Originally Posted by
MobileZen Out of the gate, I would say what is your budget? You might be able to find some new in box or close to new Playbooks from online classifieds. You can probably find some 16GB for sub $100 and maybe some 64GB for sub $200. Good value if you can find it for those prices. Test it out before you buy if you can. The seller should be able to do that for you.
The Playbook build quality, OS and UI is quite solid and smooth to this day (3 years old) and looks like you want to stick to the BlackBerry experience. As for apps, what are your major uses? Web browsing? E-mails? Calendar? Address book? Taking photos and videos? Watching movies? Playing music? Facebook? Creating office documents? If these are your basic uses, the Playbook offers it. If there are must apps that you need to have, double check what Android apps are available by an earlier post by someone in this thread.
I think we might have similar needs and maybe use cases so I'll tell you how I use the 64GB Playbook and how I pair it with my Q10.
My personal use:
-my family has either a Playbook or a BB10 device. The Playbook video chat can connect to all of them so no matter where I am around the world, I can get some decent video chat sessions with a 3MP front camera.
-to take pictures and videos when my prime photo and video devices are short on battery or storage. Rear camera is 5MP and can take HD video.
-if I need a larger screen, I use it for web browsing with full page or mobile pages. I shuffle between the native browser or Origami browser. Decent experience compared to competition.
-watching movies/videos. The dpi is pretty decent making it nice to watch HD movies. Also, the high quality audio stereo speakers still take out most of the competition as it has been rare that I've had the same movie experience from other tablets. Great for me when I commute via public transit or when I'm on the plane/at the airport.
-micro HDMI and BlackBerry bridge combo. In my bedroom or a hotel room, I hook up my Playbook and remote control it with my Q10. I play my movies, chat on BBM, web browse or stream live sports games.
-playing music. As stated before, the stereo speakers are pretty good and I use it for whenever I'm doing chores around the home or when I'm at a social event needing some portable music.
-Documents to Go. I either use my BlackBerry Bridge to use the Q10 keyboard or Bluetooth keyboard to create documents or spreadsheets.
-Video games. I used to be a gamer but realized not so much anymore but I still download them anyways. Favorite games are Angry Birds Space, Plants Vs. Zombies, Cut the Rope, Tetris, Asphalt 6, Dead Space and couple more. More than enough for me.
My work use:
-Pairing with a work OS7.1 Blackberry phone to view emails, texts, BBMs, calendar, contacts. Anyone can extend from their BlackBerry devices and never worry about security and privacy as the Playbook disconnects after the session. This was the beauty of the Playbook for the enterprise and I think many have lost sight of that. Mind you BlackBerry should have not rolled out the initial version of the Playbook to consumers without the independent email app.
-PowerPoint presentations on a TV/Projector pairing with BlackBerry Bridge with the sideshow remote control on the Q10. People are still amazed when I do presentations with this combo.
-Laptop replacement using the Playbook and bluetooth keyboard for creating, editing office documents and taking meeting minutes. A lighter load on the back was most welcome with the office productivity. Today, you are probably better off using the Surface Pro if your company supplies it.
Anyways, had to write this personal experience (albeit maybe lenghty) as the Playbook still doesn't get it's due for what it did during it's time and that it's still useful to this day depending on your needs. Good luck with what you end up with.
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