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BlackBerry PlayBook Reviews Roundup!

by Kevin Michaluk on 14 Apr 2011 12:16 PM
36
 
BlackBerry PlayBook

Last night at 9pm EDT the embargo lifted and the interwebs filled up with BlackBerry PlayBook reviews. You'll definitely want to check out CrackBerry's BlackBerry PlayBook Review if you haven't done so yet, and to save you some time from searching we've roundedup the other PlayBook reviews we've come across so far (if we've missed any, drop the links in the comments).

All in all the final summary points across the majority of the reviews were pretty consistent, though there was definitely a mix in the tone of the reviews. Some of the reviews had a more positive outlook, mainly praising the PlayBook's hardware and making note of the raw power of the QNX-based operating system and what it will allow RIM to do with the BlackBerry platform moving ahead, despite what it may be lacking at launch. Other reviews focused mainly on the negative, being the lack of native email, PIM and quality 3rd party apps at launch. I tried to take a straight out unbiased and honest approach on our review, highlghting the goods along with the bads. In addition to reading the CB review, I'd definitely recommend checking out Anandtech's review - it is also very indepth and comes at the review from more of a technical analysis of the hardware and QNX OS. I also thought Sascha Segan's PCMag review, while quite a bit shorter, hit a lot of great points.

Looking through some of the comments from CrackBerry readers on the review and in the forums, it seems that most folks that have been wanting to get a PlayBook are still set on it, some more than ever. A few are going to cancel their pre-orders and wait till they can play with it in stores before making their final decision.  I have to say, the more I use the PlayBook the more the form factor is growing on me. While working on a review your mindset is very critical and you're not really having "leisure time fun" on the device, as you have a deadline you're working toward. After my review was published last night I kicked back on the couch and straight out just played with on the PlayBook, browsing the web shooting off emails from the Bridge. After three hours of non-stop playtime, I didn't want to put it down and go to bed (Miss CrackBerry is already worried I'm addicted to it). That being the case, I'm thinking this really is going to be the start of a long-lasting friendship.. err... addiction..

More BlackBerry PlayBook Reviews

Filed Under: News & Rumors, Editorial, CrackBerry Polls; Tags: BlackBerry Playbook
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36 Comments

Posted by TABpilot32 Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

Wait there are more reviews than just Kevin's? I was up all night reading that one/watching all of the associated videos... boy am I behind!

 
 
Posted by Kevin Michaluk Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

hahaha. well i'm glad i held your attention. There were so many videos/content in that review I'm going to break them apart and re-post a lot of the videos as individual posts. lots of cool stuff buried in that review.  you're awesome for reading it all though.

 
 
Posted by enzo07i Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

i am done downloading all videos from crackberry, I already watched the update os, tethering and navigation in UI, thanks for crackberry balance review.

 
 
Posted by imcurved Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

Kevin, could you do a quick review on the Doc-To-Go app on the PlayBook? thanks.

 
 
Posted by q649 Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

Kevin,

Thanks for the follow-up, especially your post-analysis thoughts on real use v.s. review use. I must admit that I felt a little disappointment this morning after absorbing the reviews, but I'm going to clear my mind, walk into a store on April 19th, and try the PlayBook first hand.

 
 
Posted by Kevin Michaluk Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

I bet you're going to like it!  Just make sure you have those gestures memorized before you pick it up for the first time so you can fly through it immediately.  The homescreen UI is really fast and slick. 

 
 
Posted by andrewmcwhirter Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

I was aware of all the 'negative' aspects of the Playbook before these reviews came out. Native email and PIM apps are not an issue for me as I will use my Blackberry smartphone on Bridge. However, hearing a few reviewers mention bad flash performance disappoints me a little. And I thought the PB's browser would kick iPad2's ass in speed tests.

 
 
Posted by WillieLee Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

The speed tests were against the iPad, the iPad 2 has updated software and hardware.

 
 
Posted by slant Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

Similar hardware and both built on webkit. Neither will blow the other out of the water. Now if you have 6 applications open on each device the story may be different :) RAM may be the deciding factor in this scenario.

 
 
Posted by WillieLee Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

I don't really put much stock into reviews as the field has been tilted against RIM for the last two years. What seems to be lost on many (and even yourself to a degree Kevin) is that this isn't BlackBerry OS 7, it's Tablet OS 1.

It should be judged on the level of a brand new OS, not the mature product the reviewers are holding it to. RIM has not only crafted a new OS but a new product line for them. They didn't just port over the smartphone OS as others have done, it's much more powerful than the competition. It just needs some time to grow.

The constant "no native..." complaints shows that people either forgot or never knew how RIM's NOC operates. It's a real push environment where the device is in constant contact with the network. Not the phony push that's really polling of the competition. Without a cellular radio it's rather tricky to maintain an "always on" status for a device.

