UK retailers have slashed the price of the BlackBerry PlayBook to a mere £169, in a move that mirrors the stock-shifting price crash that befell the HP TouchPad.
Right now you can bag a 16GB PlayBook for just £169 from Carphone Warehouse, while the 32GB and 64GB versions will set you back £199 and £329 respectively.
Identical prices can be found at PC World and Currys, while Dixons doesn't seem to have the 32GB version in stock, and is flogging the 64GB version for £409.
The PlayBook has already had its price slashed -- back in October the cost of acquiring this troubled tablet was lowered to £250.
This second price drop confirms what we already knew -- that RIM's tablet has failed to make an impact. HP was forced to massively reduce the price of the HP TouchPad after it abandoned the webOS operating system that powered it, slapping a £90 sticker on the doomed tablet.
While £169 is an enormous discount for the PlayBook, in all honestly we're still not sure it's worth it. You could save your cash and buy a tablet that's significantly better instead, such as the Asus Transformer Prime or the iPad 2.
The PlayBook impressed us with its speedy multi-tasking and slick interface, but it's light on features and has an extremely unimpressive app selection when compared with iOS or Android.
Are we wrong? Is this slashed price the perfect time to snap up a PlayBook? Tell us in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.
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Comments 18
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anonymous 4 January, 2012 18:11
How is this news? Currys were selling them at this price before Christmas.
anonymous 4 January, 2012 18:23
Yeah, been this price in a few places since before christmas
ace9988 4 January, 2012 21:03
both of you must be crazy....they didnt even have the £169 price at boxing day ....it was nearer to new year's eve they did the price crash....i bought one for my friend so i ACTUALLY know
anonymous 4 January, 2012 21:35
I saw it before xmas at £169
anonymous 4 January, 2012 22:51
who cares who saw what when. is it actually worth the price. that is the question people like myself have. i dont have a bb and the reviews ive read say it's not worth it if you dont have a bb?
anonymous 4 January, 2012 23:03
I brought a PB last week due to the price slash and think it is awesome...I dont have a BB. One of the coolest fetures is the browser which seems to work on non mobile websites like a laptop..yeah there are not many apps, but what I have found is that due to the browser you dont need the apps as website just work..including BBC iplayer,5OD ETC!!! A major OS update will bring new functionality....Just hoping rim dont drop it after its release:)
anonymous 5 January, 2012 10:18
"but what I have found is that due to the browser you dont need the apps as website just work"
An app doesn't replace a website, they're two different things.
anonymous 5 January, 2012 13:05
I bought one PlayBook for my wife. We simply love it! It's fast, very responsive, the touchscreen works right. the price is now perfect. Some people love their I-pads 2, I don't and i would never buy an I-pad, it's too big and muuuuuch too expensive (2x more expensive). I am a Java software developer and I wouldn't buy any tablet to replace a laptop (some people seem to be trying to do it this way). I use a pc as graphic workstation (+ gaming), Dell XPS 17" i7-2720 laptop as programming environment (mobile and powerfull enough), CentOS system based server as a hosting environment based in a server room, and a tablet for small and mobile tasks at home (like web browsing in the kitchen, YouTube). I don't think that we should try and replace one with the other as there will be always something missing. Blackberry is just a very good tablet (although the lack of Skype is anoing). Good luck finding your best tablet.
anonymous 5 January, 2012 13:10
cnet uk. great site. actually. rubbish. this news was old news. get the fact.
waste my time on this site.
lifeisagame 6 January, 2012 09:25
Bought mine yesterday in PC World. First impressions are very good. The OS is smooth and feels friendly to use. The device is well-build and solid. Especially I love the back which has rubbery feel to it and has a matt finish so no fingerprints there.
Yes, the App World isn't full of apps but RIM is set to release the OS 2.0 for PlayBook next month that will add Android emulator.
No email client, but can easily log into my webmail. But apparently the OS 2.0 will bring the email client anyway. Only real downer for now there is no Skype at the moment. Hopefully the Android emulator will solve that one as well.
It can't compete with iPad and top Android tablets but thanks to the reduced £169 price it doesn't have to. Compared to other budget tablets in this price range it's probably best choice right now. Let's hope the release of the OS 2.0 it will add even more features.
anonymous 8 January, 2012 09:08
bought mine two days ago and i havent put it down. love it. full web functionality and great battery life, drop and drag file transfer and the best screen i have seen in a longtime. Also one HUGE feature is it is the perfect size for portability and does not feel flimsy at all. BUY ONE
anonymous 14 January, 2012 01:14
I just bought one as well and I love it. It feels solid, it works beautifully and the price was perfect. Although I've been wanting a tablet, the uses I have are too few and infrequent to justify the cost of an IPad. But this is perfect and much more than I expected to acquire at that price point.
