Is it Risky Buying Playbook with all of the problems that RIM is having?

Question

The latest financial report from RIM is not a good one. With a loss of approximately 30% in sales, the question that begs to be answered is... How risky is it to purchase a Playbook that may not have a company supporting it one year from now? I have been researching tablets and the Playbook by far has received the most accolades of any tablet excluding the iPad. That being said, I decided that the Playbook is the device that best suits my business and personal needs. From its seamless document integration and powerful business tools to "the best" tablet browser on the market, IMHO- this is the best overall value in the tablet market today. But what is the real value of the device if a year from now RIM files bankruptcy protection and us users don't have anywhere to turn for support or a company backing its product? I would love to hear thoughts and comments from the community on this issue before i go out and purchase one Peace, Slider

Answer 1

I just bought a 64gb PB for $200 with 3 cases, HDMI adapter, and screen protector. . .My thoughts before trying it were that of 'this device must really suck to be so cheap'. . . however as soon as i turned it on i was pleasantly suprised, and have forever since been baffled as to why it doesnt have more hype. . .I dont think this product will die, I think its in a temporary low because of its intial lack of features... That is;
AppWorld was brand new so not many apps, and the look of the app world was appalling (looks a little better now, still needs improvement,.. plenty of apps though, dont see a need to complain about content).
Initial costs were over priced so gave people a negative spin on the device before they turned it on.
No email or contacts (i mean seriously, this is what a majority of people will turn their devices on each morning for, at least at my work thats what they use it for).
No 3G device option (you may not agree, but i see it as a way to know a product has been well developed and not just rushed out)
Anyway, I see it as the best tablet at the momment because:
Native hdmi out is just awesome, i have tried a few android devices and apples ipad2 and their output does not compare.
Video playback... it plays most formats, but if it doesnt then their is an app called moviewatch which converts any file type/size it a playable format (you can choose to save the new format file or just watch striaght away).. simply awsome, i converted a 6.5gb flv file and the sound to video sync worked perfectly, not to mention quality was right up there.. neither my galaxy tab 10.1 or my bro's ipad 2 could play this file.
Browser is leagues ahead of any android browser (Safari might be comparable, but still, Dolphin browser for all its good points is just not as smooth, slick and quick loading as PB's default).
It can sideload google apps.. however, as fun as this is, it has problems with apps that use bluetooth and wifi in the scripts (i believe?) and thus i think the apps with RSS feeds or inbuilt ads seem to stuff up a little. not to worry, most playbook built apps work better anyway - i actually wish they would separate the two types in the appworld so i can choose 'Apps that are awesome'  or  'Apps that have been given a quick convert from an inferior OS'
Lastly, similar to the point above, QNX is uncomparable to android, and iOS with all its grandure is still a fair bit behind 
Hope this helps