BlackBerry Playbook 7-Inch Tablet (16GB)
by BlackBerry
Well, I'm happy to report that the Blackberry Playbook is a winner. The 7" 16-gigabyte model meets my needs for reading PDF documents, YouTube and video playing, surfing websites, and other basic Internet functions. The tablet is sleek and sturdy. Navigating it is pretty easy, even for a novice like me. The Hi-Def video is fantastic. I love hitting a PDF or YouTube file and having the tablet automatically know that Acrobat Reader or the video player are the ones needed to execute. All done with touching the screen, a nice change from having to 'click' all the time on my desktop or laptop. Battery charging and life are excellent. I bought the 16-gigabyte model and it's fine for my needs, but if you store lots of (HD) videos (I don't) you might want the 32- or 64-gigabyte models. If you are mostly into much smaller Word or PDF documents or websurfing, this model will be fine for you. My only quibble with the hardware would be that 2 gigabytes of RAM would be nirvana (2nd generation model?) since the OS uses up a chunk of the existing 1-gig of RAM it comes with now.
Second, the customer service reps in the U.S. were terrible. They were barely more knowledgeable than me. They kept putting me on hold and talking to supervisors or going to PC's to Google the problem and see if someone on the Blackberry boards had an answer. And my problems were not more advanced transfer or data stuff that longtime Blackberry users might experience. I couldn't get the Playbook to show up on my PC for some data transfers, did not know I needed to download the basic Blackberry Desktop Manager before doing the transfers, and also had a problem with the WiFi. The CSRs didn't seem very knowledgeable about the basic layout of the tablet as icons below the 3rd row were 'hidden' but they didn't know that (we both though they had disappeared). Fortunately, I eventually got a tech-savvy CSR from of all places Singapore who sounded like he had spent more than 15 minutes playing around with one. I got more done in 30 minutes with this guy than 5 hours with the American CSRs. Ridiculous. 
Third, and this relates to my CSR problems, the Playbook needs more in-depth tutorials on how to navigate and find things. They basically assume you are PC literate and have been using a Blackberry smartphone for years. Well, some people interested in a tablet may only have been basic web surfers with minimal PC expertise. Apple products are easy to use for first-timers -- my 75-year old dad switched from Windows to Apple and he's not a PC expert -- and if the Playbook wants to grab sizeable tablet market share they have to make this not only a winner for the Blackberry smartphone crowd but for the 1st-time purchasers who have never bought a smartphone or are not living on their tech devices 24/7. 
I'm giving the Playbook 5-stars for the device itself and the user interface, though the number of apps compared to the iPad might make more experienced tablet users give it 4-stars. I'm also giving it 1-star for customer service, the tutorial, and lack of an intro manual (no, I didn't want a 50-100 page manual to read but then they need to have more tutorial and 'how to' stuff on the Playbook for newbies). The only bright note is that you get 90-days of free customer service, so that gives you enough time to get up to speed on your own and find out if you need help from their Tech Support (if you do call them, try and get Singapore right away ! lol).
by BlackBerry
 |
| Blackberry Playbook 7-Inch Tablet (16GB) |
Well, I'm happy to report that the Blackberry Playbook is a winner. The 7" 16-gigabyte model meets my needs for reading PDF documents, YouTube and video playing, surfing websites, and other basic Internet functions. The tablet is sleek and sturdy. Navigating it is pretty easy, even for a novice like me. The Hi-Def video is fantastic. I love hitting a PDF or YouTube file and having the tablet automatically know that Acrobat Reader or the video player are the ones needed to execute. All done with touching the screen, a nice change from having to 'click' all the time on my desktop or laptop. Battery charging and life are excellent. I bought the 16-gigabyte model and it's fine for my needs, but if you store lots of (HD) videos (I don't) you might want the 32- or 64-gigabyte models. If you are mostly into much smaller Word or PDF documents or websurfing, this model will be fine for you. My only quibble with the hardware would be that 2 gigabytes of RAM would be nirvana (2nd generation model?) since the OS uses up a chunk of the existing 1-gig of RAM it comes with now. That said, there are some problems.
First, the POWER button is ridiculously difficult to turn on unless you have long/sharp nails. Could they make a bigger/longer power button/strip that wasn't a fraction of your finger size ? A minor inconvenience, but a notable one.
Second, the customer service reps in the U.S. were terrible. They were barely more knowledgeable than me. They kept putting me on hold and talking to supervisors or going to PC's to Google the problem and see if someone on the Blackberry boards had an answer. And my problems were not more advanced transfer or data stuff that longtime Blackberry users might experience. I couldn't get the Playbook to show up on my PC for some data transfers, did not know I needed to download the basic Blackberry Desktop Manager before doing the transfers, and also had a problem with the WiFi. The CSRs didn't seem very knowledgeable about the basic layout of the tablet as icons below the 3rd row were 'hidden' but they didn't know that (we both though they had disappeared). Fortunately, I eventually got a tech-savvy CSR from of all places Singapore who sounded like he had spent more than 15 minutes playing around with one. I got more done in 30 minutes with this guy than 5 hours with the American CSRs. Ridiculous. 
Third, and this relates to my CSR problems, the Playbook needs more in-depth tutorials on how to navigate and find things. They basically assume you are PC literate and have been using a Blackberry smartphone for years. Well, some people interested in a tablet may only have been basic web surfers with minimal PC expertise. Apple products are easy to use for first-timers -- my 75-year old dad switched from Windows to Apple and he's not a PC expert -- and if the Playbook wants to grab sizeable tablet market share they have to make this not only a winner for the Blackberry smartphone crowd but for the 1st-time purchasers who have never bought a smartphone or are not living on their tech devices 24/7. 
I'm giving the Playbook 5-stars for the device itself and the user interface, though the number of apps compared to the iPad might make more experienced tablet users give it 4-stars. I'm also giving it 1-star for customer service, the tutorial, and lack of an intro manual (no, I didn't want a 50-100 page manual to read but then they need to have more tutorial and 'how to' stuff on the Playbook for newbies). The only bright note is that you get 90-days of free customer service, so that gives you enough time to get up to speed on your own and find out if you need help from their Tech Support (if you do call them, try and get Singapore right away ! lol). Overall: 5-stars, with an asterisk, that being the CSRs. RIM needs to realize some people buying their product are very non-tech savvy. I know they have had a stumble the last few years but you can't skimp on customer service or ease of use (just ask Dell or Nokia).
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