One of the most interesting deviations I am puzzled with on the BlackBerry PlayBook is the lack of external storage. Ever since the BlackBerry 8800 RIM has done really well with MicroSD cards available on ALL of their devices especially with the recent upgrades to MicroSDHC cards. While the PlayBook will come in variants with 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB on tap I wonder why RIM decided not to include a slot on the device. It just seems odd… When I first saw the bottom of the PlayBook I thought that white thing on the bottom was a place holder for a MicroSD slot but I was told it is not.
The only compelling reason I have come up with so far is that it would be hard for RIM to sell a 32GB PlayBook for $100+ more than the 16GB version if you could by a 32GB MicroSD card for less than $100. On the other hand that is not a consideration RIM has ever made in the past though this is the first time they have released the same device with multiple memory sizes. I really wish RIM finds a way to include a MicroSD slot in the next revision (or even the 4G Sprint version) of the PlayBook. It would be a real shame to give up external storage and would have been a great way to connect your camera memory card to your PlayBook by just using a MicroSDHC card in your camera.
What do you think? Is the lack of external storage a consideration for you? I am going to get a PlayBook either way but MicroSDHC slots are so tiny nowadays it would have taken so little for RIM to make sure one was included. If anything they could have done away with the cheesy chrome media controls on top and replaced it with a full SD card slot. 🙂
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