[rkennedy01]

I think the fact that you are inclined to push the boundaries of your Android and not your Playbook proves exactly what I'm saying. Android pushes people to do more and Blackberry has people settling for less. You said it yourself you've spent the last year pushing the boundaries but your playbook you leave it as is...Anyway...

Actually, I push my Android Tab because, in its default configuration, the user experience sucks. Performance is abysmal, especially when multitasking. So I tweak, I flash, I overclock - all in the hope of achieving something roughly comparable to the PB in terms of efficiency and smoothness of operation. However, what I get is an even flakier experience that races through some complex tasks (sub-1100ms for a Tegra 2 running Sunspider is an achievement) only to fall flat on its face doing the simple things, like browsing the web. It's quite pathetic, actually, and thoroughly frustrating.

I will agree the Playbook is very stable but why? ....because it doesn't have much capability. The hardware/platform is built for it but there isn't much to throw on there to really see what it's capable of. So much potential in the Playbook is just sitting there unused!!!! I dont want anyone to get the idea I don't believe in the platform because I trully believe when I use my Playbook that I am using the best device on the market but I'm not using it to near its potential and thats not by choice at all.

The Playbook is stable because, architecturally, the underlying OS is superior. Android doesn't fall down because I push it. It falls down because it's a weak, monolithic design that hearkens back to the days of Windows 9x and the flawed process isolation and memory management models of the mid-1990s. These architectural flaws cause the OS to become unstable over time, at which point even simple tasks - watching a video, surfing the web - cause the whole house of cards to come crashing down.

There's a reason why I was an early adopter of Windows NT (circa 1992), and it's this same appreciation for architectural purity that makes me value the robustness of the QNX model. Simply put, I don't like systems that crash randomly.

On Android you may sacrafice reliability to basically do anything you want..The options are limitless but people have come to expect this from computing. I mean how many times have you restarted your PC on a freeze? People are use to it and they accept it.

Maybe back in the 90's this was true. However, in the post-Vista era, PCs have become remarkably reliable. Most casual end users of Windows 7/8 or Mac OS X don't encounter the daily crashes that plague many Android devices. So to say that they're used to dealing with buggy, unreliable systems, and that this somehow negates QNX's value proposition, is absurd.

If anything, casual users are tolerant of Android's quirkiness because they still look at their smartphones and tablet devices as mere "toys" for media/entertainment consumption and lightweight communications tasks. Were they to hold them to the standards of reliability associated with a modern Windows PC or Macintosh they would quickly grow tired of Google's "fast and loose" coding practices and start looking for alternatives. And right now, the only two platforms that would hold up under such scrutiny are Windows 8/RT and QNX.

RCK

[FF22]

Any sense of whether installing os10 will require at least a 32GB versus a 16GB in terms of space?

It will probably work on either although you might have less storage space after installation but that's just speculation on my part.

[TheScionicMan]

Any sense of whether installing os10 will require at least a 32GB versus a 16GB in terms of space?

It will probably work on either although you might have less storage space after installation but that's just speculation on my part.

Since the Z10 comes as a 16GB device, I would say it probably won't be an issue.

Anyone know how much free space is available on a Z10 out of the box?

[kirikouestpetit]

Android is so lame, unreliable, buggy, messy...
But so many people stll buy it i don't get it
So many reviews telling good things about it
They are all soooo dumb

[TheScionicMan]

Consumers said why would I buy a 7 inch Playbook when I can get a 10 inch Ipad for just a little more.

If it's a size issue, explain this:

Market sources said Apple Inc. plans to lower its 2013 sales target for 9.7-inch iPad from 60 million units to 33 million units, while raising its iPad mini sales target to 55 million units from 40 million units.

http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNe...0041&Type=aTOD

[jwn66]

If they would of paid people to make apps for it, posts like this wouldn't exist. and lol at the beta test parts, get real.

