Beware Mac Users!

Just thought id let you guys know.

The playbook is utterly useless with macs. RIM doesnt have mac connectivity with the playbook. You can have the RIM desktop S/W on your mac but it wont read the PB when plugged in. Even sending files via Bluetooth doesnt work. A mac and PB will sync fine but files wont send because again, RIM doesnt have any Mac support for mac users with a playbook.

 

I doubt many people will be heartbroken over this. The Playbook is a POS.

 

the playbook is utterly useless without macs too!

 

I guess returning that iPad 2 was a mistake... I can understand RIM not fully supporting the PlayBook under Mac OS X simply because the majority of people who are going to buy one are business centric so they run some flavor of Windows. I know RIM is trying to shed their dull business friendly motif with the PlayBook but everybody can see beyond that.

On a side note, I must say that the PlayBook actually looked a lot smaller in person and, if it wasn't backed by a company surviving only because of their business cliental and actually had apps when it launched (no mail support, they must be high!), it might have been something that I would have purchased. However, RIM's model is not something I want to be part of (especially since they had to add Android emulation just to get support for more than a dozen apps) and I am looking forward to upgrading to an iPad 2.

Yeah, I know. That wasn't the point of this thread but I thought I would go off-topic and act like a noob much like what I have seen from another particular user.

 

Yeah, I don't mean to sound "mean", I remember the OP posting a couple of weeks or so ago bragging that he got rid of his iPad 2 in favor of the BB Playbook. So it doesn't work completely with a Mac huh? No sympathy here, simple as that!

 

yeah. I seem to recall that post too.

 

Good thing I had no interest in the Playbook anyway.

 

well i personally think its dumb that rim chose not to release the playbook with mac support. sure PC is still the mass market but the fact is mac users have been fastly growing consistently year after year and its pretty naive to not have mac support, if you want to take a piece from apples market share you need to make your product compatible with mac computers, irs as simple as that. how does rim plan on selling the playbook to mac users if they have zero support? i mean its pretty common sense to me that this should have been a top priority at playbook launch.

I ended up returning the playbook because of several reasons but at the top was the fact that i just dont have a lot of faith in RIM making the product succeed long term. To be honest with you, I just dont see the playbook lasting longer than a year or two before stores start clearing them out at blowout prices. For one, theyre about $100 overpriced for a smaller tablet, that is pretty much in its beta phase and not ready out of the box. There is just no way a new tablet from RIM should only be $20 less than an ipad 2. Theres just no way, whomever at RIM came up with the pricing should be fired.

8 out of 10 general consumers will look at the prices and easily say "what? only $20 more for an apple, and it has a bigger screen and better materials and way more apps?" How does RIM honestly believe they can sell in that situation?

They stand no chance. But IF they sold their playbooks for at the very least $100 cheaper than an ipad 2 then it would be a much more ideal situation for RIM. And that is why i just dont see the playbook lasting.

Plus RIM is notorious for talking big but not keeping their promises. I keep thinking about the storm and how much of an epic failure that was. The storm really took a big hit on RIM and they have yet to recover up to this day!

And yes no connectivity with my MBP was a joke, it was a big reason i took it back. Couldnt load music or movies or anything to my PB so aside from an overpriced web browser, it was utterly useless. RIM says Mac connectivity for PLaybook will come, but god knows when, this is afterall RIM were talking about here...the king of delays. I did end up using it for 12 days so i had more than enough time to discover the ins and outs of the playbook. Believe it or not, im glad i was willing to give it a chance because i did actually end up liking it, A LOT! A lot more than i was expecting thats forsure. The main thing going for it is the size, by far. This is the biggest key selling point it had for me over ipad, it wasnt even close. It was much more portable and thumb typing was much more comfortable. And the multi-tasking UI on it is slick and puts iOS4 to shame. Trust me, ipad2 is not multitasking, its weak compared to Playbook UI. I personally still think the touch sensitive bezel and finger swipers is genius. I actually much prefer it over the home button on ipad. So all in all, the Playbook did have some things that i liked over ipad 2.

