[Juan07]

I'am undecided on which tablet get. Since I saw the playbook I was fascinated with its design, but I really think I would need something bigger for reading pdfs files and ebooks. My primary desires are to read pdf files, ebook, see some videos and surf the web, But I don't know wich tablet is the best suited for me. What do you think should be my decision? go for the playbook or get an android or ipad instead.?

Thanks for your responses.

[dave1701]

For surfing the web, the Playbook is best. For PDFs, it's not bad, but I doubt the playbook is the best. For eBooks, the playbook is not the best. For videos, the lack of DRM support drags the playbook down too.

I don't have any other tablets, but my brother has the Ipad and I have seen other devices. But I don't know enough to recommend anything.

[teknishun]

I'am undecided on which tablet get. Since I saw the playbook I was fascinated with its design, but I really think I would need something bigger for reading pdfs files and ebooks. My primary desires are to read pdf files, ebook, see some videos and surf the web, But I don't know wich tablet is the best suited for me. What do you think should be my decision? go for the playbook or get an android or ipad instead.?

Thanks for your responses.

I'm having the same trouble trying to decide. On the one hand, the Playbook is clearly more powerful than anything at it's current price point. On the other hand though, from what I understand, the ecosystem is clearly trailing the competition. A Ferrari is one helluva machine, but without gas to power it, it's pretty useless.

[TRlPPlN]

go to a your nearest electronic retail store and test drive the devices first hand. Remember purchase the device for your needs and not what the sales person entices you to buy.

i find myself carrying the PB with me all the time due to its portability. i refuse to buy a man purse or a sachel just so i can carry a tablet around.

[conix67]

For ebooks I like my PB better than IPad2 but I'm using OS 2.0 beta /w Kindle on it.

For full size PDFs bigger screen is more convenient but PB is not bad.

For Videos, PB does have better support for popular formats than IPad out of box, but if you're going to stream your own collection locally, like AirVideo does for IPad, PB can do that through subsonic but SonicAir can use improvement.

Surfing web is ok, if you don't mind smaller screen. People rave about "full browser" but I think that just means flash support, which comes handy sometimes but not necessary for most sites.

I don't quite understand why people say hardware is superior. Perhaps compared to Kindle Fire, or something else within $199 price range.

So you might actually find PB sufficient for your purpose.

[BuzzStarField]

I like PlayBook's size because it's easy to carry around and plenty large enough for the uses that you describe. The bridge feature is important to me because of the tight integration with my BB smart phone and I do like saving money on a second data plan. Web browsing on the PB is excellent but I can't comment on movie support because I am not much a movie fan.

On the downside, PB's support for PDF reading is weaker than I would like. The "official" eBook reader is Kobo but several generic eBook readers are available for reading non-drm material. Kindle is not avaiolable. I use Calibre to convert library books (Overdrive) to a format that I can read on my PB.

For me the Bridge is the most important factor and I am willing to endure PB's shortcomings over the short term. In the end, you need to try all of the options that are available and choose the one that best suits your needs.

[gladiatorofyale]

i own a playbook and i dont find it to lag on videos as stated earlier.
i do sugest u go to a retailer and fully test them .
for me the choice was obvious since i own alot of bb phones.
also its 7inch screen makes it perfect cause it aint big but not small. but u can easily bring it everywhere.
its multitasking at its best

[barkomatic]

At the current low prices for the PB, it might be worthwhile to have both a PB and an iPad/Android tablet. Eventually, OS 2.0 will be released and we can run the Android version of Kindle--so at that point I think a 7 inch screen will be easier to cart around as its not any bigger than your average book. I have to say the PB plays flash the best of any device I've every tried--and that's a big deal to me.

The iPad/Android tablet might make a better multimedia/email device. However, the only tablet I'd get right now would be the PB. The iPad 2 is NOT worthwhile in my opinion -- the iPad 3 is supposed to be the big upgrade. We'll see.

[Chrysalis1156]

Agree that you should try them out before you decide. The pdf reader on the pb is pretty bare bones. You don't have to "swipe 30 times" as stated above, but you do need to remember what page you were on. There's a slider bar at the bottom and all you have to do is touch it and quickly scroll it to the page you want. I don't have a problem with it, but to each his own.

[Fmar]

Just had to kick myself... hard! I think I'm about to defend the PB.

PDF reader... currently I personally believe the Ipad is the best. However, this may change, and I hope it does with 2.0 and some apps.

Ebook reader... if you intend to read pleanty of books, then get a kindle style reader. It is easier on your eyes and once you get over the flicker on page changes it is the only real choice. Colour screens, even the Kobo Vox, are not great for reading books.

Video Support... whilst the native vid app leaves much to be desired it has a great clear screen quality with 2nd to none built in stereo speakers. It also plays H.264 WMV and MPEG4 video... and thus supports all sorts of containers such as MP4 and AVI. It will also play FLV via a cheap app you can get from the app store.