[jwn66]

Android is so lame, unreliable, buggy, messy...
But so many people stll buy it i don't get it
So many reviews telling good things about it
They are all soooo dumb

They buy it because it can do what they want it to do app wise, simple. People look at BB's don't see certain apps, move on.

[Wongsky]

I've spent the past year pushing the limits of Android performance on my Acer Iconia. I've rooted it, flashed various custom ROMs (CM10, AOKP), overclocked it by 50% and tweaked every conceivable sysctl setting.

The net result? A very fast, very capable and yet very unstable platform. Sure, I can do lots of things with an Android tablet. But what I can't do is rely on it in a pinch. The truth is that I never know what's going to trip it up next. It might be Chrome. It might be TapaTalk. Or, in the case of today's crash, YouTube.

The monolithic nature of Android means that, invariably, something is going to hang my tablet. This, in turn, makes it hard to trust the device with anything important (like multitasking between an unsaved document or spreadsheet and researching something on the web in a browser or app).

By contrast, my Playbook is slower (yet the UI remains responsive), less capable (in terms of the breadth of apps), and lacks the depth of integration that Google's app stack embodies. But it also almost NEVER hangs or crashes. In fact, I can't remember the last time I rebooted my Playbook, yet I count myself lucky if I get through a day without rebooting Android.

And lest someone accuse me of having self-inflicted wounds (by all of the tweaking and flashing), I'd like to point out that I also manage a dozen identical tablets running the stock factory ROM. They're just as unstable - it's basically a crap shoot every time you touch one of these devices.

So, in summary: What can a 2 year old Playbook do that an Android Tab - even a newer one - can't? Give me peace of mind and confidence in my equipment.

RCK

I'd agree with that, really - that certainly my experience of Android can be that as a platform and device, I just don't trust it to be a solid and reliable as my PlayBook.

I'm Johnny-come-lately with my PlayBook(s) as I got mine in around September last year, whereas I was running Android tablets for a good while before that. And my experience of Android has been very similar - when I first got my tablet, I experimented with lots of different custom ROMs, tweaked, played and futzed around, partly out of exploration, partly to understand, partly to "improve" on it.

The problem with the Android tabelts I have, is that their spec limits them a bit with later Android releases. They're both Tegra 2 chipsets, but have only 512M of RAM, so on ICS onwards, it's something of a challenge for it to remain performant. The stock ROM and launcher combination wasn't a great experience at least at first, but that all changed sometime late 2011 when they released a very stable, very performant (albeit rather boring and staid) stock ROM which addressed all the stability, configuration and performance issues. With a bit of slight tweaking and modding it was at least very stable, worked well, and video performance was spot-on.

Another release of the stock ROM in the interim period made it a little more user friendly. So it turned a device that at first I was constanttly modding trying other software, fighting stability and tweaks, into something much more appliance like. Even so, though, it still isn't a match for my PlayBook on that score. And I still have to be vigilant with ES Task Manager to keep everything running smoothly and reasonably snappy.

Yes, there's more to be had, and there are some things I found I really appreciated with my Android tabliets - and I certainly got so mileage and usage out of them - once I stopped experimenting, and started setting it up with true use in mind.

Probably what I do most with my tablets, outside of reading emails and light internet surfing is watching video. In some ways, my Android tablets are slightly better - well I prefer the gmail app (although it's probably an older incarnation than most would be used to on Android), I find MX Video Player excellent, and make some use of the Kindle app. But on the flip-side, I find the PlayBook much more stable, much more "just works" and snappier for things like browsing - the screen is a nicer, more pleasant display, the front stereo speakers are much better if I don't want to use headphones, I've come to appreciate the smaller form-factor. Storage is also a big plus for me (64G PlayBook(s) - Android tablets have 16G on-board and 32G microsd cards in). As to HDMI, well something of a minor victory for the PlayBook - both my Android tablets have HDMI out (as does my Nokia N8, which also uses the same sort of mini-HDMI port that my Android tablets do) however the PlayBook seems to deal with 1080p decently, whereas my Android tablets struggle with it (although they're fine with 720p).

