[wylderubicon]

Don't stone me, but I ditched the blackberry a few months ago in favor for the iphone4S. but this is not about that. I'm in the market for a tablet type of device. Ideally I would like to have the iPad2 since I could pair it up with my phone, but realistically, I dont think its worth (to me) the $500 or so they are asking for. It would be for personal use to mindlessly browse the web, look at photos, keep it in the kitchen for recipes, and email. I'm looking at the playbook because of its rather low price but I'm also looking at the Kindle-fire or Android tablets. I'm gonna try to get some feedback there too and see what fits best for me. Perhaps you can answer some questions for me. I tried going through some of the post here, but its hard to really get a clear answer since there seems to be more focus on bashing competitors than its own respective device. So if we can let this thread not turn into that, I have a few questions.

1) BBM. Since switching to iOS, I've been in the dark here. most of my contacts can be reach via text, but my father who lives overseas still has a BB. I use Whatsapp to communicate with him, but its not the same. Does the playbook come with its own PIN?

2) Battery life. Can it get through the day with a single charge? (about 5 hours of use)

3) Email. I understand that once the new OS arrives I should be able to use the device for emails. Will it work the same way emails work on Blackberries? good notification? option to delete from device or server? and same great appearance?

4) Bridge-ing. this seems to be a hot topic with a very exciting future, but I'm afraid to say that I don't clearly understand what it does. Will this feature only work if I have a blackberry? or will it work with my iPhone?

5) Web Browsing. This was a huge let down when BB9650-OS6 arrived and just as big of a let down with BB9930. So much promise and hype, and was really disappointed each time. So please, honestly, on wifi, will it perform the same as an average PC laptop?

6) I believe the biggest PB is 64GB. I think I might use it as a back up device for my laptop, Any chance a bigger, perhaps 128GB or bigger might come out in the future? can you set up the PB as a network device via wifi? So I can transfer data from my PC with a drag and drop?

7) any freeze ups? and if so how long is the reboot process?

8) I'm sure I will hear lots of praises so lets hear them, but along with that, any honest gripes about the device? Don't sell me on the device, educate me.

Thanks!

[pmccartney]

1) BBM. Since switching to iOS, I've been in the dark here. most of my contacts can be reach via text, but my father who lives overseas still has a BB. I use Whatsapp to communicate with him, but its not the same. Does the playbook come with its own PIN?
It has a pin but no BBM yet. Reports/rumours say that will come later.

2) Battery life. Can it get through the day with a single charge? (about 5 hours of use)
No problem

3) Email. I understand that once the new OS arrives I should be able to use the device for emails. Will it work the same way emails work on Blackberries? good notification? option to delete from device or server? and same great appearance?
Yes

4) Bridge-ing. this seems to be a hot topic with a very exciting future, but I'm afraid to say that I don't clearly understand what it does. Will this feature only work if I have a blackberry? or will it work with my iPhone?
Only with a BB phone

5) Web Browsing. This was a huge let down when BB9650-OS6 arrived and just as big of a let down with BB9930. So much promise and hype, and was really disappointed each time. So please, honestly, on wifi, will it perform the same as an average PC laptop?
It's not as quick as the browser on a newer PC (what tablet is) but it's fast and can open virtually any website with any content.

6) I believe the biggest PB is 64GB. I think I might use it as a back up device for my laptop, Any chance a bigger, perhaps 128GB or bigger might come out in the future? can you set up the PB as a network device via wifi? So I can transfer data from my PC with a drag and drop?
I have not heard any word/rumours of anything larger than the 64GB but wouldnt rule it out. Anything is possible.
There are ways to transfer files back and forth, wirelessly, with a PC

7) any freeze ups? and if so how long is the reboot process?
I have not had freeze up problems. Some have. I regularly keep memory clean.
Mine will cold boot in 1min 30 seconds.

8) I'm sure I will hear lots of praises so lets hear them, but along with that, any honest gripes about the device? Don't sell me on the device, educate me.
Only gripes I have are the missing typing/spelling features (coming in OS2) and of course a couple popular apps available for all other platforms (also hopefully coming soon). I have a BB phone so have always bridge for PIM. If you do not then you may be disappointed not having native PIM on the PB but only for a couple more weeks at the most

Cheers.

[wayneh71]

I've only had it a couple of days but I will try and answer honestly without any android bias

1) Unless bridged with a BB phone there is no BB messenger that I can see on the PB, and I haven't seen whatsapp in the app market.

2) Battery life. Yes it will last 5 hours of use in a day but probably not the 10 hours I've seen claimed.

3) Don't know, not sure if anyone will be able to answer this as OS 2 isn't out yet.

