Learning Resources PRD-38548-007 BlackBerry Playbook 7-Inch Tablet (16GB)

UPDATE: It is now June 2016 and I still love my PlayBook. Many people shoot them down for a lack of apps but since I am an old fashioned person that is more concerned with security than the newest bells and whistles, then, I'm good. I have a laptop for whatever my tablet can't do which is not that much. Some people complain about the native browser but there are several other browsers on the BlackBerry app site that can be installed. I prefer OrigamiBrowser because it has a desktop mode and is very fast. I did purchase a new case that comes with a wireless keyboard and that made things even better. I'll stick with this tablet until some other "reasonably priced" operating system such as Windows 10 is proven more reliable and comes on a well-made tablet. I don't trust anything to do with the android system because it is too easy to be hacked or for apps to run amuck in the background, have access to all of your personal information and be able to copy and or remove it without you even being aware...I even had one app on an android turn itself on, connect to the internet and back up a copy of all my stuff even though I had it set not to do that. Unlike Android, BlackBerry products are more secure because you can limit the access that apps can have to your tablet/cell. Now some apps won't work if you limit their access but I've found that there are enough ported Android apps configured just for this tablet on BlackBerry App World that I can usually find one to purchase at a very low price ($2 - $4) and sometimes for free that will accept the restrictions that I put in place for it. I purchased two of these, one for myself and one as a gift for a relative that's in college. She says that she loves hers, especially since it came with such a large hard drive (64GB) and she doesn't have to be concerned with flash drives, sd cards and such. We both like the built in Video Chat that allows us to talk face to face over wifi without using a phone or using up minutes or requiring 4G and I love the fact that I was able to purchase each tablet for only $188 a piece! I'm somewhat familiar with this system because I've owned BlackBerry phones for the last several years and can do all kinds of neat things between my phone and tablet such as linking them and sharing files between them and or my PC by bluetooth and wifi because the phone files show up right on the tablet and vice versa and I can use the print to file app to send files from my PC to the tablet over wifi/bluetooth and vise versa. I can also use my phone as a remote control for the tablet. There have been two upgrades since we've had these. The first was immediate and was an upgrade to the newest OS and the second was back in September and was for stability and performance of an app...I believe it was something to do with Adobe Reader. Now I just need to get one of the new BlackBerry Q10 phones and it'll all be gravy. To sum things up, we're pleased with performance, security and price!

Let me start by saying that I use an iPhone (which I like), I borrowed my brother's iPad2 for a few days to see if I liked it, bought 2 android tablets close to this price point which I returned, and I have a Nook Color that has been rooted to make it a tablet. I didn't really care for the iPad2, its price point or its size. For me it was like an oversized iPhone, and I already have that. The Nook was not quite what I was looking for either. So, I decided to give this a try. I read all of the reviews about the apps,email, and calendar prior to my purchase, so I knew what to expect there. Out of the box, I was very pleased with the fact that the browser was just about as fast as on my pc. Then I began to check out the apps. At first I had buyers remorse, not because I use many apps, but because that is when I realized there were no commonly used apps like Netflix, Kindle, etc. I thought Oh No, I should have tried the Kindle Fire. However, now that I have read its 1 & 2 star reviews by some, I am glad that I didn't because I know that it wouldn't have been what I was looking for either. Unlike some others though, I was determined to give the playbook more time to prove itself and for me to become more accustomed to using it because I refused to believe that Apple is the only other alternative...lol... And I am glad that I did because even if RIM never fulfills their "promises", for me this is the best at this price point. I wanted something that I could manage the kitchen/ household with. I needed something not too big and not too small that I could hang on the wall in the kitchen. I wanted something that felt sturdy, had an accurate touchscreen, and that seemed or at the very least gave me the illusion that it would last, and that I wouldn't have to buy another one in 9 months. For me this delivers. I wanted to be able to bookmark recipes for cooking, easily done. I wanted something that I could quickly look up something on the internet, again it delivers. I wanted something that I could keep a family and my husband's business calendar on, done using google calendar, and buying an app for 0.99 that links straight to it. I wanted to use it for grocery lists and errand list, done with an app that backs it up "in the cloud" and I can retrieve it from my iPhone while shopping. Listening to music, done! Since I can watch movies from Amazon then I guess I will just have to find movies there & keep Netflix for my kids to watch on my phone! As for reading, I suppose I can use Kobo on the playbook or pull out my Kindle or Nook. Almost all tablets out there have bad reviews, including this one. Most just have to choose which company has the product that meets their own individual needs. For me, I can tolerate the Playbooks & RIMs shortcomings for what you are getting at this price.

