[DOCTOREVIL8]

I may have a chance to nab a brand new, never opened BlackBerry PlayBook. I'm guessing it would ship with some version of OS 1. That said, I'm also assuming I can't do anything with it until it updates to the latest OS?

Should I buy or hard pass? They're asking $50 for 32gb. Anything fancy I could do with a brand new one?

[brookie229]

I would pass.

[Chuck Finley69]

I may have a chance to nab a brand new, never opened BlackBerry PlayBook. I'm guessing it would ship with some version of OS 1. That said, I'm also assuming I can't do anything with it until it updates to the latest OS?

Should I buy or hard pass? They're asking $50 for 32gb. Anything fancy I could do with a brand new one?

The activation servers have gone down 3x since after April 2018 official EOL and this last time it down four weeks. Also this last time, no actual official response after fixed that I’ve seen. Buy at your own risk.

[howarmat]

pass

[zer0ten]

only unique thing you could do is enable USB OTG support I believe? if I remember correctly, that feature was patched after OS 2.0.

[anon(5597702)]

As much as I love the PB and still use it for a number of things, I agree with everyone else. For not much more, you could get a Amazon Fire tablet that does everything a modern tablet should do. It runs FireOS but it's Android behind the scenes. You can even install Play Services/Store on them and run it natively.

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[ilkay_ozalp]

If you want to torture yourself for 50 bucks, go for it. But if you have 50 bucks, my advice would go for a gameboy or tetris. I have a playbook and I want to use it for reading e-books or PDF files; it is very hard to find a stable and detailed app.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I agree for $50 a Fire Tablet is a MUCH better buy if you need a tablet.

PlayBook.... only if you have a BlackBerry collection and that's missing from it.

[thurask]

Hard pass.

[TgeekB]

Go out to dinner with the $50. At least it will pay for one meal.

[Chuck Finley69]

Go out to dinner with the $50. At least it will pay for one meal.

It’ll cover a dozen 4 for $4 Wendy’s meals .... rich man poor man

[TgeekB]

It’ll cover a dozen 4 for $4 Wendy’s meals .... rich man poor man

Or a whole bunch of 7-eleven hot dogs!

[eternal amateur]

If it is OS1 you can install BB10 on it potentially. It won't be able to do anything but still...

[anon(5597702)]

If it is OS1 you can install BB10 on it potentially. It won't be able to do anything but still...

Exactly. Many have tried to tweak but it's an early developer's build. Not worth the trouble unless you love being frustrated.

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[TrumpetTiger]

If you want to torture yourself for 50 bucks, go for it. But if you have 50 bucks, my advice would go for a gameboy or tetris. I have a playbook and I want to use it for reading e-books or PDF files; it is very hard to find a stable and detailed app.

Hey ilkay,

Have you tried playEpub E-Book Reader for the e-books? It's extremely stable and very detailed.

[TrumpetTiger]

I may have a chance to nab a brand new, never opened BlackBerry PlayBook. I'm guessing it would ship with some version of OS 1. That said, I'm also assuming I can't do anything with it until it updates to the latest OS?

Should I buy or hard pass? They're asking $50 for 32gb. Anything fancy I could do with a brand new one?

Do it Doctor! You can do quite a bit with the Playbook. Earlier OS versions allowed additional tweaking, although be aware that you may be forced to update it to OS 2.1.

[conite]

Do it Doctor! You can do quite a bit with the Playbook. Earlier OS versions allowed additional tweaking, although be aware that you may be forced to update it to OS 2.1.

It also doubles as a weight training device!

[ilkay_ozalp]

Hey ilkay,

Have you tried playEpub E-Book Reader for the e-books? It's extremely stable and very detailed.

Frankly I did not, but yesterday I discovered a harsh turth; I can't transfer file from my pc. Any suggestion for this issue is welcome

[DOCTOREVIL8]

Frankly I did not, but yesterday I discovered a harsh turth; I can't transfer file from my pc. Any suggestion for this issue is welcome

Probably needs a driver on the computer or a setting change on the playbook for media sharing access.

Could use network to access, but still need to setup permissions on the playbook.

[ilkay_ozalp]

I tried a few potential solution on pc but no success. Now I will research on web without hope. Thank you.

[conite]

Frankly I did not, but yesterday I discovered a harsh turth; I can't transfer file from my pc. Any suggestion for this issue is welcome

What do you mean by "can't" ? What did you try?

Download BlackBerry Link, but then ONLY install the drivers when given the choice during install. That's all you need for Explorer access.

[thurask]

The file transfer thing might be requiring SMBv1, which can be re-enabled and after transfer immediately disabled, since it's a security hole the size of a battleship and the option to enable it is only for those that need to deal with wastes of silicon like the PlayBook.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I was first-in with the PlayBook. Had it up and running as late as a month ago.

Unfortunately its 15oz weight makes it difficult to use compared to most of the comparable 8-12oz tablets now.

My Surface is 27 oz.... and it's not a big deal for me. But then it's a 10" screen in place the PlayBooks and it's huge bezels and low resolution (150 ppi?) that give it away as being from another time.

If someone owns one... it's great if they can find a way to keep using it (I try too). But in the OP's case, there is no reason to put new money into such old and outdated hardware. Especially for the same money you can get something better.

[TrumpetTiger]

I tried a few potential solution on pc but no success. Now I will research on web without hope. Thank you.

Hey ilkay,

You can use SMBv1 (which is fine as long as you have reliable backups of your computer) to use Blackberry Link (it's fine to install the software as a whole; don't worry about suggestions otherwise) to connect your Playbook, or you can mount it as a network drive to easily transfer files. Let me know if you'd like a how-to on this; happy to help.

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[TrumpetTiger]

My Surface is 27 oz.... and it's not a big deal for me. But then it's a 10" screen in place the PlayBooks and it's huge bezels and low resolution (150 ppi?) that give it away as being from another time.

If someone owns one... it's great if they can find a way to keep using it (I try too). But in the OP's case, there is no reason to put new money into such old and outdated hardware. Especially for the same money you can get something better.

Unless the OP wants to use the Playbook. They were not asking for a comparison of platforms--just whether it's worth the money. You can disagree, but the question is as always whether the Playbook meets the OP's needs for what they want to do with it--not what we think their needs should be.

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