[richv77]

Which would you buy first, a Torch or a PlayBook?

I currently don't have a BB and the PB looks sweet!

Thanks for your comments.

-Rich

[loonix]

I see the PB as an add on to a BB as the PB completes a BB - I would go for the BB first - unless the 3G/4G/LTE PB models have individual PIN numbers and BBM, Calendar and Mail can be used independent from having a BB...

Just my 2 cents

AR

[barrist]

what's your current phone?

[anon(728548)]

Which would you buy first, a Torch or a PlayBook?

I currently don't have a BB and the PB looks sweet!

Thanks for your comments.

-Rich

Supposedly a Torch 2 is coming soon so that makes me lean to the PlayBook, unless you want both!

[WArcher]

Hi,

The thing is that if you want the very best of the BlackBerry experience then you'll need a BlackBerry first and foremost.

The PlayBook will run a very nice web based email (say, Gmail, for example) but it currently lacks any sort of client.

The best way to make it work is tethered via BlueTooth to your BlackBerry.

So - I would pick up the Torch first (which is what I've got) and start your sales campaign for your other half for the PlayBook when it comes out (like I'm doing).

The Torch is, by the way, the very best of an iPhone and a BlackBerry combined into one very useful device. It's my favourite phone of all the roughly 20 phones I've used over my career (which includes 6 BlackBerry's)

--TT

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

Well, I have a Curve right now, a PB is at its best when using a HSPA+ phone (IE not a Curve, and I believe Pearls also lack it as well). You'll need a Bold or a Torch really. Not sure about the Storm, but they're widely regarded as a POS, so I wouldn't recommend the Storm anyway. You said you want the Torch, so I suggest getting that first.

[_StephenBB81]

My Opinion is Playbook first:

The Playbook is an extension of a blackberry, but it will be a fully functional WiFi tablet on its own.
The Torch is a great phone, I love mine, BUT. Given the option today if I had a solid mobile phone. I wouldn't get the torch and I'd wait for the next crop of blackberry's which have to hit in the next 3 months for RIM's first and second quarters to remain growing

You don't have a BB so you don't need to maintain your bbm contacts so no BBM on the playbook won't be an issue

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[sleepngbear]

Great points on both sodes of the argument here. I'm inclined to agree more with deRusett on this one. The PB on its own will have all of the usefulnerss of any other WiFi-only tablet ('cept it'll be better ). And with a new crop of much-improved BB's coming, some possibly as soon as a few months, I'd wait on the new BB until then.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[JRSCCivic98]

My Opinion is Playbook first:

The Playbook is an extension of a blackberry, but it will be a fully functional WiFi tablet on its own.
The Torch is a great phone, I love mine, BUT. Given the option today if I had a solid mobile phone. I wouldn't get the torch and I'd wait for the next crop of blackberry's which have to hit in the next 3 months for RIM's first and second quarters to remain growing

You don't have a BB so you don't need to maintain your bbm contacts so no BBM on the playbook won't be an issue

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

This path wouldn't work for anyone who doesn't have web portal access into their email accounts. If they do, then a PB would work as long as they're OK with visiting those sites to get email (because the PB doesn't have a native email client). However, if they don't have those means, the PB won't be able to provide ANY PIM management for them, which may be a drawback. No Contacts, Calendar, Email integration could be an issue for most users who buy a PB and need that type of info available to them. Honestly, without a BB to link to a PB, the PB really is just a media rich tablet and it kind of stops there for now.

[richv77]

iPhone 4 but I have owned a Torch, 9700, and 9000.
-Rich

what's your current phone?

[howarmat]

I see the PB as an add on to a BB as the PB completes a BB - I would go for the BB first - unless the 3G/4G/LTE PB models have individual PIN numbers and BBM, Calendar and Mail can be used independent from having a BB...

