1. poldenais's Avatar
    Hi all,
    New to the forum. Need some opinions quickly.

    Was in currys last night and the Playbook 64GB is sitting away on its own shelf now going for 179 Euro. Ive been reading up on them the last few days and think theyre cool but basically the salesman wouldnt let me buy it until they got some more nexus 7 stock in today. The 32GB Nexus 7 is 70 euro more at 249 Euro. He thinks they are way better and said dont be rash. I had my mind made up for the playbook totally but im worried it will become obsolete.

    Also is the nexus battery away better than the playbook as thats important to me?

    I know on a blackberry forum, everyone will say Playbook but i would like some honest opinions please. I was travelling tomorrow and wanted one for my flight I do think at 249 thats alot for a small tablet.

    Thanks,
    12-07-12 03:37 AM
  2. bitek's Avatar
    here is my review

    http://forums.crackberry.com/showthread.php?t=755488

    Nexus 7 battery is better but not that much better to make huge difference. At the end I decided to stay with Blackberry Playbook.

    1. because I own bb phone and bridge function is awesome (having 24/7 connection to the internet through bluetooth is priceless. I am planning to get bb10 which is lte so my playbook will have lte connection as well) 2. because I dislike control bar on android. I just feel that it takes too much space on small 7" inch screen. 3. I really do not use netflix, skype etc. so I do not miss them. 4. I had issues with 4.2.1 os 5. no flash support on N7 is annoying

    $70 Euro is a big difference. buy playbook.


    Sent from Blackberry Playbook using TapaTalk 2
    Last edited by bitek; 12-07-12 at 04:20 AM.
    robkd and poldenais like this.
    12-07-12 04:06 AM
  3. poldenais's Avatar
    Thanks bitek, In you review you mention the battery. Can I ask how much better is the nexus battery over the playbook?
    12-07-12 04:26 AM
  4. bitek's Avatar
    to be honest I never put them side by side amd let them discharge until one goes dead but both pretty much will last for a day of work.nexus 7 battery is heavily affected by widgets, live wallpapers etc. per manufacturer nexus is good for 10 hrs and playbook 7hrs. in practice this difference does not seem to be that much.

    Sent from Blackberry Playbook using TapaTalk 2
    12-07-12 04:34 AM
  5. poldenais's Avatar
    Thanks I would like the tablet for browsing web, facebook, Twitter. Reading Ebooks and magazines and not too many games to be honest..just a few. I will watch some movies on it when travelling.
    12-07-12 04:54 AM
  6. ynomrah's Avatar
    I have a nexus 7. I have a playbook. To make a long story short, I wildly prefer the nexus 7 over the playbook. But I would recommend going into a retailer though and trying them out to see which one will truly be best for your needs. Or reading one of the many reviews out there on the net (preferably somewhere without a bias towards one product).

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2
    joseanmx likes this.
    12-07-12 05:11 AM
  7. frankz12's Avatar
    go for nexus 7.
    joseanmx likes this.
    12-07-12 05:19 AM
  8. mikeo007's Avatar
    Thanks I would like the tablet for browsing web, facebook, Twitter. Reading Ebooks and magazines and not too many games to be honest..just a few. I will watch some movies on it when travelling.
    You're going to get widely differing views about web browsing on the Playbook from these forums. In my experience, browsing on the playbook is dismal. The browser is very laggy, has a major "checker boarding" problem and in general is just not a good experience. For me, some important websites also do not even work properly.

    You'll hear people say "but it's got flash, so it's the best". Then you'll hear other people say "it's laggy because of flash, just turn off flash". Really, I think you should find a display model Playbook and try out the web browser. If it's tolerable for you, then you'll probably be fine with a Playbook. Otherwise, stay away.
    joseanmx likes this.
    12-07-12 06:49 AM
  9. backfire101's Avatar
    If you travel a lot I would go for the Blackberry, the build quality is better then the Nexus. Compare 32GB with 64GB, you can store videos without worrieng to get shortage in space.
    12-07-12 07:17 AM
  10. bitek's Avatar
    It is true Nexus is faster than playbook and this includes internet browsing. There are good apps to read books, watch movies, magazines etc.
    Having said that i still prefer playbook better for following reasons

    1. Playbook browser is slower but not that much slower. This is not like Chrome loads up a page say in 30 seconds and it takes playbook 2 minutes to do the same. It is more 30 seconds N7 and 40 seconds playbook or something like that.

    2. No matter what N7 owner say Flash as of today is still important with tons of websites still supporting it. So really if you want to have full not compromised experience playbook is the way to go. Even if it is slower. This might be not the case two years from now but by that time we might have Google Nexus 7 3rd generation.

    3. I prefer convenience of having playbook ALWAYS connected to the internet with no extra steps. As long as i have data plan on my phone and bridge on i am always good to go. With Nexus 7 this i can only get if i have N7 3G which is more expensive in both price and data plan.

    4. No matter what N7 owner say having that control bar on Android always there sucks on small 7" screen. Everything needs to be smaller because of that. Nexus 7 screen is beautiful to look i think 1280x800 on really less than 7" is just too small for my taste.

