T-Grid: BlackBerry PlayBook vs. the iPad
By Harry McCracken | Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 10:26 am
Hey, it’s been a long time since we’ve done a T-Grid–a very simple comparison chart comparing two at least vaguely comparable products spec-by-spec. Let’s do one on RIM’s upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook and the iPad, shall we?
The point of a T-Grid is never to determine which product is better; it’s just to see how the specs stack up. From what we know so far, the PlayBook’s specs stack up rather well–it’s powerful, thin, and light, and has a robust OS in the venerable (if low-profile) QNX. But there are a few speeds and feeds that RIM hasn’t disclosed yet, and one particularly crucial fact remains unknown: How’s the battery life?
After the jump, the details we know so far.
| Device | RIM BlackBerry PlayBook
|
Apple iPad
|
| Released | “Early 2011” in U.S. | 4/3/2010 |
| Price | Not announced. My guess: $599 or $699 | Starts at $499 |
| Weight | .9 pound | 1.5 pounds |
| Dimensions | 5.1″ by 7.6″ by 0.4″ | 7.47″ by 9.56″ by 0.5″ |
| Operating system | QNX Neutrino | iPhone OS 3.2 |
| Number of apps | TBD. It’ll run apps written with RIM’s WebWorks platform, Flash, and AIR | 250.000+ iPhone apps; 25,000+ iPad ones |
| Multitasking | Yes | In 4.2, due in November |
| Display | 7″ LCD; 1024 by 600 resolution; 170dpi | 9.7″ IPS LCD; 1024 by 768 resolution; 132dpi |
| Input | Capacitive touch; on-screen keyboard | Capacitive touch; on-screen keyboard |
| CPU | 1-GHz dual-core CPU; type unspecified | 1-GHz Apple A4 CPU |
| RAM | 1GB | 256MB |
| Storage | Unspecified as far as I know | 16GB flash (base model), not expandable |
| Battery | Type unspecified; sealed; life unspecified | lithium polymer; sealed; 10 hour life |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11n | 802.11n |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR | Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR |
| Mobile data | None at launch; 3G and 4G to come in the future | AT&T 3G (optional) |
| USB ports | 1 MicroUSB | 0 |
| Video out | MicroHDMI | VGA via optional Dock Connector cable |
| Cameras | 3MP on front; 5MP on back; can record HD video simultaneously | None |
| Accelerometer | Presumably | Yes |
| Ambient light sensor | Not sure | Yes |
| Browser | WebKit; HTML5 support | WebKit; HTML5 support |
| Adobe compatibility | FlashPlayer 10.1; AIR; presumably PDF | |
| Other software | E-Mail, calendar, photos, videos, YouTube (?), camera, contacts, office apps or viewers; presumably other stuff not yet seen | Safari, Mail, Calendar, Contacts, iPod, Photos, Videos, YouTube, iTunes, App Store |
| Application store | BlackBerry App Store, I presume | iTunes App Store |
| Entertainment store | Unspecified as far as I know–will it have one? | Apple iTunes Store |
| Video formats supported | H.264, MP4, WMV, DiVX | H.264, MP4 |
| Audio formats supported | AAC, MP3, WMA | AAC, MP3, VBR, Audible, Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV |
| Tethering | Yes, using BlackBerry as wireless modem | No |
| Special phone integration | You can “opt to use the larger tablet display to seamlessly and securely view any of the email, BBM™, calendar, tasks, documents and other content that resides on (or is accessible through) their smartphone. They can also use their tablet and smartphone interchangeably without worrying about syncing or duplicating data.” | None |
Like all T-Grids, this is a work in progress. Got any corrections, additions, or questions?
10 Comments
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10 Comments For This Post
September 28th, 2010 at 7:43 am
Re: Phone Integration
MobileMe is great for synching data (web bookmarks, notes, calendar, contacts, mail) while the free iDisk app allows moving documents between iOS devices. For the ease of use seamlessly organizing my data (I have a laptop, iPhone, and iPad) the yearly fee is well spent.
September 28th, 2010 at 10:36 am
I think you might want to put "Optional" somewhere on the iPad's "Mobile data" line.
September 28th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Very weak BlackBerry PlayBook … they copied everything but the apple logo
October 27th, 2010 at 5:13 am
It is such a carbon copy…outside the CPU, RAM, USB port, video out, cameras, Adobe capability, video formats, tethering and phone integration its exactly the same….well thought out.
November 9th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
whavever. the very idea of the playbook being released is merely a copy of the iPad in the first place. great job, RIM, take an apple product developed and released at least 8 months before yours, tweak it, add a couple of features and proclaim that it beats apple.
silly me, i have been always thinking the winner of the race was the first to cross the finish line. come to find out it's the one that comes in second but comes with tethering and phone integration. my bad.
September 28th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
This is an interesting comparison — the just announced PlayBook, that will not ship until sometime in 2011, with last year's iPad, that will likely be fully refreshed in January 2011. Can't take anything from this chart as to what product would interest me.
September 28th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Very true that by the time the PlayBook ships, there's a very good chance that Apple will have announced (and possibly even shipped) a second-generation iPad.
–Harry
September 28th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
The iPad is on the cusp of iOS 4.1–big upgrade.
Also, the unknowns are HUGE–price, battery life, brand new tablet OS which means they are starting the ecosystem from scratch.
And yes, I'll be very surprised if Apple doesn't have an iPad refresh out the door by the end of the Jan/March quarter. They will want to clear the decks for the iPhone5 intro in June.
September 29th, 2010 at 5:13 am
According to Engadget its a Cortex A9 on both cores. http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/27/live-from-the-…
September 29th, 2010 at 7:18 am
Apple will release a new iPad version until 2011
and the new "version" includes a camera, and USB, and more storage (laughts).