Blackberry Playbook - first impressions 01
We picked up the last Playbook on sale in Fredericton yesterday. And have been mucking about with it for the past 24 hours.
My first impressions is that I like the build quality, the form factor (bigger than an iP0d but smaller than an iPad), the stickiness of the coating on the back, the clean intuitive interface, and the rich display.
The audio is surprisingly good. It seems to have a depth - on the bass end of the scale - missing in most small consumer electronics.
The Playbook has two cameras - one front, one back. The camera on the back produces decent quality video, and puts you in the position of using the monitor to control the camera. It even has optical stabilization.
On the Other Hand...
The lack of a calendar application is curious. I'm not a Blackberry user, but understand that if I was, I could use the calendar app on the phone to synch with the Playbook. The only recommendation for us non-Blackberry users is to use Google Calendar.
It froze, less than 12 hours in. What happens is that when you boot up your Playbook, it displays the 'Blackberry Playbook' title - white text on black background that slowly changes to a multi-coloured background. And stays there. The on-screen swipe does nothing. The edge of the bezel that normally reacts to finger touches goes dead.
The solution requires plugging the Playbook into a computer, downloading the desktop Playbook application, and upgrading the Playbook software. So you need a computer to use your tablet? Doesn't seem right.
And the upgrade was a less than flawless process.
Netflix doesn't work. And for our US friends, Hulu is blocking the Playbook. Silverlight, Microsoft's video delivery platform, isn't compatible with the device.
I haven't been able to find a streaming video service that recognizes the Playbook's camera so it could be used to stream live.
Battery Life?
No idea whatsoever. Will have to test that over the next few days.
-g
1. Apr 23, 9:43 - corrected iPad/iPod comparison - Thanks, Annie
