First announced in September, the BlackBerry PlayBook, Research in Motion’s (RIM) ambitious entrant into the tablet market, is now set to hit stores on April 19 at $499.
Mashable has been testing out the device over the past week and also talked to Mike Lazaridis, the founder and co-CEO of RIM, about PlayBook, what it means for his company, and the opportunity he sees in a space that’s getting more crowded by the day.
Read on for the pros, cons and our view as to whether or not PlayBook stands a chance against iPad and the slew of Android options already available.
Build, Form Factor and Screen
Out of the box, the PlayBook feels sturdy and compact despite weighing in at just 425 grams. The front of the device is glass and there are no buttons. The rear is a s oft rubberized plastic that feels good in the hand. The sides have that same rubberized coating, which makes us feel more secure about potential drops — and that’s before adding any of the optional accessories.
Unlike the Xoom and the upcoming Acer Icnoia Tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook breaks away from the 10-inch form factor popularized by the iPad, opting instead for a 7-inch device, making it much more akin to the original Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Last October, Steve Jobs famously called 7-inch tablets “tweeners,” stating that the devices are too large to be a smartphone and too small for a tablet. Generally speaking, we feel that 7-inch screens can still make for a great ereader (like the Kindle), but don't quite make sense in a tablet.
The PlayBook is interesting, however, because even though it does have only a 7-inch screen, its resolution of 1024×600 makes it feel — at least in landscape mode — very similar t o an iPad. Further, in...
