They’re really cheap, and I’m in the market for a tablet… Will I kick myself for not going Android or will be a shrewd investment?

Ive got one, its great is the simple answer. It has no apps of any use, but the internet does the same job for most things…and of course its cheap as chips. Im considering replacing my 16GB with the 64GB cos its so cheap its almost rude not to…

Not too fussed about apps to be honest. I need to browse the web (including watching videos and maybe iPlayer), possibly play movies and listen to music and read stuff…

I got a 64gb from PC world for £130.

as above it has no apps of any use but is good for surfing the web,emails,facetube & twitter.

I also put loads of photo’s on it and loads of films so the kids can watch in the car.

The only issue i have is you cant skype video on it!!

It’s not an Ipad or a galaxy tab but if you dont want apps then buy one!

Update 2.1 made it usable, but then they released a patch that has broken it again, I wouldn’t bother. Get an ipad mini.

If I could afford an iPad mini I probably would, but the base 16gb model is apparently going to be £270 rrp, compared to £130 for a 64gb Playbook.

Consider a Nexus 7 if you want to get on the Android train.
Around £170.

Why would you buy obsolete kit that the manufacturer has given up on, when you can buy a Nexus7 or Kindle Fire for a few quid more?

Browser is very good, as is video playback. It’s also reassuringly chunky, you don’t have to worry about having a £400 waffer thin piece of glass in your bag. There will also be a fairly big overhaul with Blackberry OS 10 early next year, so the lifespan should be reasonable (as these things go – iPad 3 to iPad 4 in 6 months for example)

iPad mini is a stupid price, you could spend £10 less and get a refurbed iPad 2 or £50 more for a new one!

I’m looking at the nexus 7 personally but apparently google have an announcement tomorrow for possibly nexus 10 the nexus phone and Android 4.2. Hopefully the nexus 10 will be out before Christmas and will be sub £300. If that is the case I may well go for that.

Nexus 7 was heading the list ’til I saw the price of the Playbook, then the lure of 64gb for less money was tempting…

I have an Android phone and use pretty much bugger all apps on it. Facebook, web browser, Youtube, Gmail. That’s about it! Kindle / Reader and Acrobat would be handy too, or some way of reading an STW subscription.

I have been using the 32gb for a while now and it is a really well made piece of kit. It does all the things that you need and will bridge to a blackberry phone if you have one which is great for mobile Internet. Screen and sound quality are good also. Yeah can run software with your pc to run android apps if your up need to.

The native email is okay its certainly no outlook but you can access hotmail, Google etc via browser fine.

The viewer for word xcel and pdf docs is okay also.

There are some nice games on the app store but very limited.

BlackBerry are hanging a lot on bb10 and there new phones later this year. If it’s a successful the playbook has a future if not then it’s gonna have a fairly limited lifespan as software developers focus on the better selling pads.

I think for the price though the 64gb is a steal.

I am reading and replying to this message on a PlayBook. As others have said the apps available are pretty useless unless you are 8 years old and like playing fruit slash and angry birds. Linked with a blackberry phone its a really good device and the camera and video quality is really good. Easy to set up and for £130 can you really go wrong.

Another person happy to have been parted with £130 here.

Main reason is that the kids / missus run about with it and shove it in each others faces, walk on it, etc and it’s a no stress situation.

Also we can drag and drop videos / music over wifi. No cables / itunes.

Video playback is great. Kindle. Sofa surfing. Not too many video games for kids. Perfect size for reading books.

Battery life is about 1 day in constant use, its chunky and not trendy, so not perfect.

Kindle fire hd 159, bargin!!!! But if bb10 isnt compatible with the playbook ul b a sore person, like apple did with the ipad one, it wont update to ios6, type in google new blackberry devices and theyre releasing a new full ts phone and a new range of tablets, thus the reason its 130, the same as hp did with its tablet, i bought one for 89quid in a firesale, two days later the os was defunct and no longer being produced thus tge huge drop from 500quid, be wary.

Your aware you need a Blackberry to pair and use the Playbook?

I work for an organisation that has a RIM account manager who I get updates from monthly. Having looked at the playbook in depth I see no real future prospects for it.

My advice would be to look at the nexus or ipad mini. Not forgetting the new Windows 8 tablet. Go to PC World have a play with a few then search for the best price online. 🙂

They’ve just released a 4g enabled Playbook in the US/Canada, the platform isn’t going anywhere soon (unless RIM go bust). BB10 has also been confirmed and dev releases are floating around for the normal Playbook. The reason they are £130 is apparently to attract developers prior to the BB10 launch to fill out the app store.

I was one of the very first adopters and paid full price in the US for a 32GB Playbook early last year. For usual web-based stuff and video, it is superb. It talks to my Blackberry, but I don’t really bother with that option much. It has native email, but work won’t support it. It’s very portable and the User interface is excellent, as is the genuine multi-tasking. I use drag and drop, and synch with my PC using folderclone. It carries over a 1000 pdf references.

It will be the first BBX device, hence the cheap sale for early adoption, but to be honest, it probably does 4/5 of what you want already.

For reference, we have recently acquired iPad 2 for my wife, and it doesn’t really get used for anything over and above the playbook. iPlayer is very nice on the PB, it works OK on the iPad too.

