[laterBB]

This post may interest potential business users of the playbook.

This post is made after updating to OS Version 1.0.1.1710

The bad:

- My MAIN BUSINESS EMAIL account will NOT display seperately like the other 3 accounts will. I just get the rotating green circle. Feature or benefit?
I can select "View Folder" from the dropdown and open this email but why?

- The text editor is not usable in it's present version mostly due to the lack of a cursor. My finger is not an efficient cursor as the interface is too small to position the "finger cursor" accurately and quickly.
The keyboard covers the text in longer entries, return can be used to add enough lines to position text to continue but this "fix" is already very boring and in-efficient, don't forget to delete the extra returns when you're finished. Is it possible to zoom in when editing text?
If so why can't I figure this one out? Am I lacking or is the device lacking?

- The bridge calendar fails the test when it will not display multiple short appointments that are in the same hour. Try viewing appointments that are 15 minutes each and happen to be in the same hour as other short appointments. Am I the only user that has my calendar handle short phone calls, brief meetings etc.?
Maybe it's a user error? Maybe I'm expecting too much from my BB calendar?

- BlackBerry Bridge, someday this may be a valuable function. This early version should be an embarrassment to RIM and many of us early adopters
for thinking that it might just work. It is simply way too slow and it doesn't allow me to access the contents of my phone.
BB Bridge should be a bridge to the contents of the phone or am I confused? If not then what use is Bridge?

- No file browser? This doesn't cut it, I was'nt expecting a full, mature and polished experience but this was clearly a huge mistake. The device offers little value to business users if Bridge doesn't work efficiently, period, no excuse.

- No GPS? As this is a business tool this is un-acceptable.

- Battery life suffers on both devices when they are using Bridge. Now I have two devices that are not good business tools when used together, a Bold 9780 and a PlayBook that may not have sufficient battery life to last for an entire business day. I don't want to have to babysit my communication tools, I just want them to increase my productivity. This device is supposed to make me more productive and simplify my business day but it doesn't.

- Navigation requires user to research basic functionality, un-acceptable for any modern device

- I didn't need games, I needed a good business tool that would provide a satisfactory experience while RIM worked out a few bugs and added value by providing additional functionality in the very immediate future.

- Size, this display is too small for some tasks

- Bridge browser, too slow for me to use as a business tool. Is this really what RIM had in mind for Bridge? What a waste of technology...

The good:

- Incredible display
- Device updated well after purchase, no problems
- Great audio
- Size, very portable, truly mobile
- Capable of taking advantage of all of the Flash content that is available
- The PlayBook charger is great for charging my Bold, much faster
- Likely a great toy but I don't need more toys


I purchased the device as a productivity tool for business use. My experience is that this device is not ready for market.

I would like to state that I now have reservations about the general usefulness of any tablet as a viable form factor for business mobility.
I own netbooks that are just as mobile and use them every day in business. There are no issues and no waiting for features. There is no learning
curve and no expensive training or research. They are boring but they work very well for everything we use them for. Maybe we will appreciate them more now.

I have used the PlayBook for a couple of days, it is very interesting and exciting but I will be returning it to the retailer today.
I am not a "beta tester", I am a "customer". I am a businessman and a decision maker. My company has been a user of RIM products for a couple of years and we own several RIM devices. My family owns several RIM devices due to my influence, I use them so they use them. I will now begin "investing" my time, and money, in researching competitive products. I can no longer justify my decision to support RIM as I do not believe RIM is capable of introducing efficient communication tools in a timely and competitive manner. I was counting on RIM to be a productive partner in my business endeavors, they took my loyalty and resources for granted. I was looking for a good set of business communication tools when I found RIM, I'll try to find a replacement now.
This allows me to make some major changes in the products we use, maybe we will find a fresh new approach to communication that will satisfy more of our needs.
Maybe there is a company that doesn't require us to invest so much of our precious tech resources to train users and look for help on the internet.
Maybe there is a company out there that makes products that just do what we need them to do, we buy their product and it works for us.

