Difference Between Blackberry Playbook and Toshiba Thrive

Blackberry Playbook vs Toshiba Thrive

There were a number of new players that entered the tablet market in 2011. Two of them were Blackberry and Toshiba with the Playbook and Thrive respectively.  The main difference between the Playbook and the Thrive is their operating system. Toshiba used the very popular Android OS from Google. Android has the advantage of being widely used, having a rapid development cycle, and having loads of applications from third party developers. The Blackberry Tablet OS suffers from lack of the three, especially the last one, since it is only available on Blackberry tablets.

When it comes to the hardware, there are two basic categories; those with screens above 9 inches and those with less. The Thrive falls in the former category with its 10.1 inch screen while the Playbook is in the latter category with its 7 inch screen. Choosing between the two is a compromise between the size of the screen and the weight of the device. The Thrive is about 50% heavier than the Playbook, which can be issue if you use the tablet for prolonged periods of time. The size may also be an issue as the larger Thrive may not be easy to carry around. A good example would be ladies handbags, which can easily contain a 7 inch tablet like the Playbook but not a 10.1 inch tablet like the Thrive.

When it comes to the internals, the two are quite evenly matched. The differences are very minor, like a larger choice range for memory; from 16 to 64 gigabytes for the Playbook and just 8 to 32 gigabytes for the Thrive. There is also that minor 1 megapixel difference with the front-facing camera; the Thrive has 2MP while the Playbook has 3MP. The more important difference is in cellular connectivity. The Thrive comes with 2G and 3G connectivity, which allows you to connect to the internet on the go. The Playbook doesn’t have cellular connectivity, so you are basically stuck with WiFi available at home or in many establishments. Once you’re outside, you are stuck with offline features of the device.

Summary:

1. The Thrive runs Android while the Thrive doesn’t
2. The Thrive has a much larger screen than the Playbook
3. The Thrive is heavier and larger than the Playbook
4. The Thrive has cellular connectivity while the Playbook doesn’t

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