Should I buy a Blackberry Playbook Tablet ?
Hi! I'm a software engineer with 20+ years experience in microcomputer systems and extensive experience in IT management, now off to grad school in an international program spanning 3 countries in Europe, with hopes of stepping into the very progressive IT world on this side of the Atlantic. Because I spent nearly 24/7 at the office (or more likely, in the machine room of a customer), I never had the desire to own a PC until the late 90s when the Internet grew into more than a 100-page Infoseek search result. Reently, I replaced my ASUS laptop with an ACER ASPIRE V351 notebook. It handles all my professional needs, love the keyboard and high-res screen, and it's great for all my fun stuff like surfing the web and watching videos. I've never been a personal gadget freak, never glommed onto the PalmPilot trend, don't have an iPad, and only recently upgraded my old Nokia brick to a folding cell phone. In a couple months, I will be heading to southern Europe to begin a master's degree program and I've been thinking about getting a tablet for those times when I want to curl up on the sofa and read books or watch videos. My ACER notebook is great, but I get tired of sitting on my **** or lounging on the bed with the thing on my lap. I've read a lot about small tablets, particularly eReaders, but nothing really grabs me except the Blackberry Playbook. What I like about it are the high res color screen, quality design, and ability to multi-task. So, here's my questions: 1) Is the Playbook still relevant? It seems like a lot of machine for only 149 bucks. 2) How is the camera? I don't want to drag around my Olympus, but I will want to snap a few photos during my travels. Will the camera on the Playbook be good for this (my phone camera is okay, but not much memory for taking lots of pics). 3) I don't need a Blackberry as my cell phone (yet).
I've looked at expensive tablets, which is more than I want to invest. The cheap ones like the Kindle Fire seem to have real limitations when it comes to multitasking or watching videos in DivX or FlashPlayer.
So, here's the BIG QUESTIONS: if you wanted to buy an inexpensive tablet in 2013, would you consider the Playbook to be relevant? Would you buy one?