Currently the Ipad is lacking support for video and ties you in to a narrow bunch of containers. VLC was once available on the Apple App store... it was developed by a 3rd party developer, it was pulled by the open source head honcho for VLC due to Apple's lack of respect for the open source model. Been a while, but I'm sure it is still absent from the Apple App store.

With Hi-Def output to a tv, the PB still wins over the Ipad. Android is a close 2nd (if not tied in 1st) to the PB due to the open source model and inclusion of VLC.

Web browsing, I don't care much for flash so it doesn't really bother me. The tiny PB screen often makes selecting links hard but one I thing I find useful is downloading. Zips, software and photos. My Ipad didn't do that other han photos, but again it's been a while.

Personally if you can wait, February. See what RIM are doing and how they come up with the OS 2.0 Goods. Then wait a month to see what app devs are doing.

Currently the PB app store is as useful as a wet park bench.

I still loathe my PB for the record.

[hubermania]

I agree with gladiator, go try out the PB at your nearest retailer. The front-facing speakers on the PB are nice for playing videos widescreen. Kindle has its two speakers aimed out the side of the tablet . IMHO a 7" tablet is just the right size to carry around. Unfortunately neither Netflix nor Hulu have streaming apps for the PB, so if you want to stream them the PB is a no-go. As for e-readers there is a Kobo reader preloaded on the PB, and I find the Amazon Cloud Reader works perfectly fine in the PB browser.

[RCCollins]

Video Support... whilst the native vid app leaves much to be desired it has a great clear screen quality with 2nd to none built in stereo speakers. It also plays H.264 WMV and MPEG4 video... and thus supports all sorts of containers such as MP4 and AVI. It will also play FLV via a cheap app you can get from the app store.

Currently the Ipad is lacking support for video and ties you in to a narrow bunch of containers. VLC was once available on the Apple App store... it was developed by a 3rd party developer, it was pulled by the open source head honcho for VLC due to Apple's lack of respect for the open source model. Been a while, but I'm sure it is still absent from the Apple App store.

With Hi-Def output to a tv, the PB still wins over the Ipad. Android is a close 2nd (if not tied in 1st) to the PB due to the open source model and inclusion of VLC.

Take a look at the Airvideo app for the iPad, paired up with an Apple TV and Airplay it is leaps and bounds above anything else on the market.

[Jonathan-Archer]

i refuse to buy a man purse or a sachel just so i can carry a tablet around.

Otherwise you can just tell them it�s European

[Hgouck]

I'am undecided on which tablet get. Since I saw the playbook I was fascinated with its design, but I really think I would need something bigger for reading pdfs files and ebooks. My primary desires are to read pdf files, ebook, see some videos and surf the web, But I don't know wich tablet is the best suited for me. What do you think should be my decision? go for the playbook or get an android or ipad instead.?

Thanks for your responses.

Welcome to Crackberry. The place to go to get answers. If you are undecided on which Tablet to buy...There are quit a few other threads started with this exact theme "by new to the tablet world" people. The easiest way to get answers to assist you in making your decision would be to do a quick search (found at the top right corner) for the topic you are interested in.

[Fmar]

Take a look at the Airvideo app for the iPad, paired up with an Apple TV and Airplay it is leaps and bounds above anything else on the market.

That's all well n good if you are in range of the base PC/MAC streaming the media or wish to do a full video conversion. It's a time consuming process that requires a decent PC to do well and quickly.

As much as I like the Ipad, the PB supports more codecs out of the box.

[conix67]

That's all well n good if you are in range of the base PC/MAC streaming the media or wish to do a full video conversion. It's a time consuming process that requires a decent PC to do well and quickly.

As much as I like the Ipad, the PB supports more codecs out of the box.

PB supporting more codecs has been pretty much useless to me (believe me, I was actually very excited about it before getting my PB). It still is incompatible with many file containers/formats and codecs. Besides, you cannot playback directly off of network shares, which limits its use further.

AirVideo takes care of all that, and doesn't need latest hardware or any effort on users part.

I'm using subsonic now in place of AirVideo. Web client works well but dedicated PB client has been giving me problems. Overall the experience is not as polished as AirVideo's and substantially more expensive, but this is the best solution I found so far.

[zoban]

For downloaded video playback on the PB I use Tversity on my PC which feeds two DLink Media Players, and several other PC's and Laptops in the house here.

Works a treat using the web browser and pointing to pc-ip/flashlibort and does the encoding on the fly even deals with SRT subtitles if you have the file for it.

As to ebooks, OS 2 beta and Kindles got me through all 5 of the Song of Ice and Fire series without a single issue.

PDF's well the included Adobe Reader is limited but I do regualrly open a 200+mb pdf file Service Manual for the Magnum, Charger, 300 (Car club thing)

[loneweasel]

Don't buy the Playbook for your needs. Buy an ipad or 10 inch Android.

The PB has extremely extremely extremely weak epub and pdf programs.

