i had a $260 gift card to use up and i saw the playbook for $200 on boxing day so i picked one up. i'm happy with it so far. it has a much better os than i thought it would. the interface is very nice as well. its main weakness is a lack of apps, but they are making it compatible with android apps soon, so that will hopefully solve it.

anyhow, i recommend it for $200 if you will use it mainly for browsing and media.

You have my sympathies. Blackberry hardware totally sucks. I know. I want to run mine over with my car. This is my second Blackberry smartphone hoping the second would be better than the first. It was for about 5 minutes until it received updates. Now it's sluggish, slower than I can stomach and I have to remove the battery at least once per day from it locking up. RIM makes garbage. I have seen reviews for that playbook tablet and they weren't very rosy. The phrase "outclassed by other similarly priced tablets" was used. Slow, stuttering. Not smooth. Etc.
But if you like it, more power to you. Just don't ever update it.

Probably be much better off with a 200 dollar Kindle Fire.

Leon hates his Blackberry smartphone also. i am not so sure that i would buy from a company that is planning to be sold. i understand that businesses - their former strong point - are jumping ship for just about anything else.

You might really want to look into this. And if you have return privileges, consider exercising them

what else am i going to get for $200 though?

the kindle fire has significantly worse specs. the ipad costs $500.

the playbook is not slow. it's incredibly fast and fluid, even with several apps open.

i could probably return it but i don't think i would be happy with the alternatives for $200. *shrug*

You need one now, huh?

What size and what requirements do you have ?

They start pretty cheap - depending on resolution and features

Ainol NOVO 7 Advanced Android 2.3.4 8GB 1.5GHz CPU HDMI 1080p Dual Camera+ Free Remote Control - $148 - no idea about the seller
http://www.merimobiles.com/ProductDetai ... e=MERI0723

it's not something that i need. i've wanted a tablet for a while now. i'm not fussy about the screen size, but i'm not interested in the 800*480 panels.

the problem is that my money is tied to a gift card that i can only use at certain malls.

i'm honestly happy with the playbook. i would have rathered an android, but they all seem to cost at least $300 with similar specs to the playbook.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.


Someday i will be forced to get a tablet


For review

they're great for surfing the web from the couch.

i'll report back in february when they will hopefully release the new operating system that lets it run android apps.

thanks for your input, guys.

Good Luck with it then. I got the Kindle Fire for Christmas. Dual Core 1GHz OMAP4 and PowerVR GPU. 512MB RAM and 8GB storage, WiFi. Screen is 1024 x 600 (I think). It is truly a beautiful IPS panel and has gorilla glass. You will not find a better tablet for 200. Runs a customized version of Android Gingerbread 2.3.4. And of course, it's backed by a bottomless supply of Amazon content. Movies, books, music,

the playbook has twice as much ram and storage, two cameras, and a few other hardware features compared with the kindle fire. the only advantage the kindle fire has over it is the software. i'm not sure what amazon gives you access to.

in terms of hardware, the playbook is the better deal hands down.