[kb5zht]

We are rapidly approaching the three month mark since the playbook has been released... What is the general consensus on the state we currently find the firmware? All of us (or nearly all) were aware the device would hit the shelves with a lot of work needed to be done- RIM made that clear and I was good with it- but the question now is, when you bought the playbook what state did you think the firmware would be in at about this point, and thus do you think it is way behind, spot on, or way ahead of where it really is?

I have made no bones about it... at launch and even more so now the stability and solidness of the OS surpassed my expectations while the full functionality and utilitarian side i think is way way way behind.

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[Siiid]

QNX is a solid beast... just needs functional apps.

[Darlaten]

My thoughts on the progression of the OS: way too slow and way too far behind where it should have been.

[tkcdamar]

We can all agree that there is (and with these forums readers always will be) room for improvement. The skeleton of this device is top notch. Once the tablet jumps the native email pop culture hurtle, it will be off to the races......with no looking back. Functional apps will continue to be developed and the implementation of the Android player will happen in time. We all want 'it' now and when we get 'it' we are satisfied for one battery cycle; then want the next 'it' and can't believe it wasn't included with the last 'it'. Get it? Slow progress......but steady progress. I am pleased. Well, I'm ready for the next update

[kevinnugent]

Just go back 3 months to all the posts from the RIM faithful who proclaimed "just give it 3 months and you wait and see how great it will be!!!"

Quiet now though...

[BaconMunch]

Development is way to slow, if Kevin hasn't been able to do a full re-review, it means the playbook isn't the completely different beast that we're waiting for yet..hopefully between now and the end of summer we'll be in a different situation.

Apps wise, don't hold your breath until October when the NDK beta is planned to be out and about.

[bpdude]

Just go back 3 months to all the posts from the RIM faithful who proclaimed "just give it 3 months and you wait and see how great it will be!!!"

Quiet now though...

Dont think they are quiet. Its just that MOST of the trolls have gone and its a lot more peaceful. RIM support is still strong here.

[epik89]

wheres my apps!

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[Maiev]

60 "business" days is almost up! We should get PIM apps soon LOL !

[Darlaten]

Dont think they are quiet. Its just that MOST of the trolls have gone and its a lot more peaceful. RIM support is still strong here.

Gone? I dont think so. I think it's better stated that they have either "given up", "lost interest", "lost faith", or "just dont care anymore" - sentiments that seem to be the norm when it comes to RIM and Blackberry products these days.

[TheMarco]

I still use my PlayBook for the things it's good at but I find myself using the TouchPad I got last week more now. Not because it's necessarily better but because it has the apps that the PlayBook is still lacking after all this time. If the PlayBook ever gets that darn PIM, Skype and IM I'll probably use the PlayBook more again because of the awesome form factor and the fact that it has more hardware features.

RIM really needs to make these apps happen. Sometimes I wonder if they've just given up or something. The silence from RIM is deafening indeed.

[thelink74]

at this point in time i am very satisfied with the PlayBook and look forward to future updates that will enhance the use of the PlayBook. i use it mostly for surfing the web, recording videos that look beautiful on and off the PlayBook, Word2go and BlackBerry bridge is a beast (only wish for better speed on the bridge browser). i am not much of an app person and care not for the native e-mail....

[kb5zht]

Just go back 3 months to all the posts from the RIM faithful who proclaimed "just give it 3 months and you wait and see how great it will be!!!"

Quiet now though...

I remember them holding fast to the "schedule" of native functionality within 60 days. I didnt care so much about THAT, what puts a burr under my saddle was my bemoaning the playbook being late and rim being so quiet and all the ultra-fanatics screaming "its on schedule and it will rock the market when its out and unbelievably wonderful updates will come out so fast it will blow your mind."

Its on these matters i now hear deafening silence. The qnx OS is fast, stable and holds unbelievable but UNTAPPED potential.

STILL saddled with a 5 minute time out, STILL no real bridge functionality that i expected... I have myself run out of excuses for RIM.

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[lovemyberry500]

We use it to surf the web and to watch videos. The latest os makes surfing very fast and you can watch videos of different formats - avi, mp4, and divx as well as HD videos from youtube. The video and sound quality is spectacular. Just bought a dongle and hooked it up to the 46" LCD. Simply fabulous.
We love it!

[nycspaces.]

after the next os drop it should be ready to come out of beta and be launched to the masses.

[kb5zht]

We use it to surf the web and to watch videos. The latest os makes surfing very fast and you can watch videos of different formats - avi, mp4, and divx as well as HD videos from youtube. The video and sound quality is spectacular. Just bought a dongle and hooked it up to the 46" LCD. Simply fabulous.
We love it!

I have a 15' hdmi chord and simply love both games AND movies on our 54" screen.

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[rcab]

I believe once we are past the Canadian and American holiday we will see more movement concerning updates. I think with all the open letters, etc, they will move to show us that they are still alive at RIM. So I believe we will start seeing some progress to all the items they have promised us.

[kzeusr]

If ir werent for the playbook browser i would be completely bored with my pb. I love it so much because of the best in its class browser and more than anything the potential it holds to be dominant in the tablet market.

