[mobiletechninja]

My Playbook is less than a week old and already my power button is broken. It worked fine for the first five says (although I did agree with the many reviewers that thought the button was ridiculously small ... who thought of that design?). Yes, I've tried pressing hard, with my fingernail, even a popsicle stick ... Nothing works. It is almost as if the "spring" underneath the button has failed.

Now my Playbook is stuck ON permanently ... NICE. Back to Staples it goes on Monday!

[Sonic77]

Least yours worked for a week!

Mine was DOA.

[Technerd.McLeod]

Does no one know about the power button icon which is a lot easier and gives the option to shut down or reboot.

[nycspaces.]

Does no one know about the power button icon which is a lot easier and gives the option to shut down or reboot.

Yes the power-off button is useful, but why they did not add a sleep button or sleep option to the power-off button doesn't make sense.

The battery is good, i am sure it will get most of us through a full day and maybe an evening but it is not good enough to justify user assisted power saving.

[Technerd.McLeod]

Yes the power-off button is useful, but why they did not add a sleep button or sleep option to the power-off button doesn't make sense.

The battery is good, i am sure it will get most of us through a full day and maybe an evening but it is not good enough to justify user assisted power saving.

Its a quick adjustment to change how fast it goes into standby.

[esc0bar336]

The power button works every time if you press it a little to turn it on...its just when shutting off. This is due to a software issue and RIM has to shore this up. The playbook just doesnt recognize the power button being pushed sometimes. In the mean time to avoid breaking your power button, just use the icon to power off lol. Physically, although flush, the power button is fine and is pressing what it needs to. Don't need to press it hard.

[mobiletechninja]

As I said before ... the button worked for the first 5 days. I am perfectly aware of how hard that I need to press the button. I was actually very careful and gentle with it at all times. The issues is that now the button can no longer be depressed at all, no matter what I do. It is BROKEN.

Unfortunately, my Playbook is now stuck ON and can't be turned off. I know that there is a "Power Off" icon/app but that doesn't work either. When I click that icon, the screen on the Playbook fades to black but the Playbook just keeps on running. I know that it is still running because, if I swipe up on the screen, the "Power Off" app/window appears beside all of my other running apps.

I am really disappointed by the design of this button. Who would make a button that is used multiple times per day only 5 mm (or less) in diameter?! It seems hard to believe that in the months leading up to the release of the Playbook, nobody at RIM said anything about the size of this button ... how could they miss this?

I will be giving the Playbook a second chance and will be exchanging it for a new one on Monday. Unfortunately, my old Playbook will be out of power by Monday because, in its current state, it has also stopped charging. Currently, I have a "Playbrick" rather than a "Playbook"!

[kbeard26]

That might be a software issue. Try plugging it up to the computer or a reset. I think volume up & down plus power.

[kbeard26]

Yes the power-off button is useful, but why they did not add a sleep button or sleep option to the power-off button doesn't make sense.

The battery is good, i am sure it will get most of us through a full day and maybe an evening but it is not good enough to justify user assisted power saving.

Adding a separate sleep wake buttons is just too many buttons. If there was an extra button it would get in the way in portrait mode while holding. Also Apples sleep/wake is the power button & now Playbook.

[rjkolo]

My PlayBook also has a broken power button. It is stuck rebooting itself over and over and over.....because it is being held in. I can do nothing...I even tried connecting it to my PC to see if it could do something but nothing....just restarting...and restarting...I guess the battery will die eventually...until then I guess I can watch this F***KING bubble screen for 10 hours, too bad Bestbuy is close tomorrow...GOOD JOB RIM!!!

If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them.

[meltbox360]

This is worrying but i just hope it does not happen in the 30 days I have. Question for those with broken power buttons. Raised button or no? Mine is not...

And it works so far.

[mobiletechninja]

Button is flush (not raised). I am watching my Playbook slowly die ... i can't power off either with the button or with the "Power Off" icon. Neither works. Nor does volume up + volume down + power as somebody suggested.

Amazingly, even though the Playbook is plugged in, it is not recharging ... it seems to think it is already off. Another strange thing that RIM did was to not allow these units to charge up while "off" even when attached to the charger and plugged in. The only way that charging works is when the Playbook is in stand-by / sleep mode.