The ipad 2 I returned because 1) the thing was too big to lug around everywhere. It was ok at first but the 2 weeks I had it, it started to really get on my nerves. 2) honestly my 13" MBP isnt that much bigger than an ipad 2 and does 1000x more. 3) Im still getting an iphone 4 in 2 weeks when my contract is up for under $100....literally 1/7th the cost of the ipad 2 I had. 4) Once I have an iphone 4, i will not use the ipad at all because i have no use for it, it does literally the exact same stuff just different screen sizes. ip4 is much more mobile than ipad 2.

So im going the iphone 4 + MBP route. To me, having iphone 4 + ipad 2 + MBP is just overkill. To me, when i had the ipad 2, it just felt redundant with my MBP. If say I had a 17" MBP, ok it would be a different story but I have a 13" and its really not much bigger than an ipad 2 to warrant owning both. If I didnt have a MBP, i would have forsure kept the ipad 2.

So that is why i returned my ipad 2. Otherwise trust me (aside from the size) i absolutely loved it. But i know ill love the iphone 4 even more because of the size and this will be my first iphone ever! So im very excited!

If Apple came out with a 7" ipad mini, id snap it up in a heartbeat.

 

I suppose you could run Windows via Parallels for syncing or whatever the Playbook does.

If I were you, I'd return it for a Xoom or something like that. Get something with some apps on it, man. Don't play yourself just to make a statement.

BTW: you're going to have to explain how an iPad 2 is something so heavy you have to talk about it as something you have to refer to it as "the thing" that was "too big to lug around everywhere". It's barely 1lb right? Probably should have done what the smart people do and just got one of those really stylish dedicated 10" bags. but oh well.

 

RIM should stay in the business/government market and leave the consumer side of the industry alone. Blackberry's do a great job at the corporate level with Exchange functionality, and I think they should focus on their core business. As a "smartphone", I find BB's to be extremely lacking. Some people love them, I dont see it as anything more than a tool to check my corporate email when I'm on the go. Now with the rise of Good Technology, we are having more of our corporate Blackberry devices returned so folks can use Good to sync their personal devices (iPhones, Droids) with Exchange and get their email. RIM needs a game changer and I have really yet to see one from them.

 

for the record, most companies rely on clientele to survive.

 

Yeah, I am sensing a little paradox there. The iPad 2 is too big to carry around (it is 1.33 lbs for the wi-fi only version and 1.35 lbs for the wi-fi+3G edition) when it is lighter and thinner than even a junior high textbook, thinner than an iPhone 4, and takes up about the same amount of space as a 100 page spiral bound paper notebook yet a 13" MBP isn't much bigger than that? The 13" MBP is about 3 times thicker than an iPad 2, 1.5" deeper, over 3" wider, and it weighs over 3 times as much (4 times as much with the AC adapter). That just doesn't make sense. That's like saying "I returned my electric scooter because it was too big, I decided to just use my Ford F150 pickup instead since it really isn't that much bigger."

Even then I think you are entirely missing the point of the iPad 2 as you are making it out to be a large screened iPod touch. There are still things that the iPad 2 can do that neither the 4G iPod touch or iPhone 4 can accomplish and much of that comes from the larger display. Paint and hand note apps on the iPhone are pretty much useless, Garageband isn't even out for the iPhone, iMovie is worlds better on the iPad 2, an iPhone isn't going to let you surf the internet and watch movies for 10 hours, web browsing is better on the iPad 2 as you can actually load the full versions of websites without problems (albeit with no Flash) and not needing to zoom in, and I can keep going on.

I am not saying that an iPad 2 is better than a smartphone, I am simply stating that they are two different things meant for different target audiences and the iPad 2 definitely has the leg up in terms of what it can do with apps.