And don't trust suggestions on this forum. It is censored.

[Chaddface]

And don't trust suggestions on this forum. It is censored.

Couldn't be further from the truth.

[mmcpher]

For surfing the web, the Playbook is best. For PDFs, it's not bad, but I doubt the playbook is the best. For eBooks, the playbook is not the best. For videos, the lack of DRM support drags the playbook down too.

I don't have any other tablets, but my brother has the Ipad and I have seen other devices. But I don't know enough to recommend anything.

Research in Motion seems to be everybody's Little Miss Punching Bag these days, but they still make some very nice products. The 9900 Blackberry and the Blackberry Playbook, to name their best, IMHO.

There's no accounting for taste, but the Playbook is the right size at 7 inches, if you are going to be moving aroud with a tablet (and its hard to imagine why you'd otherwise want a tablet if you were going to use it only while stationary). The larger size tablets are better for browsing, reading docs, pdfs, etc., but not as good as most cheap netbooks, laptops or desktops, and the weight and bulk of a 10 inch tablet becomes an irritant to a surprising degree. I have a Kindle DX and my wife has an Ipad2 so I have seen this first hand. The Ipad2 and the Kindle DX tend to sit charging for days while the PB travels with me much more often.

It has been very good for me, streaming video and audio over the web, often outpreforming my desktops. But the on-device software still leaves a lot to be desired. The good apps are just starting to come out. RIM is promising, promising to release a major upgrade to the Playbook OS in February, and when RIM sets a release date it is set in stone. Only not's so's you'd notice. Still, in their last disastorous earnings call, during which they tabled the release of their next-generation phones to a vague, "later next year", RIM has indicated that the 2.0 version of the OS is still on track for February. And if you can hang in there that long, with the no spell check, no naitve email, no txt messaging, no Android apps, then it will be like getting a new device all over again when and if 2.0 software arrives. There have been encouraging betas of 2.0 out for months now.

The Bridge connection, which requires that you have a Blackberry phone and data plan, works very, very well, again IMHO. It really is an attractive feature that RIM has managed to market as if it were a social disease. Go figure. You can get email, BBM's and even browse very well, so much so that you won't miss the on-board celluar.

And one of the best things about the Playbook is the way the bezel areas function. The black border around the display screen is operative and allows swiping, scrolling, pull down menus, etc. Its vastly superior to competitors. If you move back and forth from an IPad2 to a Playbook, you will be constantly swiping and pulling at the IPad2's borders, and will become annoyed when you constantly have to use the physical button to get where and what you want. I would hope that once RIM finally launches 2.0 and stabalizes itself, the developers will begin to put out some nice stuff for the Playbook.

[mmcpher]

Don't buy the Playbook for your needs. Buy an ipad or 10 inch Android.

The PB has extremely extremely extremely weak epub and pdf programs.

And don't trust suggestions on this forum. It is censored.

You must be either kidding or confused as to which site you are posting to. Sometimes it seems like this site is peopled by Philadelphia Eagles fans, who love their team, but who also seem to express it best through sustained booing. RIM and RIM products routinely take a pounding here.

[xandermac]

For the money (199) you can't touch the playbook. The only drawback at the moment is the app ecosystem. That will hopefully change in February and an abundance of android apps will be available. Jump on it while it's discounted.


Sent from my iPhone4s using Tapatalk

[Darlaten]

For the money (199) you can't touch the playbook. The only drawback at the moment is the app ecosystem. That will hopefully change in February and an abundance of android apps will be available. Jump on it while it's discounted.


Sent from my iPhone4s using Tapatalk

Do you mean the oh so high-quality Android apps that are making their way through the ecosystem? Oh yah - that's a sarcastic comment Still, your point it taken - I hope the app ecosystem improves over time and some of the more robust, high-quality apps - both native and from Android - make it over to the Playbook.

On a completely unreleated point. Did anyone see that the Sony Tablet S received an upgrade that now allows a PS3 joystic to connect to the tablet so that you can play Playstation games using the joystick instead of touch screens. Very cool I think. Made me actually look at a Sony Tablet S today

[teknishun]

For the money (199) you can't touch the playbook. The only drawback at the moment is the app ecosystem. That will hopefully change in February and an abundance of android apps will be available. Jump on it while it's discounted.


Sent from my iPhone4s using Tapatalk

Unfortunately, it's that ecosystem that overwhelmingly determines the success or failure of the product.

[xandermac]

Do you mean the oh so high-quality Android apps that are making their way through the ecosystem? Oh yah - that's a sarcastic comment Still, your point it taken

I know the situation isn't perfect. Far from it, However, we do know that android applications are on the way, hopefully in February. If and when that finally happens I have to believe that at the $199 price point the playbook will have distinct advantages over other tablets. Being able to use both native and android applications in combination with the BlackBerry bridge, I think, is an excellent setup. If RIM are finally able to deliver I may possibly buy another playbook.



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