Blackberry Playbook 7-Inch Tablet (16GB) 
Well, unfortunately for RIM, they once again took their time getting
this to consumers, and the end result is once again a whole bunch of
those new features aren't really new anymore. IPad 2 introduced the two
camera system for Apple, and I believe the new Galaxy 2 tablet coming
out in a few months will have it as well. A bunch of tablets are also
now HD-capable, and a bunch also have HDMI ports.
If you're like me - then you've probably been waiting for a while for
RIM to enter the tablet market with their long-overdue BlackBerry
Playbook. RIM's been touting a couple of features that were a first for
any tablet at the time - namely two cameras, one front and one back, HD
output and a mini-HDMI port, along with finally releasing the new QNX
OS (which RIM badly needed).
Anywho - I picked this device up today from Best Buy, and to sum it up in a sentence: classy, but expensive.
For a more detailed review, here goes ---
PROS:
1) The OS. By George, RIM finally has a decent OS!! If anyone has ever had or messed around with a Blackberry phone, one of the biggest gripes you'll have is that the OS is just... well, crappy. OS 5 and 6 were big improvements - but they still each leave alot out (like the browser - god, does Blackberry's browser suck at times), especially when you check out an IPhone or Android phone. The QNX is RIM's newest OS, and I hope they move their phones over to it ASAP. Clean, snappy, and doesn't actually use all that much memory - if you delve into the settings of the device. I will add, though - that as soon as I turned on my device, it had to update the OS. Nice RIM - already pushing out updates.... Doesn't bode well, but we'll see.
2) Screen. I'll give RIM credit, they did awesome here. The screen on the Playbook is nothing short of stellar. I played the movie Megamind (great movie) in HD on it, and it looked fantastic. Even better, hooked it up via HDMI to a projector, and it looked fantastic on the wall too. 7" may be a little small to people - IPad's is almost 10", and so is Galaxy 2 (supposedly - we'll see) - but I like the 7" screen personally. I don't really need a bigger screen - that's what I have a laptop for.
3) Weight. This also might be a touchy subject - but again, I personally like a device that feels solid in my hands. The Playbook definitely fits this bill. Although it only technically weighs 1 pound, it feels much heavier. The construction seems excellent - putting pressure on various points, the device barely bends.
4) Blackberry Bridge. Hell yeah RIM - I do NOT want to pay extra for another 3G data plan. Instead, what RIM does is by tethering your Blackberry phone to the Playbook, you can use the data plan on your phone to get the internet on your Playbook - and it works right out the box!! You don't even need a cable - it also works via BlueTooth!! Only problem - just works with Blackberry phones. If RIM updated this to work with all phones, that would make it literally perfect.
CONS:
1) Price. Jeez, 499 for the base model - 16 GB. 64 GB rings in at 699. (These prices come from Best Buy). It's a nice device, don't get me wrong, but 500 bucks for the base model?? There's a bunch of cheaper options out there. Especially with the size of the device - it's a little hard to justify. I hope RIM fixes this problem soon, for their sake.
2) Apps. Always seems to come back to this as well for RIM. The apps for the device - at the time of this - equal less than 100. Yeah, that's right. With the new OS, that means that all apps have to be rewritten to be able to work with the device - and be able to handle the bigger screen. I believe the IPad has over 25,000 apps specifically made for it, and the Galaxy and XOOM both use Android - and have its market to work with. Clearly RIM has an uphill battle here. Hopefully RIM supporting Flash on the Playbook will help the apps roll in, but I wouldn't hold my breath...
3) No e-mail support. As of right now - the Playbook does not work with BES servers. That means no enterprise e-mail support, or ability to control the device via IT policies. You must be joking RIM. Seamless e-mail support is the main reason people get Blackberries, and you can't make the Playbook to support this?? Fail....
There's a couple other things too I can think of - for both categories - but these delve deeper into the enterprise features of the devices, so if you're interested, leave me a comment and I'll reply
--------------------------
The Blackberry Playbook is definitely a good entry for RIM - worthy of giving some of the other tablets a run for their money. RIM has of late been really lagging behind when it comes to keeping up with the tech of the day, but with the Playbook, they've finally stepped up to the plate. As for hitting a home run - ehhh, I've give them a double. The Playbook shines in a number of areas - but the key feature to me is the Blackberry Bridge. This is something that I hope a bunch of other tablets start incorporating - being able to use your phone's data plan on your tablet, without having to pay an extra 50 bucks for a separate one.
RIM, fix the weak spots on your device (either by updates or in the 2nd generation), and you could have a real winner here.
As far as recommendations go - for the average user, if you're feeling adventurous, go ahead and get a Playbook. It's a great device at what it does, but expanding those functions are difficult, especially with so few apps. For everyone else - stick with the IPad, XOOM, or Galaxy - at least until the apps get rolling on this device.
-- I'll update this periodically as more information and my usage time with it increases - so check back every so often --
UPDATE: Someone asked me in a comment if the Playbook had a memory card slot - which I forgot to include in my review. Unfortunately, the Playbook does NOT have an SD card slot - although, by using the Blackberry Bridge software, you can get the SD card that's on your phone to work with the Playbook. But as far as plugging in a card to the device itself - no. Thanks to J. Scheider for asking.