4) Bridgeing. I don't have a BB phone but there is one in my household and as far as I can see it means you can get BBM and the internet on your PB when bridged. I can tether it to my android phone by using the wi-fi hotspot function on my phone so can still get the internet when away from a wifi area using my phones mobile broadband connection.

5) Web Browsing. This is the one thing I have found that exceeds any android phone/tablet or netbook I have owned/tried. Its very very good.

6) Dont know. I think files can be transferred via wifi but haven't yet tried it.

7) Not had any freezes yet.

8) I find it hard to recommend it in its current form for what I wanted out of a tablet. I wanted something that was good for browsing and had flash for streaming sports and it excels at this. I also wanted something for watching movies and found that a lot of my films have no audio because the playbook doesn't play the ac3 sound codec (dolby I think) and also discovered it wont recognise any external HDD or usb pen drives. Personally I'd hang fire for a couple of weeks and see what issues os 2 resolves.

[niclem]

I won't repeat the answers the other people already gave but I will give my 2 cents. Currently I have an imac computer which I love and then a bb bold and a pb I wish I had all mac products but I'm having issues with the idea of the iphone (I prefer an actual keyboard vs the touchscreen and I do like the simipicity of the bb). I would have an ipad if it wasn't for the price... when the pb were on for 200 CAD it was a no brainer. My issues with the pb are the following
1. No flash on the outward facing camera.
2. Spellcheck doesn't work
3. Autocorrect only works in a few programs. (i for I im for I'm etc) its a lazy thing on my part but autocorrect does save a ton of time and still allows you to look put together in your sentences.
4. I wish the sending features on the bb were available on the pb (example being able to be scrolling through pictures and click send to: facebook, bbm contact, email, etc)
5. I bought a new d link router, just a cheapy and my pb won't connect to it I've tried everything under the sun and with major research have learned this is on ongoing issue.
6. My latest beef is that when you bridge to your bb you can access all files on you bb from your pb but not all your pb files from your bb. My logic is that you should be able to access files both ways!
I think that's it... if I think of anything else I'll add! I have high hopes for the 2.0 release this month I hope it fixes some of the small details that I beleive were just missed in the 1.0 because they were rushing the release or something (spell check etc)

[DenimAndLeather]

I have an Ipad 2, Galaxy Tab (the original 7" one) and a 64GB playbook. I just got a Bold 9900 last Friday and I love it. I enjoy using all 4 devices.

Since you already have the iphone if I were you I would go with a 7" android tablet and wait longer to get a playbook. I enjoy using the playbook and love the fact it integrates with my 9900 but its still needs work in many respects compared to the 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab. A good android tablet gives you access to Google Navigation, the Amazon Kindle App and performs well as an ereader and also has plenty of well-known apps available. Also the ability to customize the Android interface to your liking cannot be underestimated.

For a serious technoholic like me, the ideal situation is to have access to all three platforms --- Blackberry for rock-solid communication management using the 9900 phone, Google/Android for their apps and cloud services Docs/Calendar/Gmail etc and iOS for their well-stocked App Store (I'm not too fond of the interface on iOS I think its too restrictive and bland).

Everyone agrees that the Playbook is hurting in the apps department compared to iOS and Android. We will see if OS2 can fix that issue with the android player. But one thing I noticed is although I love the Playbook QNX OS, its nice screen and powerful speakers, it is also heavier, thicker and wider than my Tab.

Since you arent likely to get a blackberry phone anytime soon the playbook wont be as magical for you as it is for BlackBerry owners that can bridge, have remote control and push content to its beautiful 7" screen.

just my 2 cents and trying to be honest from my personal perspective.

[bobauckland]

Don't stone me, but I ditched the blackberry a few months ago in favor for the iphone4S. but this is not about that. I'm in the market for a tablet type of device. Ideally I would like to have the iPad2 since I could pair it up with my phone, but realistically, I dont think its worth (to me) the $500 or so they are asking for. It would be for personal use to mindlessly browse the web, look at photos, keep it in the kitchen for recipes, and email. I'm looking at the playbook because of its rather low price but I'm also looking at the Kindle-fire or Android tablets. I'm gonna try to get some feedback there too and see what fits best for me. Perhaps you can answer some questions for me. I tried going through some of the post here, but its hard to really get a clear answer since there seems to be more focus on bashing competitors than its own respective device. So if we can let this thread not turn into that, I have a few questions.

1) BBM. Since switching to iOS, I've been in the dark here. most of my contacts can be reach via text, but my father who lives overseas still has a BB. I use Whatsapp to communicate with him, but its not the same. Does the playbook come with its own PIN?

