Never mind the reviews, if the PlayBook is on your shopping list, you probably don’t need a reminder that it hits a variety of retailers today in both the US and Canada. Pricing is much like the iPad’s with the 16 GB WiFi version starting out the party at $500, the 32GB costing $599, and the 64GB running $699. Of course the PlayBook is only available in WiFi models as of yet with the 3G models still on tap for a later release.
So now the question is whether you should actually buy the PlayBook. MG found it incomplete, which is in line with most other reviews as the PlayBook doesn’t have a native calander, email client, or Android app compatibility. John also has a review sample and notes the same thing along with stating it’s a “very usable device.”
It’s likely that most early adapters already made up their minds. Everyone else might want to wait until RIM updates the PlayBook to a complete platform. Updates have been coming constantly so that might be sooner than later. We’ll post an updated review once the PlayBook hits that point.
Research In Motion first announced the PlayBook seven months ago and the company delivered on its promises. In fact the PlayBook of today is nearly identical to the Playbook of seven months ago including specs, design, and functions. From the start the PlayBook was heralded as a BlackBerry companion device with the key function being tether between the two. That’s still the case today but no one outside of Waterloo expected RIM to launch the PlayBook without an email application.