1. polytope's Avatar
    Unless you have money to burn, the PB is arguably one of the best tablet that can be had.

    I signed out an iPad 2 from work to do some testing. I just cannot believe that this thing is more than twice as much as the PB. The mono speaker on the iPad just doesn't cut it once you have heard the stereo speakers on the PlayBook. The cameras and the stereo mics on the PB are great. The home button on the iPad really needs to go. I was testing something using iDisplay and when I rotated the iPad, I accidentally hit the home button. Poof! IDisplay gone,connection lost. Why on earth does iOS kill it like that? And the rich bezel gestures simply make the PlayBook much more fluid to use.i

    Also, holding that iPad while walking around is not a pleasant experience, especially when you have that flapping smart cover on. It is too large, heavy and awkward to hold with one hand in that kind of situation. The iPad virtual keyboard also sucks. I am so used to seeing letters in both uppercase and lowercase on the PB that I expected the same on the iPad, not just a highlighted shift key. (Is there a caps lock on iPad?) Typing passwords on the iPad is so much more work as I have to constantly switch between letters and symbols just to access some basic symbols. The dependency on iTunes for OS update from iOS 4 and basic file transfers is plain annoying. Why did Apple make everything so difficult on iOS? Things on Mac OS X are so much more user-friendly.

    In short, the PlayBook gives me a much better experience than the iPad for much less money. What is not to like? Lack of certain apps? That maybe a dealbreaker for some. But for me, not a problem at all. Also, I really hate the fact that you can't just connect the iPad to the computer with a standard USB cable. Hasn't Apple learn their lesson about proprietary connectors? They are very annoying!
    05-15-12 01:16 AM
  2. EdY's Avatar
    I have a few minutes so here is my rant on why the Playbook is so awesome!

    First, it is small and portable. I fit it into my pants, my jacket pocket, I take it everywhere I go. A tablet that is not used is a waste, no matter how good the specs are. So the small but still useful 7" size is really amazing for portability. Yes you get hit on resolution and some other things that make the bigger tablets easier to work on, but I can thumb-type on my Playbook like I use a phone and 7" is big enough for me!!!

    - "Is that a Playbook in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me"


    Second, it has an awesome web-browser that I can do 99% of my work on, and easily bridge to a bluetooth keyboard/mouse so I can use it like a laptop. Logmein, Google Docs, etc... all work. Who needs apps when lots of Ajax/web-cloud type "apps" already exist? And games? So many sites with Flash-based games to keep you busy. The web browser opens the door to all of that!


    Third, it has apps, lots of apps, more coming all the time. The money you save on getting the Playbook, you can buy 100's of apps. If you need SPECIFIC apps that are not on Playbook, then that is a DEAL BREAKER, I get it. Netflix, Hulu, Kindle... ok, they are not there unless you side-load and hack your way somehow. Then playbook is not for you. But the rest of us managed to survive just fine without these, and there are alternatives or web-based options to try.


    Fourth, it has some nice cameras, excellent speakers, a good microphone. So we are also missing a few things, like a SD card slot, and a few other "connectors". But the HDMI out with a simple cable (no special expensive proprietary dongles required) gives you a nice way to see movies, play games, etc. on your big screen TV. And it is not just duplicating your Playbook screen... it is a DUAL output, so you can play something on the HDMI and still do something else on the Playbook (like browse web or whatever). I use this for presentations!


    Fifth, it is $199. I can have my cake and eat it too! Most other tablets in this range are not even close. The reason I make this fifth, is because I don't want PRICE to be the only deciding factor. It's NOT like... "Well it's ONLY $199 so I'll just put up with all the other crap". NO! It's like... "Wow! I can't believe it's $199, I would have paid way more for this if I knew all I could do with it".


    Sixth, if you have a Blackberry phone and you like to use it to remote control the Playbook, you install Bridge for free and there you have it! In fact, once you have Bridge on your phone paired to a Playbook, you can use it to REMOTE control OTHER BLUETOOTH devices as well!!!! That's right!!! Your Blackberry phone to let you control the mouse on your laptop, and type things. However, it needs to pair first to a Playbook, it won't let you pair to a laptop first. But yes, the Bridge on the phone acts like any other mouse/keyboard bluetooth HID-compliant device.


    Seventh... Video playback. I have seen other tablets choking on 1080p video. Well this device just burns through them, smooth as butter!!!!! And the free games already on there, plus all the cool other games. They are fun!! Lots of freely available stuff!!!


    Eighth, Ninth, Tenth... Don't know where to stop.....


    As I said before, if I had money to burn, I would have iPad, Android and Playbook devices and mess around with all of them. I love tech. But on a limited budget, when I am looking for a tool that packs in the most of what feature set I NEED on a tablet that is ultra-portable, Playbook does it. I am sure iPad can do it, even more, but I also have to pay as much as a laptop, and it is almost as big as a compact laptop, in which case I'm buying a laptop for that money and get way better functionality.

    As far as a tablet-based device is concerned, Playbook is in a sweet spot as far as I'm concerned, with the right size and cost and features to make it my first choice. Not everyone's first choice, but MINE and also many many others could agree. But I don't see the point in "convincing" you. At some point you will have to "bite the bullet" and dive in! It's the only way!
    kbz1960 likes this.
    05-15-12 03:35 PM
  3. anon(4262895)'s Avatar
    I finally got a PB last Friday having dithered ever since the price came down. My sister has an iPad 2 and while it's OK it is just too big for my tastes and the inability to play many of the videos on the BBC news site is a downer while the PB's lack of Skype isn't an issue.

    One of the reasons for the delay in buying was that it proved difficult to find a working PB in the shops that I could try. In the UK only CarPhone Warehouse and Currys~PC World seem to have them on display and then they are either not working or have no wifi so limiting what can be done. In the end I took a punt and web-ordered a 64Gb one with cradle so that I could use distance selling regulations to return it if I wasn't happy.

    Thankfully there's no need for that and I'm very pleased with my purchase. For the price it is a cracking piece of kit.
    05-16-12 04:32 AM
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