[youngguy7]

Walked into a shop in the UK yesterday to look at the playbook and pick it up for the very first time.

I have to say I was deeply disappointed. I rebooted it to see the boot up time, it took a couple of mins and without there being any type of progress bar (like on my 9700) I wasn't sure whether anything was happening or not!

I found navigation a little tricky and the touchscreen less responsive than all the other tablets there. I couldn't for the life of me remember the swipe gestures. Like others have said, these are cool and would be second nature within 2 or 3 days but to someone walking past the device and picking it up, they don't get that immediate ease of use that you get with an android or (dare I say it) an ipad. Nor did the displays mention this unique feature.

More worrying was the fact that another guy was asking the apple trained staff member about the playbook. He point blank dismissed it as saying it had nothing. No apps, crap software etc. The customer mentioned that he was interested in flash and the staff member quickly picked up an ipad and said you could download flash on the ipad (I'm pretty sure you can't, but the customer was sold). He then proceeded to take out his torch and iphone and explain he only used his torch for BBM, it was the worst phone ever blah blah blah.

I left and went to a second shop and this time I went to the tutorial on how to use the playbook - it crashed!

No playbook for me right now. I'll look again at Xmas when the software has matured, but when it is sat next to the ipad2 and samsung and motorola tablets it is going to have a hard time with your average walk off the street consumer.

I'm not saying this is the end of RIM or anything. I also don't doubt that the playbook will be good. I am merely saying that right now, the average consumer isn't likely to look at it as there is little marketing and if they do come across it in the shop, it certainly doesn't feel finished.

Apple are masters at not giving you stuff you should have, then making out you are lucky to get it at a later time (eg mms on the iphone 1, a camera on the ipad 1). They seem to get away with it because they have great marketing and also are the first to put those products into the mass domain. I don't think RIM can really quite hold its own in the tablet market yet, and they are now playing catchup.

[sam_b77]

Walked into a shop in the UK yesterday to look at the playbook and pick it up for the very first time.

I have to say I was deeply disappointed. I rebooted it to see the boot up time, it took a couple of mins and without there being any type of progress bar (like on my 9700) I wasn't sure whether anything was happening or not!

I found navigation a little tricky and the touchscreen less responsive than all the other tablets there. I couldn't for the life of me remember the swipe gestures. Like others have said, these are cool and would be second nature within 2 or 3 days but to someone walking past the device and picking it up, they don't get that immediate ease of use that you get with an android or (dare I say it) an ipad. Nor did the displays mention this unique feature.

More worrying was the fact that another guy was asking the apple trained staff member about the playbook. He point blank dismissed it as saying it had nothing. No apps, crap software etc. The customer mentioned that he was interested in flash and the staff member quickly picked up an ipad and said you could download flash on the ipad (I'm pretty sure you can't, but the customer was sold). He then proceeded to take out his torch and iphone and explain he only used his torch for BBM, it was the worst phone ever blah blah blah.

I left and went to a second shop and this time I went to the tutorial on how to use the playbook - it crashed!

No playbook for me right now. I'll look again at Xmas when the software has matured, but when it is sat next to the ipad2 and samsung and motorola tablets it is going to have a hard time with your average walk off the street consumer.

I'm not saying this is the end of RIM or anything. I also don't doubt that the playbook will be good. I am merely saying that right now, the average consumer isn't likely to look at it as there is little marketing and if they do come across it in the shop, it certainly doesn't feel finished.

Apple are masters at not giving you stuff you should have, then making out you are lucky to get it at a later time (eg mms on the iphone 1, a camera on the ipad 1). They seem to get away with it because they have great marketing and also are the first to put those products into the mass domain. I don't think RIM can really quite hold its own in the tablet market yet, and they are now playing catchup.

I think you jumped the gun a bit.
I have not had the problems you are mentioning.
The boot up time is quite fast and the screen keeps changing so you know there is something going on.
The gestures are very easy and intuitive and will not take more than ten minutes to get the hang of. As a matter of fact once you get used to the bezel gestures on the playbook, the ipad is becomes difficult to navigate. You just end up searching for that button to press and go out and search for the next program all over again.
Go to the store again and play with the PB for half an hour.

