The Most Incredible Tablet That Gets the Least Attention
Soon after Apple came out with their iPad 1 tablet, much hype and anticipation was made around the Playbook tablet manufactured by RIM, most notorious for their incredibly handy cell phone devices. For some reason, as RIM came out with their playbook tablet, the technological community immediately compared it to the iPad and dismissed it. The iPad is the iPad and the Playbook is the Playbook.
Although they might seem similar in form and function, they differ greatly in many ways. The Playbook is the ultimate tablet device for anyone searching to expand upon their already enjoyable experience on the Blackberry. Its Bluetooth link to the Blackberry turns your Playbook into a large, comfortable platform, in order to do whatever you wanted to do on your Blackberry in a more relaxed and comfortable way. The connection is extremely easy and really does not require any special skills.
The major complaint, which was made all over the news, that the Playbook lacked an internalized email application, is simply overdone. Yes, it is a mistake and a lack which should be and will be corrected. But the real question is whether it prevents users in any way from doing what they want to do? The answer to this question is no, for the simple reason that having to use the Bluetooth connection to your Blackberry actually makes things easier. Your email accounts and contacts are already present and there is no need to re-program an additional app. And yes, we hope that RIM will shortly integrate a native email program which will actually make the task described above quick, simple and allow non-Blackberry users to take full advantage of the tablet.
Its amazingly clear screen can be linked to a larger monitor or HDTV through its micro HDMI port. The HDMI port along with its full support for Adobe Flash, Word, Excel and PowerPoint make presenting and editing effortless. Its front camera can even serve in a video conference. Its HDMI port sets the Playbook ahead in that it can serve as a portable media station both for work-style presentation and leisure activities. With the overwhelming growth of companies such as Netflix, the need for media stations is growing. The Playbook can even become your permanent source of films and music for your home cinema system. Its streaming capabilities are impressive and comparable to that of a PC.
After having addressed the more “Book” aspect of this device, but still mentioned some perks of its “Play” facet, let us focus briefly on its battery life, operating system and web surfing capabilities. All connections activated, the battery lasted roughly 9 hours, an ample amount of time. The interface from QNX (purchased by RIM) is very smooth. No bugs were encountered, even while many tasks were running at the same time. Multitasking between the various opened tasks happened to be much simpler and more amusing than with the Samsung Galaxy Tab or the iPad 2. The type of processor used allowed for many large applications to run simultaneously without any issues. As for the web browsing, the Playbook offers you an incomparable experience; believe it or not, it is more enjoyable than being on a PC. The device supports all web site plug-ins and does not come up with any blank spots (as many other tablets do!).
The Playbook is in essence a successful effort by RIM, which already masters the business realm with its famous BlackBerry, to enter and combine the main technological efforts of daily life. The Playbook has two aspects to it: the “Play” to relax and the “Book” to be more serious. The Playbook goes beyond being “perfect for the enterprise environment” — it combines and facilitates the most tense times of the day with the most détente ones. It is small and light enough to carry all over, but large enough to accomplish any task you wish with the stroke of a finger. The special pricing offered by RIM (all models at $299) and the much anticipated release of the Playbook OS 2.0 enhance the Playbook’s appeal.