UPDATE (5/4/2011): RIM has announced that they'll be releasing the Video Chat app - a video conferencing app that will take advantage of the front and rear cameras, very much like Apple's FaceTime. It's supposed to be part of an OS upgrade that will get released sometime this week - I'll let you know how it is once I've tested it out.
Anywho - I picked this device up today from Best Buy, and to sum it up in a sentence: classy, but expensive.
For a more detailed review, here goes ---
PROS:
1) The OS. By George, RIM finally has a decent OS!! If anyone has ever had or messed around with a Blackberry phone, one of the biggest gripes you'll have is that the OS is just... well, crappy. OS 5 and 6 were big improvements - but they still each leave alot out (like the browser - god, does Blackberry's browser suck at times), especially when you check out an IPhone or Android phone. The QNX is RIM's newest OS, and I hope they move their phones over to it ASAP. Clean, snappy, and doesn't actually use all that much memory - if you delve into the settings of the device. I will add, though - that as soon as I turned on my device, it had to update the OS. Nice RIM - already pushing out updates.... Doesn't bode well, but we'll see.
2) Screen. I'll give RIM credit, they did awesome here. The screen on the Playbook is nothing short of stellar. I played the movie Megamind (great movie) in HD on it, and it looked fantastic. Even better, hooked it up via HDMI to a projector, and it looked fantastic on the wall too. 7" may be a little small to people - IPad's is almost 10", and so is Galaxy 2 (supposedly - we'll see) - but I like the 7" screen personally. I don't really need a bigger screen - that's what I have a laptop for.
3) Weight. This also might be a touchy subject - but again, I personally like a device that feels solid in my hands. The Playbook definitely fits this bill. Although it only technically weighs 1 pound, it feels much heavier. The construction seems excellent - putting pressure on various points, the device barely bends.
4) Blackberry Bridge. Hell yeah RIM - I do NOT want to pay extra for another 3G data plan. Instead, what RIM does is by tethering your Blackberry phone to the Playbook, you can use the data plan on your phone to get the internet on your Playbook - and it works right out the box!! You don't even need a cable - it also works via BlueTooth!! Only problem - just works with Blackberry phones. If RIM updated this to work with all phones, that would make it literally perfect.
CONS:
1) Price. Jeez, 499 for the base model - 16 GB. 64 GB rings in at 699. (These prices come from Best Buy). It's a nice device, don't get me wrong, but 500 bucks for the base model?? There's a bunch of cheaper options out there. Especially with the size of the device - it's a little hard to justify. I hope RIM fixes this problem soon, for their sake.
2) Apps. Always seems to come back to this as well for RIM. The apps for the device - at the time of this - equal less than 100. Yeah, that's right. With the new OS, that means that all apps have to be rewritten to be able to work with the device - and be able to handle the bigger screen. I believe the IPad has over 25,000 apps specifically made for it, and the Galaxy and XOOM both use Android - and have its market to work with. Clearly RIM has an uphill battle here. Hopefully RIM supporting Flash on the Playbook will help the apps roll in, but I wouldn't hold my breath...
3) No e-mail support. As of right now - the Playbook does not work with BES servers. That means no enterprise e-mail support, or ability to control the device via IT policies. You must be joking RIM. Seamless e-mail support is the main reason people get Blackberries, and you can't make the Playbook to support this?? Fail....
There's a couple other things too I can think of - for both categories - but these delve deeper into the enterprise features of the devices, so if you're interested, leave me a comment and I'll reply
--------------------------
The Blackberry Playbook is definitely a good entry for RIM - worthy of giving some of the other tablets a run for their money. RIM has of late been really lagging behind when it comes to keeping up with the tech of the day, but with the Playbook, they've finally stepped up to the plate. As for hitting a home run - ehhh, I've give them a double. The Playbook shines in a number of areas - but the key feature to me is the Blackberry Bridge. This is something that I hope a bunch of other tablets start incorporating - being able to use your phone's data plan on your tablet, without having to pay an extra 50 bucks for a separate one.
RIM, fix the weak spots on your device (either by updates or in the 2nd generation), and you could have a real winner here.
As far as recommendations go - for the average user, if you're feeling adventurous, go ahead and get a Playbook. It's a great device at what it does, but expanding those functions are difficult, especially with so few apps. For everyone else - stick with the IPad, XOOM, or Galaxy - at least until the apps get rolling on this device.
-- I'll update this periodically as more information and my usage time with it increases - so check back every so often --
UPDATE: Someone asked me in a comment if the Playbook had a memory card slot - which I forgot to include in my review. Unfortunately, the Playbook does NOT have an SD card slot - although, by using the Blackberry Bridge software, you can get the SD card that's on your phone to work with the Playbook. But as far as plugging in a card to the device itself - no. Thanks to J. Scheider for asking.
UPDATE (5/4/2011): RIM has announced that they'll be releasing the Video Chat app - a video conferencing app that will take advantage of the front and rear cameras, very much like Apple's FaceTime. It's supposed to be part of an OS upgrade that will get released sometime this week - I'll let you know how it is once I've tested it out.
