is turned off, if you're sinking to the computer.
If the playbook was android...we would keep them for sure...we have 2 of them now....???? Probably will return one of them...the other who knows???? If I could read books I would keep one for sure...but without having Kobo to try it on???..we have a week and a half to decide before it has to be returned. I have an I pod touch...& thought about an IPad..but its so big... I am very undecided...about it....Anyway those are my thoughts as a new PB customer...Good and bad....
BTW I believe I read that BEST BUY and some Walmarts are selling them for less already....between $249 and $299 for the 16g. NOt sure if that is at the present time or last month, ...also I've been reading several US websites and Walmart for instance has added a new bundles worth $150.00 to their PB 16 g online.

[servingwater]

Not as polished but a true gem in the rough. Diamond to quartz.

I wouldn't really trust F2's evaluation either. He's a well known basher. His post contains accuracies but he also leaves a great deal of information out. More out than in as he always tries to paint the PB in a negative despite there being easy work arounds for many if not most of his complaints. There are testamonials from many posters of them successfully using the PB in business and play. Polls show that a large majority of owners on this site are happy with their PBs. It's serious detractors are few but they do post a lot.

So giving information on both the shortcomings and positives about the playbook is now considered "bashing"?
Ridiculous! I suggest the OP, if he is to ignore anybody it should be fanboys like yourself.
Like another poster said in this thread the playbook is neither as horrible as suggested by some nor is it as perfect as other would like you to believe.
It's a device with great potential however to many it's incomplete and there are various little or bigger issues with it.

[shootsscores]

So giving information on both the shortcomings and positives about the playbook is now considered "bashing"?
Ridiculous! I suggest the OP, if he is to ignore anybody it should be fanboys like yourself.
Like another poster said in this thread the playbook is neither as horrible as suggested by some nor is it as perfect as other would like you to believe.
It's a device with great potential however to many it's incomplete and there are various little or bigger issues with it.

The person in question is a well known basher. When I do DD I like to understand the source of the information I peruse.

[kill_9]

Actually, Devcon was very positive re support going forward. The RIM did a very good job there.

And there's flash.

And yet we heard nothing to substantiate the co-CEOs proclamation that would "leapfrog the competition." Unless "leapfrog the competition" was coded words for "release the next update during a leap year." Oh, Adobe Flash will not be supported as the transition to HTML5 gains traction; actually a good thing in the long term but for now I am happy with the Adobe Flash capability of the tablet; HTML5 is supposed to deliver an even better experience across multiple platforms including the BlackBerry PlayBook. That is a net positive in my opinion.

How in the name of all that is sacred can you say, with a straight face, "DevCon was very positive?" Seriously, it was a waste of time better spent on a conference call instead of a gathering in San Francisco, California. For all the drama and lack of substance DevCon could have been held at Research In Motion's headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario. If 2012 is not the turnaround year for this company, with absolutely no missed deadlines and no failures or screw-ups, maybe just maybe there is a future for Research In Motion.

[pjcloninger]

The PB does indeed have spell check. Auto suggest does exist in word to go. Auto cap works in bbm.

Never listen to fandroids when it comes to the PB.

You offer absolutely nothing worthwhile in this thread. Thank you for being irrelevant.

Also, to the OP, I have really enjoyed my PB since getting it Oct. Tying does have its limitations. Typing this reply now is much harder than it would be on my phone.

I would suggest using one yourself and try typing in different applications/situations.

[shootsscores]

And yet we heard nothing to substantiate the co-CEOs proclamation that would "leapfrog the competition." Unless "leapfrog the competition" was coded words for "release the next update during a leap year." Oh, Adobe Flash will not be supported as the transition to HTML5 gains traction; actually a good thing in the long term but for now I am happy with the Adobe Flash capability of the tablet; HTML5 is supposed to deliver an even better experience across multiple platforms including the BlackBerry PlayBook. That is a net positive in my opinion.

How in the name of all that is sacred can you say, with a straight face, "DevCon was very positive?" Seriously, it was a waste of time better spent on a conference call instead of a gathering in San Francisco, California. For all the drama and lack of substance DevCon could have been held at Research In Motion's headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario. If 2012 is not the turnaround year for this company, with absolutely no missed deadlines and no failures or screw-ups, maybe just maybe there is a future for Research In Motion.

The conference was for developers hence the name "Devcon". I watched the opening session and there was a lot of interesting developer things presented so in that sense the event lived up to its billing. Some are upset that an update wasn't released when, in fact, a beta for developers was released and is available to the interested public as well. RIM didn't hit a home run but did make it safely to base and advanced the runners.

I don't care how content gets delivered. There's a lot of content delivered in flash but if it was available in another form that I can use then great. Bring it on. What flash does show is the robustness of the PB OS which can handle with ease a process like flash that was developed for desk tops.

[aha]

On the PB I haven't been able to figure out how to transfer epub free library files (probably because they are (DRM?) to my Playbook and open them. I wasn't sure if you were suppposed to put Calibre on the computer or the Playbook. & evey book I did manage to download wouldn't open. SIGH...

I transfer books to PB directly through USB. When you connect PB to your PC, the PC recognize it as a flash drive. You can move you files to it just like copying files between two hard drive.

We initially had trouble sinking the Playbook to our computer. The guy on the playbook phone help line...never told us to make sure that we had turned off the wi-fi, BTW also make sure its fully charged and I believe he also said make sure the PB is turned off, if you're sinking to the computer.