FYI, I am seeing more and more posts about power button issues over on the official Blackberry support forum too. I think this must be a growing problem as more and more people begin using their devices.

Sadly, I am writing this post on my iPad as the Playbook is in this weird state. I am a huge Blackberry fan and had high hopes for the Playbook. Sigh!!!!

[luqman24]

Remember guys, the PB has a one year manufacturer's warranty so take full advantage of that, like for the power button issue.

[TheMarco]

Not that this isn't a valid issue or anything but: is there any reason to switch the PB off? Especially since it doesn't even charge when off? I have yet to turn it off for the first time myself.

[rjkolo]

Found a fix...as SOON as it powers off from the restart plug it into the PC and let the Desktop Software take over, stopped the PB dead in it's tracks and took over. Re-installed the OS and apparently we are all better now...doesn't fix the my button being stuck but it will allow me to use it until I can get a new one Monday...this sounds like it is enough of an issues early to have RIM make a re-call if you ask me...odds of that happening?

[howarmat]

recall? no way in ****..it would completely kill off the product.

[Sonic77]

It was not supposed to ship flush according the the Anandtech review:

"RIM tells me that final versions of the PlayBook will have this power button raised by 0.8mm, enough to make it easily clickable."

The BlackBerry PlayBook Review - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

[meltbox360]

So the button is broken but the restarting was software?

[nycspaces.]

Adding a separate sleep wake buttons is just too many buttons. If there was an extra button it would get in the way in portrait mode while holding. Also Apples sleep/wake is the power button & now Playbook.

Except the ipad's power button is engineered correctly, the PB's not so much

[maxi#CB]

The power button is not user friendly !! Is there a special way to press this micro button without breaking it it ?

[raptorstv]

No sleep button = fail

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[mobiletechninja]

The power button on the Playbook was designed to work exactly the same way as the one on the iPad ... a quick push and the device goes into sleep mode (screen turns off but device stays powered on) ... a longer push and you get a couple of icons that let you power off the device or restart it. To those saying that we should just stop using the button and keep the device up and running continuously ... that's silly. You need the button to quickly put the screen to sleep at a minimum.

The issue is plain and simple ... the power button is wonky and RIM knows it. Their quick fix was to release a Power Off icon for the home screen as part of the last software update. They must know that there is a problem with the design (or else why would this be a software update?) and are simply hoping people won't notice it now ... or at least that they will push the button less often and therefore delay the inevitable failure of these buttons for a few more months.

Also, riddle me this Batman ... if they didn't want us to push the power button then why didn't they release THREE power off options as part of the software update ... one for "Power Off", one for "Sleep" and one for "Restart"? That would make more sense if they want to minimize usage of the physical power button.

If this was any other company, we'd be expecting a recall or warranty extension. Remember Microsoft and their xbox 360 devices? They had to extend their warranty to a full 3 years+ for all Xbox users in the world because they had an almost 50% failure rate on xboxes due to poor cooling design ... causing the infamous "red ring of death".

Again, I have to ask ... did nobody at RIM notice this during months of testing this device? It would have been much easier (and much cheaper) to change the design at that stage. And it would have been less of a potential PR headache.

Maybe they should hire the folks who designed the power button on the iPad ... I have used it dozens of times every day for more than a year and it still works perfectly. One push to sleep or hold it down for a few seconds longer to power off.

Again, let me emphasize ... I like Blackberries and have been using them since the very first one was released. I love my current BB 9800 Torch and prefer it over the iPhone for its keyboard and underlying BES infrastructure.

Wanted to like the Playbook too (am evaluating it for wide deployment at work) but can't really recommend it so far due to this design flaw ... don't want to start getting dozens of these things returned after only a few months of use.

RIM needs to step up on this, admit the flaw, offer a warranty extension to us "early adopters"' and then quickly roll out new units with improved power buttons.

To all of you that have a Playbook with a working power button ... all this talk may seem like an exaggeration ... we'll talk in a few months when you can't turn your device on or off or even charge it because it is stuck in a limbo state between on and off ... maybe just as you are prepping for an important presentation or getting on a plane (flight attendant: "please power off your cell phones and electronic devices" ... "sir" ... "the captain is waiting" ... "sir" ..."sir" ...).