I've been using technology for some time now, I'm nearly 50 years old, I'm experienced enough to know that the early adopter requires patience
and must be prepared to change with the product as it evolves. I think the PlayBook may be a strong product, sooner or later. It won't matter to my business or my family as we have moved on. The possibilties are interesting and exciting...

I would like to thank ALL of the contributors, staff and civilians equally, to crackberry.com for their time and effort in making the RIM family
of products easier to understand and use.
I have spent countless hours here, researching, learning, laughing and sighing with you. I came here before I made my first RIM purchase and I was here for my last RIM purchase. I hope RIM appreciates you all as much as we do. I had to register just to make this post, first one. Ironic isn't it?

Cheers,

[firmdot]

What are the alternatives? Android? iPhone? No thank you...

[_StephenBB81]

I too am a Business users, and MY experiences are very different from yours.

I visit my office about 3 days every 2 months, so I am purely a mobile user from planes, to hotels, to cars, and I was using my playbook for Business within 2 hours of purchasing it, (took me near an hour in a Starbucks to get it set up downloading the updates)
The Battery life was excellent, having about 35% battery when I went into my meeting 2 hours later I had 25%, I was bridged to my 9300 for that meeting, wifi off, and it was mostly Excel and powerpoint usage, with some image files of products. We went from an office into a warehouse and it's mobility and easy of handling were excellent, I could palm it with a single hand, peck away at stuff, and just flip it around to show it's orientation would switch to the way I was presenting it, in many cases just upside down to my usage.


I do not understand how a lack of GPS makes it an unusable Business device, I have a GPS, or the rental car comes with one, or my phone has one, why does every device need to have one to be useful? sure it would be a nice addition but it hardly hinders the usefulness of the device.


The Bridge currently is lacking, to say the least, they need refinement, but I certainly think this device is mobile business user ready, Even getting my emails on the playbook the bulk I am still answering from my phone, the 2 thumb typing is considerably faster on my torch than anything I can try and bang out on the playbook, and often faster than I can do on a compressed netbook keyboard.

I have had the feeling netbooks are a questionable business tool, so it seems it comes down to the user again as to their needs for what is a useful business tool,

[Caymancroc]

Funny how I use a 9780 and found everything to be great so far. The ONLY thing that I have found that doesn't suit my needs is the fact the I have not figured out how to copy and paste a link to email a website to someone.

To each their own.

Oh yeah, have fun trying to find that company you are searching for. I have bought and used an iPhone 4, iPad, and a Samsung Galaxy phone. All have been huge disappointments for me. Talk about toys...

[nextlevel88]

Pretty sure you simply don't need a tablet, much like the rest of us. That said, your points are valid. Well, with the exception of needing to "research basic functionality". Any new device that utilizes a new user interface will require some learning. Although, I watched a handful of 3 minute preview videos and knew how to navigate with the gestures by the time the device released. Anyway, good luck finding the tech that suits you.

[MarketRide]

Funny how I use a 9780 and found everything to be great so far. The ONLY thing that I have found that doesn't suit my needs is the fact the I have not figured out how to copy and paste a link to email a website to someone.

You should just be able to press your finger over the address for 2 seconds then get an option to copy.

[thehairlesscat]

I too am a Business users, and MY experiences are very different from yours.

I visit my office about 3 days every 2 months, so I am purely a mobile user from planes, to hotels, to cars, and I was using my playbook for Business within 2 hours of purchasing it, (took me near an hour in a Starbucks to get it set up downloading the updates)
The Battery life was excellent, having about 35% battery when I went into my meeting 2 hours later I had 25%, I was bridged to my 9300 for that meeting, wifi off, and it was mostly Excel and powerpoint usage, with some image files of products. We went from an office into a warehouse and it's mobility and easy of handling were excellent, I could palm it with a single hand, peck away at stuff, and just flip it around to show it's orientation would switch to the way I was presenting it, in many cases just upside down to my usage.