Nope

2) Battery life. Can it get through the day with a single charge? (about 5 hours of use)

Fantastic battery life

3) Email. I understand that once the new OS arrives I should be able to use the device for emails. Will it work the same way emails work on Blackberries? good notification? option to delete from device or server? and same great appearance?

At the moment completely dependent on bridging for proper email. Without a BlackBerry you're hoping for the best with OS2. Hoping for the best doesn't work out so well with RIM, you never know what you will get. LED notifier is on the device, as yet it can't be used as it can on the BlackBerry phones. All in all, as an email device in its current state without a BB phone, its not at all ideal. And if you're getting one and hoping for the best with OS2 thats a huge huge gamble. One many on this forum are paying the price for.

4) Bridge-ing. this seems to be a hot topic with a very exciting future, but I'm afraid to say that I don't clearly understand what it does. Will this feature only work if I have a blackberry? or will it work with my iPhone?

BlackBerry only

5) Web Browsing. This was a huge let down when BB9650-OS6 arrived and just as big of a let down with BB9930. So much promise and hype, and was really disappointed each time. So please, honestly, on wifi, will it perform the same as an average PC laptop?

Best browsing experience on a tablet bar none. Complete web, with Flash and everything, no other tablet touches it at the moment

6) I believe the biggest PB is 64GB. I think I might use it as a back up device for my laptop, Any chance a bigger, perhaps 128GB or bigger might come out in the future? can you set up the PB as a network device via wifi? So I can transfer data from my PC with a drag and drop?

Biggest is 64GB at the moment. Anyones guess what may or may not happen in the future. I transfer my data via cable, unsure about wifi data transfers, I think it can be done over bluetooth but its very very very slow.

7) any freeze ups? and if so how long is the reboot process?

Seems very dependable to me, reboot process takes hardly any time, not an issue at all.

8) I'm sure I will hear lots of praises so lets hear them, but along with that, any honest gripes about the device? Don't sell me on the device, educate me.

Its a fantastically made device. However you're dependent on promises for a lot of functionality that should be on it but isn't. Universal spell check for one.
Its unbelievable that a Tablet with 2 cameras on it doesn't have a proper multi system chat application and theres no reason to believe there will be one in the near future. This renders the cameras useless for a lot of users. Its stunningly incompetent.
Unless you're very committed to the BlackBerry ecosystem Id stay clear unfortunately. I wouldn't trade it in for any other tablet but Ive got a BlackBerry phone as well. And I still have to use my laptop or my wifes Android for Skype to family around the globe, and the bottom line is, in this day and age, thats just unacceptable and yet theres no reason to believe it will change in the near future. Course thats my view. But in your situation I can see you growing rapidly frustrated with the PlayBook as it is

Thanks!

Answers above in Bold (No pun intended)

[pmccartney]

Answers above in Bold (No pun intended)

Regarding question 1: The PB has a PIN. Settings - About - Hardware.

[anthogag]

Yes, get the pb. The pb can use your 4S wifi hotspot feature

Everything you want to do will work great with the pb.

The pb is a 'solid' experience...it doesn't freeze-up...the odd app can crash but the 'kernel is eternal'

[bobauckland]

Regarding question 1: The PB has a PIN. Settings - About - Hardware.

You're absolutely right. My mistake. It does have a PIN. OPs question was whether it has BBM. Despite having a PIN theres no native BBM. Without a BlackBerry phone to pair to I don't think BBM is an option. Correct me if Im wrong.

[kjm2010]

4) Bridging:
Not sure you got an explanation of its purpose. if you had a bb phone, bridging allows you to use the phone's data plan/cellular radio for internet connection. it does this via blue tooth between the phone and tablet.

Even with some of the short comings mentioned, it is absolutely the best interface for browsing and multitasking on the market.

I recommend you find one to test drive, you'll be hooked.

[pmccartney]

You're absolutely right. My mistake. It does have a PIN. OPs question was whether it has BBM. Despite having a PIN theres no native BBM. Without a BlackBerry phone to pair to I don't think BBM is an option. Correct me if Im wrong.

I just didn't want your answer to confuse the OP. You answered 'NOPE'. The only actual sentence with a question mark was 'does the playbook come with its own PIN?'.
No worries

[wylderubicon]

thanks for the replies, I'm going to wait to see what the new OS brings before I make my decision.

bummer that it doesnt have BBM.

Thanks!

[omniusovermind]

I'm going to tell it to ya straight despite the foaming at the mouth I'll get from Android defenders - The Playbook swipe-gesture style of UI is better than Android 4.0 by a good measure. I also happen to like it better than iPad's UI. Try all 3 (for more than a couple quick minutes though!) and I challenge you to come back here and tell me you don't like it more too.

