1. tom888's Avatar
    So it looks like mine is going straight back to Best Buy. Main reason: it's been about 3 days since I last turned it on, and I haven't missed it one bit. I just have no need for it, being that I have 2 laptops (work & play) which are both constantly connected.

    I'm curious: What the heck do you guys use your Playbooks (or any tablet for that matter) for? I'm assuming everyone here has a computer or smart phone, so what do you do on your PB's that makes it a necessity?

    I'm not really sure what I need/want from a tablet just yet, so I don't want to force myself to play with a gadget I obviously don't care to play with (for now).
    06-01-11 04:22 PM
  2. perfectson's Avatar
    I use it at work, so i'm not sitting there with my phone out texting (bbm/answering emails)

    I use it at home to watch movies on my big screen

    I use it when I'm at the mall with friends or gf and they are trying on clothes, I play NFS or Tetris.

    I threw it in my car with the Aux plug and played music off of it

    I have one desktop, a work laptop (that I now leave at work), and the PB. I use to bring my laptop home to play on but no more
    06-01-11 04:30 PM
  3. papped's Avatar
    Nothing is a necessity... You don't "need" a smartphone in most cases, it's just a perk.
    06-01-11 04:31 PM
  4. samadkins29's Avatar
    Unfortunately, I am right there with you. All but for the part about retuning it (I missed my return date). Having used Blackberry for many years now, I thought for sure I would have a use for it. Instead, it sites under my bed collecting dust... I plan to hang onto it in hopes that it gets better over time. But for now, I just use it to watch downloaded movies, uh I mean purchased movies

    It just doesn't do much of anything, much less $500 worth of anything. Should have just saved to money for the 9900
    06-01-11 04:32 PM
  5. IndubitablyMe's Avatar
    I mainly use mine for web browsing (more convenient than a clunky laptop, in my opinion), listening to music (streaming or from my collection), accessing email, calendar, memos, and tasks through bridge (larger screen = much more enjoyable) and checking news feeds. I agree that it is not a necessity, but I love it's ease of use and general awesomeness. Once there's a good e-reader app, it will be perfect (for me). Everybody is different, though.
    06-01-11 04:32 PM
  6. harpcomposer's Avatar
    I have had a bb Curve for a few years. The ONLY thing I use it for is to check emails when I am not at my computer. I usually use about 10 of my 700 "phone minutes." I do not use apps.....everything is just too SMALL. What fun is it to watch a video, or go online, or whatever, on a tiny screen? I have had my playbook for two weeks now. I have discovered apps! Fun ones and productivity ones. I can now not only check emails when I am away (or on the couch) but I can actually answer them conveniently. I don't have an mp3 player....but already I have given up the cable box in my home office, and the tv in there...because I just open the playbook and play my play list. I enjoy shopping for music on it. I enjoy downloading free apps and trying them out. When we go away this month, I won't have to lug my old laptop; just the playbook and my bb curve. The playbook has also become my evening relaxation. I admit to a fascination with Tile Breaker.....and I have discovered sites to download free movies and shows for when I am so inclined.....connect to my tv.....if I want to....or just watch them on the playbook. For me, the possibilities are endless, and THAT is why I love my playbook.
    06-01-11 04:32 PM
  7. drethos's Avatar
    emails, note pad, inventory, price lists, ereader (more when we get kindle.....), distraction, everyday use device, web browser (yes i like it alot more then firefox), twitter read since blaq, for youtube videos, movie player, calculator, router interface, and much much more. i hate windows, but i refuse to be watch by jobs all the time. so i use windows just to download movies and hold the plethora of movie files im gathering. ohhh and i use vcn so i don't have to be in my room to check on my downloads and click on more to download.
    06-01-11 04:39 PM
  8. stranger99's Avatar
    Certainly not a necessity, but I use it for:

    • Bed...browsing, twitter, facebook, emails. It's nice to use in bed rather than the laptop.
    • Travel....nice to watch movies on while traveling. More convenient than laptop.
    • It's nice in the car while tethering. Music, slacker radio, etc. Things I could just as easily do on my phone....but....I have the PB so I need to use it. The size is nice because it will easily fit in the middle thingy in my car.


    But yeah in general it needs Skype, Dropbox, Kindle, Android Apps, some better games, and a few other things (that it "will" get), and it will be much more useful.
    06-01-11 04:40 PM
  9. grover5's Avatar
    Mine has become my home computer. I have a work laptop and my 9700 which seems to be the perfect combination for me. I use it for most of the things I would use laptop for but I can carry this in a coat pocket which is nice. I email, surf a ton, watch videos, listen to music, edit excel and word docs, play games, take pictures (I really like the camera), shot a couple videos on memorial day, scheduling on my calendar, etc. I can understand returning it if you prefer a laptop,but for me this thing is awesome. I couldn't imagine returning it.
    06-01-11 04:42 PM
  10. offthahorseceo's Avatar
    i read a book on kobo while i take a dump, ebooks take less space than a regular book and it beats lugging the laptop in there

    the laptop we have overheats and doesnt work unless plugged in, so we browse etc from our playbooks instead.

    im using it in the car as a media player, my car is a 1989 model with a non standard "media center" setup, it does not conform to DIN standard so no after market headunits will fit.

    i use it at work to keep a couple of spreadsheets up to date such as sales numbers.

    also use it at work to watch videos instead of doing it on the work computer.

    do i NEED it? **** no. would i take it back? **** no
    bquinney likes this.
    06-01-11 04:47 PM
  11. newcollector's Avatar
    I use mine at work to show product to those who want to pre-arrange. Since I work at a funeral home, it is less emotional for them to make selections on caskets and vaults digitally rather than going into a physical selection room.