I do not understand how a lack of GPS makes it an unusable Business device, I have a GPS, or the rental car comes with one, or my phone has one, why does every device need to have one to be useful? sure it would be a nice addition but it hardly hinders the usefulness of the device.


The Bridge currently is lacking, to say the least, they need refinement, but I certainly think this device is mobile business user ready, Even getting my emails on the playbook the bulk I am still answering from my phone, the 2 thumb typing is considerably faster on my torch than anything I can try and bang out on the playbook, and often faster than I can do on a compressed netbook keyboard.

I have had the feeling netbooks are a questionable business tool, so it seems it comes down to the user again as to their needs for what is a useful business tool,

The last thing you said is absolutely true. Maybe you had the wrong expectations of a Tablet. I am using mine in my business and each day find more uses for it. It's SOOOOO much better for me than a laptop and many of your points have been the opposite for me. For example, my Bold 9700 has tons of battery for me now that I virtually never need the screen to turn on because I use the bridge so much.

It sound's like it didn't work out at all for you, but that may be because of your needs. For me I would say THANKS RIM for getting such an amazing and usuable device out to the public, packed with more good features than I imagined and I'm only 3 days in!

[Tony2255]

The last thing you said is absolutely true. Maybe you had the wrong expectations of a Tablet. I am using mine in my business and each day find more uses for it. It's SOOOOO much better for me than a laptop and many of your points have been the opposite for me. For example, my Bold 9700 has tons of battery for me now that I virtually never need the screen to turn on because I use the bridge so much.

It sound's like it didn't work out at all for you, but that may be because of your needs. For me I would say THANKS RIM for getting such an amazing and usuable device out to the public, packed with more good features than I imagined and I'm only 3 days in!

I would have to agree with you. I received the device on Tuesday at 4:30 pm and started using it right away. I have yet to have any problems with it for what I use it for. Again I think people have to look at what they need the device to do, look at the device, and then decide if it is the proper device for them. Most of the negative things I see in the threads are because people have not made the proper decision for what meets their needs. Blackberry or Iphone, Mac or Windows, BMW or Porch, playbook or ipad...all great products but depending on what you expect and need them for they may not make you happy!!

I would like to thank RIM for such a great product myself and can not wait to see what else they deliver in the coming weeks.

[egranlund]

Just to clarify - the Playbook does have a GPS on it.

[laterBB]

The original post was specific to business users that are considering the PlayBook for BUSINESS. It was not meant to offend anyone, that is why I took the time to list important benefits as well as weaknesses. Real observations from someone who has used the device for the specific purpose it was purchased for. When you are asked to be an Alpha tester for a new product the manufacturer needs feedback, that is just a grown up reality.

Clearly I have a use for a viable tablet, precisely why I purchased a tablet in the first place. The point was that the Playbook does not do what I need it to do TODAY. Nor does any other tablet that is CURRENTLY available. There are many posts on this very site that validate my personal opinion. The PlayBook may, eventually, be a very good product. At that time I may take another look at it, it will be a much more interesting market soon so the choices will make the search much easier. Right at this point in time my existing devices work very well for business use. I think I do need a tablet, that is why I bought one. This tablet just wasn't able to do what I needed it to do. Eventually someone will build one that works for me and I will be happy to buy it.

My Bold 9780 lasts for days as a stand alone device, splendid. When using it with the Bridge feature the battery life is badly compromised, just observing a reality. Glad your experience was better.

GPS - I use BB Traffic 2.0 constantly, very useful. I also have a Garmin that sits next to it on the dash of my truck, this is a killer combination and saves me a ton of time. I use Google maps, BB Maps and anything else I can to aid me in navigation. Come on, everyone that is mobile can appreciate good navigation.

