Playbook vs Ipad - A user review

[Happyeric]

When I was considering buying a Playbook in June, it was hard for me to find a review (more recent than April) that was not biased one way or the other. As I had a PB for a month and I also own an Ipad, I thought it could be useful to prepare this non-technical review for non-PB owners. Forum members, please add your views and comments as pros and cons are different for different people.

1. Screen size: A bigger screen is always better except for portability. I commute to work with my PB every day and I use it to read documents in the plane and books in bed so for me, a smaller and lighter device outweighs the benefit of a larger screen. This is really a matter of personal preference.

2. Operating System: The navigation from one application to the next and the processing speed are much better and smoother on the PB. The active frame of the PB is another big plus once you're used to it. The issue as current users know is that the PB has not reached its stability point yet. It got better lately but let's hope that it will all be history before the end of the year.

3. Apps and games: Ipad, no question. I'm not a big app user so it's not a big deal for me. RIM seems to make the life of app developers a bit hard. Until they changed their mind and/or give PB access to android apps (end of summer they said?), there is no way PB can catch up.

4. Web browsing: At first, I just loved Ipad on the internet but after a couple of months, what seemed to be a minor weakness got on my nerve...its inability to play Flash. Plus Ipad gets you to mobile sites as opposed to full sites. I ended up going back to my Macbook every time I needed the Web which defeated my original purpose of buying an Ipad. Since I got my PB, I'm enjoying the Web much more than on Ipad. In addition to its Flash compatibility, I find the PB more responsive or accurate when I click a link, even though the screen is smaller. The fact that the picture quality is better is also a plus. Finally, the PB seems to be faster than Ipad on my home wifi. I vote for PB here.

5. Email: The strength of PB here is the bridge to your Blackberry smartphone, which allows access to your office emails. For security reasons, files or attachments cannot be transferred between smartphone and PB, ie you cannot use the bridge to save an attachment or a file of your smartphone on you PB. The weakness for now is that unlike Ipad, you cannot point to a file and email it from there. You have to go to the email function (bridge to smartphone or Web email) and attach the file, which is not a big deal for documents but quite inconvenient for pictures, music and websites. This will likely be resolved when PB will have its own native email (end of summer let's hope). This is why many existing PB users are impatiently waiting for this feature.

6. At home: If you use your tablet mostly to browse the Web, I find that PB is better (see above). In my opinion, the fact that the PB is smaller and lighter makes it easier to hold to read papers and books too. However, if the intent is to use your tablet to almost replace your home computer, I'd say Ipad is better as things stand right now, especially if you have other Apple products (Ipod, Macbook, Iphone ...). Although you can sync the PB for music, video and pictures with your PC or Mac like an Ipad, it's just easier with Ipad to download music and movies, stream music and movies to your entertainment system, play games and use all kinds of apps. Same story with video chats: Ipad 2 works with other Ipad 2s, Mac computers and is Skype friendly...PB only works with PB. The only positive I see for PB here other than Web browsing is better screen resolution and better camera.

7. At work: This the biggest plus of the PB for me personally. It instantly became a work tool at the office without any support or permission needed from IT at the office: it syncs with my Blackberry, has access to Word, Excel and Powerpoint allowing me to read and comment on documents when I'm not in the office. I don't need to bring my laptop anymore when I travel. I tried to do the same with Ipad before but it was much harder to do (no access to attachments sent through office email, not easy to handle Word and Excel, ...).

8. On the go: For traveling, I find the PB better than my Ipad, not only because it is smaller but also because I can connect to the Web in a cab, in the car or on vacation where there is no wifi, through the tethering function (ie it uses my Blackberry smartphone as the gateway to the Web). This is not a real plus if you compare to an Ipad 3G or if you have a combo Ipad Iphone. On the other hand, the battery charge of the Ipad lasts significantly longer than the PB.


So which one is the best? None of them is perfect unfortunately. The best is the one that will perform better on what you need the most. If you don't own a Blackberry, don't bother with PB and go Ipad as most of the PB benefits are related to the Blackberry connection. If you ask my own preference? I say Playbook. The rest of my family would say Ipad.

[dfg912]

I'm with you except for #4 and #7. The PB browser has a long way to go before the device can rival the iPad 2 for browsing speed and rendering -- it's not even close right now. And there are basic usability issues like search, bookmark handling, etc. Flash is the only advantage the PlayBook has.

As far as business use goes, there are so many more business apps on the iPad right now, it's no contest. That includes apps to handle and edit MS Office files. Once again, I see mention of this myth floating around the forums here that the iPad can't handle attachments and Word/Excel files, but that is 100% wrong. Makes me wonder if you really have tried doing this with an iPad. The original iPhone in 2007 knew what to do with MS Office e-mail attachments, and now there are numerous apps to create and edit these files. Some of the apps, like the iWork suite, blow DataViz products out of the water -- there's just no comparison.

[pkcable]

Nice write up! Good comparison!

[kojisan]

Great balanced write up. I agree with your points as I also had an Ipad.
I think the IP is a great tablet however, the PB is the superior device for MY needs.

Originally Posted by dfg912

I'm with you except for #4 and #7. The PB browser has a long way to go before the device can rival the iPad 2 for browsing speed and rendering -- it's not even close right now. And there are basic usability issues like search, bookmark handling, etc. Flash is the only advantage the PlayBook has.

As far as business use goes, there are so many more business apps on the iPad right now, it's no contest. That includes apps to handle and edit MS Office files. Once again, I see mention of this myth floating around the forums here that the iPad can't handle attachments and Word/Excel files, but that is 100% wrong. Makes me wonder if you really have tried doing this with an iPad. The original iPhone in 2007 knew what to do with MS Office e-mail attachments, and now there are numerous apps to create and edit these files. Some of the apps, like the iWork suite, blow DataViz products out of the water -- there's just no comparison.

