Mar 22, 2011 19:01 GMT  ·  By

BlackBerry PlayBook, the first tablet PC from Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion, is now available for pre-order in the United States via Best Buy.

The new device is expected to become available for purchase starting with April 19th, but those users interested in its acquisition can already reserve a unit in advance.

The PlayBook is one of the most anticipated devices from the handset vendor, and should arrive on the market in three different flavors, depending on the internal memory they sport: 16GB, 32GB or 64GB.

The price tag for these various models would range from $499 for the 16GB flavor to$599 for the 32GB version, and up to $699 for the 64GB variant.

All Best Buy stores and Best Buy Mobile stores in the US would have the BlackBerry PlayBook available for purchase starting with April 19th, the handset vendor announced.

Moreover, the new device is also available for online orders from Best Buy's website here.

“Previews of the BlackBerry PlayBook have generated tremendous excitement and we know that customers are eager to get their hands on one,” said Craig McLennan, Regional Managing Director, North America, Research In Motion.

“We share that excitement and we are very pleased to announce that customers can begin placing their orders with Best Buy today.”

According to RIM, the PlayBook is the first professional-grade tablet in the world, featuring an ultra-portable design, complemented by industry leading performance capabilities, and great web browsing capabilities courtesy of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 support, true multitasking, and more.

The new device would also arrive on the market with support for a wide range of mobile services, enhanced multimedia capabilities, or the BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing.

This PlayBook model is being pushed to the market with support for WiFi connectivity, but RIM would also bring to the market other versions of the device, with 3G connectivity, and even with 4G capabilities packed inside.