The contributors and staff at crackberry.com provided the material that I used to learn about the functionality of a new "Professional Grade" product launched by a global technology provider. No big deal except that the salespeople at the retailer that sold me the product had never heard of this site. If I was the head of marketing at RIM I would be more than a little concerned...

It is interesting that nobody commented on the point I made about the calendar not working. Perhaps nobody actually uses their BB for the calendar function? Maybe they use some other scheduling app or Google or something?

Important note: Not all business users have time to come to this site and sift through the information presented. My post was specifically targeted at business users. This post was not made to anger kids or sycophants or RIM investors. It was a series of observations that may be of use to prospective business users. The observations I shared here may even interest someone at RIM although they don't appear to have a clear definition of their target market yet so... maybe not.

Note to the sycophants: I own a Bold 9780. I like this device, it works very well. I'm glad RIM made this device, it works. I don't hate any technology, it works for me or it doesn't. I buy and use good technology, I don't buy bad technology. I don't continue to support bad technology, that doesn't make sense, why would you do that?

Note to anyone that's interested: I made this post from a tethered netbook on a great keyboard and it was very convenient and efficient.

Cheers

[Vidge]

Am I the only user that has my calendar handle short phone calls, brief meetings etc.?

Maybe. I do not log all of that stuff in my calendar. I have a separate time and billing application for that.

[NamelessLiar]

sorry to see you go.

Sincerely,
Sycophant

[T_Touch]

Indeed, this release version has its flaws and, indeed, you have every right to expect a certain level of performance for every dollar that you spend. You've made it clear that you having doubts about about the worthiness of tablets in general (and the PlayBook specifically).

I think though that your assessment should be more accurate though. If you wanted to access files on your device, simply use the Bridge File browser. Not only can you access those files, you can also create new documents and save them on your phone.

The device does have GPS. RIM is slow to refine its operation but to say that it doesn't have means that you didn't bother to check it out. But then you would never do that because you're of the opinion that the user ought not be required to "research basic functionality".

No sir, the PlayBook is not the device for you but thank you for sharing.

[DaveToronto]

I am in the medical field. I just went to a meeting, hoping that my Playbook would be sufficient. Unfortunately, it failed in almost every work-related task. When friends asked to see what the Playbook was like, I had to resort to showing them a game!

For my work, I need the following functionality:

1. Check email - works great from the web browser but then, response was quicker using my Bold.

2. Search the medical literature and download documents (pdfs). Although I could find the appropriate literature, and the Playbook does a good job displaying pdfs, I was unable to download the pdf from many online resource sites for medical literature. If it did download, I have no idea where the pdf ended up in the playbook but none of the pdfs I tried to download appeared on the pdf reader menu. I have not tried sites that do not require a login/password. As an aside, I have not yet discovered how to delete the files that are accumulating on my Playbook, ie pdfs, word docs, etc.

3. Presentations using Powerpoint. It is great to see that I can play the file on the playbook, but how to display for a group? Most medical meetings still use a projector system that requires VGA out, not micro HDMI. Blackberry should have micro HDMI to VGA as one of their standard accessories. From looking at other posts, it seems that the solution is to get a micro to regular HDMI and then HDMI to VGA, most suggesting the HDMI to VGA adapter made by HP. For the record, HP's online store for Canada is wholly inadequate. The HP store in the US works much better but will not sell to a buyer from outside the USA. The answer seems to be the Amazon.ca site... something that wasn't obvious to me.

4. I tried to post this using blackberry. Who has the time? Much faster on laptop to navigate and post. Maybe this will get better as I play with the Playbook but it has been over a week of use.

Summary: not ready for prime time for business use, at least not for a medical researcher. Much work needed to adapt the device for work...pity for a device with so much potential. The games/video/music/ebook features work well but I didn't buy the Playbook primarily for recreational use.

[sam_b77]

This post may interest potential business users of the playbook.

This post is made after updating to OS Version 1.0.1.1710

The bad:

- My MAIN BUSINESS EMAIL account will NOT display seperately like the other 3 accounts will. I just get the rotating green circle. Feature or benefit?
I can select "View Folder" from the dropdown and open this email but why?

