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Old 11-21-2011, 02:30 PM   #1
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Playbook as a e-reader?

Has anyone had any success with the Playbook for ebook reading?

Out of the box, it seems downright disappointing for the task -
The built in "kobo" reader still doesn't seem to support sideloading.
There's the opportunity to pay a dollar for a beta 3rd party reader (apparently).

The tablet itself seems rather iffy - maybe I'm holding it wrong, but the temperature gradiants on the back are a bit disconcerting.. It doesn't seem to get hot enough to be undercomfortable though.
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Old 11-22-2011, 12:49 AM   #2
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I was just thinking the same thing after I saw the Blackberry Playbook is selling for $199 right now. This puts it up against the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet. From what I just googled though it looks like the Playbook doesn't support either Netflix or Hulu? Other than reading and internet browsing, using those two services would be at the top of my list on a 7" color ereader/tablet. Is it unlikely that Nook or Amazon would release an app for it as it would be competition to their devices? Also, haven't I heard Android Apps will be on the Playbook? If that was the case wouldn't it solve the problems of a good reader app and movie apps from netflix and hulu?
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Old 11-22-2011, 01:27 AM   #3
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Yeah, I was hoping for Android apps. Turns out it'll be part of the next OS release, OSv2, to be released in February, unless it gets pushed out again, or RIM ditches their Playbook support completely.

Supposedly there's a somewhat functioning beta available, but only if you can get developer access or want to risk a pirated version.

I'm at a loss as to what went through the minds of the folks designing the Playbook.

For one thing, they probably planned on a bigger screen, and then went with the mediocre one late in the process and just slapped a big bezel around it -- after all, everyone wants more bezel space.

And the software has kludges for change-averse business folk - such as the " rotate tablet, and the display will rotate only when you're really really sure you want to leave it that way" -- it lacks the responsiveness of even the original ipad.
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Old 11-23-2011, 02:48 AM   #4
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I have a Playbook, and it's great, both for reading ebooks and for everything else.

The large bezel actually comes in handy, there are quite a few bezel-using swipe gestures, to wake up the tablet, make the menu or keyboard appear, to switch apps, etc.

In terms of size, I think it's just right, not too big or too heavy, and the screen is much higher DPI than say an iPad.
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Old 11-27-2011, 10:13 AM   #5
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I just bought one and I am very impressed with it. I can't wait to see what OS 2.0 will bring us in February.

The Kobo app works just the same as it does in Android and on the PC. The stand-alone-reader allows side loading as well as sdhc card access but the app restricts you to store and account/library access only.

With the advent of porting Android apps over to the PB it should enhance it's use dramatically.

John
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Old 11-27-2011, 04:47 PM   #6
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I'm very impressed with my new Blackberry Playbook
It has industrial security:everything is encryted,and the system constantly monitors the security--This is something nobody else has.
Once we have the Android apps,and even Skype in Feb.,(according to a conversation I had with a BB tech support),I think this little tablet is going to knock the socks off the iPad. Aleks
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Old 11-29-2011, 01:52 PM   #7
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I too love my Playbook. The Kobo book reader is predictably useless. I want to side load books ... and Bookreader at $ .99 works great!

It's lightning fast ... and you get to see real websites with Flash and not just the "mobile" sites that Ipad goes to ... with no Flash.

The new firmware coming in February will be interesting and should open up a whole vista of apps for those who want that. Frankly I'm not entirely sure that one could actually use all those apps ... but that's just me.

I like the size and portability of the Playbook. The screen is plenty big enough and it's easily held in one's hand. I found the Ipad when I saw the demo models at Future Shop to be too big to simply "hold" and too heavy at 1.35 lbs ... and I suspect that their portability is considerably less.

I don't care if the Playbook doesn't have a "native" email because, frankly, I get my email on my computer [home or office] and my Blackberry picks up my email from those accounts. Do I need yet a 3rd place to view them? If I do, Blackberry Bridge works well ...

I think that RIM was brilliant to release a finite number of Playbooks to sell at $300 below their usual retail value. That move put a whole bunch of Playbooks into the hands of consumers ...

Mary
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Old 11-30-2011, 10:48 PM   #8
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Well it is claimed that the PlayBook has been rooted.
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Old 12-02-2011, 01:11 PM   #9
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Mary stated "I don't care if the Playbook doesn't have a "native" email because, frankly, I get my email on my computer [home or office] and my Blackberry picks up my email from those accounts. Do I need yet a 3rd place to view them? If I do, Blackberry Bridge works well ... "

Mary, I don't have a Blackberry so a separate email client will be great for those of us that cannot bridge. I have accessed my email via the web browser but it is not as nice as a dedicated client. As for apps there are a few that I am waiting for and if we get access to Android apps my wait will be over. There are a few e-readers that do a great job with PDF documents so I am really looking forward to the FW update.

John
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Old 12-02-2011, 01:50 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jlg432 View Post
Mary stated "I don't care if the Playbook doesn't have a "native" email because, frankly, I get my email on my computer [home or office] and my Blackberry picks up my email from those accounts. Do I need yet a 3rd place to view them? If I do, Blackberry Bridge works well ... "

Mary, I don't have a Blackberry so a separate email client will be great for those of us that cannot bridge. I have accessed my email via the web browser but it is not as nice as a dedicated client. As for apps there are a few that I am waiting for and if we get access to Android apps my wait will be over. There are a few e-readers that do a great job with PDF documents so I am really looking forward to the FW update.