;-)

[slingxshot]

The power button on the Playbook was designed to work exactly the same way as the one on the iPad ... a quick push and the device goes into sleep mode (screen turns off but device stays powered on) ... a longer push and you get a couple of icons that let you power off the device or restart it. To those saying that we should just stop using the button and keep the device up and running continuously ... that's silly. You need the button to quickly put the screen to sleep at a minimum.

The issue is plain and simple ... the power button is wonky and RIM knows it. Their quick fix was to release a Power Off icon for the home screen as part of the last software update. They must know that there is a problem with the design (or else why would this be a software update?) and are simply hoping people won't notice it now ... or at least that they will push the button less often and therefore delay the inevitable failure of these buttons for a few more months.

Also, riddle me this Batman ... if they didn't want us to push the power button then why didn't they release THREE power off options as part of the software update ... one for "Power Off", one for "Sleep" and one for "Restart"? That would make more sense if they want to minimize usage of the physical power button.

If this was any other company, we'd be expecting a recall or warranty extension. Remember Microsoft and their xbox 360 devices? They had to extend their warranty to a full 3 years+ for all Xbox users in the world because they had an almost 50% failure rate on xboxes due to poor cooling design ... causing the infamous "red ring of death".

Again, I have to ask ... did nobody at RIM notice this during months of testing this device? It would have been much easier (and much cheaper) to change the design at that stage. And it would have been less of a potential PR headache.

Maybe they should hire the folks who designed the power button on the iPad ... I have used it dozens of times every day for more than a year and it still works perfectly. One push to sleep or hold it down for a few seconds longer to power off.

Again, let me emphasize ... I like Blackberries and have been using them since the very first one was released. I love my current BB 9800 Torch and prefer it over the iPhone for its keyboard and underlying BES infrastructure.

Wanted to like the Playbook too (am evaluating it for wide deployment at work) but can't really recommend it so far due to this design flaw ... don't want to start getting dozens of these things returned after only a few months of use.

RIM needs to step up on this, admit the flaw, offer a warranty extension to us "early adopters"' and then quickly roll out new units with improved power buttons.

To all of you that have a Playbook with a working power button ... all this talk may seem like an exaggeration ... we'll talk in a few months when you can't turn your device on or off or even charge it because it is stuck in a limbo state between on and off ... maybe just as you are prepping for an important presentation or getting on a plane (flight attendant: "please power off your cell phones and electronic devices" ... "sir" ... "the captain is waiting" ... "sir" ..."sir" ...).

;-)

You are a nut about this.

[meltbox360]

Suddenly I wish I had payed the best buy insurance.... What a fail on me

[nycspaces.]

The power button on the Playbook was designed to work exactly the same way as the one on the iPad ... a quick push and the device goes into sleep mode (screen turns off but device stays powered on) ... a longer push and you get a couple of icons that let you power off the device or restart it. To those saying that we should just stop using the button and keep the device up and running continuously ... that's silly. You need the button to quickly put the screen to sleep at a minimum.

The issue is plain and simple ... the power button is wonky and RIM knows it. Their quick fix was to release a Power Off icon for the home screen as part of the last software update. They must know that there is a problem with the design (or else why would this be a software update?) and are simply hoping people won't notice it now ... or at least that they will push the button less often and therefore delay the inevitable failure of these buttons for a few more months.
............

RIM needs to step up on this, admit the flaw, offer a warranty extension to us "early adopters"' and then quickly roll out new units with improved power buttons.

To all of you that have a Playbook with a working power button ... all this talk may seem like an exaggeration ... we'll talk in a few months when you can't turn your device on or off or even charge it because it is stuck in a limbo state between on and off ... maybe just as you are prepping for an important presentation or getting on a plane (flight attendant: "please power off your cell phones and electronic devices" ... "sir" ... "the captain is waiting" ... "sir" ..."sir" ...).

;-)

Can you imagine the WTF? moment when the guy who designed the case was asked to put a 1/4" pin on the plastic case that holds the PB frame in the convertible case. When i saw this i laughed... at myself.... for buying my second Newton device.

They have to add a sleep soft-button or gesture.