I've had my playbook for over a week now, and I feel like I can finally write an objective review. I'll have to admit, I am a blackberry "fan boy", I have had a blackberry for years now, and I currently have a Bold 9700, so I am able to bridge my devices, but this is an in-depth look with as little "bias" as possible. Pros : -------------- Hardware - This is truly an impressive piece of hardware. The construction is fantastic, its easy to hold, its light, and it feels solid in my hands. The screen is fantastic, very crisp and displays images/videos/text with very sharp clarity. I loaded up a bunch of pictures on my playbook just so I can look at the beautiful screen. Everything is so clear, its such a pleasure to look at. The device is also very fast, launching applications, loading web pages, and switching between apps are blazingly fast. The camera is also good. The back facing one is 5 MP and it takes good pictures, and HD quality video (however no flash :( ) Ease of Use - I have to admit when I first tried it out at Best Buy, I had no idea what I was doing, and I couldn't figure out how to do anything. I've had plenty of apple devices so I thought the missing "Home" button was an issue, and it left me scratching my head. However, once I read up on it a little more, and found you can do everything with some simple gestures, I was hooked. I multi-task a lot, and switching between applications is so easy, just a simple swipe from the bezel in and you're in a different app. Bringing up the "Home" screen, closing apps, getting to the status bar are all easily done with some simple gestures. I have to say, now that I've gotten used to it, I love it and could never go back to the "Apple" way! Multi-tasking - As I mentioned, I am really used to multi-tasking, so switching between applications is just what I do. I might read some articles, then browse a site, change the music, and then go back to reading the news. This is all a snap with the playbook, and the speed at which it does it is seamless. Form Factor - This is a preference but for me the 7" form factor is great. I don't really like watching videos on handheld devices (or even my laptop) so this was not a big requirement. I tried out the Xoom and iPad 2 and I have to say, it was stellar at showing off videos. But, I felt it was a little cumbersome, and if I wanted to just grab a device, check up on some scores, and look at some news, I wanted it to be easy to hold in one hand. Also, due to its size, its very easy to carry, and I don't feel like I am holding a laptop. Browser - This is great. Every page I normally go to loads perfectly, and with the flash support, I get the full web experience. Also, going to foreign sites renders the characters properly as well. The only issue I've seen is on some of the more advanced sites, the pages will complain that I am on an "older browser" but that also means I am getting the full version of the site, and not a mobile version. Battery Life - I wanted to call this out because before the 1.0.5 OS update, this was a HUGE issue. The playbook would drain power like nobody's business, and I couldn't even leave it on standby overnight. However, this was all fixed with the recent update, now I can browse around and use apps for a few hours, and still have plenty of battery. Just the other day, I left my playbook on standby overnight, and it only drained a few percentage points. So what was a huge negative has become a positive with a simple update. This also goes to show you, RIM is committed to releasing updates quickly and getting the OS up to par with other devices out there. Cons : -------------- Lacking Apps - This is probably the single biggest complaint you read about, "not enough apps". This is a real issue. A lot of my favorite apps are missing, including Pandora, Kindle, KeePass (password management) and SSH (sys admin software). These are key apps I use on my bold every day, and without it, it is a big issue. However, one recent addition to the app world has boosted the score for me, and thats the blackberry news reader. I was using GeeReader since that was the only decent RSS feed reader available, but blackberry just released the news reader, and it is fantastic. I do see new apps crop up everyday in app world, and the Android app reader is going launch soon, so I think this will improve. (the FB app, word and acrobat apps are great as well) Lack of Connectivity - If you're on wireless, the playbook is great, but without it, it is seriously disabled. I tried to take it to the gym to try it out while I work out, and I couldn't do much even when bridged. The reason being, the bridge browser is so slow, I couldn't use it. This could be partly due to my bold, but still, it was unusable. I did get tethering to work, but I tried to install an app, and that didn't work either, so there were some limitations there as well. I think if you're not on wifi, there will be some issues with using it. UPDATE 2 ------- I mentioned that the small power button was an issue due to coming out of standby, but there's actually a "swipe" shortcut. All you have to do is swipe from bezel to bezel, and that brings the playbook out of standby, so no more fiddling around with the small power button! Previous comment is below for reference (Small Power Button - When I first read complaints about this, I thought people were being nitpicky since how often do you use the power button? Well as it turns out quite a bit. The reason is, its the only way to come out of standby for the playbook. I setup my device to standby after a few minutes to conserve power, and so whenever it goes to standby, I have to press the power button, and I end up doing it at least 2-3 times to get it right.) UPDATE ------- I originally commented about the bad memory management, but it looks like this was also fixed in the 1.0.5 OS release. Now, when there are no apps running, there is almost 700 MB of free memory, and even with the browser open, I still have 500+ MB free. This should allow me to run way more apps at a time, and see less of the "automatic" closing that I saw before. Previous comment is below for reference (Bad Memory management - This is a big sticking point for me. The playbook has 1 gb of ram, so I didn't think it would be an issue but boy is it ever! First off, when you start up the playbook, there's only 450 MB of memory free. Then, if you launch the browser, another 200+ MB is gone right there. So, if you have more than a few apps open and the browser, the playbook will just start closing apps automatically. When this first happened, I thought pages were crashing because of the flash or lots of media content, but after some poking around, I realized it was because of the "low" memory. Also, when I say "low" memory, its not like 50 mb, its more like anything under 150 MB and the playbook could start closing apps automatically.) -------------- Overall, I love my playbook, and I want to give it 5 stars, but I just can't. Once there are more apps available, this will be a solid 5 stars. Also, for non blackberry users, the lack of a native mail client will be a big turn off. But because the browser is so capable, it should ease the pain slightly. The playbook is a great device for RIM to build off of, and I think the next coming months will be key for them, and if they can address some the issues, it will be a true force in the tablet market.