[youngguy7]

I think you jumped the gun a bit.
I have not had the problems you are mentioning.
The boot up time is quite fast and the screen keeps changing so you know there is something going on.
The gestures are very easy and intuitive and will not take more than ten minutes to get the hang of. As a matter of fact once you get used to the bezel gestures on the playbook, the ipad is becomes difficult to navigate. You just end up searching for that button to press and go out and search for the next program all over again.
Go to the store again and play with the PB for half an hour.

I don't disagree with you Sam and you are probably spot on in that I had two freak bad experiences in two different shops. My point is though that if someone walks in off the street and has that type of experience, they can be put off for life. I never planned to get a tablet until Xmas (come on Santa!) however if the playbook blew me away I'd have bought on the spot.

I also agree in the swipe gestures, I just could not understand why something so innovative was not part of the display. This is probably the most 'non techy' feature that could sell it (eg my sister would not have a clue what flash is, or think to ask about battery life) and there was no mention of it anywhere.

[Sonic77]

When RIM can offer a industry standard 10" tablet with email, calendar, and android apps they will have a in store contender.
The OS is smooth, looks beautiful, flash is well done, HD video is amazing.

I just hope the layoffs and collapsing stock price does not slow progress,
as googles next generation Tegra 3 tablets will overcome the lag, flash and video issues with the current generation,
leaving less of a opportunity for the Playbook.

Be interesting to see how HP makes a impact with the forth coming Touchpad.
It may end up being RIM's competitor for 3rd place.
I don't think the 4th place holder will stay in the tablet game for long.

[saalnaz]

BB will hold the 2nd position after the Ipads ibelieve..

it has far strong of a market share to lose it out so easily to HP..

why are they laying off? they should be hiring with all the new technology they have on hands to develop along with new phones to introduce..sounds very strange to me...

[FF22]

I will only say the Progress Bar on rebooting my 9650/Bold (OS5) is a useless gauge. It moves along swifty until about 2/3's of the way then stalls on the "e" in Blackberry and does nothing indicating life. It takes a full 10-11 minutes to reboot. My pb books rather swiftly. Be that as it may, I don't have a need to ofter reboot the pb.

But you are right - displays need to cover the basic SWIPES or there is no way to find the keyboard or do most of the other moves. Their marketing folks need a marketing class.

[Schlymer]

I think you are right about one thing, the average person walking off the street would not have any idea about the bezel swipe gestures. I thing RIM made the wrong 30 second commercial. They made a beer commercial about the playbook. They need to put out a commercial of a 30 second demo including gesture swipes and show off what it can do. That way when someone sees on in the store, they can pick it up and have a little knowledge about how to use it. That may have made a difference in the OP's experience.

I am sure if people really do their homework, they will understand the pro's and cons of each tablet, but most people don't do their homework and just buy the default ipad. To bad for them, as it sits on their coffee table. I am sure the OP will pick up a playbook by mid summer. Just keep going back to the stores and play with all the tablets, until you find one that feels right for your needs.

[s219]

I do think the boot time is excessively long on the PlayBook. Competing devices boot in a fraction of the time. Heck, I think my MacBook Air 11" comes up faster than the PlayBook.

[bdammizio]

love the Playbook!! ... its awesome!!! ....

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[ferritt]

i got my playbook yesterday. i have an ipad also but found it abit to big to be carrying it around with me. the only thing lacking on the pb at the moment i think is apps. i'm sure these will come soon but at the moment theres not much choice. as mentioned earlier once you get use to the gestures i find myself trying to do them in the ipad. its about getting use to a new device thats all. i was the first person to get one in the shop i bought from i was told. this particular phone shop are giving them away as part of new contracts so it works out a great deal. all in all its a great bit of kit which will only get better.

[TimeLikeInfinity]

Got mine on the 17th. Loving it. used bridge, tethered with my Torch, used wifi at various locations here in Elgin, Scotland. Certainly want more apps and native emails. Ads should explain Gesture, so easy. Keyboard/spell checker should be same as handset experience. UK networks will not really support a device that does not have a sim card slot. i intend to get a wifi/mifi type device from Vodafone on a rolling 30day contract......connectivity sorted when out of wifi range! Only annoyance is when the browser goes to a mobile site when i want the full site!