Sure, things move on, both in terms of context for the PlayBook, and also for Android tablets. All the same, though, people tend to play around with Android as an OS much more on Android tablets - especially enthusiasts - and with the best will in the world, that often compromises stability, plus it becomes something of an activity in it's own right.

Bang-for-buck, stability and performance, I find the PlayBook hard to beat - perhaps that hints at really where it was initially intended. Yes, I know new devices come along all the time, but on it's present release of OS, if I had to replace, I'd still favour the PlayBook. The OS is a delight to use - and yes, it's not all about that, but what the tablet can do, but I'm kind of thinking I'm going to have another PlayBook, so that when BB10 comes to the PlayBook, I'll update one, and keep the other on whatever 2.1 version is in-place, so that I've got some valid comparison, plus still got my "golden" configuration in place. I'm also hoping BB10 brings my main gripe in app vacuum - a true Kindle release (Skype would be nice, too).

[bbobruns]

This tablet is a dinosuar by today's standards, yet it still rocks. I'm not an expert on any system, but considering that I'm still happy with this tablet pretty much says it all. It can't last forever, but it longevity is impressive. Hopefully, BB will continue to support it with a new OS and a new generation tablet.

[Wongsky]

This tablet is a dinosuar by today's standards, yet it still rocks. I'm not an expert on any system, but considering that I'm still happy with this tablet pretty much says it all. It can't last forever, but it longevity is impressive. Hopefully, BB will continue to support it with a new OS and a new generation tablet.

Here's the thing - I'd agree that something that's effectively 2 years old, must be showing it's age, by now - yet things like the spec of the camera, the amount of RAM - to a certain degree, the CPU spec, isn't truly ancient. No longer anything like leading edge, true enough - but to actually use it, they're not slow, hesitant, or suffer, generally, with being underpowered.

Clearly there's some recent tablets that have awesome hardware spec, and improved screens - but all the same, if you look at the entire spec, it's hardly 3rd world.

[lexluthorxx]

its time Playbook (playbook ahead of its time)

Apple the times (Apple behind the times)

Th
e
S
k
y

(the sky is falling)

[Barracuda7772]

thanks for the witty remark, some people do need.to lighten up a little

[jz1]

I read your earlier post (which I was not able to find) regarding the use of Playbook by BB/RIM to bring and test QNX based mobile operating system in the hands of end users/ Beta testers. I thought the post was spot on. Thought you might find this article interesting.
http://www.valuewalk.com/2013/03/res...e-is-outdated/

[Barracuda7772]

I read your earlier post (which I was not able to find) regarding the use of Playbook by BB/RIM to bring and test QNX based mobile operating system in the hands of end users/ Beta testers. I thought the post was spot on. Thought you might find this article interesting.
http://www.valuewalk.com/2013/03/res...e-is-outdated/

this is the same info that was covered the other day on piers morgan tonight. And I do agree that apples ios is feeling really dated ....(you mean I have to double press this button to get to a recent app switcher?) when I can just swipe with one fluid motion.

and no matter how you look at any product hindsight is always 20/20. its easy to look at the market after a product is released, then RIM using the 1+1=3 mentality of the playbook phone bridging was trail blazing and not sticking to the status quo incrimental updates, could pbos1 of had native pim apps sure should it of...probably but I still love it and so do around 2 million others.

I still believe bb10 is coming to playbook as I believe it was originally intended to get from day one.

[jz1]

Agree. I am among those 2 million and very happy with the PB although would be nice to see bb10 come to PB.

[CBCListener]

Any sense of whether installing os10 will require at least a 32GB versus a 16GB in terms of space?

You do understand that storage space and memory space are two different things, right? No different than a more conventional desktop or even laptop, those machines may have 2, 4, 8, whatever amount of memory installed, and whether the machine also has a 1GB or 1 TB drive makes no difference to what it can run well.