I got the Playbook several days before the release of OS 2.0, thinking that if the new OS was successful the price might go back up. I've now installed OS 2.0 and, while it did add some nice features, including many that people had been clamoring for, I'm not sure it's really much better. That may change as more Android apps become available for it but that's what it'll take. That said, even with the original OS it's a very nice tablet. I use a number of tablets so I'm able to compare them. This is certainly among the nicer ones in many ways. The biggest advantage it has over the rest are the really fine and loud speakers. It's the only tablet I've seen that's louder than an Ipad and it's a lot louder. And the sound is a bit clearer and cleaner as well. This is with the speakers. I haven't used the earphones yet. I haven't felt any need. The screen is excellent. It's not the kind of pop-out color saturation the Samsung tablets have but it's a bright, natural looking screen that's as good as any tablet I've used and better than most. And it's the only screen I've used that's actually okay to use outdoors. Some can be seen outside, sort of, if you don't mind it looking a bit washed out. This one, even on a bright sunny day, is easy to read a book on. They did the screen right. The OS is simple and intuitive and everything you need is always right there and never in your way. It's easier to learn than IOS and easier to use, once learned, than Android. The problem with the OS is that it's not very customizable. You can change the wallpaper and put icons where you want them and that's about it. Even IOS is a bit more customizable. With OS 2.0 they did add folders but they're large and clumsy while IOS's folders are graceful and the same size as other icons. I think the changes in OS 2.0 made the interface a little less intuitive than it was, but it's still much more straightforward and easier to use than the rest. For the non-technical person who doesn't want to spend much time learning the ins and outs of a tablet, this is certainly the best choice. For the tinkerer (like me) it's still easy to use and I have to be content with that. They already did a lot of the things I might do, so it might be said to be pre-tinkered. :) One pleasant surprise is that it plays every video I've tried to play so far, and I've tried a lot of formats. it hasn't failed yet. I was expecting that to be a problem since I use a lot of formats for various things and I thought that until a good Android video player became available it would require me to convert videos. So far I haven't had to. It plays them all. The quality of the apps has been very good, as have the prices. Most of the Android and IOS apps aren't available but it's easy enough to find replacements and they've all been just fine. Installing OS 2.0 caused a few problems with apps but updates have already become available for all the ones I've had problems with and they're all working fine now. There aren't all that many apps but so far everything I've needed has been there, usually with a few to choose from, and they've all been good. Hopefully now that Android apps are appearing there won't be any exceptions to that down the road. One thing they didn't do and should have with respect to Android apps was make them easy to install from sources other than the Blackberry App world. The way it works is that developers have to convert them to be run on the Playbook and then upload them to the Blackberry app store for vetting. That makes it all nice and safe and cozy but the fact is that a lot of my favorite Android apps have been converted by people on the internet and are available for download but there's no simple way to install them. There is a way that I haven't tried yet but I will, that requires doing things that a lot of non-techie people won't be willing to do. They should have made it easy to just copy over and install these apps. The risk, doing this through legitimate sources such as xda-developers, is small. Transferring content to the Playbook is possible via Wifi from any Windows PC (and probably Mac and Linux as well). You just turn on the Playbook sharing mode, give it a password if you choose, make note of it's IP address and then open a Windows Explorer window to that IP. The Explorer window opens on the Playbook and you can simply drag and drop files to it. This is the easiest way to transfer files that I've seen on any tablet. It also works in the background. No special mode is needed for the Playbook. I've transferred videos while playing a game or watching a video on the Playbook. This is the first tablet I've seen that takes multi-tasking seriously. The web browser is excellent, but so are those on IOS and Android. Which is the best of those is just a matter of taste. They're all very good and any advantage one might have is always temporary. They're really all pretty much the same. If anything, IOS is a bit behind without Flash but even that's temporary since Flash is going away. After saying all that good stuff about the Playbook I think I'm still faced with the fact that it's kind of in a world of it's own. It doesn't really mesh with the rest of the world in the many little ways that Android and IOS do. For the working person who isn't already using a Blackberry phone and working in a Blackberry environment and wants a tablet for utility purposes, this might not be the best choice. For someone like me who wants it for consuming media and playing an occasional game and browsing the web it's an excellent choice. I'm retired and a gadget lover and I play with these things and this is certainly going to be among my favorite toys. If I was still working and I wanted the most useful tablet I think I'd go with IOS or Android. Barry

