We posted the other day that the BlackBerry PlayBook 3G+ had appeared on the UK BlackBerry website. Between you and me I don't think it was meant to, but these things happen from time to time. Anyway, I have actually had the 3G+ for about a month and while it doesn't bring us too much new stuff to the table it will be a nice alternative to some people if they don't currently use a BlackBerry Smartphone as it will give them a data-connected portable tablet.
The price is a little hefty at £345.99 excluding VAT, so at the moment this may only be a plausible option for business users. That said, once we get the update to BlackBerry 10 on the PlayBook this thing is going to rock!
As far as I am aware the specs are the same as the 4G LTE variant in North America (32GB only), however I don't know if LTE will be supported here in the UK. But there is an easy way to find out and that is because I will be putting a EE 4G SIM card in the PlayBok 3G+ next week and we will see what happens, so stay tuned.
One other thing I am a little in the dark about is that there is no available update to OS 2.1 currently for the 3G+, but I expect that to be addressed next week when I would imagine we will see an official announcement from RIM.
Watch this space.
Reader comments
First look at the BlackBerry PlayBook 3G+
Hopefully the LTE will work for you as it is WAAAY better than the H+.
Don't expect 2.1 anytime soon though......I doubt we'll see any carrier release 2.1 before BB10 comes.
RIM can we get a frickin' dock with HDMI out for crying out loud! It's been so long since the wifi version was released and still I have to lay it down to do presentations and watch movies on my big tv. Also, when are we getting USB Hosting? Lastly no IM client to do video calls other than the built in one.
Btw, whatever happened to the leaked dock with built in RJ45, USB ports and HDMI out? Can we get any update on it.
I will be watching this space for that os 2.1 release for the 4G PB! hope it rolls sooooon.
Thanks for the article.
I've had the 2.1 upgrade for my wifi Playbook for almost a month now, and it's excellent. I'm sure you'll enjoy it when you get it.
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I’d rather be a Black Sheep than an iSheep any day.
$345.99 pounds works out to about $549 Canadian. I hope RIM decides to discount this tablet down to maybe $299 Canadian, then it would be totally worth it and I'd buy one. At the current price of $549 there's just too much competition out there, and you can get a great Samsung or iPad at that price, and that's what most will do. To be competitive RIM needs to drop the price to around $299 Canadian. That way they'd be able to compete with the all the $299 smart phones out there and also the tablets like Samsung Galaxy 2, iPad mini, Google Nexus, and kindle fire HD. Right now at $549 for the Playbook 4g lte RIM is just spinning its wheels and going no where mighty fast.
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I’d rather be a Black Sheep than an iSheep any day.
you cant just convert currency like that for products though. otherwise the $499 ipad would cost a mere £300, but its actually £399. Its all due to import taxes an stuff.
I used a Canadian $ to British pounds converter, but was unaware there were import taxes involved. Thanks for the heads up. Still I'd like to see the Playbook reduced to about $299 here in Canada, then I would buy one for sure.
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I’d rather be a Black Sheep than an iSheep any day.
Carriers set the prices, so talk to them instead, not RIM.
I don't own a tablet yet, but I'm shopping around for one. I'm not interested in games; I'll use the tablet primarily for work.
Is this a good time to buy a PB, or should I wait 3 or 4 months? I appreciate any advice you experts can give.
This sure is the right time to get one. Or wait for boxing day.