[ThePoisonBerry]

Simply: Worth the $200. Not worth $500, at all.

This thing has got very good multitasking abilities which is important to anyone with a soul and have not yet been brain washed. The App selection absolutely sucksass. I thought we were talking about the same number and type of apps as BB phones, but it's much worse. So far, I have only DLed 2 useful apps: Ponyt and Reuters Insider.

I'm not asking for every fart app under the sun, but the most basic ones: CNN, AP, some banking apps, real Google maps, DropBox,... It's good to know the Android player is coming in Feb. How does it work? Any Android app will work in the player? or do the developers still need to tweak it for player compatibility.

Bridge: very good idea--why I decided on a Playbook and not a Galaxy tab. Bad execution. It's slow and features are really primitive. I can't set reminders on tasks, no advanced email options,... Where is SMS through Bridge?
The MOST annoying thing: I have a security password on my 9810 so every time the password times out, the playbook will ask for it if I access any bridge apps. And when I enter the password on PB, all notifications becomes "new" again in the task bar even though I have read them previously. This is really stupid; do they not test their software?

Lame video chat. I don't even know if my unit's front cam is working since I have no friends on pb chat.

Overall worth it for $200. But I can see why the average US consumer will stay away. It's got NO media econ-system period. It's got NO app system period. And for non BB users it doesn't even have PIM period.
It's amazing the execs at RIM thought they were gonna get by with those flaws!

[ThePoisonBerry]

Also:
There is no LED notification!?!

Rapid charger charges 9810 scary fast- probably not good for battery or phone lol.

[Trevante]

Simply: Worth the $200. Not worth $500, at all.

Exactly, this thing was hardly moving until it dropped to $200, and I bet it's because the average consumer feels the same way about the PlayBook. I've liked the PlayBook for a while, but could never justify it because of the ridiculously stupid price. ~$200 is much more reasonable.

The App selection absolutely sucksass.

I'm not asking for every fart app under the sun, but the most basic ones: CNN, AP, some banking apps, real Google maps, DropBox,...

For a DropBox app, look for "BlueBox" on AppWorld.

I agree, this is where the PlayBook is most lacking. It doesn't need a large quantity of apps to compete, it needs more top tier 3rd party applications. If the PlayBook had Nook, Kindle, Netflix, and Hulu apps, it would probably have sold a lot more during the $200 sale; It costs about as much as a Nook Color/Nook Tablet/Kindle Fire, but obviously has much better hardware and a few extra software capabilities. With the right
marketing, they could have pushed more PB sales.

It's good to know the Android player is coming in Feb. How does it work? Any Android app will work in the player? or do the developers still need to tweak it for player compatibility.

Not all apps will work out of the box, and some might never work at all unless the developer specifically tailors the app to work with the Android Player's requirements.

See this thread: http://forums.crackberry.com/android...erting-662497/

Bridge: very good idea--why I decided on a Playbook and not a Galaxy tab. Bad execution. It's slow and features are really primitive. I can't set reminders on tasks, no advanced email options,... Where is SMS through Bridge?

Except for the difference in price, I would have taken the Galaxy Tab (I'm assuming you mean the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus right? The original Galaxy Tab is outdated now) over a Playbook. Although bridge does offer some good features, the only thing it offers that the GTab wouldn't do is bluetooth tethering. The PIM & email apps are already on the GTab, so it would actually do more for you out of the box than a PlayBook would.

Lame video chat. I don't even know if my unit's front cam is working since I have no friends on pb chat.

To test your front facing camera, open the camera app, tap on the screen, then tap on the camera switch button that appears in the lower right hand side of the screen.

To video chat with other people, see the options listed in this thread: http://forums.crackberry.com/playboo...b-apps-629856/

Since the PlayBook has Flash, you can theoretically use any online video chat service that goes through Flash (maybe even via Skype via Facebook?). I've tested the AV chat by AOL and it worked quite well. It was very smooth and I was also able to text chat at the same time, although I wish it could display an actual log of messages on the side or something.

Overall worth it for $200. But I can see why the average US consumer will stay away. It's got NO media econ-system period. It's got NO app system period. And for non BB users it doesn't even have PIM period.
It's amazing the execs at RIM thought they were gonna get by with those flaws!

I agree. It's frustrating because the PlayBook has such great hardware and overall has lots of potential, but it's gridlocked because of lack of built in and 3rd party software support. RIM should have just waited until OS2 was ready before releasing the PlayBook IMO. They would have done a lot better if they came out strong from the beginning, rather than coming out weak and disappointing again and again.

Also:
There is no LED notification!?!

From what I know so far, it should be coming in OS2.

[AsBloodRunsBlack]

Also:
There is no LED notification!?!

Rapid charger charges 9810 scary fast- probably not good for battery or phone lol.

I found this when I did the beta update.