Cheers for the replies.

Just reading reviews, OS 2.0 has improved it alot...

Well, i ordererd from goolge in the end. 8gb model came within a day. Delivery was a bit steep at £10.

since the price drop of the playbook things have got interesting between these 2.
the playbook is now £129 with a 64gb memory.
Lets face it a nexus 7 8gb version is pretty much pointless (no mcro sd expansion and no usb means loading 1 mkv and youve filled the memory up ) so you are looking at the 16gb at £199. If you do get the 8gb version you will be using the cloud alot.

so from a pricing point of view the playbook is better value. The new OS is also very slick and smooth and can sideload android apps to the tablet (kindle and pandora are good examples of this) The new 2.1 beta OS and promise of blackberry 10 OS is also good news for playbook users. Although Rims fortunes are not looking good they are a big company so have the potential to bounce back.

On the other hand, the nexus 7 has a better spec and of course runs android jelly bean so is a fantastic tablet but it depends what you want the tablet for. If you want it for surfing the net, video camera at 1080p, ebooks, video and music (all done with multi-tasking) then the playbook is the better option as you also get 64gb internal memory to play with as apposed to 16gb for £70 cheaper.

However, if you want the choice of thousands of apps and games, better screen resolution, full support for the future then nexus will win everytime.

i guess all im saying is that is not cut and dry that you get the nexus, when funds are short and you look at what you really want the tablet for you may be better opting for the cheaper (and larger memory) playbook rather than spending more on a system where the fantastic spec and plus points over the playbook wont be utilised.

my two cents

Really I think mainly it comes down to apps and games - if you are hapy with what you can get for the Playbook via the AppWorld and via side loading then it's an excellent piece of kit.

I got the 64GB version at the weekend to replace a 7" Android tablet and am very pleased with it.

Also as I already have an Android phone having a different OS to use does make it more interesting for me as well and I like the OS itself - especially the very easy and well tought through multitasking.

i think i could make a credible argument against this.

what you are doing is assuming everyone else has exactly the same usage requirements as you. there are many many people who would not dream of loading it with HD video.

they might use it for browsing, email, app, games, books and all the other things it can do.

I've had a Nexus 7 for a couple of months now. I got the 16gb because the price difference was marginal; I currently have 6.7GB free; a squeeze if I'd gone for the 8gb version, sure, but plenty of people would be fine with it; if I choose between having Max Payne(1.3gb) or NOVA 3(1.99gb) rather than having both on at the same time I'd be fine.

There's an app in the play store now that allows you to read pictures, movies etc. on a usb stick using an otg adapter. I know there wasn't when that FM wrote his post but it's available now.

Its not even 8gb, its 8gb less the operating system. Whats left wont last you long if you plan on using it for any games. You buy a few of the top games for android and they can be over a gb each. After a year or so you will find yourself deleting apps to make room for others. I have to do the same with my iphone. i stupidly bought the 8gb and im struggling like mad now.

and If you dont want to tonnes of games and apps on there then why bother with android at all, get the playbook, its perfect for browsing, email, ebooks, HD bbc iplayer, HD youtube using a silky smooth OS and has most of the major games and apps and is £70 less.

I have a 10inch hanspree running android with 16gb of internal and 16gb micro sd, i sused most of the internal 16gb just on games and apps. There are so many good games on the android its hard not too. The external 16gb is used for video and music.

I'm pretty new to Android. Is there any good PC programs that let you add and remove individual apps like the way iTunes does? Games like Asphalt 7 are over a gig so I don't want to download load it again if for some reason I need to temporary free up space.

Its only the graphic intensitive ones that take up loads of space though. Stuff like Plants v Zombies and Cogs come in at around the 70mb mark, and Cut the Rope and Apparatus are more like 10-30mb each.


*shrug* so what? I don't install my entire Steam catalog on my PC all the time.