John
Hi John,

Do you not have email at, say, home or work? I use Thunderbird/Eudora at home and at the office. Prior to having a Blackberry, I would check on my home email while at work through web2mail. If I didn't have a BB I would do the same on my Playbook. So again, for me, I don't really care if the Playbook has "native" email or not. Truth is I'm a touch typist [yes I know ... I'm old ... a dinosaur!] ... and as such, hunting and pecking on a virtual keyboard is somewhat ungainly ... so I'm unlikely to send as complete an email from either the Blackberry or the Playbook as I would from either my home or work computer!

I agree that there are some Android apps that I am looking forward to being able to load and try when the new FW comes out.

As for reading PDFs ... I haven't had to look at a lot of PDFs ... but the Playbook does come with Adobe Reader. Again I haven't tried it, so I don't know if there are any issues. There has been some discussion about some pdf documents that were created with some program other than Adobe ... but I confess I haven't paid a lot of attention to said discussions.

From my perspective, for reading my every-day reading books I'll use my Sony PRS-650 ... but for reading/looking at cookbooks and children's picture books, I'll use the Playbook.

Mary
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Old 12-04-2011, 12:52 AM   #11
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Mary - I agree that e-mail can be checked on a desktop/laptop/netbook at home, as for at work it all depends on what the employer will allow you to access. I also agree that typing on a real keyboard imo is better than a virtual keyboard that is smaller and I am not a touch typist. The idea of having a smaller device that you can quickly pull out of your pocket or bag to check your e-mail or social network is pretty handy. Having one e-mail client that can focus all your different e-mail ids is also very convenient instead of logging into each, one at a time. Yes, some people have more than one e-mail id.

I am retired and I am a bit of a gadget junky. Over the last couple of years I have acquired several dedicated e-readers as well as Android tablets. Several have been a disappointment either due to performance (under powered) or o/s level such as Android 1.5. I am looking forward to the $199 PB at being the device that meets all my expectations if not exceeds them.

I have found that the Android PDF reader "Repligo" does an excellent job of reading a PDF document that was designed for a large screen on a smaller screen. It has a "Text Reflow" option that resizes the text to a readable size and wraps around the text. It's not perfect but it is better than zooming into a page to resize the text and then panning the screen to view the page. This is available on Android. I have seen several demo's on youtube concerning Android apps running on the PB and I am looking forward to FW 2.0 in Feb to see if this will resolve the lack of e-reader apps.

Bluebox app (Dropbox client) is a great way of moving data across several platforms without having to do any sneeker-net or cabling connections.

Unfortunately I have had little time to play with the PB as it has been Christmas wrapped for Dec 25th.

John
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Old 01-05-2012, 09:38 PM   #12
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Hello, I'm new to the site, and to ereaders. Just purchased a Kobo Touch in November, and was given a Playbook for Christmas. I was initially thinking of getting a Vox when they first came out. Then RIM dropped the price on the Playbook, and since I get the majority of my books from the library, I wasn't sure how much use I'd get out of a dedicated ereader. So, I decided a Playbook would be the solution since it's an actual "tablet" and that's what I asked "Santa" for. However, I discovered Playbook doesn't (currently) support DRM, which leaves elibrary books out of the question for me, thus the purchase of the Kobo Touch. I've read on the Crackberry forums rumours that with the release of the new OS in February, the DRM issue will be addressed and I'll be able to read e-library books on the PB.
So if one of the experts here has discovered a way to load library books on the Playbook, I'd love to know how?
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Old 01-06-2012, 09:24 AM   #13
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Hi Bookworm1959

The current buzz is that by February 17th there will be an operating system update which will permit the download of other readers and I'm sure I saw mention of Overdrive possibly being supported as well.

There is currently a Kobo Reader in place, but it's very restrictive ... to it's own bookstore. I don't think that you can sideload into it at all ... let alone library books.

I purchased an app called Book Reader ... but it doesn't support DRM which puts the kibosh on library books. While I dislike [and so remove] DRM on books that I've purchased, I wouldn't dream of removing the DRM on library books.

Personally, for every day reading, I'll stick to my Sony PRS650 because long term reading on an LCD device, even one with a brilliant screen like the Playbook, begins to really bother my eyes. That said, I do use the Playbook to read the Beatrix Potter books to my granddaughter and for cookbooks.

HTH

Mary
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Old 01-27-2012, 05:45 PM   #14
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OS 2 is now due in about two weeks. The Book Reader app which is available for .99 makes an excellent book reader, however people need to realize that the playbook is much more than these other ereaders that offer varying degrees of internet access. The Playbook is a powerful computing device and there is truely no other device to compare to it out there.
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Old 02-05-2012, 12:52 AM   #15
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I love my PB as it is now. except for the too less num of mail/chat/reader apps.

In case you are adventurous, QT is available for playbook.
FBReader/Coolreader can be made to work with QT.

I have a "very stable" vanilla port of native FBReader working on the PB (1.x fw), but am not very confident of releasing it to others. (By that i mean am lazy to start trying to fix bugs etc., )
Everything in fbreader works beautifully; issues are that the toolbar is always visible and the setup dialog is very ugly to manipulate. People who have used Iliad would realize what i mean. And the pkg is about 80+mb as i just threw in all qt stuff into the bar file(again lazy).

Coolreader is a little more unstable so i dropped it.

This maybe a mute point if OS2 comes out as Android provides a lot of reader apps.

But knowing android, i am sure there will be issues with battery life and performance.
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