- Wow, $800?
In the past year, for a total of $814, I got four PlayBooks (two 16 GB and two 32GB).
They work well for my family and with BB10 coming I hope they will work even...weller!
Other/new tablets simply aren't on my radar at this stage.
If that's clinging on, then so be it.FF22 likes this.10-22-12 06:08 AMLike 1 - Wow, $800?
In the past year, for a total of $814, I got four PlayBooks (two 16 GB and two 32GB).
They work well for my family and with BB10 coming I hope they will work even...weller!
Other/new tablets simply aren't on my radar at this stage.
If that's clinging on, then so be it.
it isn't 'clinging on' yet, but by next year it'll be that.10-22-12 06:55 AMLike 0 - Bear with me here, this isn't a blind fanboy thread. First let me make it clear that tablets for my family are just media consumption devices. The Playbook currently meets all our requirements for that:
Plays movies (stored on PB or streamed off PC)
Web browsing / email
Music
Great game selection
E reading
Like I said, media consumption and entertainment. I don't really have a demanding app selection requirement. Even my Android phone only has a small number of apps on it. But more to the point, here's why I don't see the point of any other tablets right now,
No other $200 tablet has features or specs or quality that are clearly superior, not even the Nexus 7 (which actually costs slightly more). I also fail to see the point in spending $600 or more on any tablet, period. Tablets are now in a stupid race to make each other outdated within months of purchase. For $800 I can buy a good quality Toshiba or Asus full fledged laptop with a 15" HD display, 8 GB of RAM, a full version of windows, full windows programs, nearly a terabyte of internal storage, AND that laptop will stay relevant for years, and not at the mercy of OTA updates to the OS.
Is it as portable as a tablet? Nope. But it has a longer lifespan, more features, and powerful enough be used as a home PC. Tablets are changing way too rapidly for me to justify spending more than a couple hundred bucks. Call me cheap if you will, but I'm done allowing gadget marketing strategy to entice me into chasing high priced new releases every year. So I've decided it's more economically sound to stay in the $200 range for tablets and none of the other current offerings have impressed me as being any better than my current PB. Which I've had for a year.No other $200 tablet has features or specs or quality that are clearly superior, not even the Nexus 7 (which actually costs slightly more).
If a family were to ask my advice to choose a tablet for media consumption, the PB would honestly be my last choice. Not unless I was willing to provide technical support all the time. The reason it works for you is that you have learned all of the workarounds to make it work.
Let me give some examples of the tech support questions I would expect to get just to keep this family happy with their PB purchase.
Movies/TV - Can I use my Netflix account? (Nope but here is a bunch of websites where you can watch for free. There's a lot of popup advertisements and the stream buffers a lot though.) I downloaded this movie but it won't play or doesn't have sound. (Use the video converter and convert the videos first). Can I stream my videos from the local network? ( I would cringe at recommending or setting up Orb. With Android, use Plex or simply play it directly from the network drive. iOS has the top notch AirVideo which plays any format. )
These questions are not hypothetical. I got a PB on firesale, gave it as a present to a niece and I actually heard these questions. She's very gracious and grateful, but she knows what her friends' iPads can do, and having to explain the workarounds made me feel like a cheap .
With web browsing and email, I didn't get any questions or complaints. Although with music and video store are pathetic compared to iTunes and Play store.
Great game selection - Only if you didn't know what's on the other side of the fence
E reading - PB is the honestly the weakest platform for this. A lot of ebooks come in PDF form, and I don't need to rehash the PDF reader deficiencies. What about Kindle? Ever try to explain sideloading to a non-techie. This is such a waste of time when her peers, instead of dealing with BARs, are just reading. I also did not enjoy having to install Calibre to deal with file formats.Bakamushi likes this.10-22-12 08:33 AMLike 1 - I am contemplating of getting a third 64G Playbook. This time I saw a bundle deal that has a 64G plus mini keyboard/case and plus rapid travel charger for $319.99. Essentially, If I'm paying $199.99 for the 64G and $119.99 for the mini keyboard, I'm getting the magnetic rapid travel charger for free. It was the rapid charger that had me thinking about getting this bundle deal. The Playbook was meant as a gift and I can keep the mini keyboard for myself.10-22-12 09:30 AMLike 0
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- Streaming videos from the local network with your PB is a piece of cake using Ghost Commander from app world or using the sideloaded apps ES File Explorer or X-Plore.10-22-12 10:49 AMLike 0
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- Well everyone has different needs and different uses.. So different tablets..
And a point to remember is that the PlayBook is not a $200 tablet.. It is at that price only because it wasn't getting sold at higher price.. And I seriously doubt if RIM can keep a tablet with such specs in production and sell them at $200..
