I’ve been lucky enough to try out the new Blackberry Playbook for the fine folks at Aiming Low. At first, it was just another excuse to play video games when I should have been doing actual work. But the more I use it, the more I love it. Most recently, it came in handy at work.
I start my job as a graduate teaching assistant in September, but have already had a couple of meetings with people in my department, both formal and informal. Since I’m running all over campus and meeting all over the city, I’m loathe to drag my laptop with me. Instead, I’ve been bringing the Blackberry Playbook. It’s incredibly lightweight, but also super powerful and fast.
I’m most impressed with the recording capabilities. In an attempt to remember every detail of my most recent meeting, I asked if it was okay for me to record it. Since the Playbook is so tiny, it’s very unobtrusive; I didn’t know if it would be able to record sound in the way I needed it to.
Let me tell you: The Voice Notes feature is POWERFUL. You could probably hear a pin drop in the building across the street. It’s just one click; instead of fumbling through features and missing out on details, I just turned it on and pressed “record.” No wires, no connection issues, just pushing a button. What is this, an infomercial? IT’S JUST! THAT! EASY!
The Playbook also has Word, Excel and PowerPoint programs loaded standard (Word To Go, Sheet To Go, Slideshow To Go). I CANNOT TELL YOU how awesome it was to be able to locate and review documents at the touch of a finger. I felt like Melanie Griffith in “Working Girl,” or some other movie that’s come out since 1989 where a business lady is smart and confident. Like Voice Notes, it was easy to open attachments with one push of a button. Even though I have tiny hands (seriously, I was a preemie, next time we’re in the same room together we can compare), the keyboard is still too tiny for me to type comfortably, but the program is still great for accessing materials on the go. The screen is bright and clear, which is nice for my old eyes.
I love being able to carry something so light that does all the work of my computer. I can’t wait to try it out in class.
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