    When I go to people's homes, I don't have to lug a huge picture book of product. Selections are made from Power Point presentations I created.

    Personally I use my Playbook as others have posted except in the case of offthehorseceo, leave out the "dump" part. :-)
    Last edited by newcollector; 06-01-11 at 05:03 PM.
    06-01-11 04:58 PM
  12. shootsscores's Avatar
    My lap top is now collecting dust.
    06-01-11 04:58 PM
  13. papped's Avatar
    Never buy hp laptops, that's what prompted me to get a PB...
    06-01-11 05:01 PM
  14. LaFlamaBlanca's Avatar
    My lap top is now collecting dust.
    Same here.
    06-01-11 05:02 PM
  15. belsunce's Avatar
    I owned an iPad before and it was my favorite gadget ever. I think tablets are super cool, but in no way a necessity.

    if there ever was a "luxury" electronic device, this is it for me. I don't NEED to be able to browse the web in bed or watch videos without being in front of my tv, but that doesn't make it any less awesome ;D

    pb has advantage over iPad that it's smaller, more portable and has a much crisper screen, which makes reading (small) text that much easier.

    just give us an update that lets us:

    ~ organize browser bookmarks
    ~ file videos and PDFs in subfolders (that the apps will recognize)
    ~ remember what page we were on in PDFs (actually just give the whole PDF app a complete overhaul because no annotations and no bookmarks is lame)
    ~ sideload ePubs

    and I will ask this thing to MARRY ME!!

    oh and a couple of more premium games wouldn't hurt either. iPad was a glorified gaming machine for me. where's gameloft, square-enix, (more) EA?
    06-01-11 05:05 PM
  16. perfectson's Avatar
    oh i forgot about tracking stocks

    i have a service that streams stock information and i use the PB to view it throughout the day
    06-01-11 05:10 PM
  17. mathprof08's Avatar
    I use mine to look at myself in the shiny glass screen.
    06-01-11 05:12 PM
  18. shootsscores's Avatar
    oh i forgot about tracking stocks

    i have a service that streams stock information and i use the PB to view it throughout the day
    Did you have fun today?
    06-01-11 05:14 PM
  19. xandermac's Avatar
    I never touch my laptop, haven't since I've had a tablet. Same will be true when the playbook app ecosystem matures and I buy another playbook. For consuming content you can't beat the ease of use and portability of a tablet. Applications fill in the gaps between tablet and laptop. I can run autoCadWs, create/edit documents, email, schedule, edit photos, watch Netflix, **** there's an app for pretty much everything and I'm hopeful that will soon be true of the playbook also. I keep my laptop around but nowadays it's always powered off.
    06-01-11 05:18 PM
  20. mpo2010's Avatar
    My main uses are as follows:

    1. Read newspapers like the Globe and National Post at night;
    2. Do banking at work;
    3. General web surfing;
    4. Play some games

    Basically I am too cheap to get a 3G device (i.e. iPad) so the tethering gives me a good way to do banking and other things at work without them knowing what I am doing.

    Have both the Playbook and iPad but in this nice weather I really like bringing the Playbook outside. I don't really like lugging a laptop outside for surfing.

    Overall both the Playbook and iPad suit my needs perfectly. I use the iPad for reading Financial Times (until Playbook app comes) and watching Netflix.
    06-01-11 05:35 PM
  21. Rudee66's Avatar
    If I had a nickel for every post asking "what do you use your PB for?" and "what size of PB do you have?" I'd be a rich, rich man.
    06-01-11 05:52 PM
  22. wheresmy600's Avatar
    For most of the same things people here use them, plus I have found I am using it a lot to display pictures that I have taken to the subjects of the pictures. For instance, I took lots of pictures at my niece's recital, and then at Memorial Day cookout, showed them to her parents. They were thrilled to see the pictures and everybody else wanted to see them too. This has really been a hit.

    Also use at my photography club instead of lugging laptop.

    Also came in handy when relative had scary emergency room hospital visit. Was able to connect to wireless which was free for trauma patients waiting room. It really did help to keep my mind from going wild.
    06-01-11 06:24 PM
  23. lnichols's Avatar
    Get up and check news sites while getting ready for the day. Can't easily carry laptop around the house. Will use it on plane trips for movies and games. I really have dropped my laptop usage significantly. Most of the use is to rip movies for the Playbook.
    06-01-11 06:37 PM
  24. stubbornswiss's Avatar
    I could do far more on my Bold 9650 than I could on my PlayBook.

    I didn't need it!

    (Yes, I'm really annoyed at RIM, because I do believe they have become way too arrogant, and have absolutely no regard for their customers!

    The aforementioned statement is mine and mine alone.
    06-01-11 06:45 PM
  25. drethos's Avatar
    ohhh i forgot typing up my stuff, taking random pictures (i love that camera), ummm walking around searching out new wifi spots and probably more but i cant remember.
    06-01-11 06:50 PM
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