Dell Venue 8 Pro Tablet Review
While I own a couple of Ipads and like them I wanted to try a Windows tablet.
One of the design goals for Windows 8 was support for touch based tablets and while I run Windows 8.1 on every PC in my house it's loaded on a combination of traditional desktop, Touchscreen All-in-One or laptop/ultrabook devices.
I work for Dell, and I really didn't want to spend the money on Microsoft's Surface device - so I opted for the Dell Venue 8 Pro. This 8" tablet is actually a nice little W8 device and only cost $299 when I bought it.
My unit is the 64Gb Model with Intel Atom Z3740D dual core processor, 2Gb RAM. I added another 64Gb via the SD Card slot for movie and music storage and run Office 2013 along with many other main line laptop apps including iTunes.
It has a 1280 x 800 (720p screen) with 10 point touch and a stylus. It has a Dell 1538 802.11 a/g/n WiFi card. It also has a TPM chip so can support full drive encryption. You can also buy a verison with broadband support.
My main use case for the device is to access my personal email accounts, play music or movies on airplanes and takes notes at business meetings using OneNote and the stylus.
So two reviews here. One on the device and another on life with a Windows 8 on a mini tablet.
From a device standpoint, the build quality, processor speed and capability I would easily put on par or better than my I pad Mini. Battery life is fine for cross country flights, but is not as good as Apple's.
The touch screen and stylus are sensitive and slightly off-alignment. I've tried some calibrations, but I find that I have to hit the high side of menu selections or window close icons to get them to work. When taking notes the stylus is a little touchy to get started, but once working seems to do fine for the basic note taking I do. When I first bought the device there were several known issues with the touchscreen, Wifi and Power Management that were corrected via firmware updates. With that said, that may be the reason Venue 8 Pros are often found on discount.
It easily plays my Handbrake ripped H.264 HD movies and the sound quality is pretty good for headphone use.
Would I use it for day to day real work ? No. As with any tablet touch screen typing gets old, that is why I think MS did a smart move with their keyboard approach, even tough I think they should include it in the price.
Also, Windows apps are still not really made for touch. Office for the iPad is a step in the right direction, but there is no such version for Windows Tablets. Outlook does have a nice navigation bar to help with browsing through emails, but Word, Excel, etc are painful. The Metro (ahem Modern) apps are okay, but they are consumption apps, not creation apps.
Bottom line - If you are a casual PC user that mostly browses the web, consumes movies or music through streaming services and likes something very light weight and portable, then yeah the Dell Venue 8 Pro is a nice little tablet that will do the job and not break the bank.
But if your thinking that you can "replace" your laptop, this is not the device for that use case. If you're travelling very light and want to review emails, take a few notes, etc, then yes. You could even do Powerpoint presentation if you have a BT projector.
The challenge with Windows 8.1 on tablets - any tablet - is the lack of any real productivity apps that are designed for touch. Until MS addresses that issue then to me your still better off with an Ultrabook. Even with Microsoft Surface, it needs a keyboard to be effective and since that is the case, wouldn't you be better served by a device that is design for keyboard, instead of a clip on accessory.
One of the design goals for Windows 8 was support for touch based tablets and while I run Windows 8.1 on every PC in my house it's loaded on a combination of traditional desktop, Touchscreen All-in-One or laptop/ultrabook devices.
I work for Dell, and I really didn't want to spend the money on Microsoft's Surface device - so I opted for the Dell Venue 8 Pro. This 8" tablet is actually a nice little W8 device and only cost $299 when I bought it.
My unit is the 64Gb Model with Intel Atom Z3740D dual core processor, 2Gb RAM. I added another 64Gb via the SD Card slot for movie and music storage and run Office 2013 along with many other main line laptop apps including iTunes.
It has a 1280 x 800 (720p screen) with 10 point touch and a stylus. It has a Dell 1538 802.11 a/g/n WiFi card. It also has a TPM chip so can support full drive encryption. You can also buy a verison with broadband support.
My main use case for the device is to access my personal email accounts, play music or movies on airplanes and takes notes at business meetings using OneNote and the stylus.
So two reviews here. One on the device and another on life with a Windows 8 on a mini tablet.
From a device standpoint, the build quality, processor speed and capability I would easily put on par or better than my I pad Mini. Battery life is fine for cross country flights, but is not as good as Apple's.
The touch screen and stylus are sensitive and slightly off-alignment. I've tried some calibrations, but I find that I have to hit the high side of menu selections or window close icons to get them to work. When taking notes the stylus is a little touchy to get started, but once working seems to do fine for the basic note taking I do. When I first bought the device there were several known issues with the touchscreen, Wifi and Power Management that were corrected via firmware updates. With that said, that may be the reason Venue 8 Pros are often found on discount.
It easily plays my Handbrake ripped H.264 HD movies and the sound quality is pretty good for headphone use.
Would I use it for day to day real work ? No. As with any tablet touch screen typing gets old, that is why I think MS did a smart move with their keyboard approach, even tough I think they should include it in the price.
Also, Windows apps are still not really made for touch. Office for the iPad is a step in the right direction, but there is no such version for Windows Tablets. Outlook does have a nice navigation bar to help with browsing through emails, but Word, Excel, etc are painful. The Metro (ahem Modern) apps are okay, but they are consumption apps, not creation apps.
Bottom line - If you are a casual PC user that mostly browses the web, consumes movies or music through streaming services and likes something very light weight and portable, then yeah the Dell Venue 8 Pro is a nice little tablet that will do the job and not break the bank.
But if your thinking that you can "replace" your laptop, this is not the device for that use case. If you're travelling very light and want to review emails, take a few notes, etc, then yes. You could even do Powerpoint presentation if you have a BT projector.
The challenge with Windows 8.1 on tablets - any tablet - is the lack of any real productivity apps that are designed for touch. Until MS addresses that issue then to me your still better off with an Ultrabook. Even with Microsoft Surface, it needs a keyboard to be effective and since that is the case, wouldn't you be better served by a device that is design for keyboard, instead of a clip on accessory.
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