BlackBerry® PlayBook™

[brenda1]

I am thinking of get the playbook and I am wondering if need a blackberry smartphone to use the playbook or can I use it without one.   I hope someone answers me real soon

[jamead1981 · Accepted solution]

You can use a playbook without a blackberry phone. 

However, to use BBM on the playbook (via bridge) you will need a blackberry phone as the playbook in effect is just a big screen and keyboard for the phone.a

[rossjackson01 · Accepted solution]

Hello brenda1

It's a great tablet. I do not have, and will never have a blackberry phone. I can receive all my emails, read ebooks and in general have a great time. I video chat with other Playbook users. The only app missing is skype but there is a programme that we use through the internet called Faceflow. , www.faceflow.com. It is better as it provided free video conferencing. If I need the internet away from home I just tether my phone to the Playbook.

I'm not a game player but I believe that it is better than most. I have downloaded some films and they are excellent. Not as many apps as i or android, but I only use a few at a time anyway. This tablet multitasks easily.

Hope this helps

Regards

Ross

[kinjalbanerjee · Accepted solution]

What you CAN do on the playbook (without a BB phone):

1. Use it as a general purpose tablet (eReading, Movies, Music, etc)
2. Access emails with push notification (POP, IMAP, and preconfigured for Google and many other services).
3. Sync contacts & calendars with Google or other similar services.
4. Browse the internet (via Wi-Fi, 4G if you buy that model, or via tethering to nearly any phone that has Bluetooth tethering or WiFi hotspot functionality)
5. Benefit from the surprisingly long battery life (compared to all other tablets I've seen). (Okay, this one doesn't strictly have anything to do with the topic here, but it's a feature that I love so much!)
6. Video chat with other playbook users. Skype isn't supported on the Playbook yet.

What you CAN NOT do on the playbook (without a BB phone):

1. Use BBM. (Of course you can't! You need a BB phone for that!)
2. Sync emails and contacts with your phone. (Directly that is. You can still go via the Google route.)

BBM might work on the 4G LTE version, I'm not sure. If BBM is an absolute requirement though, I think it's best you buy a BB phone. Aside from that, the Playbook is pretty functional by itself.