I would still like to see an explanation as to how an iPad 2 is too big to carry around yet a 13" MBP isn't much bigger than it. I have carried my iPad everywhere with me over the past year and have never encountered a problem where it was too heavy, I couldn't fit it in a bag, I couldn't carry it, etc. I even purchased a Targus 10" netbook back for it that allowed me to haul my iPad, its AC adapter and USB cable, my QuietComfort headphones and a few AAA batteries, my point-and-shoot digital camera, 4G iPod touch, and TI-89 graphing calculator all in something that still weighed less than my 13" MBP and took up about 1/10th of the space of a standard backpack.

 

Right and I am not denying that. However, there was a time when business and mainstream consumers rely on RIM and their BlackBerry phones. I couldn't take more than 10 steps on campus (NMSU) without seeing someone carrying a BlackBerry. That was back in 2002 through 2007. Now when I walk on UC's campus, I can't go more than 5 steps without seeing someone carry either an iPhone or Android smartphone. The non-business crowds are already migrating away from RIM and that is apparent with their sales and the amount of Android handsets sold every month.

The only thing keeping them afloat is their business/government consumers as they rely on RIM's security and they don't want to lose out on investing in a few of RIM's servers that send work related e-mails out to everyone. Even Nokia had to completely change their approach to the smartphone market despite being a major international seller. There is a large difference between selling models to consumers for profit and staying alive from one niche market (which is what RIM is doing).

Apple and Google (along with all of the other hardware manufacturers) are not staying alive but rather making money from certain consumer clientele while RIM is struggling to make ends meet and is really only retaining their market share based on the business/government crowds.

 

Im not too impressed with the xoom from playing the instore one and all the horror stories and mixed reviews Ive heard. There is a reason why its only sold 100,000 units since launch. The thing is way too laggy for my liking plus the screen is horrible and washed out.

Its not so much the weight of the ipad 2 (its 1.4lbs to be exact), but the size. Its huge to say the least. Once you use the playbook for 2 weeks you will learn to really appreciate its size. It really is the ideal size for tablet in hand use. I much prefer a 7" tablet over 10." I prefer to type with my thumbs and you can only do that in portrait mode on an ipad. Even then its bit awkward cause its huge compared to playbook which fits in your hands like a sony PSP.

 

Im talking about the dimensions of it, not thickness or weight. I know my 13" MBP is 3lbs heavier and bigger but while in hand to me it doesnt feel much different. The size difference between the ipad 2 and 13" MBP isnt great enough to own both, for me anyhow. If the ipad 2 was 7" then yes, i would have a need for both. ipad 2 is at least 2/3 the size of MBP. To me, it should be half or less.

I know many people who agree with me, they dont even carry their ipads with them anymore because its cumbersome. They all said the same thing, you might as well just carry yourr laptop since its not much bigger.

ipad 2 isnt as portable as many tend to think. Make it 7" and it would fix it.

Heres a pic of when i had the PB. NOW THIS is a "significant difference" in both size and weight to warrant owning both. Ipad is not. ipad is 2/3 the size of my MBP.

 

Umm, thickness is a dimension. You also must have some gargantuan hands if an iPad 2 doesn't feel different from a 13" MBP when you hold it.

Your math is off. The 13" MBP is over 4.5 times larger than an iPad 2 in size (just going off of the dimensions; iPad 2 is 23.61 in^3 and 13" MBP is 108.54 in^3). That makes the iPad 2 roughly 22% the size of a 13" MBP, a far cry from 66% (ie 2/3rd). It isn't as small as a PlayBook but it is much, much, much smaller than a 13" MBP no matter how it is spun.

 

rim is pos. I had a blackberry and their software is alow and it sucks. ill give em a rim alright. they suck.

 

Anyone who thinks the iPad 2 is cumbersome needs to eat their Wheaties and hit the gym.

 

Well this is good news...seeing as how the PB is rubbish.

 

I travel every single week for work and the iPad 2 is one of the most portable while still versatile devices I've ever had. I hardly ever have to pull out the MBP until I'm at the client sites.