It looks like Best Buy over-promised to customers eager to snag a BlackBerry PlayBook for $300 off. Despite having the same attractive offer as many retailers over Black Friday and the weekend, Best Buy appears to be unable to fulfill many (and some say all) orders of the BlackBerry PlayBook. Prices were as low as $200, so as you can expect there was a lot of interest in the tablet as a holiday gift. Finding the cheap 16 GB model at retail stores might be a little tricky at this point, but it looks like stock is still strong when ordering directly from RIM at ShopBlackBerry.com.
The BlackBerry PlayBook definitely seems to be attracting some attention at this price point, especially seeing as it’s matching the Kindle Fire and ostensibly beats it in the specs department. Even running Android isn’t much of a leg-up over the PlayBook, which has a very usable Android app player in its current developer preview OS. Pile on top the fact that the PlayBook has some very capable cameras, tons more local storage than the Kindle Fire, GPS, and Bluetooth support.
Regardless, seeing as the PlayBook is only going to be $200 for a limited time, and the Android app player isn’t going to be finished until the February 2.0 release, it’s easy to see the Kindle Fire taking the win over the long-term. Which would you chose between the two?
Update: Hey, we got a statement from Best Buy by way of RIM.
“Starting Sunday, November 20 th , Best Buy offered $300 instant savings to the BlackBerry PlayBook, reducing the price to $299.99 and $199.99 for the 32 GB and 16 GB, respectively. Customers have responded very positively to this short-term promotion available until Dec. 3 and, as a result, we are currently sold out of our inventory. We will have additional units available in the near future, at which time customers will be able to purchase the devices online at www.bestbuy.com.”
[via Electronista]
