Playing with Dell Venue Pro

[M Coffey]

Yup, I still have my Vivotab RT but I picked up a Dell Venue Pro 8 - Refurbished. Priced so low I could not pass it up.

I probably will not keep both but I am now debating which one to keep.

I still love my Vivotab RT. I like the 10" form factor and I liked that I am isolated to the Metro ecosystem. Its also
a very nice looking device.

The Dell is smaller and has some benefits to that, its easier to hold. I already put Chrome browser on it but it performs VERY
poorly with touch. I had to break out my bluetooth mouse to be able to use it in any meaningful way. Which leads
me back to the Metro ecosystem. I found I was still loading all my Metro apps on my Dell Venue 8 Pro. Being forced
into Metro on my Windows RT really gave me an appreciation for it.

It will be a couple of weeks before I make a decision. I really can't justify keeping both. I can probably make a small
profit on the Venue 8. Used ones on Ebay are selling for more than what I paid for mine. I can probably just get
back out the money I put into the Vivotab RT.

I will say the Venue 8 does seem to be a bit snappier. But, as you bog Windows down with x86 apps, it takes its
toll on how Windows operates and behaves. Not sure I will put any more x86 apps on it besides Chrome. I just
wanted to see how well Chrome worked on it.

 

[11B1P]

Had a Surface RT, sold it to purchase the DV8P. Used my DV8P for about a week. Couldn't get the touchscreen to work right. Multiple letters would sometimes appear as I typed. That was my biggest complaint. Didn't really care for the micro usb port, but it was ok. Never did any document work, but I could tell the small screen was just not gonna cut it for me. Returned it to Amazon and the accessories and bought a Surface Pro. I will not stray from the Surface line again.

 

[aximtreo]

Had a Surface RT, sold it to purchase the DV8P. Used my DV8P for about a week. Couldn't get the touchscreen to work right. Multiple letters would sometimes appear as I typed. That was my biggest complaint. Didn't really care for the micro usb port, but it was ok. Never did any document work, but I could tell the small screen was just not gonna cut it for me. Returned it to Amazon and the accessories and bought a Surface Pro. I will not stray from the Surface line again.

Same here. I had the V8P for about 2 weeks. I had the digitizer pen and could never get it to work correctly no matter what I tried. I sold it and bought a Surface 64 with Type cover. I won't go back either.:smile:

 

[M Coffey]

Well, they have had several updates recently and from what I understand these updates were to fix issues as you both described.

Here is one of my problems in selling my Vivotab RT

It has 8.1 on it (Windows RT of course) and there are many issues with getting 8.1 working right. I know how to fix the issues and it works 100% fine for me right now.
When I sell it I have to reset it to factory specs. I can do a walkthrough on it just enough to setup a generic user account, maybe re-download the updates
and fix a few of the issues for them. BUT, one the main problems has been when you are out and about and log into a Wi-Fi where you have to authenticate (You
log into the Wi-Fi and a page comes up with terms and conditions and you have to agree) it will refuse to connect or it will keep dropping over and over again.
The fix for this is to enable Airplane Mode. I actually keep this tablet in Airplane mode all the time now because it has no 3G service option so Airplane mode can stay
on forever and once you enable Airplane mode you can then enable Wifi and Bluetooth without any problems. But, how do I explain this to the buyer? I feel I should say something.

It's not just my Vivotab RT that has this problem but many others, as well with 8.1, so I know its not just me.

 

[11B1P]

Well, they have had several updates recently and from what I understand these updates were to fix issues as you both described.

yes, there were several updates available. The problem I saw, was after you applied the update, that update still showed as being needed. The update page never refreshed and took off any updates that were installed. Even then with the updates installed, the touch screen still had issues. My Surface Pro has none of those issues.

 

[M Coffey]

Hmm. I have not specifically gone to the update page yet, I just let the device decide when it needed to update and it prompted me for a reboot to complete the updates.

I know I have zero touch issues on my device. But glad you are enjoying your Surface Pro.