    5. Playbook has good apps for facebook, twitter (paid). free android based ones you can sideload.The thing is that at the end you really do not need the apps as you can access mobile twitter,facebook,pinterst,linked in etc through browser and they all look great. so not huge reason to have those apps in the first place. there are excellent apps on playbook to buy and read magazines. kindle can be sideloaded. good pdf viewers can be sideloaded. some are available in app store. There are good apps to read books too. There is excellent app for playbook to watch movies called Kalemsoft. It costs money but it can do what twenty free android movie player apps can do in one package. Good android video players are paid too anyways.

    6. if you enjoy playing games from time to time you will enjoy full screen game on playbook. Without control bar like on N7. I do not get it why can Google come out with something more unique.

    The truth is this. Android is great because of phones. Not tablets. The phones bring apps not tablets. Most of apps are not HD. They are done for phones in mind. All apps for playbook are for playbook. (native ones) so same app will look better on playbook.

    Nexus 7 is really good tablet. The best android tablet but N7 is not perfect. So check out both and see which one you like better. if you are planing bb10 than playbook hands down is better solution if you are going or own android phone than n7 might be better solution for you.
    Last edited by bitek; 12-07-12 at 08:39 AM.
    12-07-12 08:09 AM
  11. Tre Lawrence's Avatar
    12-07-12 09:42 AM
  12. Gooseberry Falls's Avatar
    It is true Nexus is faster than playbook and this includes internet browsing. There are good apps to read books, watch movies, magazines etc.
    Having said that i still prefer playbook better for following reasons

    1. Playbook browser is slower but not that much slower. This is not like Chrome loads up a page say in 30 seconds and it takes playbook 2 minutes to do the same. It is more 30 seconds N7 and 40 seconds playbook or something like that.

    2. No matter what N7 owner say Flash as of today is still important with tons of websites still supporting it. So really if you want to have full not compromised experience playbook is the way to go. Even if it is slower. This might be not the case two years from now but by that time we might have Google Nexus 7 3rd generation.

    3. I prefer convenience of having playbook ALWAYS connected to the internet with no extra steps. As long as i have data plan on my phone and bridge on i am always good to go. With Nexus 7 this i can only get if i have N7 3G which is more expensive in both price and data plan.

    4. No matter what N7 owner say having that control bar on Android always there sucks on small 7" screen. Everything needs to be smaller because of that. Nexus 7 screen is beautiful to look i think 1280x800 on really less than 7" is just too small for my taste.

    5. Playbook has good apps for facebook, twitter (paid). free android based ones you can sideload.The thing is that at the end you really do not need the apps as you can access mobile twitter,facebook,pinterst,linked in etc through browser and they all look great. so not huge reason to have those apps in the first place. there are excellent apps on playbook to buy and read magazines. kindle can be sideloaded. good pdf viewers can be sideloaded. some are available in app store. There are good apps to read books too. There is excellent app for playbook to watch movies called Kalemsoft. It costs money but it can do what twenty free android movie player apps can do in one package. Good android video players are paid too anyways.

    6. if you enjoy playing games from time to time you will enjoy full screen game on playbook. Without control bar like on N7. I do not get it why can Google come out with something more unique.

    The truth is this. Android is great because of phones. Not tablets. The phones bring apps not tablets. Most of apps are not HD. They are done for phones in mind. All apps for playbook are for playbook. (native ones) so same app will look better on playbook.

    Nexus 7 is really good tablet. The best android tablet but N7 is not perfect. So check out both and see which one you like better. if you are planing bb10 than playbook hands down is better solution if you are going or own android phone than n7 might be better solution for you.
    Actually Flash works well on Jelly Bean devices but it must be sideloaded because it was pulled from Play Store. You also can't use Chrome but there are plenty of other flash browsers (Boat, Puffin, Firefox beta).
    Seven Google Nexus 7 tips - Tips - Tablets - CNET Asia
    12-07-12 09:44 AM
  13. kretch's Avatar
    I just happen to have 2 Playbooks a rooted then un-rooted Kindle Fire and a rooted Nexus 7.

    The kid in me loves the nexus 7 it has so many games and widgets, voice search is very cool as well as the live wallpapers.

    The Kindle Fire that I un-rooted is great for a beginner because it just works out of the box. (Giving it to an 11 year old I know for x-mas)

    The PlayBook is much like a little home PC in the way that it displays web content, I hate mobile web pages on the Nexus 7 and the Kindle.
    The finger gesture's on the playbook is just sooooo much better than always having to push a button to wake the device up to go to home screens. How long will that button last???
    I also hate the control bar on Android and the small desktop that creates.
    The biggest negative about the fire and the nexus is the lack of two forward firing speakers. The sound that comes out of the playbook when playing games like asphalt 6 is just awesome and unforegetable
    The nexus does have a nice usb port, seems deeper and less wiggle but I love the fact that the PlayBook has the 3 pin charging port so I almost never use the usb anymore.
    The battery on my Playbook doing the same type of things seems to last a little longer because all of those widgets and live wallpapers that hog the battery on the nexus.
    The Playbook is heavy compared to the nexus and it feels like you could break it in half with little trouble.

