iPad2 vs. The Playbook
When looking at the newest trend in portable computing, you can’t ignore the development of the tablet PC or simply the “tablet”. The term tablet now refers to a computing device roughly the dimensions of a piece of paper or smaller that uses a touch screen as its primary user interface. Two of the major examples on the market include the Apple Ipad2 and the RIM Playbook by Research In Motion. In this article, I will not be discussing the wide assortment of tablets available running on the popular Android operating system created by Google.
Physical Size & Resolution
The Apple iPad2 is the second generation of Apple’s iconic, ground breaking tablet device. With diagonal screen dimensions of 9.7 inches with a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels, the iPad is approximately the size of a peice of 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of standard paper. This makes the iPad the perfect size to hold in one’s hands when reading e-books or browsing the web, especially if it is enclosed in a handy carrying case.
The RIM Playbook, still on its first product released was made smaller to fit into the suit pocket of its target audience – business executives. The screen size is 7″ diagonally, with a resolution of 1024 by 600 pixels, though its form factor makes it look like it would be more appropriate for watching widescreen movies (although the aspect ratio isn’t exactly correct). Along this line of thinking, the 32GB and the 64GB version both come with an HDMI cable for connecting to a television or other compatible viewing device, so you can watch movies that are stored on the Playbook on a much larger screen.
Quick Comparison
| iPad2 | Playbook | |
|---|---|---|
| Diagonal Size | 9.7″ | 7″ |
| Resolution | 1024 x 768 | 1024 x 600 |
| Weight | 1.3 lbs | 0.9 lbs |
The Apps
Apple is widely touted as having the largest supply of apps available for its platform, which makes sense as they have been in the business of creating apps for a number of years now, since almost all of their apps run on an iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad. It is estimated that there are more than 500000 apps available at the appstore, and about 37% of them are free.
On the other hand, the RIM Playbook is getting a lot of flack for there not being enough apps in the Blackberry App World. But really, what could you not find if there are only 250000 apps? It is expected that in future releases, a Playbook will be able to run any of the more than 35000 Android apps I feel this is not really a reason to complain. Besides, the Playbook is primarily targetted to corporate users so expect less apps.
What are you going to buy?
In the end, your decision on what to buy should depend on your needs and what you intend to use the device for. Hopefully your decision aren’t based on what is cool and what is hot, but who among us does not dream of the newest Apple technology? A lot of people think RIM should stick with the corporate market, and frankly the cost of most Apple products is quite prohibitive. I’m looking for a cheap deal on an Android tablet from my wireless provider at the moment, but I was able to get a 65GB RIM Playbook from a friend as part of the employee discount plan and while I CANNOT WAIT FOR IT TO BE DELIVERED!!! I did agree to give it to my wife for Christmas 
So what’s your tablet? Tell me in the comments below or follow me on Twitter here.
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