PlayBook Users enlighten me! Questions before the plunge.

Yeah yeah, I know this tablet is pretty much dead. But I'm still going to get one for dirt cheap...
So please bear with me. I have honestly tried to find answers to some of these concerns without much luck...
Concern #1
Have any of you played mkvs, mp4 or for that matter avi video files on the playbook?
I don't stream much so I pretty much have everything in virtual form.
Do you use any particular app?
Are there a lot of limitations? Resolution and definition wise.
How about subtitle support for media files?
Concern #2
I'm purchasing the 4G LTE Model. Has anybody successfully used it with any carrier here in the US? It's an unlocked model btw and would like to get a cheap data plan for it.
I pretty much want to occasionally use it as a GPS. Anyone tried the before?
Concern #3
I have a lot of pdf, epub, mobi ebooks and a few png comic books. This would be the main use for my playbook my first dedicated ebook device.
Am I in for a nasty surprise or can I expect decent compatibility?

Thank you all in advance.

Posted via my STA100-5 z30

Originally Posted by Oglon3r

Yeah yeah, I know this tablet is pretty much dead. But I'm still going to get one for dirt cheap...
So please bear with me. I have honestly tried to find answers to some of these concerns without much luck...
Concern #1
Have any of you played mkvs, mp4 or for that matter avi video files on the playbook?
I don't stream much so I pretty much have everything in virtual form.
Do you use any particular app?
Are there a lot of limitations? Resolution and definition wise.
How about subtitle support for media files?
Concern #2
I'm purchasing the 4G LTE Model. Has anybody successfully used it with any carrier here in the US? It's an unlocked model btw and would like to get a cheap data plan for it.
I pretty much want to occasionally use it as a GPS. Anyone tried the before?
Concern #3
I have a lot of pdf, epub, mobi ebooks and a few png comic books. This would be the main use for my playbook my first dedicated ebook device.
Am I in for a nasty surprise or can I expect decent compatibility?

Thank you all in advance.

Posted via my STA100-5 z30

Cant help with #2.
#1. Plays MP4 and most AVI for me no problemo
#3. I use an app ($0.99) called book reader for everything but pdf. Never had an issue. Pdf is built in out of the box. Also, Comics (also $0.99) reads cbz and cbr well .
I really only user my PB for web browsing (sometimes) and an ereader (all the time)

Kalemsoft Media Player is unmatchable as a media player (cost is $6.99 in Blackberry World tho) and plays virtually ANY video file and has subtitle support with video streaming function as well. The screen is gorgeous for video and the speakers are STILL among the best as far as tablets go. As for your 2nd concern, sorry can't help you there. For the 3rd concern, there are many e-book apps both free and pay that work well. I use Playepub Book Reader again from BW ($0.99) and it works great for me altho I have no answer for Comic reader. PDF's are a problem on the Playbook though. I have not found a decent app (native or android side-load) that will work flawlessly. There is considerable lag on PDFs I find. Hope this helps!


p.s. just about forgot about GPS use: Not too good on the Playbook because it is difficult to get around the timeout or power off function. The Playbook screen will fade to black after 5 minutes rendering your gps unusable. If you search the Playbook forums there is a work around for this but it is not elegant.

Originally Posted by brookie229

The Playbook screen will fade to black after 5 minutes rendering your gps unusable. If you search the Playbook forums there is a work around for this but it is not elegant.

The workaround is what I call snow stipple's trick, since it's based upon a quirk in the OS that he discovered. It may not be elegant, but it does work.

Originally Posted by pacoman03

The workaround is what I call snow stipple's trick, since it's based upon a quirk in the OS that he discovered. It may not be elegant, but it does work.

And it is????

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO5i...bYghODjSD20uag

Stay On app on right. Any other app on left. Two finger pull from bezel to bezel. Other app will not time out so long as you don't touch screen..

Originally Posted by pacoman03

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO5i...bYghODjSD20uag

Stay On app on right. Any other app on left. Two finger pull from bezel to bezel. Other app will not time out so long as you don't touch screen..

Wow. Didn't know this.

Originally Posted by Oglon3r

Yeah yeah, I know this tablet is pretty much dead. But I'm still going to get one for dirt cheap...
So please bear with me. I have honestly tried to find answers to some of these concerns without much luck...
Concern #1
Have any of you played mkvs, mp4 or for that matter avi video files on the playbook?
I don't stream much so I pretty much have everything in virtual form.
Do you use any particular app?
Are there a lot of limitations? Resolution and definition wise.
How about subtitle support for media files?
Concern #2
I'm purchasing the 4G LTE Model. Has anybody successfully used it with any carrier here in the US? It's an unlocked model btw and would like to get a cheap data plan for it.
I pretty much want to occasionally use it as a GPS. Anyone tried the before?
Concern #3
I have a lot of pdf, epub, mobi ebooks and a few png comic books. This would be the main use for my playbook my first dedicated ebook device.
Am I in for a nasty surprise or can I expect decent compatibility?