I couldn't help but pick up this tablet at that price for a 64GB unit. How could I resist? Well, I went ahead and bought it and I do like and dislike a few things about it. I really love the hardware quality of this tablet. It feels so whole and sturdy. This is the first BlackBerry device I've ever used, and I can see why they have such a loyal fanbase even in this day and age when Google, Apple, and Microsoft are eating away at their market share. I especially love the play/pause button on top of the tablet. That's quite useful. The matte finish on the back of the unit really gets me, because I love matte finishes on high quality devices. It certainly does not feel cheap, either. This is a well-put together tablet, and BlackBerry is even nice enough to include a neoprene sleeve with your PlayBook to give it basic protection. I was a little surprised at the lack of buttons for functions like forward or home, but I got used to the gestures rather quickly. They make a lot of sense, or at least for the most part (swiping from the bottom upward to close the app drawer is the only gesture that makes no sense to me, because swiping from the top down when the app drawer is open only opens the (very useful) settings drawer). The built-in apps are polished and well-made. Browser is very reliable, as well as the onboard camera, file manager, picture browser, video player, and more. It also does a wonderful job with my calendar sync and it syncs my contacts and emails quite well. Standby battery life is also very excellent. I had it sitting in my messenger bag for the past 8 hours and it still has 92% battery left from light use. The built-in keyboard is quite nice and makes a very nice, loud, satisfying tap sound when you press a key. When you type in certain apps or in the browser, the keyboard opens up this prediction system that reminds me of SwiftKey on Android, which is also rather nice. The built-in storage amount is by far the best feature of this tablet to me. So much space for so many videos, songs, and pictures. It's wonderful. You can go crazy with 64GB of storage. I have several videos in the .wmv format inside of it right now, but there's definitely more space available, and other supported formats. You could also use that space for games, which BlackBerry World seems to have no shortage of, as far as I can tell. Now, there are a few things I dislike about the item, but that doesn't necessarily mean I don't like the item as a whole. First of all, the app selection is awful and even non-existent to some degree. A lot of big names are completely absent on this platform for some reason. No official Dropbox, Netflix, Springpad, Kindle, nook, Pandora, Feedly, and a whole lot of other apps are missing. On a platform like Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8, whenever there's no official app, there's at least a very good third party app that is good enough or even better. That is not the case on the BlackBerry Playbook. If there's no app, chances are you have a questionable third-party app that actually costs money and has bad reviews, or nothing at all. You can sideload .bar files, but judging by the ported apps I've tried, they barely work or are poorly optimized for the PlayBook. It makes me wish people other than just game developers had given the PlayBook more of a chance. The hardware is definitely nice, but the software support from third parties was definitely not there. I also own a Nexus 7, and the app selection on the PlayBook (unfortunately) pales in comparison. I think that's a shame as well, because I like the look and feel of the PlayBook's hardware more. I don't play a lot of games, either, but it seems like the apps that are most plentiful on the PlayBook (or just about any tablet) are the games. There's even a few preinstalled on the PlayBook, like Tetris or Need For Speed, in case you want to get used to the UI on it. I'm not a fan of the security on the tablet, either. I'm not talking about stuff like viruses or any of that. No, BlackBerry's very much on the ball when it comes to that kind of security. The security I'm talking about is locking the tablet. If you have a Nexus 7, iPad, or just about any other device, you can set up a convenient and rather easy way to unlock the device so that only the owner or those who know the password/pin/pattern can get access. Well, if you only like password lock screens, then you will have no problem at all with the PlayBook. This is the only way to lock the device, to my knowledge. I looked around in the settings and can't find anything else. Instead of being able to quickly press a few numbers, or draw out a pattern, I have to use the entire keyboard and type something out, and after that, reach for the "OK" or "Enter" key. You can just use a pin for the password, but it's still more effort than it needs to be. I wish this required a bit less effort, although it's not a deal killer for me. It's partly a problem because this is a tablet instead of a