[FF22]

Some of us suspect that the date on the box is when it was packaged and not the manufacturing date. But no one is sure.

[dwosch]

Mine: 061112

[Gees97]

when I first bought mine 2 months ago it took forever to get it to turn on. and when it did it said 0% battery for over an hour and a half. and on that same exact screen it said that a OS update (2.0) was availible and that it couldn't update the os until it reached 20% lol. so it was a useless brick for about 5 hours. it works fine and the battery life is amazing but I was seriously about to call amazon and ***** that my tablet wasn't holding a charge lol

[hennesseystealth]

when I first bought mine 2 months ago it took forever to get it to turn on. and when it did it said 0% battery for over an hour and a half. and on that same exact screen it said that a OS update (2.0) was availible and that it couldn't update the os until it reached 20% lol. so it was a useless brick for about 5 hours. it works fine and the battery life is amazing but I was seriously about to call amazon and ***** that my tablet wasn't holding a charge lol

I picked one up from Office Depot in the US in early December and found the battery to be around 40% and already loaded with 2.x. Only had to do the one upgrade to 1314. Not sure where anyone is seeing a "production" date on the box.

[JeepBB]

I picked one up from Office Depot in the US in early December and found the battery to be around 40% and already loaded with 2.x. Only had to do the one upgrade to 1314. Not sure where anyone is seeing a "production" date on the box.

Both of the PB's I've bought have had a date on the large white label stuck onto the inner black box. As F2 says above, many of us believe it to be a "putting in retail packaging" date, not a production date.

Some of the dates I've seen quoted hereabouts are within just a few weeks ago, and I simply don't believe PBs have been trundling along any assembly line in months. What I can believe is someone taking a previously built PB off a shelf, loading it with 2.x, printing a packing date label, and putting the "new" PB in a nice box for retail sale.

[RubberChicken76]

Both of the PB's I've bought have had a date on the large white label stuck onto the inner black box. As F2 says above, many of us believe it to be a "putting in retail packaging" date, not a production date.

Some of the dates I've seen quoted hereabouts are within just a few weeks ago, and I simply don't believe PBs have been trundling along any assembly line in months. What I can believe is someone taking a previously built PB off a shelf, loading it with 2.x, printing a packing date label, and putting the "new" PB in a nice box for retail sale.

Possible. Also possible they have parts but assemble the PlayBooks as needed. If the speculation is true (and I emphasize speculation) that RIM 'stopped' production at 2.5 million, their inventory is probably getting low. 2 million had shipped at the end of last quarter (end of November) and RIM did a lot of sales over Christmas. *IF* this is the case, then they might be at an inflection point to re-order or discontinue or reduce scale manufacture.

[JeepBB]

Possible. Also possible they have parts but assemble the PlayBooks as needed.

I guess that could also be possible, but do volume manufacturers normally produce small runs of equipment "on demand"? Wouldn't it be expensive to book time on an assembly line in some Chinese factory to build a further x PB's, then stop, then re-start to build a few more to satisfy additional demand as and when it arises?

Obviously speculation on my part, but I don't believe any PB's have been built in months. Only RIM would know, and they ain't tellin'

[RubberChicken76]

I guess that could also be possible, but do volume manufacturers normally produce small runs of equipment "on demand"? Wouldn't it be expensive to book time on an assembly line in some Chinese factory to build a further x PB's, then stop, then re-start to build a few more to satisfy additional demand as and when it arises?

Obviously speculation on my part, but I don't believe any PB's have been built in months. Only RIM would know, and they ain't tellin'

I don't know. In the grand scheme of the hundreds of tablets released in the last few years, only a few of them have sold in "the millions" and PlayBook is one of them. So I imagine there must be a way to do a smaller scale run. I imagine each time a chain re-orders, they buy in the thousands.

Just looking at Future Shop, there are a bunch of tablets I've never even heard of:

Hipstreet, La Pan, D2 Pad, Vinci, Nabi ...

[C Man1]

I had a replacement a few months back of a 16 gig. The date and manufacturer have changed to

Made in Taiwan - 13.09.2012

[joshua_sx1]

I don't think at this moment of time, BlackBerry is still manufacturing and producing PlayBook tablet...


If they do, their factory must be somewhere in Area 51...

[Cynycl]

I don't think at this moment of time, BlackBerry is still manufacturing and producing PlayBook tablet...


If they do, their factory must be somewhere in Area 51...

Now you've done it. I can hear the drones heading your way

[yellowhammer]

I had a replacement a few months back of a 16 gig. The date and manufacturer have changed to

Made in Taiwan - 13.09.2012

So RIM was definitely still having them assembled or packaged as late as last fall.

I bought a 32gb PB from Amazon in February, and it was dated November 10, 2012.

[joshua_sx1]

Now you've done it. I can hear the drones heading your way

Are you referring to those MIB?... as in "Men Insane with BlackBerry"...

[bozvandam]

No way. I think it's been officially banned.

Oh, hang on, misread that. Thought you said 'mentioning' the Playbook

[RS_Ford]

I got my 32 GB version as a refurbished device and on the box was written 151112.

[thecobbler]

Got my 32GB BBPB new a month ago. Date code was 050313. If BB has stopped producing new units then the date would definitely stand for the packaged date. It came with the 2.1 OS. Someone mentioned the back being bowed while suggesting they changed manufacturers, so if it was assembled just a few weeks ago then they didn't change manufacturer 'cause mine still has the bow in the back which I noticed when trying to apply a screen protector.

[JeepBB]

There's a thread over there (points) where a couple of posters with BB insider friends report that BB stopped manufacturing the WiFi PB months ago. They also state that the 4G/LTE version, with the SIM slot, is still being made and released though business rather than retail channels.

So, if you wanted to buy a PB, and at current prices they're a steal, I'd hurry up.