BlackBerry® PlayBook™

[evanicle]

I was kinda fascinated with QNX OS. The multitasking is great. I went for the demo set, gave it a try, youtube about Playbook a little. The OS, the hardware, the screen size, of the Playbook are quite promising. So I just bought a 16GB WiFi version of the PlayBook. The browser is superb with the Flash and HTML5. Nice job guys. The WiFi file sharing is AMAZING, love the feature. The HDMI output, that makes me *jaw dropped*. Nice video chat app. Unfortunately, I think RIM is still new joining the war of tablets ??? As a user of the playbook, I would like to do some feedback to you guys. And there goes the list:

1. A resizeable wallpaper setup - sometimes picking the photos I like and I put it, it zooms at the centre, which is quite frustrating. I understand it goes with the resolution of 1024x1024 wallpaper. But it is still a basic that tablets can resize their wallpaper the way the user want.

2. Skype - I guess there is nothing much to say about it...... Hopefully Skype will come out with Playbook version.

3. GPS - the GPS just can't work, I open up Bing Maps, I want to find my location, and it tells me the location is unavailable. WTH ?! I went "google" around and it is doesn't only happen to me.

4. Facebook app - the FB app can't enter "groups"

5. Native email client - It is a tablet, I know the name is "PlayBook", but this is a basic need for a tablet.

6. If I'm not mistaken, Gyro-sensor is built in, and what it is for ?

7. LED light, it hardly blinks, that's all I know about it.

8. AppWorld - too less apps but I know, it is still growing......

9. software updates - the downloading process is amazingly slow. My friends are facing the same problems, took hours to reach 100MB.

10. Browser - sometimes when I switch over to another app, (eg. FB) and it is gone. The browser app closes itself.

11. Twitter app ?????

12. Foursquare app ?????

btw, I'm from Malaysia. I'm creating this topic because I hope you guys can improve more on OS 2. If you think that I'm missing something, or any solution to solve those criterias, kindly let me know. At some point, I don't know whether to be happy or regretted after buying PlayBook. =S

[aandras]

You are not saying anything that is new. Search the boards and you will see the thread. Thanks for your imput, welcome to the forums. Just try to remember to search the boards prior to posting a new thread.

[evanicle]

Oh yes, okay. I just want to make it visible. Hopefully you guys get what the people want on the fasinating playbook. =)

[aandras]

Just to let you know. This is a community forum. the posters here are volunteers and are not RIM employees. The volunteers do it to help.

[chainsawmike]

those are valid observations. i guess you just have to go back to your reasons for purchasing the playbook in the first place. yes, as with everything, there always is room for improvement, and it will always be impossible to please everyone because our reasons for deciding to buy something will always be different from the next person.
apart from the number of available apps, browser problem, and native email client, which are quite valid and hopefully RIM is addressing with future updates, your list leads me to assume that you purchased your playbook to be able to enjoy these things. just to share my thoughts on these, since this is after all a community forum...

1. A resizeable wallpaper setup - you may need to resize your image first before making it your wallpaper. google the explanation on the wallpaper fix to find out more.
2. Skype - would be really nice to have, but how often would you really need it? i'm assuming you have a phone and a computer anyway.
3. GPS - i think your concern may be best addressed by Bing and maybe your internet provider. the playbook doesnt have a built in gps radio so locations are determined by map sites through the internet provider's info.
4. Facebook app - i believe they addressed this (i.e. groups) with the update. you may want to check appworld for it.
5. Native email client - valid, but if you use bridge to connect your playbook to your bb phone anyway, then it shouldnt be much of a problem. also, there's always the web mail option via the browser.
6. Gyro-sensor purpose - it's used to determine how the playbook screen orientation should be, and also for games.
7. LED light - do you really want it to constantly flash? try looking up an app which will let you control that. there's probably one available.
8. AppWorld - valid, and i believe RIM is taking steps to address this
9. slow software updates - probably has to do with your internet connection. except for major OS upgrades which may be around 300mb in size, software updates are smaller in size and i've not experienced problems downloading and installing them.
10. Browser problem - valid, i do experience this at times. especially when i have a number of tabs open, and other running apps.
11. Twitter app - try looking around for alternatives on appworld. im certain you can find one.
12. Foursquare app - same as no 11.

summing it up, i dont mean to "belittle" your concerns. it's just that if you really wanted to, you can find work-arounds for these things. i too contemplated on giving up my playbook for something else, but at the end of the day, i remembered why i bought this in the first place...which is to be able to comfortably enjoy BB services (bb email, bbm, bis) without having to squint at micro-images on my old 8520, fumble through the small phone keyboard, and deal with slow processing speed, and limited memory size of the phone.
if you really regret having purchased your playbook, then its really up to you. there are other options out there.

[cbvinh]

For 2, I'd like to be able to just carry a Playbook along on a trip... no laptop and no phone. I used to travel with just a Nokia N770, which I was able to use the web browser and Skype for phone calls. It's only 0.5 lbs. The Playbook is 0.9 lbs., which is heavier, but the extra screen space is great to have.

[PicaxeEffect]

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chainsawmike wrote:

3. GPS - i think your concern may be best addressed by Bing and maybe your internet provider. the playbook doesnt have a built in gps radio so locations are determined by map sites through the internet provider's info.

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That's not correct. The PlayBook does have GPS. It's just very poorly designed and doesn't work most of the time.

[reconeyes]

I don't think it does have gps, without 3g it isn't possible. I downloaded a few GPS apps and none of them worked unless I was connected to Wifi, which makes it useless. Unless you carry a 3g hotspot transmitter, there is no way to use GPS on the go which is really its only purpose, for if I am connected to a wifi network, I already know where I am.

[evanicle]

Hmmm..... I'm confused. Are you guys "shoo-ing" me off from PlayBook and starting to get an Android tablet. All I know the deisign, the performance of the hardware is really really really awesome and nice. I hope RIM can do something on it. OS 2 is coming out. I really hope there is a big improvements. At least a native email client/app. Otherwise, to me, each time we need something, we gotta rely on the browser, it is just lame. Why not we can have an app ? I'm not demanding for really really really great apps like HD games, or some really special app. All I want is just some basics which a tablet should have. Foursquare ? G+ ? Gmail ? Google Map ? Whatsapp ? FB Messenger ? Calendar ? The Bing Maps I can say it is not reliable. I'm not trying to be mean but it sucks. It can't even locate where I am. I tried it on outdoor, indoor, higher places, lower places, I am still unable to get my exact location. My 2nd gen iPod which has no GPS, google map still can track my location. What the hell ? The Sync-ing is so darn awful. It is a pain to wait for the music and playlists to be synced. Just update the playlist and copy the songs into the playbook, it takes 10 minutes to sync a few new songs n playlists. WHAT IS WRONG ?