Somewhat unique Dell Venue 8 Pro USB requirements - May I get some advice?

[walnoj]

Hi everyone,

Firstly, I did search here and on Google for my particular scenario, and I haven't had a lot of luck. There's bits and pieces here and there, but nothing I could find that addressed everything all at once. So I'm here to explain my scenario and hopefully get some advice from you fine folks.

I'm trying to deploy some Windows 8 tablets throughout a small business. The size and functionality of the Dell Venue 8 Pro checks so many boxes so hard, that I really do want to utilize it. Especially pricing and size! Due to the storage capacity of pretty much ANY tablet not being able to hold all the data we would need, we use external hard drives. Ideally, a server would be used for this, but there are intermittent connections and different sites. The best solution, we have found, is an external hard drive that plugs into notebooks. Since we want to deploy tablets for ease of use and size, we need a tablet that can power up an external hard drive and use it at the same time. Bonus points for being able to power both the external hard drive and the tablet itself. Is there a combination of cables that would permit us to do this? If more information is needed to answer this question, I'll gladly provide it. Thanks for looking!

 

[waazzupppp]

I wouldn't go portable hard drives with the Venue Pro. I would stick to USB sticks or pen drives. First off, even if you could find a way to power a full USB hard disk, the power drain on the battery would be enormous. A flash drive will take much less power to run. Second, carrying around a small portable hard drive and a cable long enough to use it, plus the adapter is just too many parts. Finally, most portable hard disks are still spinner based, which works well for a student carrying a backpack back and forth to class, but won't hold up as well long term as an SSD or flash drive.

Depending on the company needs, you can snag a SanDisk low profile USB drive for next to nothing - $6.50 for a 4GB, $7.25 for a 8GB, $9.50 for a 16GB, $17.50 for 32GB or $30 for a 64GB. I like this design because they sit almost flush in the Micro to USB adapter needed to convert the Dell's port.

In total you would be spending about $40 to get a 64GB flash drive and adapter for each Venue. That's not a bad deal for easily portable and no power required storage. Plus, if things expand and you need more space, you can either add a second drive or just buy bigger flash drives.

 

[Ted#WP]

Why not just access storage device(s) wirelessly?

IOGEAR MediaShair is one good example. It can connect to up to 7 devices (DV8Ps) via WiFi, providing storage space up to 2TB on a single SD card, and it's battery powered.

IOGEAR - GWFRSDU - MediaShair Wireless Media Hub w/SD/USB Input & Built-in Power Station | Media Hub | Wireless Media Hub | Travel Router | Wireless Media Player

 

[xandros9]

I'm not sure if it's well documented, if anyone has a good way to tell, that'd be great.

My Dell Venue 8 Pro failed to power up my 2.5" SeaGate USB 3.0 portable hard drive. (SATA, 5400 rpm I believe) So I think that will be a no go for you too. Perhaps a powered USB hub will alleviate the problem?
However, my dad's Lenovo IdeaPad Lynx (11.6" previous-gen tablet) used it just fine.

Normally, you cannot charge and use USB on the Venue 8 Pro at the same time, but there was a cable that did that. I saw a video demo'ing it on YouTube some time back. Not sanctioned per se, but it apparently worked.

Flash may be the best way to go.

 

[James8561]

Powering a hard drive with a tablet is impossible.
I would suggest following the above suggestions about flash drives. You can get 128 GB flash drives for relatively reasonable prices but if you need denser it's going to get ridiculously expensive.
My suggestion: buy 64 GB venues, then get 128 GB flash drives and 128 GB mSDXC cards and you'll have around 280 GB of storage per tablet. That's pretty good id say.

 

[deadwrong03]

I wouldn't go portable hard drives with the Venue Pro. I would stick to USB sticks or pen drives. First off, even if you could find a way to power a full USB hard disk, the power drain on the battery would be enormous. A flash drive will take much less power to run. Second, carrying around a small portable hard drive and a cable long enough to use it, plus the adapter is just too many parts. Finally, most portable hard disks are still spinner based, which works well for a student carrying a backpack back and forth to class, but won't hold up as well long term as an SSD or flash drive.

Depending on the company needs, you can snag a SanDisk low profile USB drive for next to nothing - $6.50 for a 4GB, $7.25 for a 8GB, $9.50 for a 16GB, $17.50 for 32GB or $30 for a 64GB. I like this design because they sit almost flush in the Micro to USB adapter needed to convert the Dell's port.

In total you would be spending about $40 to get a 64GB flash drive and adapter for each Venue. That's not a bad deal for easily portable and no power required storage. Plus, if things expand and you need more space, you can either add a second drive or just buy bigger flash drives.

Have u been able to find a otg in any stores? Ive been looking for one because I didn't want to order but its not turning out too good

Sent from my Venue 8 Pro 5830 using Tapatalk

Sent from my Venue 8 Pro 5830 using Tapatalk

 

[xandros9]

Have u been able to find a otg in any stores? Ive been looking for one because I didn't want to order but its not turning out too good

Sent from my Venue 8 Pro 5830 using Tapatalk

Sent from my Venue 8 Pro 5830 using Tapatalk

OTG cables aren't too common in many stores unfortunately.

My money is on finding it in an enthusiast-aimed-store such as Micro Center, Radioshack which carries more and fancier components over something like Best Buy and Wal-Mart.
But its probably easiest to do it over Amazon or eBay.

 

[Kevin Pearson2]

Hi, in case you are still looking for a good solution tray this Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/plugable/plugable-pro8-docking-station-with-charging-for-ve

 

[RichardBurt]

Powering a hard drive with a tablet is impossible.

You should tell my tablet that then. It is more than happy to power 2 external USB hard drives simultaneously.

Admittedly it's not a Dell tablet. Samsung Ativ Pro series 7