- The text editor is not usable in it's present version mostly due to the lack of a cursor. My finger is not an efficient cursor as the interface is too small to position the "finger cursor" accurately and quickly.
The keyboard covers the text in longer entries, return can be used to add enough lines to position text to continue but this "fix" is already very boring and in-efficient, don't forget to delete the extra returns when you're finished. Is it possible to zoom in when editing text?
If so why can't I figure this one out? Am I lacking or is the device lacking?

- The bridge calendar fails the test when it will not display multiple short appointments that are in the same hour. Try viewing appointments that are 15 minutes each and happen to be in the same hour as other short appointments. Am I the only user that has my calendar handle short phone calls, brief meetings etc.?
Maybe it's a user error? Maybe I'm expecting too much from my BB calendar?

- BlackBerry Bridge, someday this may be a valuable function. This early version should be an embarrassment to RIM and many of us early adopters
for thinking that it might just work. It is simply way too slow and it doesn't allow me to access the contents of my phone.
BB Bridge should be a bridge to the contents of the phone or am I confused? If not then what use is Bridge?

- No file browser? This doesn't cut it, I was'nt expecting a full, mature and polished experience but this was clearly a huge mistake. The device offers little value to business users if Bridge doesn't work efficiently, period, no excuse.

- No GPS? As this is a business tool this is un-acceptable.

- Battery life suffers on both devices when they are using Bridge. Now I have two devices that are not good business tools when used together, a Bold 9780 and a PlayBook that may not have sufficient battery life to last for an entire business day. I don't want to have to babysit my communication tools, I just want them to increase my productivity. This device is supposed to make me more productive and simplify my business day but it doesn't.

- Navigation requires user to research basic functionality, un-acceptable for any modern device

- I didn't need games, I needed a good business tool that would provide a satisfactory experience while RIM worked out a few bugs and added value by providing additional functionality in the very immediate future.

- Size, this display is too small for some tasks

- Bridge browser, too slow for me to use as a business tool. Is this really what RIM had in mind for Bridge? What a waste of technology...

The good:

- Incredible display
- Device updated well after purchase, no problems
- Great audio
- Size, very portable, truly mobile
- Capable of taking advantage of all of the Flash content that is available
- The PlayBook charger is great for charging my Bold, much faster
- Likely a great toy but I don't need more toys


I purchased the device as a productivity tool for business use. My experience is that this device is not ready for market.

I would like to state that I now have reservations about the general usefulness of any tablet as a viable form factor for business mobility.
I own netbooks that are just as mobile and use them every day in business. There are no issues and no waiting for features. There is no learning
curve and no expensive training or research. They are boring but they work very well for everything we use them for. Maybe we will appreciate them more now.

I have used the PlayBook for a couple of days, it is very interesting and exciting but I will be returning it to the retailer today.
I am not a "beta tester", I am a "customer". I am a businessman and a decision maker. My company has been a user of RIM products for a couple of years and we own several RIM devices. My family owns several RIM devices due to my influence, I use them so they use them. I will now begin "investing" my time, and money, in researching competitive products. I can no longer justify my decision to support RIM as I do not believe RIM is capable of introducing efficient communication tools in a timely and competitive manner. I was counting on RIM to be a productive partner in my business endeavors, they took my loyalty and resources for granted. I was looking for a good set of business communication tools when I found RIM, I'll try to find a replacement now.
This allows me to make some major changes in the products we use, maybe we will find a fresh new approach to communication that will satisfy more of our needs.
Maybe there is a company that doesn't require us to invest so much of our precious tech resources to train users and look for help on the internet.
Maybe there is a company out there that makes products that just do what we need them to do, we buy their product and it works for us.