[pmccartney]

thanks for the replies, I'm going to wait to see what the new OS brings before I make my decision.

bummer that it doesnt have BBM.

Thanks!

Remember, it's like I mentioned...it doesn't have it yet.
Read on the forum. It's rumoured that the new Playbooks (with 3g/4g?) will have native BBM and that RIM may incorporate a 'wi-fi only' BBM on the current PB for a fee payable in App World.

[bb.pl]

1) BBM. Since switching to iOS, I've been in the dark here. most of my contacts can be reach via text, but my father who lives overseas still has a BB. I use Whatsapp to communicate with him, but its not the same. Does the playbook come with its own PIN?
--No BBM. I don't place two cents on RIMS's promises related to the playbook, so the answer is no.

2) Battery life. Can it get through the day with a single charge? (about 5 hours of use)
-- Yes it can. (Unless you are playing an EA game like Monopoly and listening to music at the same time it might clock a little bit under that )

3) Email. I understand that once the new OS arrives I should be able to use the device for emails. Will it work the same way emails work on Blackberries? good notification? option to delete from device or server? and same great appearance?
--Again the RIMS failed to live up to its promises of OS updates time after time, so until I see it the answer is a dismal no.


4) Bridge-ing. this seems to be a hot topic with a very exciting future, but I'm afraid to say that I don't clearly understand what it does. Will this feature only work if I have a blackberry? or will it work with my iPhone?
--Blackberry


5) Web Browsing. This was a huge let down when BB9650-OS6 arrived and just as big of a let down with BB9930. So much promise and hype, and was really disappointed each time. So please, honestly, on wifi, will it perform the same as an average PC laptop?
--No it perform the same as an average PC laptop but it will finish a close second or third to most tablets out there. The web experience is not full browser as promised.Couple of examples, If you go to audi.com to check out cars it take you to the regular site and then to the mobile version if you click on it. If you go to lacoste.com you have to switch it to portrait mode etc


6) I believe the biggest PB is 64GB. I think I might use it as a back up device for my laptop, Any chance a bigger, perhaps 128GB or bigger might come out in the future? can you set up the PB as a network device via wifi? So I can transfer data from my PC with a drag and drop?
--64GB is max for now. haven't tried drag and drop over Wifi

7) any freeze ups? and if so how long is the reboot process?
--Does not freeze up a whole lot. A couple of cases I encountered were when playing ninja vengence, simcity by EA. The browser however stops loading without completion quite a few times on heavy sites.


8) I'm sure I will hear lots of praises so lets hear them, but along with that, any honest gripes about the device? Don't sell me on the device, educate me.
-- For $150- $199 price range it is the best out there. It was underhyped and Grossly Overpriced when I bought it at the $500-$700 believeing on RIM's capabilities to deliver on time. unfortunately they failed big time till now. I am never going to buy a RIM product again at release, untill it has been vetted well, but at the current price this is a great to excellent buy

[wylderubicon]

I'm going to tell it to ya straight despite the foaming at the mouth I'll get from Android defenders - The Playbook swipe-gesture style of UI is better than Android 4.0 by a good measure. I also happen to like it better than iPad's UI. Try all 3 (for more than a couple quick minutes though!) and I challenge you to come back here and tell me you don't like it more too.

I'm very familiar with the Ipad UI. Pretty much like the iphone, which I like very much. As a matter of fact, I would prefer the iPad if it wasnt for the price. The Android UI seems ok. I have not tried a PB hands on because every store I've been to has not had one in display to play around with. I don't go out to the stores often, so I'm sure some stores have them. I was a BB user before and like what they had. Not particularly concern with th UI too much. I'm sure its good. Again my use will be basic, I don't plan on carrying it around with me every where I go, so wifi only is fine. I don't care much for apps, or games. just an simpler alternative to my laptop for web browsing, messaging, emailing.
Thanks!

[swyost]

The Playbook UI is more refined than the Android UI and that is a big plus. As far as other things go:

1) Battery life will depend upon what you mean by five hours of use - light surfing vs streaming vs downloading.
2) App selection on the Playbook remains terrible at the moment and most in the Appworld are paid apps.
3) There is a long list of incompatible web sites on the actual Blackberry Playbook forum. This includes any site that uses Silverlight for media display or streaming. It is a good web experience but by no means perfect.
4) OS 2 is a year late, and RIM is hardly more responsive today than they were last year.
5) RIM is losing a lot of money on the Playbook. You should factor that in when considering whether it will have long term support.

