G4Games » Gadgets » News » Leak: BlackBerry PlayBook Release Date and Price Tag – Late March/Early April – $500 ?

Leak: BlackBerry PlayBook Release Date and Price Tag – Late March/Early April – $500 ?

by bogdan on February 13, 2011



[For more info on RIM's tablet ( latest release date rumors, specs, features and so on ) check out our BlackBerry PlayBook overview]

UPDATE.Guys, it’s official, no more rumors, no more leaks – RIM has announced the BlackBerry PlayBook release date.

Since all the clues regarding the BlackBerry PlayBook release date are indicating that RIM’s tablet is pretty close to its launch date, it’s only normal for more and more details ( both real and fake ) to surface on the net, and one such piece of info is the BlackBerry PlayBook release date and price tag at Office Depot.

According to a leaked picture, Office Depot will sell the 16GB WiFi BlackBerry PlayBook model for $499, starting on 2011′s week 17 ( ergo the late March/early April BlackBerry PlayBook release date we were talking about in the article’s title ).

It’s true that the BlackBerry PlayBook price will probably differ from retailer to retailer, give or take $100 or so, but we now have an idea of what to expect in terms of pricing. Actually this new leaked info confirms the BlackBerry Playbook price range we talked about last year. And I’m also sure that the price tag will slowly but surely go down after the BlackBerry PlayBook release date, which brings us to our next questions.

Leak: BlackBerry PlayBook Release Date and Price Tag - Late March/Early April - $500 ?

Leak: BlackBerry PlayBook Release Date and Price Tag - Late March/Early April - $500 ?

How do you guys feel about the BlackBerry PlayBook price ? Will you go out and get it considering there are other cheaper alternatives out there ? Now don’t get me wrong, i’m not saying that the tablet is bad and the BlackBerry PlayBook specs can speak for themselves: a 7-inch display with a 1024 x 600 resolution, supporting multi-touch, gestures and a 1 GHz dual core processor coupled with 1 GB of RAM.

For the internal memory, the BlackBerry PlayBook will come in three versions – 16, 32 or 64 GB. The BlackBerry PlayBook specs go on with dual cameras – a 5 Mp one on the back that can record 1080p HD videos and a 3 Mp front-facing camera. The tablet will support Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi, HDMI output and both 3G and 4G.

As for the software package, we will get the QNX powered OS. And if previously people complained about the lack of apps for the tablet, let us not forget about the fact that, according to RIM’s VP ( Jeff McDowell ), the BlackBerry PlayBook will have 4,000 apps at it’s March release date ( here’s hoping that the rumor according to which the BlackBerry PlayBook release date has been pushed back is indeed gibberish ).

All being said, the question remains whether end-users will consider the BlackBerry PlayBook price attractive or not – after all the Motorola Xoom price tag is way higher. Anyway, there’s plenty of time for retailers to drop some juicy offers on us so let’s wait and see what happens in the coming month, before the BlackBerry PlayBook hits shelves.

[Reminder] This new leak confirms what we previously heard regarding AT&T’s 3G BlackBerry PlayBook release date – Late March/Early April.

Many thanks to Into Mobile for bringing us the news about the BlackBerry PlayBook release date and price.



Tagged as: blackberry playbook, blackberry playbook price, blackberry playbook release date, blackberry playbook specs

  • billy

    Can’t wait for the 64 gig model. What’s taking them so long? Hope the 4g works on T-Mobile.

  • Xenoflare

    I’m 95% sure that I will buy this device. The device’s capabilities definitely justifies the price, especially because of its ability to securely synchronize with a Blackberry phone: the enterprise standard communication device. The 5% uncertainty depends on how they fine tune the web browsing experience as I have noticed some glitches on Crackberry’s Playbook walkthrough. It also depend on how awesome the XOOM turns out to be… It may become a toss up between the Playbook and XOOM.

    I think the iPad is just a toy. My friends own iPads and their kids use the device 90% of the time. The iPad is not a device for mobile professionals or people that want to be productive with their time.

    • Aussie

      if you think the blackberrys internet web browsing is going to sting the the thought of the ram in the playbook might just ease your mind its almost instant!!! so *edited*!!!! its way better than any other tablet i have seen buisness wise

    • Dan

      Your are going to pay a possible $1199.99, are you out of your mind, actually that might be within in your funds so I must respect your opinion, I am intrigued on why you would pay such a price, please explain.