The screen resolution is gorgeous and I love-love-love the finger-touch interface.
As for the e-mail interface, if I'm on the road I tend to use webmail anyway... and as other folks have mentioned, it is coming along with the android emulator. I'd recommend it.
- VGL, Canada
anonymous 7 February, 2012 14:14
Well I bought one of these recently and so far it has done what it claimed to do. Wife has an iPad 2, which she loves, so I've done some close comparisons. Sure the iPad screen is bigger & better but it can be too big at times for portability. Yup, loads more apps on the Apple but all too often these are 5 minute wonders or just toys. The Playbook comes with a few useful ones such as the MS Office To Go tools. Web browsing on the Paybook is comparable to the Apple but if you are a real fan of Safari then it takes a little time to accept the Playbook interface. Easy to copy pictures/music/videos from a PC (using the itunes interface), although I think Apple have the edge with their iPOD interface on the iPad for music. I bought a cheap 3m HDMI cable to link the Playbook to the LCD TV so getting a big picture is no problem (the whole family can watch TV catch-up from the on-line sites). Cant do that easiy with the iPad. Not too bad for about 40% of the price of a comprable iPad.
anonymous 20 February, 2012 20:09
I bought the 16GB Playbook on Boxing Day from PC World for £169.
Awesome tablet!
Fantastic price.
Will probably buy one each for my wife, 14 year old son and 11 year old daughter. At that price, I'd be silly not to.
anonymous 15 May, 2012 20:05
It was said above that apps do not replace websites - in the case of the iPad apps are needed as replacements to some websites - www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer for example does not work nor youtube on an iPad and so the apps are required. Youtube app also seems to filter out some videos almost as if they are selectively available, possibly also on copyright grounds etc.
Had a quick play on both an iPad 3 and Playbook today. Playbook was nice and smooth as opposed to some laggy performances from many other tablets. iPad 3 still doesn't do proper multi-tasking e.g. running an imbedded video on one web page whilst checking email in another tab stops the video or anything happening on the first page - it's one thing at a time only (except music) with the iPad even now. Yet, this limited functionality does mean that in use each app is very smooth.
Playbook was nice and sturdy, feeling really solidly built. Whether it is worth it I guess depends on how access to its features like tethering to non-BB phones and a full, open email client - hopefully fully supported in further OS updates.
I'd say the Playbook is excellent for more serious, business oriented users with better tablet portability in mind (it's just ironically named). Not so good for those looking for an around-the-house entertainment tablet on the grounds of screen size and available apps and the lack of need for true multitasking for many average consumers.
For me an ideal would be a touchscreen, fully featured notebook at home and something like the Playbook for being on the move.
anonymous 22 September, 2012 07:46
I want to buy BB Playbook, and store all my music. Does anyone know how versatile it is for this, as I find with my Ipod Touch I am restricted to I tunes?
lifeisagame 22 September, 2012 18:59
It's not that bad for transferring files. You just need to install BlackBerry Device Manager which will install all the drivers and then you can normally copy files over. If you connect it via USB it shows as an additional drive.
It also supports WiFi transfer you just need to enable this option in settings. Once enabled you can again normally copy the files over as you would if you were to copy files to another computer.
Hope this helps. I bought mine nearly a year ago and I'm very happy with it. True, not much apps available but all the essentials are there. Probably the only app I do miss is Skype otherwise great for watching movies, emails and browsing web.
The build quality is great, the screen colours are very good as well and protective case included. Considering you can get a 64GB version in PC World for only £129 it is definitely a good buy just be prepared that there probably won't be all the apps that you would like available.
marie154 17 December, 2012 08:00
I bought PlayBook 64gb at 129. I am writing this on my PlayBook. I have transferred music from iTunes via cable supplied, though wifi works too. It is amazing. More apps now, android apps can be sideloaded if they haven't been adapted for playbook yet. The build quality is so far above other tablets and with BB10 coming in January it will be even better. I'm a music lovers and 64gb is fantastic. I think that cnet should register the playbook as it does other devices when they get. Updates which this did. BlackBerry listened and addressed most complaints. I. Can do things my friends ipad won't do. Flash, multitasking, fantastic interface, extremely secure and easy to use. Only downside is not the lack of millions of apps you don't need them it is just one or two specific apps. I use Skype via imo application and will sideloaded it when I have time, plus kindle and afew others now available, so my only gripe is with sky who only produce skygo for apple and android devices even though blackberry sponsor their Programmes! Oh and the predictive texting is bar far the best of any device.
I would say to anyone buy this, no bloatwear oh and front and back cameras that far outperform its rivals. I guess the best way to describe the PlayBook is quality over quantity!