I've been using technology for some time now, I'm nearly 50 years old, I'm experienced enough to know that the early adopter requires patience
and must be prepared to change with the product as it evolves. I think the PlayBook may be a strong product, sooner or later. It won't matter to my business or my family as we have moved on. The possibilties are interesting and exciting...

I would like to thank ALL of the contributors, staff and civilians equally, to crackberry.com for their time and effort in making the RIM family
of products easier to understand and use.
I have spent countless hours here, researching, learning, laughing and sighing with you. I came here before I made my first RIM purchase and I was here for my last RIM purchase. I hope RIM appreciates you all as much as we do. I had to register just to make this post, first one. Ironic isn't it?

Cheers,

No GPS? You didn't really explore the device did you?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[howarmat]

GPS is not active for many people or broke in some way.

[sam_b77]

GPS is not active for many people or broke in some way.

Works perfectly for me and that too in India. Finds my location and gives me sat views.
Only thing is if I search for McDonald's it gives me directions to the nearest Mcdonald's in Atlanta.
Wish Google Maps comes out soon.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[naudurivsm]

I am also very much interested in using PB as a business and fun gadget.

so far it is Ok for business/office/work applications.
I have bridge working, word/excel/ppt working, can check emails even browser based emails

The problems are

MS Project files
MS Visio files
ZIP files

I am not able to open any of the above. this is a much needed stuff besides others.

[Robert_27]

Yes Off course, I am a accountant and I do marketing too. so I used play book most probably in marketing.

[brento]

Very interesting post and do some degree, I can appreciate your frustrations. I also plan on using my Playbook for mainly business (of course for fun too).

I have used my Playbook often over the first two weeks, but I must admit that for business purposes alone, so far I am a little disappointed This is probably true of most tablets, so maybe my expectations were off.

I can not use the bridge browser and for someone who is in his car throughout the day, that is a important. I also have no access to a remote desktop or Citrix (which I hear is coming). Both of these I could easily with tether on my netbook.

I think this thing will get better and better and I love so many features. I think its partly related to my learning curve and partly related to some early glitches in the software.

[jkurlanski]

I think its a bit soon to return, but I'm not sold yet either (I've got another 2 weeks through Best Buy!)

I'm still "working it into my day" and nothing has stood out so far as the killer app. I've tried broswing to some websites we use for project updates to recieve "not supported on your browser". I think RDP would be huge. I have found it useful for catching up on emails, my calendar (no issues here), and RSS feeds, but so far most of my downloaded apps have been games, I'm sorry to say. I've added some movies and music to for listening/watching in the hotel...again, nice, but not a productivity gain.

[rustmonkey]

I agree that there definitely needs to be some more apps and features geared toward business use... while my agency doesn't fully integrate Blackberries into day to day use, I personally picked up my Playbook for both work and play but seem to be pretty limited by the options as far as those geared toward productivity go. I'd really like to see better note taking/project applications and use and more meeting based software that can be used on the go i.e. Cisco WebEx app... but hopefully these will eventually come to pass

[mooda]

I am in the medical field. I just went to a meeting, hoping that my Playbook would be sufficient. Unfortunately, it failed in almost every work-related task. When friends asked to see what the Playbook was like, I had to resort to showing them a game!

For my work, I need the following functionality:

1. Check email - works great from the web browser but then, response was quicker using my Bold.

2. Search the medical literature and download documents (pdfs). Although I could find the appropriate literature, and the Playbook does a good job displaying pdfs, I was unable to download the pdf from many online resource sites for medical literature. If it did download, I have no idea where the pdf ended up in the playbook but none of the pdfs I tried to download appeared on the pdf reader menu. I have not tried sites that do not require a login/password. As an aside, I have not yet discovered how to delete the files that are accumulating on my Playbook, ie pdfs, word docs, etc.