So as all PlayBooks have just(!) 1GB of memory space, there are concerns that the increased size of the BB10 code could make the current version of PlayBooks a little boggy. The real difference here, though, is that more conventional computers can also swap some of their memory to the hard disk, which makes it appear as though you have more applications running, but actually when changing focus from a foreground application to one which is dormant and swapped, the memory contents of the foreground application then get swapped and the swapped application's memory area is swapped back into active memory.

The PlayBook (and any other tablet, really) has no such option, and simply runs out of memory.

[rkennedy01]

The PlayBook (and any other tablet, really) has no such option, and simply runs out of memory.

With the exception of Windows 8/RT tablets, which most certainly will use the SSD/eMMC for paging.

And I think the OP was referring to the "disk space" required to install BB10 vs. PB OS 2.1. As it stands, you lose some space to the QNX binaries - the question seems to be whether or not BB10 is somehow "fatter" on "disk." Of course, the fact that the Z10 comes in a 16GB variant would seem to answer this question...

RCK

[Barracuda7772]

With the exception of Windows 8/RT tablets, which most certainly will use the SSD/eMMC for paging.

And I think the OP was referring to the "disk space" required to install BB10 vs. PB OS 2.1. As it stands, you lose some space to the QNX binaries - the question seems to be whether or not BB10 is somehow "fatter" on "disk." Of course, the fact that the Z10 comes in a 16GB variant would seem to answer this question...

RCK

nice someone who actually gets it. for example someone buys a 16 gig tablet there is usually around 10-12 gigs give or take available

ram has little to do with disk space so much as how many things you can do in tandum

[brianatbb]

Android is so lame, unreliable, buggy, messy...
But so many people stll buy it i don't get it
So many reviews telling good things about it
They are all soooo dumb

Maybe they buy it because it's not lame, unreliable, buggy or messy. I have two android phones, and they are in no way less reliable or stable than my PB. Quite the reverse. My Playbook is a fine media device and I make frequent use of P2G. But it's really hamstrung by poor app selection, buggy apps, mediocre browser -- and here I am comparing it with my similarly specced android phone. it multitasks, as long as you don't open too many apps. My phone can cache two to three times as many apps for quick retrieval, though.

You must be referring to some old version of android, pre-gingerbread at least. In today's world, it's a very good OS and has so much more to offer than the PB.

[brianatbb]

If they would of paid people to make apps for it, posts like this wouldn't exist. and lol at the beta test parts, get real.

I have said the same thing. It truly boggles my mind that they could not have done that. Of course, it wouldn't have helped with Skype or Netflix.

[Barracuda7772]

I have said the same thing. It truly boggles my mind that they could not have done that. Of course, it wouldn't have helped with Skype or Netflix.

I agree although hindsight is 20/20

[Toodeurep]

Do you think a screwup in one part of a company inoculates it against other mistakes?

You know what they say. A billion here, a billon there and pretty soon you are talking about some real money:
PlayBook writeoff means RIM's tablet has been a $1.5bn mistake | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Since you have decided to follow me into other threads, take my posts out of context and insult me, I will stoop.

Did you actually read this story. He claims BB lost $600 for every single tablet produced. That's more than retail! And he makes his numbers up to get there.

[mmarco]

Hi everyone

I'm reading what you write because i'm in doubts to buy one (or a BQ Curie).
I'm not a android fan, because i had one and the experience was no good (viewsonic).

Is this tablet currently fast? (the processor is only Arm cortex A9 1GHZ)
Will it have skype in the future?

This are me doubts, because I like BB, and I'd love to have one

[Bakamushi]

I have no stability issue on my Android tab, the apps that are good are better than the equivalent available on playbook.

The only thing I think superior now is the upwards swipe for closing apps.

[Barracuda7772]

I have no stability issue on my Android tab, the apps that are good are better than the equivalent available on playbook.

The only thing I think superior now is the upwards swipe for closing apps.

and the ability to actually multitask and get more done from a productivity standpoint. oh and don't if on a rare occasion an app.crashes on pb it won't wreck havoc on the entire system like android does