It is never too long after a device has been launched that a techno-wiz gets their hands on it and takes it apart to give us a look at the inner workings, and that is just what has happened with the BlackBerry PlayBook.
In an article by Lucas Atkins of N4BB, we get a teardown highlight of the BlackBerry PlayBook (launched on the April 19), which was conducted by the guys at iFixit, you’ve got to give it to these guys they don’t wait around. Here is a quick rundown of the teardown, no heat gun is necessary to access the BlackBerry PlayBook’s innards, unlike the iPad 2. All that was need was a simple opening tool made of plastic and some prying.
Once inside the device the iFixit guys were a little surprised to see that the PlayBook’s guts were housed within the display assembly and not the rear case like most other tablets, which is unfortunate from a repair perspective, since simple repairs — like battery replacement — require the motherboard to be removed. All the screws holding the motherboard in place were Phillips #00, so no need for any hard-to-pronounce screwdriver to remove them.
A small magnetic dock connector for charging on the bottom edge of the PlayBook is reminiscent of the one seen in Apple’s laptops — the MagSafe connector. The BlackBerry PlayBook has a 20 watt-hour battery, which is a bit smaller than that of iPad 2s 25 watt-hour unit. That does not mean the PlayBook will get worse battery life, as it has a significantly smaller screen than the iPad 2.
The PlayBook’s cameras are hefty, with a 3 megapixel front-facing camera (compared to the iPad 2s VGA camera), and a 5 MP sensor rear-facing camera which shoots 1080p video. However, one drawback is that the cameras and control buttons are all attached to the same assembly, making replacing the volume control or power button a costly exercise.
Why not check out the step-by-step instruction of the teardown, which include photographs over at iFixit and let us know what you think. Also of interest to you could be our article ‘Apple iPad 2, BlackBerry PlayBook Browser Fight’, which includes a video.
