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I'm looking at asking for a PlayBook for Christmas, but had a couple questions:
1) Give me the sales pitch as to why. I currently have a nook color but find B&N restrictive appwise.
2) I'm looking at PlayBook to be an "all in one" device to save money by not getting a tablet & an iPod by having music, apps, and internet. How easy is it to sync music onto PB? Or is that even PB's purpose?
Best description I ever heard was that Playbook is the ultimate media consumption device. Get one, you won't be disappointed unless your the type of person who's world collapses when they can't run netflix or skype. In that case spend an extra $500 and get a device you'll complain less about.
Damn that was funny :) But he's right, it's perfect for everything you listed and more and for the price, it's a no brainer. Super easy to transfer music to it. You can even do it wirelessly by just dropping the files on it like on a usb key.
The other concern I have is RIM's future. Personally, I feel people can be too pro-Apple and write off anything that isn't Apple. Should I be concerned with all the negative press?
I'm not. I own three playbooks and just bought five more to give as gifts yesterday. For me it's a no brainer, especially a 32gb for $118.00. :D
IMHO, if you want a device that has 1.2 million apps, you're looking at the wrong tablet. If you want well integrated, quick and easy, with security and basic, good functionality that has plenty of what I would call "working apps", not cutesy apps that have 12 year olds saying things like "cool" and "rad", then for my money, the Playbook is a slam dunk. I don't want a gaming console or anything that looks like it or acts like it. I want one that works as hard as I do, talks and stays connected intelligently to my phone, and not one that works hard at playing. For me its a vital difference. I'm not pooing on Apple persay, just don't need the extra costs associated with the fanfare and flourish. 99.8% of the apps out there are useless and are less used after the first few trials.
Just my two bits,
Soapy
Playbook = Great all around tablet. Build quality, picture quality, versatility and functionality are all A-1.
I for one, don't regret my purchase(s)
Playbooks are like potato chips....You can never have just one. ;)
You do mention the current restrictions you run into "appwise." The pb has quite a few but no where near the ipad or android numbers. So be warned that way. Media - great.
Do you want be my friend?:D
The PlayBook is a great media consumption device. The speakers are outstanding, better than my iPad, and it is very good for video playback bacuse of the widescreen format and HDMI out, which can output 1080p video. The cameras can also shoot 1080p, although that is too high resolution for the screen to display. Moving media files from a computer (Windows/Mac) is easy, you can plug into a USB port and sync, or use WiFi data transfer, or use an online data storage option like Dropbox or Box.
It is also quite a good portable gaming device, there are a number of the very popular games available (though certainly not all of them). In most other categories, there is not a great selection of apps (although the built in Docs To Go is the full version, you can edit and create documents). Hopefully BB10 will improve the app situation.
The build quality is excellent, this was not designed to be a cheap tablet, it just didn't sell at higher price. There is certainly reason to be worried about RIM, but we have already had OS upgrades and will soon have another major one. This would be true of iOS as well, but generally not in the case of Android, you often have to root the devices to go to a newer OS than the one you bought.
There's a lot to like with the Playbook as a media device. For one thing, it will output 1080p over HDMI. iPad can't do that.
BlackBerry Desktop Manager will allow you to sync pictures and music (yes, including iTunes and any playlists you have configured there). Also, the Music Store (7digital) sells a decent selection of non-DRM MP3s.
Very nice device. An absolute steal at the price.
I'm not one who gets a ton of apps. Angry Birds, social networking, and news apps and I'm set.
Sure thing. But I feel its fair to warn you that all the Playbooks are spoken for :laughing:
I like what the other responders have written above and agree with their points. Transferring music, video & picture files to and from the PB is quite easy.
Here's an example of how I use the PB as a music lover. When I see a music video on YouTube that I like so much I want to download it, I copy the youtube url into File2HD.com. A minute later I have the file in my PB's download folder. Using the 99cent app "Files and Folders", I transfer the app into a playlist folder under the PB videos folder. Then I use the 99 cent app "AutoPlay" to play all the videos in that playlist - great for parties!