The playbook had a way faster start-up time before they updated the OS to 2.0.

from what I've seen so far, my best bet is with the asus transformer series
yes the prime had wifi issue ill admit (even returned mine actually) but from what ive heard the new set to come out (i believe it is infinity if im not wrong) is supposed to have not only fixed the wifi issue but also upped the screen to 1920x1080 finally. The attachable keyboard that gives laptop like IO and an increase in battery life up to 15hrs is pretty dam sweet. And who doesnt like andorid eh

ill admit the app market on ipad is better, though third part for android is definitely better
not to mention the hardware in the transformer destroys the Ipad; except the screen of course
and yes the cost is high (500$ including keyboard for the 32gb one i believe ), compared to the Ipad its much cheaper
not to mention it has a SDXC slot and the dock has USB so storage issues quickly become moot

ipad is better

Originally Posted by fasailuddin

hardware wise it's great and the OS is fluid. However it by no means can be called a success. Why? Lack of developer support is probably the most substantial reason why. The app store pales in comparison to the iPad.

You didn't even read the post, did you?

99.9% of reviewers on any site say the Playbook works great, no issues. Then you get a few people who have a horror story.

Yea, because Apple, and every other tablet maker are PERFECT...

No, the reason that the rare Playbook malfunction ends up being emphasized is because of the generally negative press they get, which causes people to comment similarly. A headline reads, "RIM Shares Plunge", someone is more likely to comment, "Go figure, my friend's friend's Playbook is a hunk of junk. They say it freezes all the time." Great... And the majority of others WORK (and work well) all the time...

Originally Posted by J. Dorey

Agreed. While we don't have an iPad, both my parents and my uncle and aunt have a Playbook and I constantly hear them cursing it out every time they use it because it freezes so much.

Odd. I've had mine since December and it's never frozen.

I'm so happy I got one9 For free during the developer program). For the summer, I no longer carry my heavy laptop with me every day. I didnt buy my textbooks, just used the pdf on the playbook. Perfect size screen quality is good.

I do have frezing problems but thats with sideloaded Andriod apps. Naive blackberry and converted Andriod apps on the store are fine. I ove the size easy to carry and throw into a purse. Fits in most guys pockets.

BTW the "hack" is called sideloading. The best way is to use DDPB. just find info on crackberry about it . super easy. And yes it does take some time to turn on, that why me and my 4 friends who I know that own one usually leave it in standby mode.Doesnt drain battery really.

Originally Posted by mike_302

99.9% of reviewers on any site say the Playbook works great, no issues. Then you get a few people who have a horror story.

Yea, because Apple, and every other tablet maker are PERFECT...

No, the reason that the rare Playbook malfunction ends up being emphasized is because of the generally negative press they get, which causes people to comment similarly. A headline reads, "RIM Shares Plunge", someone is more likely to comment, "Go figure, my friend's friend's Playbook is a hunk of junk. They say it freezes all the time." Great... And the majority of others WORK (and work well) all the time...

That's the case with every product, really. It's just the nature of how people review things. Happy people don't usually go and put up reviews of why they're happy with their purchase, but if someone buys a product and they're not happy about it, they're quite likely to be vocal about it. So the bad press is always disproportionately plentiful, even for products with a very high customer satisfaction rate.

Just to clarify, I'm not saying the Playbook is a bad piece of hardware. I think it's actually quite nice. And if the Android app compatibility is actually more extensive than what I've heard then I'm willing to concede that it even has a solid software base for people to work with. I was just pointing out that your review in the OP made it sound like the Playbook is some magical wonder product which has always been a strong player at a very competitive price point, which is not the case. Like I've been saying, it only gained those strengths in the software department and its lower pricetag fairly recently.

For $200 it definitely can't be beat at the moment, however Google IO is very soon, and the Nexus tablet is expected to be unveiled, so we'll see what the competition looks like. Right now there isn't much competing with the Playbook besides Android based ereaders, and the Playbook definitely does win over them, I agree. If we weren't comparing price though I would still put the 3rd gen iPad and a few Android tablets (eg Transformers) ahead of the Playbook personally, because I find the 7" form factor a little awkward to use compared to 10". And the new iPad's screen is really, really nice.

The thing I don't like about all these new gadgets is they're not built to last .. its just how technology is nowadays.. how long till I would have to replace a Playbook, if I bought one? :S

My girlfriend's mom has one, she seems to like it, and it syncs with her phone, which is neat.

As others said, if they made it cheap right at the beginning it would have been more successful (even if it is higher then it is now) since I know my dad was itching to get one. Once they dropped their price, they ran out of stock and since we thought the price drop was temporary, we decided to get others.

I see no reason not to get one if you want something in that price range, but with all the new stuff coming out from other companies it will likely not sell to well

Lol, I'm not allowed an opinion according to this guy ^

I did a tonne of unbiased research. I even tried to prove that the Playbook was a bad choice for me. Somehow that forms a biased opinion...

https://play.google.com/store/device...nexus_7_16 gb

Nexus 7 is definitely a solid competitor to the Playbook.

Originally Posted by Andrew A

https://play.google.com/store/device...nexus_7_16 gb

Nexus 7 is definitely a solid competitor to the Playbook.

Problems: That bezel is huge. Why on earth did they decide not to include a rear facing camera?

I doubt that the bezel will hurt its sales much. I don't know why they didn't include a rear camera - it does seem like a bad choice to me. I can't see it saving them much money on producing each unit, but who knows. That might lose it some sales, but not too many people use tablets as cameras anyway, and it seems really awkward when they do :p.

For the money it has some pretty impressive hardware however. And I think it's at a very competitive price point.