[NoBox]

Until today I have been a staunch BB supporter. Sure there were some warts. But, the product was good and overall I had no motive to go anywhere else. That is, until now.

I bought two Playbooks a week ago. From the advertising and the BB web site they looked like the perfect compliment to our laptops and Torches. The vendor delivered them on time and in good condition. Then the disaster began.

Bottom line: In 2012 Blackberry is providing customer information and support at 1982 levels. I'll not bore anyone with excessive details. But here are a couple:
-Help file is online only. Even then it is not correct for setup.
-When attempting to synch my email acccount from either the Torch or the Laptop it doesn't work. The spash screen says the account is not properly configured and refers the user to a help file. That tells the user to use the synch switches. Except there are no synch swiitches displayed. Hmmm, maybe I did something wrong? So, after an hour of carefully redoing setup and checking the Help file it is off to the web site. It says the same thing. So I call Support.
-At Support, although I have already registered the Playbook and given all contact information the Rep requires me to do it again. Can't look at the customer profile? No profile? After 28 minutes that hurdle is over.
-The Rep tells me I have to get my ISP to do the Calendar and Contact synch. I ask where the ISP is going to get the info since my ISP doesn't have it. Then the rep goes off line. A few minutes later the rep comes back and tells me POP email accounts are not supported for synchronization.
-It would have been nice to know that from the initial screen displays and help files. It would have saved me a bundle of time.
-How about Favorites/Bookmarks? Can I synch them? Nope. Have to type each one in individually. Nothing in the new-guy files.

I'm not going to go into all the other links that don't work, instructions that are wrong, etc. The device itself looks good, great display, takes forever to turn On but once On is fast, Bridge is useful. But, between all the instruction and web site problems, as a user, I'm never sure whether an apparent problem is me or the machine.

Sort of a summary: Advertising was great. Price was very good. But, customer interface is poor at best. Instructions are sparse and in many cases flat wrong. This adds up to diminishing the product's value.

Oh yes: Is the Playbook worth buying, even with its' blemishes? I don't know yet. It is in the same price bracket as a Kindle Fire. So, if all you want is a book reader probably. Audio quality is good. But, unless it is bridged to the smartphone it really isn't very capable. Certainly not up to the standards set by other products.

Too bad they can't seem to get their act together.