The discount means that Best Buy is now selling the 64-Gbyte and 32-Gbyte versions of the TouchPad for the same price, or $549.99. Best Buy has discounted the 32-Gbyte version for $50 off of the list price. The 16-Gbyte model is still priced at $449.99, with no discount.
Following the TouchPad debacle, RIM’s PlayBook appears to be significantly overpriced, as the
buyers turn to good, cheap tablets. The PlayBook is still less expensive than the 32-Gbyte Wi-Fi-only iPad, however, at $599.99. Hewlett-Packard has also said that it will make
one final batch of HP Touchpads, apparently to soak up additional components from its upstream suppliers.
[RELATED_ARTICLE]
RIM hasn’t had the greatest summer; the once-ballyhooed
PlayBook tablet has been a disappointment for the company. Nevertheless, the company actually shipped 500,000 PlayBook tablets in the quarter (and the PlayBook wasn’t even on sale for a good chunk of it), which was roughly 150,000 more units than some analysts were predicting.
In April, PCMag gave the PlayBook just 2.5 stars out of 5, basically because the tablet wasn’t fully baked. Its most egregious omission was native email, which RIM said it would add later. (Native email was
demoed in May.
“The updates may be on the way, but until they’re here, we have to rate the PlayBook based on what we’ve seen,” reviewer Tim Gideon
wrote. “It handles some tasks gracefully, but currently lacks the features and functionality of the iPad 2 and Google Honeycomb tablets, so it’s difficult to recommend right now.”
Copyright © 2010 Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc.
Disclaimer: Digit, like all other media houses, gives you links to online stores which contain embedded affiliate information, which allows us to get a tiny percentage of your purchase back from the online store. We urge all our readers to use our Buy button links to make their purchases as a way of supporting our work. If you are a user who already does this, thank you for supporting and keeping unbiased technology journalism alive in India.