1. skeuri's Avatar
    Hi,

    I got myself a Q5 three weeks ago and am totally BB hooked. Since my netbook is giving up, I'm thinking of getting myself a Playbook especially since I found a great deal for a 64Gb version for € 161 (priced down from € 679).

    But I heard some weird stuff about it, namely having to link it up to a phone to have mail, calender, etc. (the website refutes this however) Was this mended in a later OS version?

    I want to use it mainly for lightweight internet chores: surfing, email, social media, calendar (Google) and the occasional game. But I'd also like to be able to watch the movies on my QNAP NAS. Will the Playbook connect to my shared drives through wifi? Is it WebDAV or DLNA compatible? And finally will it play "popular" media files and containers (.mkv)?

    How do you guys like your Playbook?

    Any insights are appreciated.

    Grtz, skeuri
    09-16-13 01:41 PM
  2. jarviser's Avatar
    Sounds like you need a nexus 7, especially if you want to sync with google cal.

    Why spend that much on an obsolete tablet?
    Donvald, kbz1960 and anon(3870164) like this.
    09-16-13 01:55 PM
  3. Carl Estes's Avatar
    Hi,

    I got myself a Q5 three weeks ago and am totally BB hooked. Since my netbook is giving up, I'm thinking of getting myself a Playbook especially since I found a great deal for a 64Gb version for € 161 (priced down from € 679).

    But I heard some weird stuff about it, namely having to link it up to a phone to have mail, calender, etc. (the website refutes this however) Was this mended in a later OS version?

    I want to use it mainly for lightweight internet chores: surfing, email, social media, calendar (Google) and the occasional game. But I'd also like to be able to watch the movies on my QNAP NAS. Will the Playbook connect to my shared drives through wifi? Is it WebDAV or DLNA compatible? And finally will it play "popular" media files and containers (.mkv)?

    How do you guys like your Playbook?

    Any insights are appreciated.

    Grtz, skeuri
    For that price you can go wrong. Like you said couch surfing the web, email, you tube, storing you whole cd collection and a few movies,(Just no AC3 audio codecs, no workie)but handles almost every other format, decent GPS Guidance (Magellan) great for taking HD movies on vacation, AND HDMI output to plug into your big flatscreen.

    You can "Bridge" your phone to the Playbook for Data needs, using your phone's data plan (as long as you have the right version of Bridge from RRoyy.com for your phone.

    Used to be able to read/send emails/sms and such, but as of now it is hobbled. Maybe an update to the new OS10 phones will bring this back, (watch my smoke to the VZW store once this happens, waiting for this BEFORE, I buy Z10)

    Rock solid unit, takes abuse and keeps on going.

    Go for it, for the money BIG bang for the buck. (You might even find you are fighting over it at home, may have to get a second unit, I have 2 64gb units).

    Have fun and welcome!

    c
    skeuri likes this.
    09-16-13 02:05 PM
  4. bbmtna's Avatar
    The choice is yours really.. As Jarviser said, the Playbook won't see any major updates, so essentially the APP catalogue will be limited.
    However, i'd like to clarify a few things.
    The playbook doesn't need your phone to access the internet, email and so forth. It can now do those things without the use of your phone.
    My wife has a Google Calender which syncs perfectly with the Playbook and it is used on a daily basis.

    For myself, I use my playbook for work mainly. I have it with me daily and run two excel sheets spreadsheets and to do Remote Desktop Connections. Outside of that, my Z10 is always in my hand.
    There's a total of three playbooks in my house, and they pretty much all serve as media hubs, whether that be, streaming music, view videos or light gaming.

    I couldn't tell ya about the playbook connecting to your shared drives.
    skeuri and Man@Arms like this.
    09-16-13 02:07 PM
  5. SEAWARRIOR's Avatar
    Hi,

    I got myself a Q5 three weeks ago and am totally BB hooked. Since my netbook is giving up, I'm thinking of getting myself a Playbook especially since I found a great deal for a 64Gb version for € 161 (priced down from € 679).

    But I heard some weird stuff about it, namely having to link it up to a phone to have mail, calender, etc. (the website refutes this however) Was this mended in a later OS version?

    I want to use it mainly for lightweight internet chores: surfing, email, social media, calendar (Google) and the occasional game. But I'd also like to be able to watch the movies on my QNAP NAS. Will the Playbook connect to my shared drives through wifi? Is it WebDAV or DLNA compatible? And finally will it play "popular" media files and containers (.mkv)?

    How do you guys like your Playbook?

    Any insights are appreciated.