[esqlaw]

I think the OS is solid except when you're browsing and it crashes. Usually closing a window or two helps. Happens often if I have like 5-6 windows up. Dunno if you consider that good or not, I think 4-5 apps at one time is good enough for me. However, I haven't really tested its limits.

I don't really experience any speed issues. Even the browser is very smooth and loads fast over wifi. Bridge works really well for me.

Needs more entertainment apps to take advantage of what the PB has to offer. Even the Ipad has hulu despite lacking flash. I am not upset by this because I'd rather watch tv on my tv, including hulu.

It'd be nice to see a couple nice games come to the PB; not cheap games but full fledged games. Need for speed is a good example but even that probably doesn't push the PB too its full potential.

[Matt J]

I love my PlayBook, however, I really thought RIM would be much further ahead by now. I don't really care about native e-mail as the Bridge function is good and secure, but the lack of autocorrect is incomprehensible. Also, Documents to Go needs more functions. These thing seem small to me....but three months later they are still not here.

As far as apps are concerned, I really don't care. I need PDF and document functionality, email and an awesome browser.

[ubizmo]

I love my PlayBook, however, I really thought RIM would be much further ahead by now. I don't really care about native e-mail as the Bridge function is good and secure, but the lack of autocorrect is incomprehensible. Also, Documents to Go needs more functions. These thing seem small to me....but three months later they are still not here.

As far as apps are concerned, I really don't care. I need PDF and document functionality, email and an awesome browser.

There is overlap between document functionality and browser awesomeness, and that overlap has to do with text entry. The fact that auto-text (or Word Substitution, as it's now called), spell-checking, smart capitalization and punctuation don't exist on the PB means that anything that involves text entry is much more laborious and error-prone than it would be on the BB. That includes typing a message like this into a text entry box in a web site.

The processes for relocating the cursor, and doing any sort of copy/cut and paste operations are stunningly awkward and error-prone, but these operations are basic functionality for any professional user. It is by far easier to type into a web-based app on my BB than it is on my PB, and this simply shouldn't be so.

Three months in (almost), we need to be able to do more with the web than look at it!

[sleepngbear]

There is overlap between document functionality and browser awesomeness, and that overlap has to do with text entry. The fact that auto-text (or Word Substitution, as it's now called), spell-checking, smart capitalization and punctuation don't exist on the PB means that anything that involves text entry is much more laborious and error-prone than it would be on the BB. That includes typing a message like this into a text entry box in a web site.

The processes for relocating the cursor, and doing any sort of copy/cut and paste operations are stunningly awkward and error-prone, but these operations are basic functionality for any professional user. It is by far easier to type into a web-based app on my BB than it is on my PB, and this simply shouldn't be so.

Three months in (almost), we need to be able to do more with the web than look at it!

Definitely gotta agree with this. While I'm still overall very satisfied with my PB, my biggest gripe with it is the fact that it's still easier to enter text and do all those other things you mentioned on the web with the Torch.

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[dandbj13]

Low expectations of the faithful, aside, I find the question to be interesting. It is clear that the PB does not meet RIM's stated expectations for where it should be by now, neither in sales or updates.

It is a simple matter of over promising and under delivering. This is yet another trait the PB has with the TouchPad. HP made a big noise about being better than #1, and how they would not release the TP until it was perfect, and how the TP would launch with all of the important apps. The reality is that the TP will never be #1, it is buggy as heck, and the app story is no better than the PB.

Had these companies entered the tablet market with humility befitting their station and abilities, they would have been better reviewed and accepted. People would have had lower expectations and more patience. As it stands, they get no grace from the greater tech community.

"Amateur hour is over!"

[ubizmo]

Definitely gotta agree with this. While I'm still overall very satisfied with my PB, my biggest gripe with it is the fact that it's still easier to enter text and do all those other things you mentioned on the web with the Torch.

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I was excited to see that with my PB browser, I could use Google Docs in fully functional Desktop Mode. I can't do that on my Bold 9780. But when I saw how frustratingly difficult it is to do text entry and editing on the PB, my excitement quickly cooled.

We all expect a lot from the PB, and RIM should be pleased that we do. But in my opinion, text entry, cursor control, and editing operations are a basic part of the UI, rather than frills to be added later. I'll admit that I'm an auto-text power user, with a still-expanding lexicon of over 400 abbreviations. These enable me to type on my BB at speeds that a lot of people find amazing. Not everyone bothers with this sort of thing, though. But cutting, copying, pasting, capitalizing, and so forth are pretty universal.

There are no doubt bigger and flashier improvements to the OS in the pipeline, but if an incremental upgrade is justified for anything, it's justified for basic text entry aspects of the UI.

[Marcel38]

I am sure the PlayBook will be as good as the BlackBerry's we all used to, but like we all have written on our foreheads: RiM must act faster and provide customers some sort of roadmap so we know what to expect and when.

My feeling is that the true power of the PlayBook is not yet used...so I still have hope left, the only thing that is shrinking every day is patience ...