Again, through USB, but you should have blackberry desktop manager installed and use it to sync your PB. You don't need to turn off wifi and PB doesn't have to be fully charged (the support asked that just to make sure your PB still have enough battery left), and definitely, don't turn off PB.

These questions are pretty basic, you just need to pass the initial learning curve and then you will enjoy it much better. Crackberry forums are perfect places to get answers, there are a few 101 types of articles on the forum, you should be able to search them out.

[shootsscores]

You offer absolutely nothing worthwhile in this thread. Thank you for being irrelevant.

Also, to the OP, I have really enjoyed my PB since getting it Oct. Tying does have its limitations. Typing this reply now is much harder than it would be on my phone.

I would suggest using one yourself and try typing in different applications/situations.

I maintain that facts have worth. What I wrote was factual. Those features do exist and the post corrected a fandroid who does not own a PB.

[AggreX]

I prefer qwerty keyboards but I have no complaints about typing on the PB. Most touchscreen devices have some "quirks" built in that usually goes away with practice/useage. Its a first generation tablet that should improve over time just like any other device. Current pricing makes it a lot easier for taking one home and adapting to its "quirks". At this pricepoint I think its got all the other tablets beat as is and should be much improved when the OS2 becomes available. As long as you don't expect any tablet to fully replace your laptop/pc you should be fine with your PB.

[symphara]

When you are on the road and there is no wifi you connect via a bridge to your BB I assume. Wouldnt that be the same as tethering your BB to a laptop? If so thats a deal killer for me because of the stupid tethering charges Bell has.

How is it for typing email or docs?

Thanks in advance.

I live in the UK so I don't know about tethering charges, but I'll say that the bridge is much better than WiFi tethering. It's very easy to use (it bridges automatically as long as you have Bluetooth on), which makes it very convenient. Then you have access to the phone's email, calendar, bbm, through nice apps, which is useful and very slick. While using the bridge email - which effectively sends email from the phone - you can attach files from the tablet, which again is a very nice feature.

There's really nothing comparable to the BB bridge out there.

I personally find it better for typing compared to the iPad - better keyboard and better size. The "word"-like app offers spellcheck with suggestions, the browser will only underline misspelt words. This is more than adequate for me, but people who are spelling-challenged have a problem with it.

The browser has a couple of very strong points: Flash support and generally showing desktop (i.e. full) version of sites. It also reloads less when switching tabs, compared to the iPad. Unfortunately can also be quite slow and definitely less stable.

You have direct file access to it. It even has a Windows-compatible file server (samba), accessible through WiFi even when the tablet is sleeping. These are bread-and-butter features in my opinion. The iPad does't have them.

Coupled with a decent music player and ok video player, given the good resolution screen, makes it a nice multimedia platform. It also records good HD video.

The weakest part of the Playbook is the poor availability of apps. Make sure there's nothing you really need that it doesn't have. Don't rely on promises, it's a niche platform and will lag behind the mainstream.

[FF22]

So giving information on both the shortcomings and positives about the playbook is now considered "bashing"?
Ridiculous! I suggest the OP, if he is to ignore anybody it should be fanboys like yourself.
Like another poster said in this thread the playbook is neither as horrible as suggested by some nor is it as perfect as other would like you to believe.
It's a device with great potential however to many it's incomplete and there are various little or bigger issues with it.

I am considering doing a poll on MY reviews. When we are asked directly if some person should buy the pb, I obviously think that I do a reasonable review.

Obviously, no tool is perfect. But reviews that clearly ignore the faults of both the device and the company that "backs them up" are not fair to those doing "DD" which is, I believe, "due diligence." Trying to bury reviews which point out faults or drive those reviews to the bottom of the threads does a disservice to forum users.

Eventually, only those who have not returned their pb's due to faults will be left here answering questions with glowing puffery. I have and use my pb daily. I have said many times I like certain aspects but boy is it lacking for my purposes in other areas. Rim has not announced what, if any cures are in the offing come Feb and even that date is "EXPECTED" but no definite. Yes, I realize that they may run into additional obstacles so that no deadline has been announced but then fanboys should not be pointing at anything happening by Feb and certainly no indicate that features will be there.

As another poster in this thread has said - it does not do some of what they wanted. No Calendar and they can't use webmail. That was a pretty honest assessment. Folks need to read those reviews.

I generally stay out of the "I love my pb" "my pb is perfect" etc type threads. Those folks can swell with pride and I don't care. But when someone asks questions about the pb, those threads should contain a variety of opinions, including negative opinions. And when someone posts a complaint, then the fanboys immediately call them a troll. Fanboys should stay out of negative threads if they find them irritatings. Folks with problems has a right to state them.

Oh, boy..... much too long.

Have a good day.

[shootsscores]

Yep. Too long. Just do your due diligence and caveat emptor.

BTW, I don't think that there are any "The PB is perfect" threads though there are plenty of the PB is excellent threads. Don't let the perfect stand in the way of the excellent. Multiple polls have shown that a large majority of PB owners rate the PB to be a good to excellent device.

[aha]

That must have been typed in on a BB or a PB from portrait mode

[AggreX]

I am considering doing a poll on MY reviews.

Another poll? Your posts are very informative to read and maybe they deserve a sticky while we wait for "shock+awe" unexpectedly sometime in Feb '12