[offyoutoddle]

i have both a Playbook and an RT. I would say if you want to go cheap as chips, get the playbook. if you can stretch to an RT, you will have a better device, with more regular updates to be honest. You will lose bridge of course, but only you know if that's a deal breaker for you or not I guess. I wouldn't get a pro on the basis of cost, but if you are going into an RT do so with your eyes open and remember you can only install apps from their store - no PC apps. If that doesn't bother you, forget the negative reviewers who didn't get where it was coming from, it is a magnificent device - I use mine daily and never once looked back. But don't make the mistake of thinking its a PC replacement, its not - its a half way house.

[ChrisMay]

If ALL you need it for is running these courses, and IF you can find some way of verifying that the flash on the PlayBook will do everything you need it to, and IF cost is a major factor, then I'd say go for the PlayBook (new or second hand) if you can find one.
Otherwise if any of those points are not true, though it saddens me to say it, due to the increaseing lack of support and lack of apps, you will probably be better off looking at an other device.

[kbz1960]

Surface all the way. Who knows if pb flash player will ever be updated again, then your flash stuff stops working.

[lawguyman]

I have a Dell Venue 8 Pro. It is awesome for the money. It runs REAL Windows - not crippled Windows RT. You can run basically every Windows program ever made. It comes with MS Office.

The downside is that the build quality is not the best. It is not as solid as the PlayBook. It does not feel cheap but it is definitely plasticky. Windows desktop is surprisingly easy to use on an 8" touchscreen. I'm really happy with it. I run BB Link and my Z30 is synched and I can access files on the tablet that way too.

[kvndoom]

Playbook or RT? You're choosing between the two most app-crippled tablets available?

My next tablet will be a Nook HD 9". For $150 it has a great screen and hardware and can be modded to run straight Android.

Get a Surface with REAL Windows and not RT, if Android won't work for you.

[kbz1960]

Playbook or RT? You're choosing between the two most app-crippled tablets available?

My next tablet will be a Nook HD 9". For $150 it has a great screen and hardware and can be modded to run straight Android.

Get a Surface with REAL Windows and not RT, if Android won't work for you.

There is a huge price difference between the 2.

[Ralph Ellis]

The basic Surface RT will be on special at many places on Black Friday for $199 and Staples has it for $249 with a keyboard.
I gave my wife a Playbook and she loves it. However, if you want a cheap device with a future, you are better off with the Surface RT. The only advantage of the Playbook is that it can be used with BB7 devices with Blackberry Bridge.

[9Jer99]

I'm in the market for a tablet. Don't want to break the bank and for the next two years I only really need it for completing some online upgrading courses.

I ended up purchasing a Nexus 7, installed the "flash player" and opened my online course. Unfortunately it doesn't work as needed. I was unable to fast-forward and rewind the vids and also wasn't able to select the answer key vids in a touchy drop-down window.

I'm leaning toward the $350 Windows Surface RT but would love to stick with BlackBerry and get a Playbook. The problem is there are no stores around that carry the PB and I don't know anyone that has one that I could test out.

Does anyone know if the PB works well with flash player? My Q10 actually works good except you cannot "pan" the screen around when zoomed in. The only way to "pan" is to zoom in or out at the sametime which really doesn't work.

Thanks for any feedback.

Posted via CB10

It all depends on your desires to play in the past or the future.

[dolco]

Playbook or RT? You're choosing between the two most app-crippled tablets available?

In fact, if you are interest for touch (metro) applications, RT is not more or less crippled than full Windows. (Almost ) Every time, when is new application in marketplace, is for both platform. Case is different for desktop applications. There is ms office, internet explorer and then ... almost nothing. So if you are interest in tablet side of windows, RT is very good choice (no viruses, malware... very secure).

[BoloMKXXVIII]

The Playbook uses an older version of Flash. You may run into problems.

WindowsRT will be gone in a year. The new low power X86 processors in the Windows 8.1 Pro tablets give you low cost and long battery life (not to mention backward compatibility). There really isn't a good reason to purchase a RT tablet anymore.

[MultiPlatt]

I have a playbook, Asus transformer tf300t tablet, and a surface rt (series 1). I am taking online classes currently and have experimented with all three. I have the keyboard dock for the Asus tablet also. In my opinion the surface has been great for my classes and I am actually selling all my other tablets except my playbook (it has some apps you can't get else ware that I like). The other nice part about the surface is the native office suite. Good luck in what you choose.

[mkelley65]

I'm in the market for a tablet. Don't want to break the bank and for the next two years I only really need it for completing some online upgrading courses.

I ended up purchasing a Nexus 7, installed the "flash player" and opened my online course. Unfortunately it doesn't work as needed. I was unable to fast-forward and rewind the vids and also wasn't able to select the answer key vids in a touchy drop-down window.

I'm leaning toward the $350 Windows Surface RT but would love to stick with BlackBerry and get a Playbook. The problem is there are no stores around that carry the PB and I don't know anyone that has one that I could test out.

Does anyone know if the PB works well with flash player? My Q10 actually works good except you cannot "pan" the screen around when zoomed in. The only way to "pan" is to zoom in or out at the sametime which really doesn't work.

Thanks for any feedback.

Posted via CB10

Best Windows tablet on the market in my opinion
Amazon.com: ThinkPad Tablet 2 10.1-inch 64 GB Tablet (No Pen, Touch Only Model) - 367923U: Computers & Accessories

[Meaty123]

Honestly.. I like the surface... I'm considering of buying one on black Friday or boxing day ...

