How does the upcoming BlackBerry Playbook tablet hold up against the iPad 2? Apparently, not all that well. The price is the same, starting at $500. Except that the iPad 2 is noticeably larger than the PlayBook. The reason is so it’s “one-handed” happy, so you can hold and utilize your tablet with one hand. But it just comes across like you get a bigger screen for the same amount with the iPad 2.
What it lacks in size, it makes up for in speed. The 1-gigahertz dual-core processor set is a bit (but only a bit) faster than the iPad 2’s dual-core A5 chip. But what good is speed without email? Yes, PlayBook has no email. If you have a BlackBerry smartphone, you can bridge the two together, but if not, you’ll need to log on to the internet for it like a common animal. This will be updated eventually, but in the meantime it seems barbaric to not have an email function with its launch.
In the app department, PlayBook has potential. It will be compatible with Android Apps, which is the biggest issue that most iPader’s seem to have. Then again, the iPad/iPad 2 still holds the prized market of apps…and the Android Apps won’t be available until summer.
Overall, it sounds like they took the PlayBook out of the oven before it was fully cooked. But, there’s no doubt will excited and hungry PC lovers will start picking at it. Like the BlackBerry smartphones, it will probably take a few drafts before they get the PlayBook right. If you want the first draft, it’ll be in stores tomorrow!