Differences Between the Blackberry Playbook and the HP TouchPad

Blackberry Playbook vs HP TouchPad

The Blackberry Playbook and HP TouchPad are two relatively new comers to an already crowded tablet market. Because they are already late to the ball game, it is quite difficult to differentiate  between them from what’s already available. The main difference between the Blackberry Playbook and the HP TouchPad is the size. Blackberry decided to go with a 7-inch form factor like the Galaxy Tab while HP went with the 9.7-inch form factor set by the iPad. Thus, the TouchPad has a significantly larger screen but also weighs close to twice the weight of the Playbook.

Another major difference between the Playbook and the TouchPad is their cameras. The Playbook has acceptable cameras with 5MP and 3MP resolutions. It is also capable of capturing 1080p video via the rear-facing camera. On the other hand, the TouchPad is only equipped with a front-facing camera with a lowly 1.3MP resolution; good enough for video calling. There is also no video recording capability, which is reasonable since it would be hard to capture video with the camera and the display on the same side.

Lastly, the Blackberry Playbook and the HP TouchPad use their own operating systems and not the very popular Android OS. The Playbook has the Blackberry Tablet OS, while the TouchPad has WebOS. The implementations of both operating systems should be pretty similar with just very minor differences in implementation. What is the same for both is the lack of third-party applications when you compare them to the likes of Android and iOS. If you are just going to browse the Internet with your tablet, they may be good enough. But for those who like having lots of apps, these two would be a poor choice.

Choosing between the Playbook and the TouchPad is mostly based on size and price. If you can get the TouchPad for very close to the price of the Playbook, it may not be a bad choice. Either way, you should not set your expectations too high. Most of the fun from tablets come from apps, and these two tablets do not have a lot of those.

Summary:

1. The TouchPad is much bigger and heavier than the Playbook.
2. The TouchPad’s screen is bigger than the Playbook’s.
3. The Playbook’s cameras are much better than the TouchPad’s.
4. The Playbook and the TouchPad use their own operating systems.

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