Not sure how peoples experience with the same devices can be so divergent but I find the PB browser much better than than the IP. Not to say the IPad is terrible just that I find the PB much more smooth and responsive.

I also did not see the OP perpetuate the "myth" that the iPad can't handle attachments. The point being made was that there were no issues with his IT department accepting/integrating the device which allowed the OP to more easily access and and edit work related documents. I also agree with this point. In my experience consulting in the area of IT security and risk mitigation the PB has been more readily accepted and integrated by IT departments. Again, this does not mean that the iPad can't do, it simply means that many IT groups are more willing/familiar with RIM products and are willing to implement them.

Again, great post and a fair assessment.

[Edge of Night]

Re #5 in your list I just tried sending a pic on my PB to my gmail account as an attachment using bridge and it worked great. Attachment handling was one of the features of the 1.0.7.2650 OS update. Definitely a sweet addition.

[djdrastic]

Good comparo man.

I think you will find most IT depts are a lot more open to the PB just due to fact that RIM tends to put device security pretty high on its agenda and at the end of the day when a device gets stolen/lost it's IT supports heads that roll if there was any data leakage.

I agree with dfg's opinion on iWork though.Rim severely needs a good 3rd party Office suite for the PB as the current one is basically only good for basic work and editing.

[F2]

An email limitation is you cannot point at a file and then send it via email - you have to find it. Sending a recently taken photo can be a nightmare as it is nearly impossible to locate if you have lots of photos on the pb.

[jthep]

I agree with most of the OP review, but the iPad2 loads pages slightly faster when web browsing and Bridge does let you share some files. It does not allow video or music sharing, but does allow you full access to any picture or texts files on your BB.

Good, fair review though overall...

[sookster54]

Originally Posted by dfg912

The PB browser has a long way to go before the device can rival the iPad 2 for browsing speed and rendering -- it's not even close right now.

Sorry, not in my experience.

[djdrastic]

I think browser experience and speed are incredibly hard to benchmark scientifically since they are dependant on a lot of factors like Strength of 4G/Wifi Signal, What type of content was rendered on the site , DNS Caching , Are there any transparent HTTP proxies caching any content , Location of HTTP servers that are being accessed.

[PredatorGanaz]

ipad not supporting flash thats a bad setbacks

[screamcap]

I own a Playbook and my wife an Ipad2. I was disappointed that alot of the classic keyboard short cuts weren't available on the Playbook and by simple things (like why they would put the @ symbol on the second screen of the keyboard but have the language button on the main keyboard.) Personally, I find being unable to share or email a webpage from the browser extremely frustrating since I use it alot to read tweets, articles, RSS feeds, etc.

My general view on tablets is that their main advantage is that, unlike the phones which are specific purpose devices, they are 'little computers' that can be quickly customized and outfitted to your specific needs and uses. For that to work, they NEED a wide variety of apps.

I like the core assets of the Playbook, but it lacks some user-friendly aspects. And a fast, slick, clever OS is only the base, the START of the process of creating a useful tablet. Further, it does not have the iPad's advantage of many apps being created to overcome its drawbacks.

Until we can see some truly innovative business or play apps (like GoodReader, Flipboard, Skype/Fring video, AirDisplay, Scrabble, Evernote, etc) for the Playbook, it will not be able to compete in a true sense with iPad.

Being a true BB geek, I can see what is possible and see the potential. The rest of the world wants email, Netflix, a media store and Angry Birds the same day they buy their tablet. That's not too unreasonable is it?

[dfg912]

Originally Posted by sookster54

Sorry, not in my experience.

Here's my experience in as close to a head to head comparison as I could make -- the same site (engadget) loaded on both devices:

PlayBook

iPad 2

The iPad 2 loads the site in half the time, and then renders content much faster and with no checker boarding. This is representative of my experience browsing with both devices on most sites. I continually find the PlayBook to be slower and have rendering lags and glitches.

Note: Flash was turned off in this case.

Here's another head to head loading Crackberry and viewing an inline video:

PlayBook (video by lawguyman)

iPad 2 (video by me)

Flash is on in this case, since it was required to play the video.

[kojisan]

Originally Posted by dfg912

Here's my experience in as close to a head to head comparison as I could make -- the same site (engadget) loaded on both devices:

PlayBook

iPad 2

The iPad 2 loads the site in half the time, and then renders content much faster and with no checker boarding. This is representative of my experience browsing with both devices on most sites. I continually find the PlayBook to be slower and have rendering lags and glitches.

Note: Flash was turned off in this case.

Here's another head to head loading Crackberry and viewing an inline video:

PlayBook (video by lawguyman)

iPad 2 (video by me)

Flash is on in this case, since it was required to play the video.

Good videos and I see what you are talking about. The odd thing is doing the same sort of shootout with my PB and iPad I had different results. For the pages I tried this with the PB slightly edged out the iPad except one which loaded the mobile site on the iPad. Like DJ said above, I think there are definitely many factors that contribute to ones browser experience on these tablets.

[Happyeric]

Originally Posted by Edge of Night

Re #5 in your list I just tried sending a pic on my PB to my gmail account as an attachment using bridge and it worked great. Attachment handling was one of the features of the 1.0.7.2650 OS update. Definitely a sweet addition.

You're right. I'll correct my write-up, thanks! What cannot be done is save a BB attachment on the PB through the bridge. Files on BB stay on BB.