My review. Google Nexus 7 vs Blackberry Playbook

[bitek]

I am undecided what 1 to get I love the hardwear of the playbook but the os of the nexus 7 the playbook is now 199 for 64 gb at Wallmart. What does every1 suggest?

Both tablets have its strenghths. it is no denying that N7 is the best android tablet. But playbook has great price and really offer things not seen on other tablets. I have many android apps sideloaded on my playbook. Integration with bb phone is awesome. playbook will get bb10 update. playbook is awesome music player and the best alarm clock I ever had. I love simple browser + on my playbook. not available on any other tablet. I can have four tabs all individually customized. no chrome, ff or opera offers that.

Although the Playbook is admittedly a nice piece of hardware (for 2011, anyway), what good is it if the app selection is so poor? I realize that some Android apps can be ported over, but that requires someone to actually convert them, which is not a simple task. Choosing between a Nexus 7 and a Playbook is like choosing between a Blu-Ray player and an HD-DVD player. You can probably still find the latter for dirt cheap if you look hard enough, and there may be a handful of HD-DVD movies out there, but there sure won't be any more movies made in that format.

I do not think blu ray vs hd dvd analogy is fair. I think for a tablet that is "old" in tech standards this is still very capable tablet.

app selection is not that poor anymore. playbook problem is that some key apps are missing. I think this will be addressed with bb10. at the end if bb10 fails rim fails and pb fails. question one should ask when chosing n7 vs playbook is how confident they are in bb10 success. if they are then pickup playbook if not n7 is awesome tablet indeed

Sent from Blackberry Playbook using TapaTalk 2

 

[B. Diddy]

I do not think blu ray vs hd dvd analogy is fair. I think for a tablet that is "old" in tech standards this is still very capable tablet.

app selection is not that poor anymore. playbook problem is that some key apps are missing. I think this will be addressed with bb10. at the end if bb10 fails rim fails and pb fails. question one should ask when chosing n7 vs playbook is how confident they are in bb10 success. if they are then pickup playbook if not n7 is awesome tablet indeed

Sent from Blackberry Playbook using TapaTalk 2

I agree that it is still a very capable tablet. I actually owned one for about a month as a gift for my wife, who was still on BB at the time, so I had a chance to tinker with it, and I really did like the device. But in regard to my analogy, HD-DVD tech is also very capable, and HD-DVD movies still look and sound great--they just lost out to the competition.. You can still use HD-DVD players to play new DVDs, so it's not like they're completely useless.

The most recent data that I found was that Google Play has over 700000 apps available, while back in September, the BB App World had 105000. If we're generous, we could say that the App World has maybe 110000 now. This is still a huge discrepancy, and for all intents and purposes, most developers have abandoned the platform. RIM's entire existence depends on BB10, but it's been repeatedly pushed back, so I think it'll be too little too late.

 

[bitek]

I agree that it is still a very capable tablet. I actually owned one for about a month as a gift for my wife, who was still on BB at the time, so I had a chance to tinker with it, and I really did like the device. But in regard to my analogy, HD-DVD tech is also very capable, and HD-DVD movies still look and sound great--they just lost out to the competition.. You can still use HD-DVD players to play new DVDs, so it's not like they're completely useless.

The most recent data that I found was that Google Play has over 700000 apps available, while back in September, the BB App World had 105000. If we're generous, we could say that the App World has maybe 110000 now. This is still a huge discrepancy, and for all intents and purposes, most developers have abandoned the platform. RIM's entire existence depends on BB10, but it's been repeatedly pushed back, so I think it'll be too little too late.

I agree with you that blackberry platform needs more apps. good, popular quality apps like instagram, skype etc. I think most of them will be available on bb10 and then on playbook. obviously if bb10 does not do well, playbook will be another hp tablet.

reason why I do not like analogy blu-ray vs hd-dvd (I did own hd-dvd) is because toshiba dropped hd-dvd support altogether after warner brothers had jumped ship to blu-ray. rim is behind playbook and it is pushing out new updates all the time. last one as recently as last month. also rim said on record that playbook will be updated with bb10. playbook is good as it is but bb10 os will give it second lease on life. point is that hardware is only as good as software that it runs. so it really does not matter that playbook hardware is "old" if it runs lean and mean qnx like a champ.

it is certain however that if I was to buy ANY other tablet it would be no doubt N7. I just wish that google would make revision with better placement of speakers and a little bit bigger screen (ipad mini) so that control bar is not so annoying.

Sent from Blackberry Playbook using TapaTalk 2

 

[jdauria]

Nice writeup, some picture comparisons would be nice.

Like everyone has been saying if BB10 fails so will the Playbook. I used to be a crackberry fanatic for years, but within the last 3 years I made the switch to android and haven't really looked back.

 

[socialcarpet]

Wow someone actually bought a Playbook?

 

[Xopher]

I have both and use them quite often. I probably reach for the Nexus 7 more often than the PlayBook, mostly because I like the different keyboard options (like Swype).

If I'm going someplace that doesn't have wifi, I'll grab the PlayBook, since it will still have Internet access via Bridge (to my Bold 9700). I don't have to worry about tethering, rooting, or additional data plan.

The second generation PlayBook came out a couple months ago in Canada (4G version, upgraded processor, NFC) which still hasn't made its way to the US. There even looks to be another PlayBook on their roadmap for next year, probably after BB10 comes to the PlayBook.

 

[bitek]

Wow someone actually bought a Playbook?

more like 2 mil of them

Sent from Blackberry Playbook using TapaTalk 2

 

[Xopher]

One of the other things that I do with my PlayBook is connect it to a 42" HDTV (via HDMI) when visiting my parents, then sit back and use my bluetooth keyboard from the couch to control it. Makes for a nice web browsing experience, and streams videos nicely to the big screen.

HDMI is something I really wished the Nexus 7 had included.

 

[suremeansyes]

There are two number 2's in OP.

 

[bitek]

There are two number 2's in OP.

Just noticed it

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