Blackberry PlayBook for Contestors

My husband. The Blackberry enthusiast. When Blackberry announced it would be releasing a tablet – he was really excited, and he had to have one. He was thrilled to have a device that could connect to his phone, it would be an amazing tool for him to use- because like many, he is attached to his Blackberry.co

So? Why did I care?

I didn’t, and while I try to share or at least pretend to care about the things that please my husband, I just didn’t. There was nothing that his PlayBook could do, that I couldn’t do from my PC.

On the run

On my way out the door for my dreaded 2 hour glucose test every pregnant lady has to endure – I grabbed his PlayBook. If I had to sit there for 2 hours, at least I could check my facebook…. but it was so much more than that. I finally saw the light. PlayBook is an amazing piece of technology. I am now on board with the rest of the people that love PlayBook – here’s why.

Open multiple windows

Unlike browsing the web on your phone, with PlayBook you can easily navigate the Internet by having as many windows open as you would like. With a simple stroke of your finger you can easily select which window you would like to have open. This made entering sweepstakes a cinch, since I could easily fill out my entry form, and return to my favorite contest site – hassle free!

Easy to use keyboard

While there is a keyboard attachment you can use with your PlayBook, which turns it into a mini laptop, I did not use this attachment. I simply used the PlayBook itself. I was pleased with how easy it was to complete forms online. You simply have to touch the field that you wish to type in, a keyboard pops up and you key in the information you wish to include. Not once did my finger hit the key next to the one I wanted to select. The built in keyboard is easy and efficient to use, which again, made entering sweepstakes a cinch.

You can have the full Facebook experience

As every contestor knows – Facebook is a must. I was really pleased to find that I could use Facebook chat, and I could vote for my friends who needed votes in voting contests. The only downside to voting on PlayBook is that it didn’t keep me logged into Facebook or Twitter. Each and every time I voted for somebody, I had to log in again. This is much more time consuming then voting from my regular PC – but it is still a bonus since I am unable to vote from my phone at all. I will give it one thumb up instead of 2 – I’m sure it is a great security feature that it won’t keep you logged in, however for my purposes, it would make life easier!

Tweet Tweet!

If Facebook gets a mention, then so does Twitter. I loved getting the full Twitter experience as well. While PlayBook would not be the best option if you were wanting to attend a Twitter Party that required you to be the first to answer – PlayBook is excellent for attending Twitter parties that choose winners randomly. The easy-to-use keyboard ensures you still have an enjoyable experience. Simply posting tweets is a breeze, and a much easier task then using your phone for Twitter.

It connects to your BlackBerry

You don’t have a BlackBerry? Well you should :p (if not, this part won’t appeal to you!)

You will receive your BBM’s and e-mail notifications while surfing the web. I check my e-mail frequently, so it would be a great benefit to me to receive a notification each time a new message appears in my inbox. Since I was using my Husbands PlayBook, it is not set up to alert me of my e-mails, but it is a feature I love none the less.

Great for Mommies and Daddies

Ok, ok, while this is not sweepstakes related, I am going to throw this in too! My husband uses his PlayBook for work, I enjoy it for my passion – entering sweepstakes. My 3 year old daughter also enjoys it. While some parents may argue that electronics are not the way to go when dealing with a 3 year old. I will argue, that some days we spend more time than we should running errands and such. With all that time spent in the car, and stores – well it is just not very stimulating for my 3-year old. She can watch YouTube videos or play preschool games online – with ease.

So there you have it – with a little help, even my 3 year old can navigate PlayBook!

What I didn’t love

I did run into a small problem while entering sweepstakes on PlayBook. I found it very easy to copy information, however I wasn’t able to paste the information into my new window. This would make Twitter entries in blog giveaways next to impossible to complete. Even if there is a retweet button, you wouldn’t be able to share the link with the blog owner.

While I did wish I could paste into a new window, and I also wished it would keep me logged into Facebook and Twitter until I logged off… I still say PlayBook is awesome! I really enjoyed my time on there, my 2 hour wait to complete my test flew by, and I was ready to continue my day in no time – in fact I would have been content to sit there a while longer with PlayBook.