smartphone, so the screen is bigger and takes more effort to type a simple password on. Lastly, some of the UI is a bit counter-intuitive to me, or at least at first. This is my first BlackBerry device, and I am willing to admit if I just found it counter-intuitive because I'm unfamiliar with BlackBerry's UI standards. It took me a while to figure out how to set a wallpaper for the tablet. I kept searching the settings thinking it had to be close, until a Google search showed me I had to go to the pictures app and do it from there. Also, it seems like to get settings on any app, you need to swipe from the top down, which isn't too obvious unless you've used the tablet for a long time or just already know what to expect. Although this tablet has shortcomings and is aging a bit, it is still an unbeatable value for its storage and out-of-box media capabilities. Good luck finding a new 64GB tablet at that price. I store tons of video on mine and use it primarily as a dedicated media tablet. For media playback and capabilities, this tablet is more than adequate for the job. Just don't count on using too many apps. If you want to watch videos, play music, or look at pictures on the go, and you want a lot of storage to do so, go for the PlayBook. You won't be disappointed you did. EDIT: I've been using it a bit more lately with sideloaded apps I've put into the tablet myself. Some of these are a bit wonky to get working (older versions, free apps only, etc.), but some of them do work great or good enough. RetroArch works perfectly on the PlayBook (to my knowledge, I haven't actually opened up a ROM in it), and the Dropbox app I sideloaded as a .bar file works fine, too. But the strangest thing is that you probably need to sideload apps to get quality compared to the ported apps on BlackBerry World. For example, I use Electro Droid on my Android devices, and there's an app called Electro Tools in BlackBerry World that looks like a ported app. The ported app in BBW is terrible and barely works at all, but if you sideload Electro Droid as a .bar file, it works perfectly. Sadly, you can't sideload everything on this tablet. I've tried sideloading SpringPad twice already, but it doesn't even show up on my apps list. Still, your results may vary on this, but it's quite capable on running sideload apps. I partly wish that sideloading didn't require setting a password on this tablet (a password is required for using the tablet in development mode, which you need to sideload anything).

***UPDATE*** I could not in good conscience leave my review as it was. It was bad enough that to acquire and use the most basic and universally popular apps, I had to spend hours standing on my head, tweaking my PC, and researching Java info (I am NOT a techie) to put it all together; it was worse when the only market for buying and viewing movies and shows was the ridiculous Roxio market and its antiquated, user-hostile site. But when, less than 5 months after purchase, my Playbook went the way of countless others, refusing to take a charge and eventually dying for the last time, I had it. I can't even it sell for someone else to use for spare parts, etc., since I can't power it on to remove all my personal info. I tried so hard to support Blackberry, defending them to every mocking clerk at Best Buy or Radio Shack who saw my Torch 9810, jumping through the above referenced hoops to make it remotely useful to me, and my patience is rewarded with a $180 paperweight. It is inexcusable that with so many users having this issue RIM did not support the problem in a proactive way. My 7" Samsung Galaxy 2.0 and I are just fine together, thank you. P.S. Shortly after its first anniversary, my Torch began to have issues with locking up constantly, requiring battery removal to resolve. The day after it locked up four times in one morning when I was only reviewing my pictures, I became the happy owner of a Galaxy S3. I hope the new platform and devices work out better for Blackberry, but for now, I am done. --------------------------------- ... because 4 stars is a mite generous, but 3 too harsh in my opinion. Have had this for five days now and used it extensively. Blackberry did a lot of things right with this, as compared to other 7" tablets out there. I should explain that I bought the Playbook as a replacement for my Kindle Fire for several reasons. (And yes, I do recognize that Amazon never officially marketed the Fire as a "tablet".) 1) I LOVE my Blackberry phone and based on its quality and intuitiveness, had some faith ahead of time in the Playbook's craftsmanship and usefulness. 2) The Kindle Fire's limited device memory makes me crazy, and don't tell me about Cloud storage. That is of greatly diminished value without 3G service. No, Amazon could not have afforded to offer this for free with the Fire, but they could have made it an option which I would gladly have paid for, much as I do on my iPad. In any event, the Playbook I selected (32GB) offers quadruple the device memory as the Kindle for only 25% more money. 3) No camera on the Fire; front and rear-facing on the Playbook. You DO need good lighting for a decent shot, however. My phone takes a much better picture and compensates with a flash for darker scenes. 