Bought a playbook... debating returning it.

[kman]

I'm torn...
I have the original galaxy tab 3g and a bberry 9900. I've finally hit the point where I can't really justify paying the 3g data plan for the tab, but like the flexibility on not being wifi limited... so I went and bought a 32gb playbook.

Its been 24 hours and I'm not sure if i've done the right thing. There are some god things about the playbook but what look to me like some pretty massive shortcomings.

Ont the plus side, the OS runs smooth and slick. browser is nice. Bridge works will for calendar and mail, both with nice UIs (mail is better than Tab email, Android calendar is nice imho).

But I'm really really worried about the downsides...
- Apps library is way worse than I feared it would be. Even the multi-platform essentials are poorly represented. ie. no native dropbox (wtf is bluebox?). I have 6 pages of apps on my tab... playbook selection is scarily limited.
- The capabilities of a lot of the apps aren't great. Podcasts app is way worse than google listen. reader app doesn't sync with my google reader (and can't seem to group feeds, which I have a lot of).
- Bridge requires bluetooth connection, which makes my already kind of bad battery life, way worse. When I use the playbook, I'm not killing one battery, I'm killing two. This is a big problem as I'm on the road a lot. The bigger problem is that without bridge on, you lose a lot of functionality, even if you have wifi.

Overall, after seeing how weak the app support is on playbook, and seeing RIM's latest financials... I'm worried that RIM is going to abandon the playbook and I'll own a (well discounted admittedly) albatross.

So what do you think? Brave it out with the playbook, or return it and keep the tab in wifi-only mode?

[xperiax10]

You should consider switching to different smartphone in the future android,iphone,wp7 because you can tether your data from phone to tablet, so you dont pay for separate data plan for tablet only.

I would return it and wait till boxing day all the tablets will be heavily discounted, so you could save yourself some money. RIM wont abandon their playbook , even if it did drain them out of $400 million. They have switched to a completely new operating system based on QNX and away from their traditional operating system, and thats why its taking them a while to come up with a full user experience. I have used the playbook and it does the internet very well , but thats about it , since as you mentioned the app amount is super small when compared to the others. Also the battery life sucked , but that could improve a little in the future software updates.

For now if you want the most out of your tablet you need to grab android or even ipad 2, but be prepared to pay a premium for the apple logo. RIM is not offering enough with their playbook to charge anything more than $150-200.
There are also quadcore tablets coming starting with the Asus transformer Prime that comes out mid Dec.

[MattyMattMatt]

A lot of people were buying these up at the 200 dollar price and then returning them, because they are rubbish. Just like the HP TouchPad, there are nice features, but there is so much lacking, you may as well not bother. Until the February update, the thing is garbage on its own. Even then, pps are still going to be very limited until the phone OS transitions as well.

[infinity]

if you feel that the lack of apps is that bad and can't wait for OS2.0 in Feb., switch to another tablet OS.

Then, load the leaked software version for the 9900 which has wifi hotspot. you can then use your phone as wifi for your other tablet and not pay additional $$ for data on your tab.

[neo519]

Ios ftw......?

[sixer6]

Definitely keep it, build quality is top notch, faster then ipad, hdmi out, more memory, 2.0 software will give you android apps, kindle software, and netflix coming in next month or so. Records 1080p video and is small, compact and easy to take anywhere.

[waeggles]

But I'm really really worried about the downsides...
- Apps library is way worse than I feared it would be. Even the multi-platform essentials are poorly represented. ie. no native dropbox (wtf is bluebox?). I have 6 pages of apps on my tab... playbook selection is scarily limited.
- The capabilities of a lot of the apps aren't great. Podcasts app is way worse than google listen. reader app doesn't sync with my google reader (and can't seem to group feeds, which I have a lot of).


I agree with you regarding the app availability to some extent. However, for the Dropbox example, Bluebox works fine in my opinion (for now). The Android app for Dropbox also works like a charm if you are running the OS 2.0 beta.
The latest version of the Reader App now syncs with Google reader, so check that out if you haven't already.
I actually like the Podcast app, what are you missing from it?

[kman]

Good comments and advice.

In the end I wound up returning it. Since I got the 32GB... $370+ after tax was a bit steep for what I think was good hardware with painfully lacking software. If I had gotten the 16GB for $199 I definitely would have kept it however... maybe I'll see if I can find one out there but everywhere I've checked is sold out.

I guess I'll just pine away for winning one of the super sweet android phones in the upcoming giveaway.

[davidA]

I have not been able to locate a 16Gb Playbook anywhere on Vancouver Island for $199. Does anyone know where I can order one at that price?

Thanks

David