Print to go is a neat 2.0 feature. Print from your PC (or mac if you deviate that way) and the pages are transferred onto your Playbook via wifi once you set it up.

Of course Playbooks support viewing, editing and creating Excel, Word and Powerpoint docs with an included app.

Wow...ignorant comment if I ever saw one.

With 2.0 just released and the 4G model coming out this summer, it is hardly a dying tablet. Have fun paying $500+ every 18 months...Apple loves their fanboys even more than their fanboys love Apple.

I don't mind a little Apple VS the world trolling - but you know that a Blackberry will come subsidized 99% of the time - so saying it costs $600 is taking trolling to a new level. With your logic, an iPhone costs $899. Entry level Playbook can be found for just $169. So, my math still means that you can get two playbooks and two blackberry devices for the same price as an iPad.

The Playbook now works fine without a Blackberry. Also, the integration between Blackberry and Playbook is flawless - would you care to tell the folks here how well corporate email integration works between an iPad and an iPhone? Can they tether and perform a zero-config email setup between both devices (without a Jailbreak) for a customer on AT&T?

And for the record - I own four iPads at the moment, two of which will be sold and traded for a Verizon LTE version. I'm by no means an Apple fan, but even I realize when they have a product that can't be beat.

Apps are a real problem, and RIM isn't making it easier for developers by opening up for Android - it means devs will pick the Android version instead of native Playbook, which means in a year or so, the Playbook will be its own OS, filled with Android apps. I understand why RIM did what they did, but if I were them, I'd build a device running Android instead. They could easily make the thing stand out in a crowd.

Nothing in life if free. You are paying full price for it one way or another, either through an initial payment, or in 24 monthly payments as part of your cell service contract.

Actually the iPhone starts at $699, not $899.

So you can buy a Playbook and enter into two two year cell service contracts for 1/3 of the price of a $499 iPad? I don't think so. Your math does not work.

In a limited sense it works, but to have complete function you MUST connect it to a BB, and ONLY a Blackberry.

I have my iPhone and iPad seamlessly connected to my company exchange network, and they maintain sync flawlessly. Very easy set up, less than 5 minutes, and they have been stable for two years.

I don't use ATT, so I don't know.


You are correct, Apple has a product that can't be beat.

OP asks for a suggestion on getting travel apps etc loaded on his playbook. Two responses:

From you: Sell it and buy an iPad (answer to a question OP was not asking)

From the 'rabid Fandroid': Update it to OS 2 and try running some Android apps (answers OP's question)

I dunno- to me it sounds like you're more of a fanboy than anyone else here. The 'fandroid's' advice is a lot more useful than 'spend extra money on something else'.

And no, answering a question nobody asked is not 'giving him a helpful answer'.

I'm considering one but I'm curious can you tell me what of the complete function won't work unless I connect it to my Blackberry?

Except that there are people like me who can't carry something that big round with them on a daily basis and so unless they bring out a smaller one it can be beat for me.

Ignore him. I have a Playbook here, and it functions perfectly without a Blackberry.

In version 1.0 - RIM forced you to use the email system through Blackberry Bridge, requiring a Blackberry to be tethered.

Bottom line; don't take your Playbook tips from someone who lives off recommending Apple.

As far as the form factor goes - other than perhaps the Galaxy Tab 7 or the Kindle Fire, not much can beat the Playbook. Build quality is as can be expected - excellent.

im an eletronics reseller ive sold plenty of these playbooks they are pretty nice, actually i find the ipad hard to carry around if i didnt have a galaxy tab i would have kept one of the playbooks but what it all boils down to is 'my device is better then your device so use this one!' everyone has their own choices

Another thing I like about OS2 is the predictive typing; it anticipates not just the word you're currently typing but as soon as you finish it, the next word you're about to type. It's like it's almost reading your mind. Much better than the iPod touch OS.

Thanks it's on the birthday list! ^

Sounds similar to Swiftkey X on the Android platform; it performs a word pattern analysis on your email outbox, Facebook/Twitter/RSS posts and text messages to build a library that is very effective at predicting your next word.

Does what you NEED it to do. Not much that you don't NEED and for that purpose it is a great tablet for me.

The tether to the BB phone makes it amazing for me. You can even use the phone as keyboard and touchpad to remotely control the tablet.

Full disclosure, I use both an iPad and a Playbook. If you are in the BB ecosystem, the Playbook is a nice companion to a BB and really extends the device. While synergy between the iDevices is getting much better with iCloud, it isn't near where the BB bridge is.

We have a number of heavy email users who chose Playbooks over iPads for just that reason; most of them also carry a laptop as some applications just aren't available on the Playbook. With 2.0 it also is a decent standalone device, and at $199 nothing comes close with this level of HW build.

iPad is a better media consumption device, and frankly with the App Store, a better all around computing platform. Many of our lighter email users prefer it as they carry the iPad instead of a laptop.

Both are nice machines, but based on what our users select, they seem to serve different markets.

Didn't realize how much it integrates with the blackberry- sounds very tempting :cool:

Like that idea too- sadly mine is 5 months away :(