4) The Blackberry Bridge option which synced in a wink all the data on my Torch 9810, and the option to tether the tablet to my phone for 3G service (yes, at an additional charge.) So far I have decided the Fire is going up on eBay, but the jury is still out on whether or not I'll return the Playbook. PROS -Much larger memory than the Fire -Terrific graphics -Icons laid out on desktop in the usual manner. Sorry, I find the Fire's carousel approach silly and unwieldy, and have the impression it was used for the sole purpose of doing something different (whether it was a better idea or not.) -Menus and page minimization super easy to manipulate. -File manager from which I can access .pdfs, pictures, music, etc. Nice to have it centralized and files of all types neatly listed. -True stereo output, with speakers on BOTH sides (unlike the Fire). Sound quality is impressive. -Option for use with a separate keyboard, though RIM severely underproduced the most reliable keyboard out there. Cheaper versions seem to have mixed reviews. Regardless, a reliable external keyboard could effectively turn the Playbook into a respectable netbook IMO. -Reasonably priced -USB cable makes loading music, documents, etc. from both my office PC and home iMac a breeze. CONS (and why it might go back) -NO KINDLE APP!! Seriously?? For the first time, Amazon has managed to majorly disappoint me. The company shot off its mouth over a year ago that one would be available for the Playbook, but no. Interesting how the tune changed after the Fire came out, and all indications are that they have no interest in doing so now. Earlier Playbook users were able to sideload various Android apps including Kindle, but it appears RIM has since made it impossible to do this with the newer OS. Can I read my large Kindle library via the Playbook's browser/Cloud reader? Yes. But it is slow, and again dependent on wi-fi. -No Skype app. Video chat is an option, but not via Skype, the best known and used app/program out there for the purpose. -No Netflix app. -Come to think of it... WHY are there so few apps? Adding my voice to the huge chorus regarding this limitation, but what I find especially ridiculous are all the apps available to my phone that are not for the Playbook. How dumb is that? -Shorter battery life than the Fire. Significantly. -Often slow to connect to wi-fi when I have switched locations, even when the new hotspot has already been saved. My phone, iPad, and Kindle Fire all seamlessly switch over, but so far, not the Playbook. In general, the Playbook has a lot going for it over and above the Fire. If it included a Kindle app, there would be no question of keeping it. I have looked at other 7" tablets, and found them lacking across the board at the Playbook's price point. The Galaxy offers more but obviously you pay for it. At that MSRP, I'd just as soon sit tight and wait for Apple's (rumored) smaller iPad in the works.

So far, so great. I never wanted a tablet before. And I am one of the people Blackberry doesn't even think about: the completely nontechnical type. People like us learn how to use whatever we are interested in, but we have no innate flair for it. We just slog slowly and carefully through directions until we understand each part of How To. So I bought this with a fairly good idea of my inevitable learning curve for a new ecosystem, as well as the rewards for my efforts later on. So far, I am extremely pleased. Between the tutorials on the Blackberry site and the generous enthusiasts at Crackberry.com, I was able to find out all the little steps I could not have guessed. (Patience at the beginning is the prerequisite virtue for those who have no idea how anything from Blackberry works. It is not that hard to learn. But if you have no knowledge, and no patience for learning either, then you have nothing to work with at all. In that case, buy an Apple.) The Playbook hardware is very well-constructed, and a real pleasure to use. The screen and the sound quality are exceptional, and 64GB is fine for my purposes. This combination is why I bought the Blackberry Playbook, and why I am glad I did: it has wonderful visual clarity, great sound and decent storage at a very good price. The app aspect is obviously extremely important: you have to know exactly what you want this tablet for, and what the available apps will and won't do. So far, my basic software needs have been easily satisfied. In this, I am in a minority. I wanted a simple browser, decent audio and video software, a good file manager, and an epub reader. And in particular, I wanted to be able to play my personal audio and video files from different sources- which is working well so far. Then I added a few extras, as everyone does, according to interests. I'm all set. But before buying this lovely little device, make sure you can use it according to your needs. I am delighted, rather than disappointed, because I knew what I wanted before I bought it. I read about the screen, but that didn't prepare me for just how clear and beautiful it really is. I knew the sound quality was very good too, but I was still surprised at just how good. Battery life is excellent so far. WiFi has been painless, and browsing has been easy. My desktop installed the device drivers and set up the Playbook without any problem. The included charger works just fine, and I ordered a separate rapid charger too, along with a good case. I know I have barely touched the surface of what this device is capable of, but I'm not in a