[Gooseberry Falls]

Surface all the way. Who knows if pb flash player will ever be updated again, then your flash stuff stops working.

Best to try your school sites out before buying anything. I think all mobile Flash Player is stuck at 11.2 after Adobe quit developing it. Desktop Flash Player is now at 11.9. I just had a site that said I needed to have 11.5 or greater on my PB. So at some point flash will be pretty limited on PB and android. I think RT had some limitation on sites that flash would work on. I know there was some workaround but maybe they fixed that with 8.1. If you have the funds, Pro is the way to go.

If you still have the android device and you have the last flash installed, the best flash browsers are Boat, Firefox beta and Puffin (free or paid). There is no flash capability with Chrome even with the player installed.

[SubCamp]

I've got the Surface Pro and a PlayBook.. I've never used the RT but honestly, there's a huge gap between the features of the tablets.. At this point, from a Blackberry supporter I'm gonna have to recommend the surface as the PlayBook is no longer being supported

Posted via CB10

[tgtallinn]

If you really need flash and intent to use it for learning, I would recommend forgetting about using a tablet, and rather buy a light laptop such as HP Probook 430 or a asus vivo book x202e/s200 if you want to have a touchscreen (Best ultrabooks under $800 (or $1000) - top 8 cheap ultrabooks in 2013). Even new they are relatively cheap, but it shall be possible finding some second hand in a small tablet price range. And these will last you longer than 2 years for sure.

If you really want to close the choice between the two options you mentioned, and forget about Thorstein considering tablets a fade, I can only say without any excitment the windows RT, which is maintained by msft at least and has office. But you may still encounter some issues on some flash web site even when it enabled with 8.1 (so you might want sticking to 8.0 until close to the end of the free 8.1 period, cf After 8.1 upgrade, Adobe Flash does not work in IE - Microsoft Community). And I don't see much interest from the developers to support it...

PS: I have a surface RT, a google nexus 2012, an ipad mini and a playbook, and a HP Probook 430 ... (plus some desktops).

[JasW]

I ended up purchasing a Nexus 7, installed the "flash player" and opened my online course. Unfortunately it doesn't work as needed. I was unable to fast-forward and rewind the vids and also wasn't able to select the answer key vids in a touchy drop-down window.

What "flash player" did you install, and what were you running the vids on (e.g., what browser, etc.)? You should have downloaded the most recent version of Flash for Android from Adobe. Also, your best bet for using Flash in a browser in the Nexus is with the AOSP browser, which you can install without root. Firefox has been causing problems since the 4.3 update and they haven't all been fixed.

No way in a million years would I choose either a PB or the Surface RT over a Nexus tab. Hell, I left the PB for a Nexus 10.

[Blacklac]

Im not going to bother to read all the posts, so if this has been discussed, I apologize.

Dont bother with the Surface RT! Get the real deal, either a Lenovo Miix 2 or Dell Venue Pro. $300-350 for full blown Windows 8.

[svelt]

I echo the sentiments. Don't bother with Surface RT. There are plenty of 10" and even an 8" Windows 8 Pro tablets that perform well and run executables, making them very robust and versatile. If the funds allow I would go for the two mentioned above (Lenovo, Dell Venue) or the Ativ, Iconia or ElitePad if you can get your hands on one.

Only reasons I can think of for buying the PB are if ALL of these requirements are fulfilled
A. if you can find it for sub-$100
B. you have a BB device (bridge has been recently updated again to support SMS on top of BBM and other useful functions such as open on, file sharing, internet sharing and remote control)
C. you can CONFIRM that your course materials work with the PB. Origami Browser has a few compatibility options IIRC that you can ask someone on the forums to try
D. you are familiar with sideloading and can find a couple of Android apps that you want
E. you are a blackberry supporter

[sigint99]

None of the above. Get a cheap ultrabook like the ASUS vivobook. They can be had quite cheaply and are immensely more useful and flexible than a tablet.

[EchoesFX]

I'd love to recommend the PlayBook but I just can't. You aren't going to really see any major updates, and who knows if there will be a PlayBook 2 or something along those lines to move your library to in a few years.

I haven't used a Surface RT. People trash on it.

Posted via CB10

[joshua_sx1]

If it is not confidential thing, give us the link of that site and we will check it out for you using our PlayBook... see how useful the PlayBook on that specific site...

Posted via Z10

[jason.woodisgood]

Hey, thanks everyone for all the informative replies! Really appreciate it. I gave the Nexus another try (latest release and the other browser) but the flash was still not working perfect. I tested out a surface and the online course I'm doing worked 100%. After some more research and reading all these posts I ended up ordering a Dell Venue 8 Pro.

Sure hope BlackBerry comes out with a tablet at some point...would so much rather stay with BlackBerry.

Thanks again!

Posted via CB10

[pttptppt]

The problem is that surface is far better than PlayBook but even it's not that great.

What I'm saying is the rt is not as good as pro. Pro is a better deal than rt but the problem is that the pro is good for a tablet but you'll be using it as a Laptop because you can. But it's not good enough to be a laptop.

I guess what I'm saying is that none of these options are very good. Sadly. So I'd say get an ipad, even one of the older and cheaper models would do. Or get a really cheap laptop like an acer.

Good luck

Posted via CB10

[markmall]

The form Factor for the RT is awful. I am male with big hands and I can't type on it since it is too big. The edges of the bezel come to a point so it is hard to squeeze while you type. It's edges start to hurt your hands.

Apps? Not much better than playbook.

If budget is a big deal, gamble on a playbook. You can get your dream tablet next year. (I see this is now moot.)