    Grtz, skeuri
    in os7, this was done w/ bridge function,,, i.e. any messages that arrived on your phone, would be "pushed" to your playbook,,, also, this can be done directly via wifi connection as long as you added the addresses on to the playbook directly,,, the playbook is great for what you want to use it for, but i have read that some people have had to do some finagling to sync w/ google,,, it is NOT dlna capable, some of us have been trying to find a workaround for this, but to no avail, yet,,, you can see what media is viewable/playable here, https://developer.blackberry.com/dev...a_support.html , .mkv IS supported...
    skeuri and mkelley65 like this.
    09-16-13 02:08 PM
  6. skeuri's Avatar
    Sounds like you need a nexus 7, especially if you want to sync with google cal.
    Why spend that much on an obsolete tablet?
    As long as it does what I want it to do, I don't consider it obsolete.... and € 161 is a steal for any recent tablet. Furthermore my Q5 works great with Google mail and calendar so doesn't the Playbook as well?
    SEAWARRIOR and Carl Estes like this.
    09-16-13 02:10 PM
  7. bambinoitaliano's Avatar
    For that price you can go wrong. Like you said couch surfing the web, email, you tube, storing you whole cd collection and a few movies,(Just no AC3 audio codecs, no workie)but handles almost every other format, decent GPS Guidance (Magellan) great for taking HD movies on vacation, AND HDMI output to plug into your big flatscreen.

    You can "Bridge" your phone to the Playbook for Data needs, using your phone's data plan (as long as you have the right version of Bridge from RRoyy.com for your phone.

    Used to be able to read/send emails/sms and such, but as of now it is hobbled. Maybe an update to the new OS10 phones will bring this back, (watch my smoke to the VZW store once this happens, waiting for this BEFORE, I buy Z10)

    Rock solid unit, takes abuse and keeps on going.

    Go for it, for the money BIG bang for the buck. (You might even find you are fighting over it at home, may have to get a second unit, I have 2 64gb units).

    Have fun and welcome!

    c
    Add on to what Carl said, a Kalem Soft media player will play just about every files. It's worth the $6.99 investment.
    Carl Estes, Enyigma and skeuri like this.
    09-16-13 02:11 PM
  8. SEAWARRIOR's Avatar
    As long as it does what I want it to do, I don't consider it obsolete.... and € 161 is a steal for any recent tablet. Furthermore my Q5 works great with Google mail and calendar so doesn't the Playbook as well?
    not sure if the BB10 bridge will push the way os7 did,,, i do believe there's an option in the menu that gives to option to "view on playbook"...
    skeuri likes this.
    09-16-13 02:13 PM
  9. bbmtna's Avatar
    Add on to what Carl said, a Kalem Soft media player will play just about every files. It's worth the $6.99 investment.
    you know I've seen Kalem Soft in the App World and never really gave it the time of day.. Knowing this makes me want to look into it further.
    Thanks for this.
    09-16-13 02:14 PM
  10. bambinoitaliano's Avatar
    As long as it does what I want it to do, I don't consider it obsolete.... and € 161 is a steal for any recent tablet. Furthermore my Q5 works great with Google mail and calendar so doesn't the Playbook as well?
    This should come in handy.
    KB33093-How to setup Google Calendar synchronization via CalDAV on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet or BlackBerry 10 smartphone
    skeuri, Enyigma and BigAl_BB9900 like this.
    09-16-13 02:14 PM
  11. bambinoitaliano's Avatar
    you know I've seen Kalem Soft in the App World and never really gave it the time of day.. Knowing this makes me want to look into it further.
    Thanks for this.
    It's a must have app for playbook in imo.
    bbmtna likes this.
    09-16-13 02:15 PM
  12. skeuri's Avatar
    The bridging function doesn't really matter since I don't have a data plan.... a € 2,50 a month SIM-only contract. I'll be connecting through WiFi only.

    I thought I had read in an early review that the Playbook dindnt have a native email and calendar client....
    09-16-13 02:21 PM
  13. bbmtna's Avatar
    It's a must have app for playbook in imo.
    Well that purchase was easy, can't wait to try it out later.
    And OP sorry for getting off topic (sort of) With this app.

    If you do decide to purchase the Playbook, which as a light weight device, you'll find it will suit your needs, remember to download OrigamiBrowser. It takes web browsing on the playbook to another level.

    Best of luck
    09-16-13 02:22 PM
  14. skeuri's Avatar
    09-16-13 02:23 PM
  15. Carl Estes's Avatar
    Add on to what Carl said, a Kalem Soft media player will play just about every files. It's worth the $6.99 investment.