hurry. I enjoy leisurely meandering around in the world of possibilities. All in all, I find this device somewhat astonishing: the sheer quality of it has exceeded my expectations by quite a bit. Having said that, I will add that if anything goes badly wrong, I will come back here and report it. Stars will fall. Meanwhile though, I am enjoying this as much as I have ever enjoyed any gadget, and then some. Update- nearly 2 years later: Tablets come and go, sometimes bringing frustration and dissatisfaction in their wake. (I still can't finesse my relatively new Dell Venue 8 Pro to function properly, no matter what. It exists as a permanent annoyance, neither mercifully dying nor ever working very well. Ugh.) But meanwhile, the Blackberry Playbook is humming along as beautifully as ever. It has never given me a moment's trouble in all this time. Even the battery still charges well. When I use it always I feel a little surge of gratitude, as you might feel for an older car that has always been a peach rather than a lemon. It shows no degradation from use, and that of course is the mark of exceptionally well-made technology. I wish now I had bought another one when it was on sale for 100$, since I see that it is currently selling for nearly twice the price it was 2 years ago! And I am very glad I bought the rapid charger and a good case too- for extremely low prices. I am sorry though that all this personal happiness (great device, relatively very small cost) is at the expense of Blackberry. They built the world's most well-constructed tablet I know of so far, and for their trouble received terrible publicity. But as I wrote in my original review, I knew exactly what it would and would not do before I bought it, and it remains a champion of enjoyable reliability. Update: 3 years later. I still enjoy this tablet every day. No aspect of what I loved about it in the first place has diminished over time. The battery is still great, the sound remains better than any other tablet I have, and its excellent peripherals are still working as well as ever. It has still never given me any trouble of any kind. The same cannot be said for my experience with other tablets. After a year or so of constant tinkering and tweaking my Dell Venue 8 Pro, it is finally working well. For now. But although I finally like it, the high price I paid in time and vexation left a very bad taste. Worse yet, users are having trouble upgrading it to Win 10. So if I want to do that, I probably have more misery to look forward to. And as for the original Nexus 7, there are many things I liked about it, and still enjoy. But its cheap construction means if I want to go on using it, I'll have to crack the case and install new parts. I might try that, but then it never worked perfectly in the first place either. So it too has left a bad taste despite many great features. The early failure of otherwise promising tablets from poor software or too-cheap parts is an ongoing problem in the tablet world. I know it all depends on the person and the tablet, and no two experiences are the same. But so far, this has been mine.

After reading how these Playbooks will be upgradeable to the Blackberry 10, I did a little research and found MANY favorable reviews for them. Since the price is definitely right, I decided to order one and... I am SO glad I did! This thing is nothing short of fantastic! Yeah, I've read how people are complaining about the lack of apps, but there are still over 25,000 apps available for this tablet. That seems small compared to the 100,000+ apps for an iPad, but let's be realistic: This tablet has its fair share of apps and there is enough in there for everyone! The size is a nice size which falls between my cell phone and my laptop, and it fits nicely in my hands. Quality? Second to none. This thing is solid and operates great. It's also VERY easy to use and operates smoothly. True multitasking at its finest!!! It can also be tethered to my cell phone, which is a nice feature. It can link to my cell phone and I can use my data plan, using this tablet anywhere. Google it online and you will see quite a few reviews about how this blows away the iPad Mini. Apple snobs dislike this device, but for the rest of us who are not snobs, this is THE tablet to have!!! EDIT: I have now had the Playbook for almost three weeks and it is fantastic! I use it every single day and it's working perfectly. Battery life is great (about 8 hours under "normal" use) and with the rapid charger, charges up in a reasonable amount of time. As for apps, I have quite a few Android apps on it and they are working well. Yes, it is a little bit of work to sideload some apps, but it can be done pretty easily and they do work. Kindle? Installed and working great! The Blackberry App Store has MANY good apps to download, with many being free or 99-cents. The Playbook is so great that my girlfriend bought the same one a few days after I did, and she can't put it down, either. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Blackberry 10, but in the meantime, the current V2.1 OS is working great. I honestly can't find one complaint about this Playbook. For the price, you just can't go wrong! I would *HIGHLY* recommend opting for the 64GB version. It's not much more than the 16GB or 32GB versions, and it gives plenty of room to store all your software, music and photos!

