Blackberry Playbook

[blackram]

Has anyone got a Blackberry Playbook tablet yet? Probably not, a lot of people seem to have a prejudiced impression about it because they have heard it got bad reviews. But I just bought one, and I gotta say that I am impressed with it immensely.

Its real advantage shines through if you have a Blackberry smartphone too. The tablet and the phone are immensely integrated with each other. In fact, you could say they act as extensions of one another, through something called Blackberry Bridge. The tablet will tether to the phone using a wireless Bluetooth connection, and can use the phone as its Internet gateway (if you're not near Wi-Fi). If a phone call comes in on the smartphone, then the name and number is displayed on the tablet, alerting you. You could also hold a video call provide that both ends have a Playbook.

The phone in turn can be used to remote control the tablet using the same Bluetooth connection. So you could for example watch a Youtube video on the tablet and prop it up on a table at a slight distance so friends could be watch it too, and you can control the whole thing through your BB smartphone. Speaking of Youtube, the Playbook fully supports Flash, so you don't need a special app to watch Youtube, you just go to it with your web browser, just like with any PC. There's a lot of emphasis on how much app support a tablet has, but if you have Flash, then who needs special Internet apps?

Another impressive thing I found was that when I took the tablet to a different location with Wi-Fi access, it was able to take the Wi-Fi connection details from my smartphone! I had previously set up the Wi-Fi with my smartphone, and when I went around to set it up on the tablet too, I found that it was already sitting their connected to the same Wi-Fi, which I can only assume was because the phone and tablet shared the information with each other!

I wasn't so impressed with any other tablet so far, including the Ipad. But the Playbook was on sale at various places for $199 for 16GB version ($249 for the 32GB, $299 for 64GB), so I took a chance. The only other tablets that I saw for less than $199 were things like Acers or Asus with maybe only 4GB of storage.

 

[RAWD]

Ive had one for about 8 months. I like it a lot for work. I actually didn't mind that it did not have native email or 3G capability. The tether to my BB works just fine, and I have never found myself with my PB but not my phone. I find the tether to be an advantage because it's one less thing you have to sync. It's all on your phone.

The PB is also far better for actually working. Used with a bt keyboard, it has essentially replaced my laptop. The smaller size of the PB is handy. I can actually stick it into jacket pockets.

The thing is built like a tank. I've dropped it. Had my kid chew on it, jump on it, throw it....still works great.

I also have the iPad 1 and 2, which I prefer over the PB for websurfing (except porn-ing. the PB is better because of Flash). The PB sucks for apps. Two major gaps - no Netflix and no Kindle.

This is anecdotal, but I find that the iPad is better at finding and locking on to wifi signals.

 

[Macho Man]

Thanks boys for the good information.

 

[blackram]

Ive had one for about 8 months. I like it a lot for work. I actually didn't mind that it did not have native email or 3G capability. The tether to my BB works just fine, and I have never found myself with my PB but not my phone. I find the tether to be an advantage because it's one less thing you have to sync. It's all on your phone.

Well, now with its new OS 2.0 it's even got native email and calendar. I upgraded to the OS 2.0 right away.

The PB is also far better for actually working. Used with a bt keyboard, it has essentially replaced my laptop. The smaller size of the PB is handy. I can actually stick it into jacket pockets.

I placed the PB on top of a DVD case unintentionally, and I accidentally found out that it's actually pretty close to the same size as a DVD case in every dimension.

The thing is built like a tank. I've dropped it. Had my kid chew on it, jump on it, throw it....still works great.

I also have the iPad 1 and 2, which I prefer over the PB for websurfing (except porn-ing. the PB is better because of Flash). The PB sucks for apps. Two major gaps - no Netflix and no Kindle.

Don't know about Netflix, not something I care about. As for Kindle, it does come with Kobo instead.

This is anecdotal, but I find that the iPad is better at finding and locking on to wifi signals.

Interestingly, I was actually using my PB as a Wi-Fi signal strength tester, yesterday. A friend of ours was having some trouble with a Wi-Fi enabled media streaming box, as it wasn't able to connect to their router anymore. I used the PB to scan around the room and found various places which were Wi-Fi shadows. It was fixed by buying a new router with a stronger transmitter.

 

[Bambino]

This is all too confusing for me. I have a big screen TV and just search channels :bomb:

 

[Pullmyfinger]

Blackram were you one of the hundreds waiting outside overnight to get the new apple toy :wink:

 

[blackram]

Blackram were you one of the hundreds waiting outside overnight to get the new apple toy :wink:

No sir, not me, I'm don't subscribe to the cult of Steve Jobs.

 

[Swagger]

No sir, not me, I'm don't subscribe to the cult of Steve Jobs.

:clapping::clapping:

 

[tboy]

No sir, not me, I'm don't subscribe to the cult of Steve Jobs.

I still can't believe the lemmings who actually LINE UP to buy something......especially when it's not even on sale or anything.....wtf is wrong with people?

As for the BB tablet, I haven't heard anything bad about them either.....just a bad rep I think.....my only concern is they are a little small, and I was going to buy one at christmas but then thought: wtf do I need it for? I have a laptop for surfing the net while I watch tv, sure, it'd be easier to surf while I'm taking a dump but that's a lot of money to spend so I can surf the net while in the can lol.....