    I'm keeping my PlayBook but I will always have some kind of used cheap rooted android device so I can get the free games and apps that I have been converting over to use on my Playbook.

    .
    bitek likes this.
    12-07-12 10:36 AM
  14. Tre Lawrence's Avatar
    ^^^ widgets and live wallpapers are optional on the Nexus, right?
    12-07-12 10:48 AM
  15. bitek's Avatar
    Actually Flash works well on Jelly Bean devices but it must be sideloaded because it was pulled from Play Store. You also can't use Chrome but there are plenty of other flash browsers (Boat, Puffin, Firefox beta).
    Seven Google Nexus 7 tips - Tips - Tablets - CNET Asia
    no it does not. flash hanged nexus 7 that i had many times. it did not work well at all.

    ^^^ widgets and live wallpapers are optional on the Nexus, right?
    yes they are optional.
    12-07-12 11:05 AM
  16. poldenais's Avatar
    Good stuff, thanks everyone for the advice, I went down with one minute left in opening and just decided to go with the Playbook. My head was telling me the Nexus but I just wanted to go with the PLaybook for some reason. Im sure both are good options.
    Shadowyugi likes this.
    12-07-12 03:47 PM
  17. mikeo007's Avatar
    Good stuff, thanks everyone for the advice, I went down with one minute left in opening and just decided to go with the Playbook. My head was telling me the Nexus but I just wanted to go with the PLaybook for some reason. Im sure both are good options.
    Enjoy it. First thing you should do is download the google chrome extension onto your pc so you can start side loading android apps.
    joseanmx likes this.
    12-07-12 03:52 PM
  18. xKrNMBoYx's Avatar
    Playbook. Good thing about Android is the ability to use microsd. Nexus 7 cant so you would be stuck with only 32gb.

    If you're going to be doing major gaming then you have no choice but to get the Nexus 7. But if gaming isnt a priority Playbook is a bit better.

    Now if there was a 7" version of a transformer/prime then that may be better then the playbook.
    12-07-12 04:20 PM
  19. jpash549's Avatar
    Congratulations on a good choice. The Nexus7 is a good machine and the latest Android system works well but the Playbook has advantages in some areas such as the HDMI out, the magnetic charging port easily accessible with the rapid chargers ( read the manual and be careful how you plug in the micro USB charger), the two cameras and a way of operating you are going to love. Learn the swipes and what you can get from the gear icon.
    The tutorials under Help and Discover Now! 2.0 may amuse and inform you on your trip.
    12-07-12 04:21 PM
  20. poldenais's Avatar
    Thanks, Im just updating the OS now,,,,now how to side load. Dont have much time. have it get it ready for a flight.
    12-07-12 05:06 PM
  21. bitek's Avatar
    Thanks, Im just updating the OS now,,,,now how to side load. Dont have much time. have it get it ready for a flight.
    1. download and install ddpb installer
    2. set your playbook in "developer mode" under security settings and set password
    3. connect playbook to pc
    4. load ddpb installer
    5. refresh ip address through ddpb installer
    6. enter "developer mode" password
    7. load bar files
    8. wait few minutes
    9. turn off "developer mode"
    10. enjoy it

    excellent source of bar files not available in app store

    http://goodereader.com/apps/playbook...-android-apps/

    place to convert apk to bar files if you cannot find already converted bar

    http://apk2bar.unker.net/

    I just successfully converted latest versions of pinterest and tumblr.

    Playbook android player is really cool idea. Apps do not run as fast as on actual android tablet but I think that if new playbook comes out with updated specs say quad core cpu android based apps will be just flying on playbook.



    Sent from Blackberry Playbook using TapaTalk 2
    12-08-12 07:46 AM
  22. kbz1960's Avatar
    FYI flash isn't the slow down on the pb browser java script is.
    bitek likes this.
    12-08-12 08:03 AM
  23. grover5's Avatar
    Enjoy it. First thing you should do is download the google chrome extension onto your pc so you can start side loading android apps.
    Don't bother with this advice OP. Based on what you stated your needs from a tablet were...you're more than good to go with the Playbook strictly native. That's how I use it and it works like a champ.
    12-08-12 08:31 AM
  24. mikeo007's Avatar
    Don't bother with this advice OP. Based on what you stated your needs from a tablet were...you're more than good to go with the Playbook strictly native. That's how I use it and it works like a champ.
    Ah, didn't realize your opinion was more valid than others. Thanks for clearing that up.

    Sounds like the OP preferred the suggestion to side load apps though.
    RubberChicken76 and joseanmx like this.
    12-08-12 08:41 AM
  25. greenberry666's Avatar
    I was faced with the same decision a few months back and I went with the Playbook purely because I prefer the Operating System and User Interface. I don't regret it at all. I want to like Android because I'd like all those apps but there is something clunky about it. Once I got into the Playbook gestures I feel like throwing my Android phone at the wall when negotiating the UI.
    bitek likes this.
    12-08-12 09:04 AM
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