I'll be buying my PlayBook on Tuesday no matter what reviewers say, just like I've bought the BlackBerry smartphones. I buy products for myself, not for some writer.

 
 
Posted by jvic31 Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

"It should be judged on the level of a brand new OS, not the mature product the reviewers are holding it to."

Really? You make it sound like RIM deserves a break simply for trying. This new device should be judged against market competition in the same price point, not sliding scale reviews based on iteration. Mike 'Not Fair!' Lazaridis might not like the comparisons, but it is not up to him, it is up to his customers.

RIM is not a child who gets a pat on the head simply for attendance and trying, it gets money for putting out products people want. By all accounts this is a solid piece of hardware, but the current software gives some reviewers pause.

The $500.00 Playbook can, should, and will be compared to competing products in the market, even if the makers of those competing products saw fit to include features or functions that the Playbook currently lacks.

 
 
Posted by WillieLee Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

And the features it does have that the competition lacks shouldn't be glossed over as unimportant. Which is what many of the reviews do. The "It's not an iPad so it doesn't matter" attitude is silly.

You can look back at any of the first versions of the operating systems in use today and all the supposed roadblocks to success that were cited by reviewers rarely are an issue.

RIM isn't a company trying to reverse course from years of losses, they are making a transition during a period of record sales and profits. They have a following and continue to grow it. That's all they have to worry about. Not convincing some tech blogger to give up his iPad.

 
 
Posted by elsteve9 Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

I have to agree with Jvic, Willie. "It should be judged on the level of a brand new OS..." Now, I'm personally impressed by what they've pulled off, basically. However, intellectual curiosity and kudos aren't what people buy a tablet for.

And to jump off of a point you made, though not directly address it: I was really, really disappointed with the lack of native apps. I like Rim. I'm on my 3rd blackberry, and have no interest in alternatives. However, the thing doesn't ship with a freakin' MEMO application. There's no CALENDAR. What does that have to do with NOC? This feels like a large collection of oversights. They have a good idea with the blackberry bridge, but a developed product will have the ability to do everything inside the playbook, with the option to use bridge for security/ convenience. But to simply not have these basic, basic apps, including a MEMO pad? C'mon. C'mon.
Somebody screwed up, plain and simple. They showed how quickly basic apps could be thrown together a few months ago. They couldn't divert a small team for a week to put together a MEMO app? Much less a calendar, address book, etc. Tsk, tsk. Now they're getting their asses handed to them over this issue in a number of reviews.

On the other hand, most of these problems, I expect RIM will have sorted out by the time the 4G versions come out this summer. Maybe I should say, "i hope...."

-Stephen

 
 
Posted by enzo07i Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

so far, only crackberry have balanced and detailed review

 
 
Posted by slant Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

Overall I'd say the reviews were pretty good compared to past RIM devices. I really only had a couple problems with a couple reviewers. Mainly those that questioned the quality of the ~3000 PlayBook apps. It's totally fine to take the quality over quantity view and draw conclusions about PlayBook and AppWorld from that side of things. But you CANNOT immediately turn around and then compare it to ~65,000 iPad apps (Some even went as far as to add the iPhone compatibility apps here. Which is WAY worse). This insinuates that all ~65,000 are of exemplary quality. As for the brackets above, some insinuated ~350,000 quality apps. It sucks that this kind of reporting in the end hurts both sides. Less competition = less innovation historically.

 
 
Posted by WillieLee Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

It's the standard RIM treatment, quality was never a concern when naming the size of the application stores for Android or Apple, but now that RIM has a larger(for them) application selection at launch everyone is concerned with quality.

 
 
Posted by alby4ever Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

That's because BB apps in general have been poor in quality in comparison to the app selection on Android and iOS. There's no disputing that iOS and Android are currently attracting the most talented app developers. That could change with the apps on the Playbook, but if you go by the history of BB, it's fair to question the quality of the apps.

 
 
Posted by slant Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

Not sure I agree with this. If you mean graphically they are better, maybe. But not by much. You'll find a lot of the powerful Android apps need the phone to be rooted. Did you know you can't even use a screenshot app without a rooted Android device? This sort of thing will effect quality as well. iOS is in general a very weak platform to develop for. The apis are very lacking and you will run into a bunch of trouble trying to perform background tasks with the iOS faux multi-tasking. I personally thing the quality of BB apps is above the other platforms based on power of the APIs.

 
 
Posted by sf49ers Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

AnandTech has by far the best review IMO

 
 
Posted by enzo07i Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

To all Playbook fans,

Please help RIM to advertise playbook by sharing the video of playbook reviews from crackberry to your friends using Facebook. This will help RIM to reach those uninform and those who do not know the capabilities and features of playbook.