    • Robert

      I am sorry to call the iPad a toy and not a device for mobile professional or people that want to be productive with their time is a stupid statement. Although I am opting or the PB when it becomes available, many people use iPads everyday to increases their productivity.

      For example, the director and his entire VFX and Previs Team on the last film I worked on all had iPads. Our budget was well north of a $150 million and the time and effort saved by using iPads to run through previs on-set shaved hundreds of thousands of dollars in labor hours overall.

  • Dan

    Considering I have been waiting for this for a while and it had reportedly about 2 weeks ago that it would most likely support android apps, makes me a buyer, with other tablets out such as the Motorola Xoom priced at a possible $1199.00 (Which makes me sick), 500 is the perfect price of a range I am looking at.

  • http://www.mallikafurniture.com mallikafurniture

    would it be that late ? March? i thought the expected date was in feb?
    Goshhhhhh i hope it must be something good or else i will be really upset,
    because u would have grabbed an iPad ages ago!!!!

  • http://aditya-iyer@blogspot.com Aditya

    Id be buying one for sure as there is no tablet which fits my needs as well as the playbook does personally for me a 10 inch screen is too large to be portable id rather carry out a netbook/laptop the 7 inch screen is perfect it fits in my pocket and will be large enough to work with at the same time and from the demos of the playbook i saw im sold on it 100% cant w8 for the launch the multi tasking ability is Awesome and ages ahead of the competetion. I dont know about the launch price but i wouldin’t mind paying upto $750 for a 64 GB version of this Dream Device anything below that and id buy it for sure. @ $500 maybe id buy 3-4 for my employees too.

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  • TomG

    I am concerned about the release date. The playbook has the potential to be a great product but it is frustrating to when information on the product is released so many months ahead of time, by so many manufacturers, but it takes months or even years for the product to hit the street.
    What I find interesting is the picture shows a release date at Office Depot in week 17. I don’t know how it is calculated or if I am counting wrong but if you start from the first week of January week 17 puts the release in the end of April – a month off the last day of Q1, the announced release date.

  • Ted S

    I cannot wait for this to hit the market. I have seen the IPOD and did not like anything about it except that it was a tablet. Friends and ex co workers bought it but had so many troubles. For one, they could not use word or excel. They ahd to purchase another program in order for this to work. Even after they bought the programs, they still have trouble with it. I agree with another reviewer that stated the IPOD is basically for kids and not professionals.

    I hope from all the hype that this device does not let me down. Cannot wait for it to hit the market so I can see first hand how it looks and operates.

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  • Matthew

    This is very exciting, in all the videos I have seen it looks absolutely class. Living in the UK I will be interested in the price point, but I read somewhere it will have full integration with your blackberry phone so you can use bbm etc? I currently use an iPad and it will be very interesting to see how user friendly the blackberry is compared to it.

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  • Pratapsingh Thorat

    This is very exciting, and very helpful. What will it cost in India.

    Pratapsingh Thorat.

    thorat_pt@yahoo.in

  • Ron

    I want the device, but, am fairly concerned about the delay in delivery/release date. This behavior makes me wonder what is wrong with the Playbook: As in it has a significant fault they are frantically trying to repair. They are being way to secretive about this. I had the first issue of the Storm and three Storm’s later, I finally got one that worked.
    I plan to let everyone else work out the bugs in the first Playbook release. Hopefully there won’t be another delay, but, if there is, I’ll be buying a Galaxy Tab. Apparently RIM doesn’t believe that BB users will migrate (jump ship) to other operating platforms. I wonder who is running the show at RIM. Does that person wear really big shoes and a red rubber nose? (Yes, I mean a clown)
    The other paltforms out there are very attractive in features and pricing. I feel like the Playbook would be a better business platform, however, I’m not willing to wait forever for a company that isn’t being open or honest about their product.
    Thanks in advance to all of you that will buy the first generation Playbook, get hosed over, and have to work out all the bugs for RIM.

  • Joe

    I think BB is trying to fix something. It is very frustrating because they always postpone the release date. It means there is something wrong with the device. It made me think twice of buying this device because BB are bunch of lairs. The device is not yet ready for production. Just watch out, after this BP is on the market, customer service of any retailer company will be busy answering phone calls of customers complaining about the device.

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