Rim's Playbook gets reviewed

[kjk]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/13/b...aybook-review/
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4266/b...ybook-review/1
http://www.bgr.com/2011/04/13/blackb...aybook-review/
http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20110413...ybook-review/?


Sounds like a solid first tablet from RIM...nothing too exciting, but then, that probably isn't RIM's goal. $499 seems like a great starting price.

[wodin]

Having to link it to a BlackBerry is a non-starter for me.

[RockdaMan]

Which of the current app stores does it work with?

Edit: At the moment, only the Blackberry World app store.

For me the best orientation of these devices is "landscape" and I really prefer using a 4:3ish device in portrait mode.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Which of the current app stores does it work with?

The RIM Blackberry App World for Playbook. (Actually, for the eventual android compatibility, all android apps need to go thru here as well)

[kjk]

Originally Posted by wodin

Having to link it to a BlackBerry is a non-starter for me.

Yeah, read Mossberg's review-sounds like it is perfect for Blackberry corporate users, not quite as useful for others, if you need the 3G/data stuff.

[RockdaMan]

Pogue:

In principle, you ought to be able to slip the PlayBook into the breast pocket of a jacket — but incredibly, the PlayBook is about half an inch too wide. Whoever muffed that design spec should be barred from the launch party.

Still, the PlayBook looks and feels great: hard rubberized back, brilliant, super-responsive multitouch screen, solid heft (0.9 pounds).

His conclusion:

The PlayBook, then, is convenient, fast and coherently designed. But in its current half-baked form, it seems almost silly to try to assess it, let alone buy it.

Remember, the primary competition is an iPad — the same price, but much thinner, much bigger screen and a library of 300,000 apps. In that light, does it make sense to buy a fledgling tablet with no built-in e-mail or calendar, no cellular connection, no videochat, Skype, no Notes app, no GPS app, no videochat, no Pandora radio and no Angry Birds?

You should also know that even now, only days before the PlayBook goes on sale April 19, the software is buggy and still undergoing feverish daily revision. And the all-important BlackBerry Bridge feature is still in beta testing. It’s missing important features, like the ability to view e-mail file attachments or click a link in an e-mail.

If all of this gets fixed, the apps arrive, and the PlayBook can survive this year’s onslaught of rival tablets, then it may one day wind up in the pantheon of greats.

[RockdaMan]

And from a site called Crackberry:

did the BlackBerry PlayBook hit the ball straight out of the park? Not quite. To me it's looking more like a line drive and an easy run in to second base. But you never know. With some hustle in the form of software updates adding more features like native email, PIM and Video Chat, it might be able to round third. And if RIM can get some more momentum going for the PlayBook on the app front, be it from native BlackBerry app developers or its support for Android apps, it might even have a shot at sliding into home plate.

As a BlackBerry fan and somebody who wants to see RIM hit nothing but pure homeruns, I'm of course a little choked up over the PlayBook's first at bat performance. There's no doubt it has some raw talent and killer moves that are going to attract some fans and loud cheers from the crowd (including me of course), but to be a real superstar it's going to have to mature a little more and roundout its skill set. A little more practice time in the batting cage before stepping out on the field may have been the call to make on this one (as in waiting until native email and core app integration were complete before hitting the market).

http://crackberry.com/blackberry-pla...ficial#closing

[kjk]

http://thisismynextpodcast.com/2011/...aybook-review/

Josh Topolsky, late of Engadget, weighs in: (what is up with the baseball references from both Crackberry and Topolsky? )

But the PlayBook isn’t hitting home runs just yet. The OS is still buggy and somewhat touchy. Third-party apps are a desert right now, if not in number, then certainly in quality. The lack of native email and calendar support hurts. The worst part, however, is that I can’t think of a single reason to recommend this tablet over the iPad 2, or for that matter… the Xoom. And that’s what it really boils down to here; what is the compelling feature that will make buyers choose the PlayBook over something else? I don’t have that answer, but that’s not what’s troubling me right now — what troubles me is that I don’t think RIM has the answer either… and they should by now.

Interestingly, Topolsky says the Kobo app is "more sluggish and less intuitive on the PlayBook than other tablets", I wonder how much time Kobo had with the SDK.

[RockdaMan]

Oh, I have no problem believing corporate schlubs are going to eat this thing up. At my last job they deployed Blackberries when people wanted iPhones and Android phones and bent over backwards to push Windows tablets no one wanted on the enterprise. They almost cried when people (read upper management) brought their own iPod touches and iPads in and asked them to make them work on the corporate network...

But this device might actually get a toe hold. I'm not sure why, but corporate PC techs everywhere cart around a strong ethos of "ABA" (anyone but apple).

[tubemonkey]

$500 tablets are overpriced. Where are the $300 models?

[pphilipp]

I really wanted to like this tablet.
It has potential.
The reviews mention too many aspects which are red flags to me.

But the worst thing of all is the price. $500!!!
Remember, we're not talking about a 10" or 12" screen. We're talking about a 7" screen with 16x9 aspect! Samsung learned that when they were selling their Galtab at the higher price, that sales were low. It wasn't until they brought it down to where it should have been that sales picked up.

[leebase]

Not easy to beat Apple at their own game. Another rushed out the door before it's finished entry into the tablet market. No email? Seriously? This product may have the pedigree of a "we excel at business" company, but there's nothing about this product that carries the "blackberry edge" into the corporate space.

No email? Seriously? No blackberry messenger? Then there's nothing about this tablet to make it "more business ready than Apple" in the slightest. Might as well go with the Galaxy Tab and at least be able to run hundreds of thousands of "made for phone" Android apps.

Or get the zoom and complete access to the additional 16 "made for tablet" android apps.

Lee

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by leebase

Not easy to beat Apple at their own game. Another rushed out the door before it's finished entry into the tablet market. No email? Seriously? This product may have the pedigree of a "we excel at business" company, but there's nothing about this product that carries the "blackberry edge" into the corporate space.

No email? Seriously? No blackberry messenger? Then there's nothing about this tablet to make it "more business ready than Apple" in the slightest.

It is odd. I have a BlackBerry for work, and what make them so useful is the way they integrate totally into the enterprise email/calendar/address book/IM/etc... systems. Without that, it isn't really a BlackBerry device at all.

[pphilipp]

For a year I kept buying and selling tablets to find something that works as good as an iPad. Just didn't happen. Last month I went in the store to purchase a Xoom but ended-up walking out with an iPad. Why not... nothing else works like one. And I didn't even buy-into Jobs promotion, it's just true that it's the most well-balanced (overall) device of it's type... even without Flash support.

The Playbook sounds like it has better multitasking than an iPad or Android tablet. Has the best Flash of all, but those two aspects aren't enough to make a great tablet.

((But I do use an Android phone and enjoy it... but it's not a tablet.))