I was at Best Buy, my least favorite electronics shop but that's irrelevant, and had a chance to test several competing tablets, the Acer Iconia, an Asus and the Nexus 7.
What a shock! There was no comparison with my PB 64gig. These units were blazingly fast, smooth as butter, and when it come to multitasking, I loaded them up with 8-10 apps and they didn't blink. Maps loaded in seconds, including my location in the store (at least 50 metres from the nearest exit). Browser, gmail, videos, Kindle and more -- they all loaded almost instantly. Kindle, in particular, was no comparison with the dog it is on PB. These machines just felt like my laptop, not what I thought, from my experience with my PB, that a tablet must be. Or rather, it felt like comparing my five-year-old dual-core, two gig ram laptop to my year-old quad-core six gig laptop (both Acers).
I did not do an in-depth look at all of their features, but nevertheless came away with the distinct impression that any potential shopper testing these units, which were all priced competitively, to the PB would not give the PB a second look. And while the PB's swipe feature is nice, I quickly learned and adapted to how these android devices operated and felt there was nothing awkward about them. Different but just as workable.
I've had my beefs about my PB (as we all have had), though felt the latest update had helped with native email and the browser. But this comparison was an eye-opener for me. My PB simply felt like old technology when I had one of those devices in my hands.
I'd don't know what BB10 will or can do to turn the PB into something comparable, but I suspect only PB LTE, with its faster processor, can begin to compete. Even then, without a better app ecosystem and the ability to run more than three or four apps at a time, I don't see a smooth road ahead.
I've read the posts praising the PB and I have no issue with satisfied owners. I just think we should be aware of what the PB faces out there, and simply running down the list of specs on various tablets is not the whole story.