 

[peace]

dont forget to wash your hands. :spiteful:

 

[blackram]

I still can't believe the lemmings who actually LINE UP to buy something......especially when it's not even on sale or anything.....wtf is wrong with people?

As for the BB tablet, I haven't heard anything bad about them either.....just a bad rep I think.....my only concern is they are a little small, and I was going to buy one at christmas but then thought: wtf do I need it for? I have a laptop for surfing the net while I watch tv, sure, it'd be easier to surf while I'm taking a dump but that's a lot of money to spend so I can surf the net while in the can lol.....

Well, I wasn't really convinced that a tablet was all that necessary (still not convinced it's necessary, but it is convenient). And really if people are honest with themselves, the only thing that anyone uses a tablet for is websurfing. As a websurf device, it's outstanding.

As for lining up for a product, the only thing I could recall lining up for on its first day was maybe a Harry Potter movie, once. And it wasn't much of a lineup, the entire line fit inside the theatre so we weren't out in the cold.

 

[tboy]

well, movies are different, just like concerts. When you have to get x amount of people in through only 1 door in a short amount of time that's a given. I mean lining up to buy a product...like those idiots on boxing day, or black friday in the US. I remember reading a story about this huge line up outside best buy in the US when Xbox first came out. Some guys in a pickup bought one, then took the empty box, drove past the huge line and threw the box in front of them. There was a riot of people scrambling to get it.....lol.....

Then there was a time I was working at a customer's house....broke for lunch and harvey's was just around the corner. Went there and the line was out the door and about 20 people on the street. I said "what the hell is going on"? Buy one get a burger free day.....I said "how long have you been here? 20 minutes and they weren't inside the door yet.....IDIOTS sorry, my time is worth more than lining up for 45 minutes to save $1.99 (or whatever a burger is worth).

 

[Ms.FemmeFatale]

Can it FTP?

I have a laptop that is huge. It is my main source for all my internet work. I find that I would use a tablet if I was about to have my webdesign needs met on it. I have not done any research but I remember reading that Adobe was looking at working with RIM about a photoshop app. Does anyone know if this happened. I would not need to use it to design but some of the pics I have on profiles have a graphic watermark that needs to be put on and it would be nice to be able to that on a tablet from anywhere.

 

[tboy]

Well, if it's an apple MFF you can do anything on it....including launch missles, do your grocery shopping, wash the dog, change the oil in your car...I mean, apples do EVERYthing.....don't they?

 

[Ms.FemmeFatale]

Well, if it's an apple MFF you can do anything on it....including launch missles, do your grocery shopping, wash the dog, change the oil in your car...I mean, apples do EVERYthing.....don't they?

You know I am not a apple person, don't you?

I have found out the playbook can FTP with LiteFTP app. Does anyone know of their photo editing apps?

 

[tboy]

You know I am not a apple person, don't you?

I have found out the playbook can FTP with LiteFTP app. Does anyone know of their photo editing apps?

Didn't know that but still, the jab at apple still applies lol...(I hate those fricken things...)

 

[Ms.FemmeFatale]

Didn't know that but still, the jab at apple still applies lol...(I hate those fricken things...)

I can't believe we agree on this topic!

Sadly though, everything I want to be able to do is on an Ipad!

Someone please save me and tell me I can do this shit on a PB

 

[blackram]

You know I am not a apple person, don't you?

I have found out the playbook can FTP with LiteFTP app. Does anyone know of their photo editing apps?

Actually, I'm pretty sure most web browsers can do FTP on their own, just replace the "https://" URL with an "ftp://" URL. I haven't tried it though, since I have few places that require ftp anymore.

As for photo editing, Googling got me this:

Buy Photo Editor Extreme - Download Photo Editor Extreme - Buy Apps from BlackBerry App World

 

[Art Mann]

Not just a playbook ... it's also a workbook

Not just a playbook ... it's also a workbook


Cambridge city crews chuck the paper and go wireless
CAMBRIDGE — Paul Walsh dumped a rolled-up stack of maps in the recycling bin.

In his hands at Cambridge City Hall on Friday, the 32-year city waste-water operator held a new BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

Over the next 14 months, about 50 such Research In Motion-produced devices will be given out to city crews. Thanks to a three-way alliance with IBM, all the pertinent information about 250,000 critical transportation and public works assets such as buildings, sewers and roadways will be at Walsh’s fingertips wherever he may be in the city.

No more digging for paper files. No more filing mountains of paperwork to be inputted after a job is done. It all happens on the tablet.
Efficiency and productivity is to be improved. With savings in gasoline consumed and hours spent on each job, taxpayers are to benefit too.

Workers are mobile. Now, all the information they need to do their work will be mobile as well.

“This is going to save us a heck of a lot of time,” said Walsh as he and co-worker Mike Grant, a five-year city man, took a break from flushing out main sewer lines.

“It’s fantastic.”

Of course, Walsh’s appearance at the end of a media conference hailing the arrival of the first-of-its-kind system was hardly coincidence.

 

[Knight Rider]

I am also thinking of getting a BB playbook, as I own a BB torch, but have not yet, as my laptop takes care of all my needs and I just can't justify buying one quite yet. Some are predicting that in a couple of years, the sale of tablets will outsell laptops. I don't quite buy that yet.