Thank you all in advance.

Posted via my STA100-5 z30

Plays mkv for me without a hitch

Posted via CB10

mkv's are generally supported, but Kalemsoft expands the media support on the device and allows you to watch videos which are centrally located on a home server (if that's how you are set up). It also allows you to partly watch a movie, and come back at a later time and resume where you left off (not needing to keep the app open). It is a little pricey for an app for this thing, but I've found that I've gotten more than my money's worth.

Can't comment about a data plan, but the device does have built in GPS (satellite tracked, not assisted GPS using cell towers).

For ebooks, I've been using PlayEPub ($0.99 in App World). Other option is MoonReader+. It's an android app which you would have to sideload, but worked very well for me. Only issue was that the odd book didn't render properly.

Kk Kalemsoft is definitely a plus then. Will be using it to mainly watch Chinese movies with embedded subtitles. 2nd year Chinese student here. Will also try to see if I can watch h10ps. And report on it.
I purchased it on ebay for 135 USD...
Did I pay too much? Kek I mean it was an intense bid war I swear so I guess there still some decent demand for the 4gLTE model out there...
This Australian seller refused to ship to the US. Oh well and the other US seller is letting it go for 170 $ USD. So I guess I got a decent deal.
Anyway seller stated he/she used it on ATT here in the US.
Will try to use it on tmobile and report back.
Thanks to everyone for your valuable input again. :)

Posted via my STA100-5 z30

Originally Posted by pacoman03

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO5i...bYghODjSD20uag

Stay On app on right. Any other app on left. Two finger pull from bezel to bezel. Other app will not time out so long as you don't touch screen..

Kind of cool. Had a PB for a couple years and didn?t know this. Only thing is, the app that gets "stuck" in the view doesn't get refreshed. Like say I'm trying to keep the browser live so I get updated text feed of soccer/football scores and commentary. Browser stays up but no refresh until I touch it and make it focused. This was a massive oversight by BlackBerry not to have left some method of keeping screen live.

Q10SQN100-1/10.3.0.1154

kfroese,

It's a settings issue. If you have it on Default and begin with StayOn full screen then when you pull in your website it will stay open but not update. If you had your website fullscreen and then pulled in* a bit of StayOn then the screen continues to update but will time out as usual.

Just change the settings to Showcase and it'll both stay open and continue updating.

*this pulling in is possible with two fingers placed on one side's bezel, then pushed onto the screen about an inch and then pulled off screen to introduce StayOn from the other side of the screen. Depending on where I begin on the bezel I can reduce StayOn's appearance onscreen to a smaller intrusion which looks better.

I also can get it down to a almost unseen sliver but it currently can take me anywhere from one to a few tries starting with this method then using two different ways instead of then pulling the fingers back off the bezel.

Originally Posted by snow_stipple

kfroese,

It's a settings issue. If you have it on Default and begin with StayOn full screen then when you pull in your website it will stay open but not update. If you had your website fullscreen and then pulled in* a bit of StayOn then the screen continues to update but will time out as usual.

Just change the settings to Showcase and it'll both stay open and continue updating.

*hangs head* How embarrassing! I have known about the setting for ages and was so sure I was on showcase I didn't check. Sure enough, it was on "Default" and once I changed that, the method works great! I use the Polar Clock app rather than StayOn. Works just as well.

Q10SQN100-1/10.3.0.1154

Here is another approach to keep the Playbook's screen on by using an assisting app. This approach makes it easier to adjust the amount of room the assisting app takes up on the screen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTC9j-l9Rng

Funny thing is that there are several more approaches that almost all take advantage of the touch point where the screen and bezel meet to get the assisting app on screen.

My kids use my pb every day as a YouTube server.....

Posted via CB10

Love my playbook use it extensively for reading I love it as an ebook reader.
I have confirmed it working on t-mobile. I can browse internet and even use GPS via google maps 6.2. It works very well with stay on running in the background.
Games are meh in love the artifex Mundi series.
Kalemsoft for video is simply amazing. I have high Def ran mkv with subs without any lag into my TV.
I want to try installing the ancient Spotify for android 2.2, because browser has become unresponsive. Will come back with results.

Supporting the people's struggle worldwide via my STA 100-5, Z30.