I think that Android has far more advantages to the Playbook than merely playing games. App choice does matter, and yes the 'big' ones are on Playbook as well, plenty more aren't. A quick flick through some of what I have installed (not sure about sideloading, I can't imagine it works 100% with everything, but happy to be corrected)

No playbook app
-London 2012
-C4 Paralympics
-Remember the milk
-netflix
-starbucks
-google+

the situation is only likely to get worse. Seemingly, there's a lot already there, but its not likely to grow much. The whole ecosystem is being shutdown, not expanding like Android and iOS.

Now, I'm sure plenty of people will find a Playbook suitable, but its not as straightforward as "if you don't play lots of games, just get a playbook"

you can back up from your phone to your pc if you want, though I'm not really sure why you'd do this unless you were planning on reinstalling games every week or so (some people do, but thats more if they mess around with custom ROMs)

You can add or remove apps from your phone/tablet from play.google.com, no bloatware required

Doesn't Itunes do it by downloading the latest version anyway, rather than install from a local copy?

very few games are the size you mention. you could comfortably install the top ten games. it's really horses for course.

...who said tonnes of games...
that's great, but that's you.

No itunes stores whatever version is on your phone when you last synced. For example, i downloaded the new version of the ebay app and it wouldnt let me view things so i plugged my iphone back into itunes and reloaded the older version back from the previous synchonisation which was handy.

It sometimes baffles me why manufacturers are slow at bringing things out.

I don't see any USB memory sticks with the smaller micro USB connector yet.
Also supplying it with a USB adapter will ensure it has an even wider appeal.

As double ended one. One end has a normal usb, the other a micro. I'd like one like that.

wouldn't it be the wrong way around. the usb connector on a memory stick is client side. it would be the female connector same as on a phone or tablet.

to do this with a memory stick it would need to have the regular connector on one end and a usb otg on the other. if it wasn't double ended you couldn't use a simple lead to connect it to a computer.

I was also thinking of pass through to daisy chain.

Lots of the smaller manufacturers produce stuff under license. Sadly I doubt they are allowed to do thinking, which surely makes needed stuff slow to materialise.

That’s why it is worth taking a look at what is available for the Playbook before putting any money down for it – there are some apps missing and if it’s one you want then the Playbook may not be for you.

The sideloading will work with any files that has been converted to a BAR file – so you can’t just load up any Android app you like. Although there are plenty to choose from like Kindle and IMDB that you can download from a few different sites.

For me the PlayBook is spot on and the small choice of apps from the BlackBerry App World has not bothered me as I am happy to sideload the ones I want.

agreed, we originally bought the playbook to keep all our music in one place and play it via bluetooth to our hifi, and also for browsing and emails, but we have been so impressed with it that the hannspree (android) hasnt been switched on once as the playbooks user interface is so slick.
It also helps that it takes up only 4% of battery whilst in standby overnight.

Also, ive found you dont necessarily need there to be an app, Tunein internet radio is not available as an app for the playbook, but the full website works perfectly well so you just save the website address as an icon on your homescreen and it acts exactly like the app.

I think i read that netflix full website works well also even though the app isnt available but i havent tried that to be honest.

I had a long play on one of the Playbook 64GB devices tonight and they are awful. They are a dream to use, don't get me wrong, but they do nothing! Blackberry OS desperatly lacks Apps, and the ones they do have are ridiculously expensive - £5 for Angry Birds?! - or limited in function. Also, the browser may be snappy, but it fails to even display the BBC News wesite properly...

Yes, you get 64GB of storage for £130, but you also get a tablet that doesn't do much and will do even less in the future. For a little more, you do get less storage on the Nexus, but you get a totally up-to-date, fully functioning tablet that is going from strength to strength.

Surely it depends what you want out of it.

Endomondo is there.
Oruxmaps is not, but am sure its got its own stuff too + sideloading.

If you want Angry Birds for free, then you can sideload the Android version.

I understand hat, ad would be capable of doing it, but would your average user even know that it's possible to "sideload" "APKs" and change them into "BAR" files? I doubt it.

Oooh kindle fires into the equation now as well, the thing I miss the most about my playbook at the moment it played every flash video under the sun.

BBC news works fine on mine – what was not working on it?