3. Presentations using Powerpoint. It is great to see that I can play the file on the playbook, but how to display for a group? Most medical meetings still use a projector system that requires VGA out, not micro HDMI. Blackberry should have micro HDMI to VGA as one of their standard accessories. From looking at other posts, it seems that the solution is to get a micro to regular HDMI and then HDMI to VGA, most suggesting the HDMI to VGA adapter made by HP. For the record, HP's online store for Canada is wholly inadequate. The HP store in the US works much better but will not sell to a buyer from outside the USA. The answer seems to be the Amazon.ca site... something that wasn't obvious to me.

4. I tried to post this using blackberry. Who has the time? Much faster on laptop to navigate and post. Maybe this will get better as I play with the Playbook but it has been over a week of use.

Summary: not ready for prime time for business use, at least not for a medical researcher. Much work needed to adapt the device for work...pity for a device with so much potential. The games/video/music/ebook features work well but I didn't buy the Playbook primarily for recreational use.

1 typing on a tablet is not the easiest thing to do most of us would rather the physical keyboard on the bb

2 this may just be user error my director was having the same issues locating files that were be downloaded turns ot they were being save on the bb instead of the pb. I do agree that the reader is lacking in its usability.

3 All the projector we have brought into our hospital have hdmi inputs as this is is the standard for most media outputs and will be for the forseeable future

4 i did post this with my playbook because with practice comes proficiency. The more you use ot the easier it will become to use.

i think while it is till in it's early stages it is a very good tool and I hate seeing new technology get crapped on because people can't step out of their bubble and learn something new

[96Ag]

I too am a Business users, and MY experiences are very different from yours.

I visit my office about 3 days every 2 months, so I am purely a mobile user from planes, to hotels, to cars, and I was using my playbook for Business within 2 hours of purchasing it, (took me near an hour in a Starbucks to get it set up downloading the updates)
The Battery life was excellent, having about 35% battery when I went into my meeting 2 hours later I had 25%, I was bridged to my 9300 for that meeting, wifi off, and it was mostly Excel and powerpoint usage, with some image files of products. We went from an office into a warehouse and it's mobility and easy of handling were excellent, I could palm it with a single hand, peck away at stuff, and just flip it around to show it's orientation would switch to the way I was presenting it, in many cases just upside down to my usage.


I do not understand how a lack of GPS makes it an unusable Business device, I have a GPS, or the rental car comes with one, or my phone has one, why does every device need to have one to be useful? sure it would be a nice addition but it hardly hinders the usefulness of the device.


The Bridge currently is lacking, to say the least, they need refinement, but I certainly think this device is mobile business user ready, Even getting my emails on the playbook the bulk I am still answering from my phone, the 2 thumb typing is considerably faster on my torch than anything I can try and bang out on the playbook, and often faster than I can do on a compressed netbook keyboard.

I have had the feeling netbooks are a questionable business tool, so it seems it comes down to the user again as to their needs for what is a useful business tool,

A possible aside, what are you using for PowerPoint and Excel? Documents to Go?

I am looking at the PB as a possible solution for some of my people and these programs are important for them.

Thanks.

[anon(106603)]

I use the PB for business primarily to read/review/approve related Word, PPT and Excel docs - the files are either local on the PB or still as email attachments accessed thru the bridge functionality to the BB phone. The instant on, portabilty and discrete size for use in meetings is invaluable.

Don't do much new document creation on the PB (currently cannot create new PPTs in Docs to Go). May get the BB BT keyboard when it comes out to enable more extensive document creation/revision. Other BT keyboards are currently available.

I connect to a client projector via HDMI/VGA cable to present at client meetings. A lot is my work is consulting to DoD clients and sometimes I am restricted from accessing their wireless network and/or a guest account sign in does not work because of certificate issues. At that point I fall back to bridged or tethered connections if needed. I use aVNC to connect remotely to run and display MS Project from a desktop back home and also connect via web browser to separate home server for files needed that I'm not carrying on the PB.


Of course bridged email and calendar access as well.

I've traveled exclusively with the PB on my last three client trips. Over that period, thru 6 different airports, did not take the PB out separately at the security check point and was not ask to either.