But I'm happy with mine which I got a few months ago.. I didn't really get it at the present throw away price.. But I got it a bit cheaper than the launch price..10-22-12 12:00 PMLike 0 - Isn't that also true for android tablets and ipads? Anyhow, the biggest problem for the PB is streaming videos with AC3 audio. Streaming Now will remux videos on your PC with AC3 audio and stream them to your PB. Remuxing an hour long video takes less than 3 minutes.10-22-12 12:00 PMLike 0
- ThunderbuckRetired ModeratorYou really think the full-blown Win8 Pro tablets will be available for anything less that $1,100? You're dreaming.10-22-12 02:33 PMLike 0
- No it's not. The PB was set for 500-700 dollars, but because of a poor ecosystem at launch it did not sell well, thats when they decided to start dropping prices. Get your facts right before telling people they're wrong.10-22-12 02:53 PMLike 0
- I don't think he said that. He's talking about Intel Clover trail tablets, which will run Windows 8, but are not Microsoft branded and are not the same as Microsoft Surface Window 8 tablets.10-22-12 03:04 PMLike 0
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Just because I put a $100 price tag on a number 2 lead pencil, doesn't mean that it's really a $100 pencil.10-22-12 03:15 PMLike 0 - Try KalemSoft Media Player from App world, it will stream no problem. Movies downloaded to your PB are no longer any issue, this plays everything, I have yet to find a format it will not play, both video and audio. I was getting tired of converting for my PB, now, I just, load and enjoy.10-22-12 03:21 PMLike 0
- Partially correct. If it 'really' was a $500-$700 tablet, (same price as an iPad, but with half the screen, no email or calendar, and no ecosystem) it would have sold at that price. They struggle to sell them at $200, so I don't even consider them a $200 tablet.
Just because I put a $100 price tag on a number 2 lead pencil, doesn't mean that it's really a $100 pencil.10-22-12 07:06 PMLike 0 - Looks like I may end up eating my own words. I just found out there will be several 10" laptops with detachable tablets running the FULL windows 8 version, usb, micro sd, 2 gb ram, 64 gb ssd, and Intel Clover trail chips for $750 in the next few weeks.10-29-12 04:53 AMLike 0
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- Full Win 8 is WAY too big an OS for tablets. Hint 1: the smallest Surface Pro will be 64GB. How much of that will be taken up by the OS? Hint 2: Look at Windows expert Paul Thurrott's "What I Use" column. He has been running a Windows 7 tablet It is large, heavy, gets poor battery lfe, and has a fan he has compared to a jet engine. He does not recommend it. Win 8 in 7 with another user interface level added, it is NOT a radically smaller OS. Hint 3: At the Surface RT announcement, RT was praised for its "long battery life and fanless operation", Guess what Surface Pro will NOT have? Can you imagine anyone bragging that their PlayBook/iPad/Nexus 7/whatever does not use a fan? Win 8 requires a powerful processor, which generates too much heat for a tablet to run well. You would be better off with an Ultrabook or a Macbook Air.10-29-12 06:03 AMLike 0
- Full Win 8 is WAY too big an OS for tablets. Hint 1: the smallest Surface Pro will be 64GB. How much of that will be taken up by the OS? Hint 2: Look at Windows expert Paul Thurrott's "What I Use" column. He has been running a Windows 7 tablet It is large, heavy, gets poor battery lfe, and has a fan he has compared to a jet engine. He does not recommend it. Win 8 in 7 with another user interface level added, it is NOT a radically smaller OS. Hint 3: At the Surface RT announcement, RT was praised for its "long battery life and fanless operation", Guess what Surface Pro will NOT have? Can you imagine anyone bragging that their PlayBook/iPad/Nexus 7/whatever does not use a fan? Win 8 requires a powerful processor, which generates too much heat for a tablet to run well. You would be better off with an Ultrabook or a Macbook Air.
Shouldve done your homework mate because your info is about 3 years or more out of date. I'll even help you out, go read up on Samsung Ativ smart pc t500 for just ONE example of what's available in that price range.10-29-12 06:17 AMLike 0 - Full Win 8 is WAY too big an OS for tablets. Hint 1: the smallest Surface Pro will be 64GB. How much of that will be taken up by the OS? Hint 2: Look at Windows expert Paul Thurrott's "What I Use" column. He has been running a Windows 7 tablet It is large, heavy, gets poor battery lfe, and has a fan he has compared to a jet engine. He does not recommend it. Win 8 in 7 with another user interface level added, it is NOT a radically smaller OS. Hint 3: At the Surface RT announcement, RT was praised for its "long battery life and fanless operation", Guess what Surface Pro will NOT have? Can you imagine anyone bragging that their PlayBook/iPad/Nexus 7/whatever does not use a fan? Win 8 requires a powerful processor, which generates too much heat for a tablet to run well. You would be better off with an Ultrabook or a Macbook Air.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk 211-09-12 10:35 AMLike 0
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