    What Bambino said.
    +1

    Also, I use Neutron Music Player is great for audio files. I rip from Windows Media Player using WMA Lossless, (no mp3 compression etc., basically a digital copy of the CD you rip.

    c
    bambinoitaliano likes this.
    09-16-13 02:25 PM
  16. MisterShark's Avatar
    I just picked up an LTE PlayBook that I'll be putting on AT&T's WWAN.
    So if you want something more than WiFi connectivity there's also that possibility.
    In case you were wondering I purchased it from a seller on eBay for $160.
    09-16-13 02:28 PM
  17. mcstravi's Avatar
    you know I've seen Kalem Soft in the App World and never really gave it the time of day.. Knowing this makes me want to look into it further.
    Thanks for this.
    Just got it yesterday..seems to work very well for DNLA
    Connected to my WD Live Drive for images and video
    Carl Estes and bbmtna like this.
    09-16-13 02:39 PM
  18. David Murray1's Avatar
    Yes, absolutely and without hesitation. Don't waste time or money on a Nexus or iPad mini. Get a PlayBook.
    Carl Estes and skeuri like this.
    09-16-13 03:13 PM
  19. sklotz2000's Avatar
    Sounds like you need a nexus 7, especially if you want to sync with google cal.

    Why spend that much on an obsolete tablet?
    WTH are you talking about??
    I sync my PlayBook with 5 Google Calendars. It works flawlessly.
    Carl Estes and skeuri like this.
    09-16-13 03:22 PM
  20. mkelley65's Avatar
    in os7, this was done w/ bridge function,,, i.e. any messages that arrived on your phone, would be "pushed" to your playbook,,, also, this can be done directly via wifi connection as long as you added the addresses on to the playbook directly,,, the playbook is great for what you want to use it for, but i have read that some people have had to do some finagling to sync w/ google,,, it is NOT dlna capable, some of us have been trying to find a workaround for this, but to no avail, yet,,, you can see what media is viewable/playable here, https://developer.blackberry.com/dev...a_support.html , .mkv IS supported...
    The PlayBook with 2.1 supports ActiveSync. You don't need to add contacts, calendar, or anything manually.
    SEAWARRIOR and skeuri like this.
    09-16-13 03:31 PM
  21. Kendall Oei's Avatar
    Anything that you read about the PlayBook requiring bridge and a Blackberry phone is over 2 years old. That was the way the PlayBook worked at launch. BBRY put a full mail and PIM client that works independently long ago. If you read reviews that talk about no native email, look at the dates. My PlayBook is syncing with a Office 365 and the email my cable provider offers.
    skeuri likes this.
    09-16-13 03:32 PM
  22. SEAWARRIOR's Avatar
    The bridging function doesn't really matter since I don't have a data plan.... a € 2,50 a month SIM-only contract. I'll be connecting through WiFi only.

    I thought I had read in an early review that the Playbook dindnt have a native email and calendar client....
    this was resolved w/ the 2.0.x update,,, there is a native calendar & email...
    Carl Estes likes this.
    09-16-13 04:28 PM
  23. SEAWARRIOR's Avatar
    The PlayBook with 2.1 supports ActiveSync. You don't need to add contacts, calendar, or anything manually.
    hmm, i know you know your sh!t Mike, but in order to get my *personal* email directly on my playbook via wifi, i have to add the acct manually,,, are you saying that if i have my email pushed from the phone,(9850/7.1), the native email will sync the acct??? i currently don't have my email bridged , i handle that on my phone 'cuz both are usually within reach, so it avoids having to read/delete etc. on both devices,,, isn't active sync for BES exchange accts???
    09-16-13 04:39 PM
  24. npunk42's Avatar
    Sounds like you need a nexus 7, especially if you want to sync with google cal.

    Why spend that much on an obsolete tablet?
    Youll spend double on a 32 GB Nexus than you would on a 64 GB Playbook. The Playbook is a great device, just don't expect a lot of improvements in the future.
    Carl Estes likes this.
    09-16-13 04:41 PM
  25. mkelley65's Avatar
    hmm, i know you know your sh!t Mike, but in order to get my *personal* email directly on my playbook via wifi, i have to add the acct manually,,, are you saying that if i have my email pushed from the phone,(9850/7.1), the native email will sync the acct??? i currently don't have my email bridged , i handle that on my phone 'cuz both are usually within reach, so it avoids having to read/delete etc. on both devices,,, isn't active sync for BES exchange accts???
    Yes you must add the account, but when you set it up as Active Sync it syncs all Exchange data. I have never had a BB0S7 device so I do not know if it supports Active Sync. I went from a Bold 9700 running a leaked 6.0 to a Z10.
    On the PB go to Add Acount, then click Advanced Setup. You will then see Microsoft Exchange Active Sync. Exchange ActiveSync does not require BES.
    Sadly, I may possibly be replacing all of the company PlayBooks with Lenovo ThinkPad 2s soon. :-(
    Last edited by mkelley65; 09-16-13 at 06:11 PM.
    SEAWARRIOR likes this.
    09-16-13 05:00 PM
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