Just my 2 cents

AR

this is exactly the problem. you need a PB to complete the BB experience while many other phones can do it all in one device.

that said i can see points for either the BB first then the PB or the other way around. I think having a BB that works with the PB (OS 5+ will work) is needed. I feel too much is lacking from the PB experience without a bb to go with it. If you dont care about email notifications on contact storage and more about playing some games or surfing the web then the wifi only PB will do that just fine without a BB

[mgruve]

Well, I agree with deRusett. You don't currently have a BB so all the perks that would come with pairing the PB with a BB are not useful at this point. Go with the PB and use it in Wifi. Then get one of the new phones that are supposed to come out. Just the .02 from a noob poster.

[sedalia066]

Tough choice. The PB alone is enough to get my attention and likely to buy even without a BB in hand. The Torch is the best phone I ever used (and I have had a few smart and dumb phones over the years). The combination of BB and PB may be the best of all worlds. We shall see.

If the choice is one or the other today I'd go for the phone first. The tablet won't make up for all the functionality of a device one can carry in a pocket. Just my .02.

[_StephenBB81]

This path wouldn't work for anyone who doesn't have web portal access into their email accounts. If they do, then a PB would work as long as they're OK with visiting those sites to get email (because the PB doesn't have a native email client). However, if they don't have those means, the PB won't be able to provide ANY PIM management for them, which may be a drawback. No Contacts, Calendar, Email integration could be an issue for most users who buy a PB and need that type of info available to them. Honestly, without a BB to link to a PB, the PB really is just a media rich tablet and it kind of stops there for now.

Because the user didn't expressly say they had specific email requirements my assumption was they are webbased email users.

And I greatly expect webbased PIM will be used, and that there will be after market calendars quickly for the Playbook,

I stand by that I would buy a Playbook before a Torch, and wait for the next crop of blackberry's

[_StephenBB81]

this is exactly the problem. you need a PB to complete the BB experience while many other phones can do it all in one device.

that said i can see points for either the BB first then the PB or the other way around. I think having a BB that works with the PB (OS 5+ will work) is needed. I feel too much is lacking from the PB experience without a bb to go with it. If you dont care about email notifications on contact storage and more about playing some games or surfing the web then the wifi only PB will do that just fine without a BB

This is completely your opinion, I'm sorry but the Dell Streak is the only phone CLOSE to being able to offer everything the playbook/blackberry combination can offer,
Yes the Blackberry on it's own isn't a full media experience, but saying that other phones offer the same experience all in one device is very much an opinion and not a fact.

[lax42]

[QUOTE=richv77;6093608]iPhone 4 but I have owned a Torch, 9700, and 9000.
-Rich[/QUOTE

Rich stick with your iphone 4 and just buy the PB... You would be able to do face time chats with your friends with iphones and if the PB has bbm you could bbm your friends who have blackberrys. Personally I love my BB but if I had an iphone 4 right now I wouldn't give it up for a BB

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[lnichols]

Rich stick with your iphone 4 and just buy the PB... You would be able to do face time chats with your friends with iphones and if the PB has bbm you could bbm your friends who have blackberrys. Personally I love my BB but if I had an iphone 4 right now I wouldn't give it up for a BB

This isn't correct given what we have been told by RIM. Playbook, at least WiFi version will not have BBM built in, it will only pull BBM information from your BB that it is bridged to, basically just reformatting it for the Playbook's bigger screen. So he'd still need a BB for BBM.

[Mr Bigs]

This path wouldn't work for anyone who doesn't have web portal access into their email accounts. If they do, then a PB would work as long as they're OK with visiting those sites to get email (because the PB doesn't have a native email client). However, if they don't have those means, the PB won't be able to provide ANY PIM management for them, which may be a drawback. No Contacts, Calendar, Email integration could be an issue for most users who buy a PB and need that type of info available to them. Honestly, without a BB to link to a PB, the PB really is just a media rich tablet and it kind of stops there for now.

I agree and unfortunately because of the poor choices of BB on the market the PB is pretty much sacrificial even though it is good.