I think we will start to see a lot of sweepstakes popping up offering a PlayBook as the prize. I say if you can’t buy one – try to win one! I hope to win one for my own one day soon – so I wish you and I both lots of luck

About the Author, amyt0915

Amy is a devoted wife, and a Proud Mommy of a 2 year old girl. She enjoys entertaining in her home, playing with her little girl, shopping, and most of all she loves to win contests! During the final, swollen ankles, big as a whale month of her pregnancy, She discovered how people were winning prizes from the internet. She signed up for a few- and a few weeks later, won a $250 Visa gift card. This was the very beginning of her love affair with contests. She has since won over $5000 in cash, gift cards and merchandise.

http://twitter.com/MrDisco3 MrDisco

The PlayBook is a good piece of hardware crippled by software that was rushed to market. I would not recommend purchasing this (very expensive gadget) until RIM can make substantial upgrades to the OS and/or version 2 comes out.
-Orienting the screen between landscape and portrait causes display glitches (think of a colour version of static that you see when your tv loses signal)
-Placing the unit in standby isn’t as intuitive as it could be
-Copy/Paste doesn’t work properly all the time
-Flipping between tabs is a bit clumsy. The small desktop area will get annoying after a while when you have multiple sites open
-YouTube videos don’t always play properly
-The virtual keyboard is hit and miss. It’s better than pecking away on a phone, still can’t compare to a real keyboard
-Apps are still in its infancy. Will developers invest the time/energy/money into QNX when the user base for Android and iOS is substantially larger?
-If you’re unfortunate enough to not have a BlackBerry then you won’t have access to a calendar, address book, email (etc.) until RIM can update the OS later this year. Speaking of the BlackBerry, the very idea that you need to carry two devices to get the most out of the PlayBook is a bit backwards.
-Connecting the Playbook to an iPhone/iPod? Prepare for frustration. It will not connect using the iPhone 4′s hotspot feature, nor will it connect over Bluetooth.
-The current model is WiFi only. Great if you’re always hanging out a coffee shop that offers a fast service, not so much when you’re in a WiFi-free zone which is pretty much everywhere.

On the plus side, it is well built and for some the smaller screen will mean easier portability. The display is quite good and the interface is easy to pick up (though still doesn’t beat the iOS for ease of use).

Even ignoring these criticisms, there is a very big reason for thinking long hard on the PlayBook. RIM’s chances for success are not very good (in my opinion). The reason why we are seeing many PlayBook prizes is because RIM is trying to seed the market and create the hype and buzz it desperately needs. Meanwhile there are many reviews and forum posts that show the device to be underwhelming. In fact a recent a blog article claims that consumer returns of the device back to retailers is higher than average – not a good sign for a new platform trying to build momentum.

I understand our need for feeding our contest addictions, but this is a very expensive way to accomplish this goal. You could spend nearly half as much and get more functionality out of a netbook. Until these tablets, drop significantly in price I would stay out of the market on this.
- http://twitter.com/leahsmama amy tulk
  
  I have to disagree with some of your points (from my personal experience)
  - I have never had any problems switching it from portrait to landscape
  -Flipping between tabs is extremely easy, and problem free (bonus for someone like me who is not particularly savvy)
  - The keyboard caused me no issues what-so-ever and if I didn’t enjoy the virtual keyboard, I could easily plug the PlayBook into the PlayBook keyboard, and have an actual keyboard to use, but again I have had no issues with the one that pops up on the screen.
  -I have had no problems playing YouTube videos, which I use quite a bit.
  - I have also never had a problem connecting to the internet, anywhere… perhaps it is because I live in a larger city, but definitely no issues here.
  -Since we do have BlackBerry’s, I have not experienced any of the frustrations that a person who does not have one may experience.
  
  I am still a supporter of PlayBook, and my husband also loves it (he does not use it for entering sweepstakes)
  
  I also don’t think it is fair to say RIM’s chances for success are not very good- I think it is more fair to say they are already successful. I really don’t see them going anywhere but up. They are not a new company, they have been around for more than 20 years and has grown each and every year!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Sarena-Potma/581655649 Sarena Potma

I am about to purchase my first Blackberry and after reading this article I think I will include a Playbook with my purchase – great article
Catherine macmullen

i have won a Blackberry Playbook so it was nice to read this article, will let you know what i think when i start using it.