FWIW, it is a good piece of hardware and a very nice UI, but it is also a flawed device and platform with few apps and low developer interest. It suits my needs but I wouldn't recommend someone buying one until at least March, after the new OS is out and you see whether RIM is genuinely supporting and promoting the product line.

[wylderubicon]

hey guys, congratulations on your new OS2!. There seems to me hundreds of post already with excitement as well as some minor disappointments. In any event I waited for this date to make my decision on my-tab-of-choice. The Androids are out. tried another one recently and was not too impressed. it was very laggy and choppy. it belong to a someone who claimed it was nice and snappy when he bought it, but after a while it became slower. he also mentioned that it reboots for no reason for time to time. Kindle-fire is out too since I was told its an Android tablet also. So its pretty much between the playbook or save up for the iPad.

so, now that the new OS is here my questions still remain. I tried reading through the hundreds of post, but I'm getting conflicting or missing info on this.

1) BBM. so did you get BBM on the playbook? (without bridging)

3) does it work the same way emails work on Blackberries? good notification? option to delete from device or server? and same great appearance

7) any freeze ups? I've read about wifi problems with some.

8) is the device slower? This was usually the case with BB devices when installing newer OS. new features, but slower. Is that the case?

9) not a big fan of apps, specially games.. but I do like the Netflix, Logmein and verizon-FIOS DVR manager Apps. Are they available?

10) are the $150 deals still around??

11) Again, any new issues, that are not related to "user error"?

12) does it support Japanese characters? just read that someone is having trouble with Chinese characters. This is pretty important :-)

Thanks again for your knowledge!

[cfoxx]

Don't stone me, but I ditched the blackberry a few months ago in favor for the iphone4S.

Having just updated to PlayBook OS2, I'd say get an iPad.

Since you already use an iPhone and have your email, iMessages, photos and calendar on it, the iPad will sync all that stuff seamlessly via iCloud. RIM have shown today that they are some way off pulling the finger out and delivering a decent syncing solution.

Battery life. Can it get through the day with a single charge? (about 5 hours of use)

It will get you through a train journey. Mine had a full charge this morning and at 11am I installed OS2 and then spent a while tinkering with it, setting up email etc. It's now 3pm and it needs charging. Some people will say it must be a faulty unit, I've heard those excuses before - I would argue RIM need better quality control. (My first PB had a dead pixel too).

Email. I understand that once the new OS arrives I should be able to use the device for emails. Will it work the same way emails work on Blackberries? good notification? option to delete from device or server? and same great appearance?

The email interface is brilliant, very lovely stuff. Can't really complain much about the email, apart from that it won't open my BlackBerry inbox - but that won't affect you.

Web Browsing. This was a huge let down when BB9650-OS6 arrived and just as big of a let down with BB9930. So much promise and hype, and was really disappointed each time. So please, honestly, on wifi, will it perform the same as an average PC laptop?

Web browsing is good. There's a few annoying bugs, like if you touch the screen it assumes you want to 'click', so if you're scrolling it often accidentally interprets it as a 'click' and your web page disappears. Flash support is pretty flaky, programmes stutter and go out of sync on YouTube, buffer endlessly. I initially bought the PB because I couldn't catch up with my favourite soaps on the iPad. Now the iPad has a BBC iPlayer, Channel 4, ITV Player and Demand5 app in the UK, and my PlayBook is stuck buffering and skipping audio. Very, very frustrating,

I believe the biggest PB is 64GB. I think I might use it as a back up device for my laptop, Any chance a bigger, perhaps 128GB or bigger might come out in the future? can you set up the PB as a network device via wifi? So I can transfer data from my PC with a drag and drop?

You can drag and drop. It's pitifully slow, so don't expect to be dragging and dropping movies over and being ready to leave the house within 5 minutes. Big files can take an hour to transfer. Not sure if RIM should be thinking about a bigger PlayBook when they can't even get the smaller ones working decently.

7) any freeze ups? and if so how long is the reboot process?

I don't think my PlayBook has ever crashed as far as I can remember. Sometimes individual apps crash out and close but the OS is very robust. Rebooting can take 2 minutes.

I'm sure I will hear lots of praises so lets hear them, but along with that, any honest gripes about the device? Don't sell me on the device, educate me. Thanks!

Additional notes: things I love -
+ HDMI output
+ Good browser
+ Nice interface

things I don't love -
- STILL a lack of apps. I'm envious of the iPads Skype, Google Maps, Twitter, Channel 4, Demand5 apps, I would use these daily, but the PlayBook doesn't have them and there are no plans for them to appear.