Thanks...

 
 
Posted by jrmtz85 Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

@Kevin: One thing I felt lacking in this review was more discussion on video playback.
Did you try out different types codec and filetypes of video? AVI, MKV, OGG, etc. Xvid, x.264, DivX, etc.
Did it handle subtitles well? SRT, SUB, encoded anime subtitles, etc
Does it transfer all of these easily and quickly from a PC?

I don't mean to nitpick, but video handling is pretty much my deciding factor whether to get a PlayBook or not, and I doubt I'll get to test all that with an in-store demo.

Thanks

 
 
Posted by BigPlayChad8 Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

Agree completely. I am sick of converted movies and shows I download into iTunes formats for my iPad.

Can it play all those video types?

 
 
Posted by mkye86 Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

does it play netfilix? if not, will it?!!!!

 
 
Posted by Gamesdmc3 Saturday, Apr 16, 2011 403 days ago

it should

 
 
Posted by Gamesdmc3 Saturday, Apr 16, 2011 403 days ago

it should

 
 
Posted by djnick Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

All of the reviews are pretty consistent. They say that its still very premature product across all the reviews

 
 
Posted by zoso2 Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

Other than the app store, it's not premature at all. It might be lacking a few features that people would respond to, but whats there is solid as hell

 
 
Posted by VZNBerry Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

Can anyone address that BGR found that if you have multiple tabs/browser windows open, the browser reloads once a tab/window selected, that's deal killer for me? I have to use multiple windows all the time and can't wait for them to reload on 3G network.

 
 
Posted by zoso2 Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

It doesn't reload.. True multitasking and true tabbed browsing

 
 
Posted by Eric6052 Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

One annoying thing about most reviews is the harping in the power burton over and over again. Kevin pointed out to wake the device you swipe the bezil. What's so hard to understand about that. The other reviews werent as thurogh as Kevins which I guess is to be expected since this is a Blackberry site but some reviews almost seemed half assed and just a way to say its not the ipad. On every site where i contribute comments I tried to at least point out about the swipe to wake feature. I look forward to the next Crackberry podcast to hear the other guys thoughts and impressions, especially Bla1ze since he's recently joined those of us on the dark side with Android.

 
 
Posted by Kiddo2050 Friday, Apr 15, 2011 403 days ago

New Units have a better power button so that complaint is gone too. The reviewers are biased yes, but RIM did a poor job giving out units too soon.

 
 
Posted by zoso2 Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 404 days ago

Well I got my hands on a Playbook for the first time today. I was pretty skeptical about it given all the recent negative reviews, but in the end I was quite impressed. First of all the power button could be bigger, but it's not as big of a deal as all the hype. The screen size is just right considering the overall size of the device, and QNX is simply amazing. Flash sites worked perfectly, and was quite fast as well. The bridge function works without a hitch, and after seeing it in action I can understand why they didnt include those core apps on the playbook itself. In any case, i'm sure there will be some software remedy to that particular problem in the near future. Basically, I wasn't interested in owning a tablet, other than just to have another gadget, until I saw the playbook in action. Now I can't wait to get my hands on one.

 
 
Posted by Kiddo2050 Friday, Apr 15, 2011 403 days ago

@ Kevin and the Crackberry Team can you rerun this poll now that we know there is email available through Early Bird??? To me the lack of email was the single biggest negative in every review including your own (fair) review. But puff that's gone. Native calendar and Contacts will soon be there too I'm sure.

 
 
Posted by jmarkey77 Friday, Apr 15, 2011 403 days ago

I've read a ton of reviews. The negative things excluding the power button (which should be fixed in the one I buy) I knew about before the reviews. No surprises. And yes, Tuesday morning I'll be in front of Best Buy waiting to walk in and buy my brand new Playbook.

I love my Torch and the Playbook would be an excellent addition.

Note: I just read a review that named the word processor as one of that persons top four loved features on the Playbook. I was shocked and now excited to use that app as I was just planning on using Google Docs on the Playbook.

 
 
Posted by BJ_2011 Saturday, Apr 16, 2011 402 days ago

If you drive anything except a Ford, your car infotainment system likely runs the QNX operating system. Tight integration with Blackberry phones and the Playbook is one of the many reasons that I find RIM's products compelling. Not that you need a tablet to control your car, but possibilities of upcoming applications that will allow an interface to your vehicles computer systems just sounds really cool. I'm sure that Apple and Android will never have this capability. Just one more cool thing about the playbook.

 
 
Posted by QuezXLV Tuesday, Apr 19, 2011 400 days ago

Here's one I don't think got posted above: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/04/18/blackberry-playbooks-poor-impr...