Camera dmage

Ich war auf der Suche nach einem bezahlbaren Tablet mit großem Speicher. Bin auf das Blackberry gestoßen. Dieses Tablet ist perfekt verarbeitet, gestochen scharfes, kristallklares Display und einen supertollen Sound. Ich habe sehr viel Musik und eine Menge Videos auf dem Playbook, die Performance ist perfekt, es ruckelt nichts, nichts hängst sich auf, die Reaktionen von Display bei Berührung sind promt und genau. Das einrichten geht denkbar einfach, die Bedienung ebenfalls. Es gibt 2 Kameras, vorne und hinten, die hinten ist doch hochauflösende zum fotografieren, vorne die zum Videochatten. Skype geht zwar noch nicht, aber laut Medienberichten kommz sehr bald, auch für das Playbook, kostenlos, das neue Betriebssystem OS 10. Dann wird dieses Playbook wohl mit Links auch das I-Pad oder das Samsung Tablet überholen. Ich muss gestehen das ich am Anfang etwas irritiert war da mir nicht bewusst war das Blackberry ein eigenes Betriebssystem hat. Das ist aber kein Problem, es ist sehr klar und verständlich aufgebaut, Ich habe das Playbook an mein Win 7 und Win 8 Laptop angeschlossen, es gab bei beiden nicht das geringste Problem, das Daten übertragen oder vom Playbook löschen funktioniert einwandfrei. Es gibt eine kostenlose Software die man sich und den Laptops laden laden um damit ins Playbook zu gehen, die nutze ich nicht, ich mach das direkt über den Explorer, das reicht mir voll und ganz. Der momentane Preis für dieses Tablet ist unschlagbar. Die Ausstattung stimmt, die Qualität erst recht.

Pros: Manejable. Muy buena resolución de pantalla. Fluidez en los vídeos, no se percibe ningún tirón. Cogiendo buena oferta como fue mi caso, no le hace competencia alguna a su competidor directo -samsung galaxy tabla 7"-, salvando las diferencia de los sistemas operativos. Curiosamente a pesar de no ser un Android, para el uso ke le doy, cumple perfectamente mis expectativas. Siempre hay la posibilidad de poner un simulador de Android.Buena nitidez de los vídeos vistos a través de la pantalla de tv. Responde muy bien al tacto. Contras: Algo pesado con respecto a la competencia. No permite conectar ningún dispositivo a través de la toma USB.No tiene ranura para tarjetas. Conclusiones: si no eres exigente con las limitaciones del sistema operativo blackberry, cumple perfectamente, y sobre todo para gestionar el correo y los textos ke keramos redactar.

Had the playbook about a week and I have say I'm very impressed with it. QNX software is fantastic. I've not experienced such smooth menu's and interfaces since iOS,( got fed up of being locked in itunes, so moved on to android for my smartphone habit).With the playbook you are not locked into anything. As many reviews on the Internet have said, the application store doesn't have some of the most popular apps, such as kindle and Skype, but they can be sideloaded which isn't as complicated as it sounds. Just look it up on the Web. I think that a lot of the negative reviews from tech sites where made before the 2.1 update, when native email support was put on and the price was an unrealistic price, £450 for 64GB. Time is a great healer and now at £130, (although I paid less £99.99 a week ago??), it's a much better buy. HD screen which is bright and colourful. Stereo speakers on the front which are very good quality for a tablet. True multi tasking. Very fast response from touchscreen. Great on screen keyboard with very intuitive predictive text. Hdmi out with presentation feature for meetings and photo shows. Before I bought the playbook, I thought that a seven inch screen would be too small. However, because of the quality of the screen, text is actually easy to read and it makes a great ereader. There is not another tablet that can match the playbooks browser ,it has flash support so iplayer, itv player 4od and demand 5 all work. I have to mention that netflix and lovefilm will not work because they both run on Microsoft silverlight, which the browser doesn't support. But the main thing I like the most above everything else, is that unlike android devices, the PlayBook doesn't crash every couple of days. Reliable is the word. So ifyou are thinking of getting a tablet but, are stuck to a budget, the PlayBook is a great buy. Stop thinking about it and just get it, trust me, you'll enjoy it.

What a great piece of kit.... This is from someone who uses Apple and has always looked down on the dark fruit! Bought this for my son to go with his 9900. Within seconds of switching it on, the latest update was on its way and all his contacts and diary entries were perfectly and faultlessly synched. It's small enough to fit in his coat pocket when he goes out . Big enough to watch tv and YouTube videos. It's multi tasking capabilities seem perfect and the user interface options look to be endless. I'd better stop now as I'm rapidly talking my self into becoming a RIM user!