Finally, over the past 18mo, I’ve heard a LOT of skeptics, but everyone who has actually stumped up money for one and used it, has been impressed. It;s nice to hear other satisfied owners here. For a while I thought I was in the PB wilderness 😆

Your aware you need a Blackberry to pair and use the Playbook?

True for 1.x of the software but not an issue with 2.x which has been out for donkeys years.

I bought a 16GB Playbook around 10 months ago for £170 and have used it extensively for work (great for email and reading MS Office docs) and also watching films whilst working away. If I am in a hotel with a modern TV I use the HDMI out to play back films.

Very few apps about and those that are available are expensive. The OS is superb – I have an Android tablet and access to an iPad3 and the Playbook OS is superior to both in my opinion.

Having said all this I am not sure whether I would buy one as my only tablet for home use due to limited app support.

I have not managed to find a DLNA client app yet – any suggestions from anyone for this?

I’ve just bought a PlayBook and like it.
I watch Vimeo etc via a HDMI cable, and surf the Web on it.
I bought 3-yr no-fuss warranty for £30 (50 for a kindle hd) but seeing how robust the device is I shouldn’t have bothered.
The Kindle Fire HD is the only rival for me, but Amazon is evil.
(the PlayBook is 2nd most popular tablet in Canada so it is a big seller over there)

I really like mine, but can’t get outlook based email working, might be due to the unique domain name but either way it’s a bit annoying.

A 64gb user here; very happy. For £130 it is brilliant- it might not do everything I want it to do (DLNA and USB hosting would complete my list of wants), but plenty of other tablets don’t have these functions either. I can’t justify £400+ on an iPad so the pb fits the bill nicely

Another PB user right here right now. Great little sofa surfing device. Good for digital sub too.

I thought you could just sideload Android apps onto the PB, and that a load of Android apps were available through the app store now.

Keep looking at the 64GB one, and am tempted, but I still am not fully convinced we actually need one as we both have laptops, and just use those if we need to sofa surf and the like…

But for 130 quid… am still tempted…

They are good. Mine has developed the won’t charge fault 🙁 (google it) To give Blackberry their due, their customer support is a. free and b. very good. I had a package Fedexed to me in no time to return it to them. With this fault apparently, they are just giving you another Playbook. They are nice bits of kit.

Reckon I’m pretty much sold… As I say, not too fussed about apps and it sounds like it’ll do most of what I want it to anyway. Might have to go see if I can have a play with one.

shifter – Member
Another PB user right here right now. Great little sofa surfing device. Good for digital sub too.

Shifter can you do me a favour and get a screen grab of the digital sub I am thinking of a tablet and how well it handles this is a consideration for me. Thanks

That would be handy for me also 🙂

Just to add fuel to the fire I have just noticed the Nexus 7 is £169 with 16GB at PC World. Thats only £10 more than Google want for the 8GB.

The Nexus 7 32Gb is due out that’s why the 16Gb is reduced, spend your money on something that isn’t obsolete. Look at the Nexus 7, why get something that’s just for surfing when for a few pounds more you can get all that and more.

Got a PB here – only downside for me is It can’t edit multiple word docs ata the same time.

Tempted by http://www.ebuyer.com/acer-iconia – £30 cash back=£150

Jellybean Tegra-3 and a miniSD slot – you have to wait a month to get your £30 back – so I’ll wait for BB10 until I jump.

Looking at reviews for the Acer I think I’d probably choose the Playbook (cheap and lots of storage) or the Nexus (still pretty cheap and more futureproof apart from the smallish storage) over it…

I hadn’t seen any reviews yet – I was hoping the tegra 3 would fly with it’s smaller screen?

Happy PBer here. Fulfills my tablet needs.

Likes:
sofa surfing/facebooking
films (back of car toddler management half way down france – tick!
hook up to blackberry handset
recent OS updates have fixed some bugs and improved functionality

Dislikes:
Still a bit crashy now and again.
Wifi reception not as good as laptop
Apps still in the 14th Century

TM

I have the 64gb Playbook. You don’t need a Blackberry in order to use it. It’s great for web browsing. I can store loads of music and photos on it. The image and speakers are really good. It came with Maps installed, a basic word processor and a spreadsheet. It has cameras front and rear for still pics and video.
A big advantage over an iPad is that it has USB connectivity so connecting it to a PC is a doddle.
There are loads of apps available for it.
I’d happily recommend one!

Have been following this and popped into Comet to look at the Nexus 7. Surfed a few apps (is that the right word?) to get onto the BBC website and front page news is that the Nexus 10 goes on sale on Nov 13.

Now frankly, I couldn’t tell much wrong with the screen resolution on the 7 and so on, so i’m not desperate to wait for the next generation and pay more for it….. so the question is whether the Nexus 7 will be reduced in price much now the 10 is coming?

I’m no computer whiz so I have no idea. Should I get one now or will it be £40 cheaper in 2 weeks time?

A big advantage over an iPad is that it has USB connectivity so connecting it to a PC is a doddle.

Yeah as plugging the USB cable into the iPad from a PC is a ball ache.

The prices of the Nexus 7 have already dropped to accommodate the 32GB and the Nexus 10.

I_Ache & flyingmonkeycorps: how the hell do I do that?!

shifter – Member
I_Ache & flyingmonkeycorps: how the hell do I do that?!

No idea as I don’t have one yet 😳

@shifter – IIRC you press the + and – volume buttons at the same time. This should save a screen grab into the photo library.