New Venue 8 Pro 5855

[lazybum131]

Announced back in October for a November release, it's finally been put up on Dell's website:
dell.com/us/business/p/dell-venue-8-pro-5855-tablet/pd?oc=bto10005t58558usca

$449 US gets you:
Intel Atom x5-Z8500 Processor (Quad Core, 2.24GHz 2MB Cache)
WUXGA 1920 x 1200 screen
4GB ram
64GB eMMC drive
Microsoft Office Universal (not sure if this is what accounts for the price bump, internet search says it's free for /under/ 8" tablets)

It's nearly half a millimeter thicker than the old V8P at 9.45mm vs 9mm, but despite that it doesn't have any better battery capacity at 19.5 WHr as the old version. Pretty lackluster update IMO after two years. Very much hoping Microsoft shows up the PC oems once again with a Surface Mini like they did with the Surface Pro. Or an Asian manufacturer like Xiaomi; the Mi Pad 2 would interest me a lot if it came with 4GB of ram and microSD, and I question the battery life it will get with such a thin design.

On the Canadian site there's no discount so it's priced at a whooping $831.86 right now. Downgrading to Win10 Home saves $70, but even with the poor exchange rate now it's hard to swallow that I bought my V8P two Christmas's ago for $350 with Win8 Home and Office 2013 Home (to be fair the price has actually gone up on Dell.ca, it's currently selling for $499 with Win8.1 Pro without Office :eck: )

 

[Bo]

I wouldn't rush to order it yet, Dell still has to update the information page to properly show what they're selling. They also haven't posted the version with LTE or most of the accessories, so I know I'll be waiting a bit longer before making my decision. Can't wait to see the reviews on this thing. I picked up a surface 3 on sale from Costco but haven't pulled it out of the box yet, no worries, I have 90-days to return it along with the square trade warranty.

What I'm really looking for is a 8" to 10" tablet with core m. For portability that size can't be beat for me. I had the original surface pro as well as the pro 3 and the pro 3 got returned because it didn't feel right trying to take notes while holding it one handed. I used to always take notes on my pro 1 before the battery stopped charging. My venue 8 pro is a note taking machine with the updated pen but still nowhere near the quality of the surface pro.

 

[James8561]

This would be much better if they kept the value of the original being $299 for 64 GB at launch. $399 is a steep price for similar chassis, new SOC and higher res screen.

 

[BaritoneGuy]

I have been waiting for this as my current DV8P is getting long in the tooth. The device I really want is the HP Pro Tab 608 as it is 4:3. However at that price the Dell is ridiculous. Not so concerned about the battery size as it is Cherry Trail so it will be faster and use less power.

I really want something with a 4:3 or 3:2 aspect ratio. Pen input as well.

Our poor Canadian dollar isn't doing us an favors at the moment. We could buy a Surface 3 for less.

I would go $500CDN max for this.

 

[lazybum131]

It's been discounted on the Cdn site now to $582, not as ridiculous now. About the same as a 64GB ipad mini 4 at $549 and cheaper than the 2GB/64GB Surface 3 at $639. If at this price it included the active pen it would be reasonable with a differentiator. Dell isn't even trying for the consumer market on this one.

Really want to see some reviews on battery life and performance improvement over the Bay Trail tablets.

 

[BaritoneGuy]

I am with you. Dropping it to Win 10 home helps a bit, but I agree with you on the pen. Did you notice the folio case was priced at $999,999.99. I will watch it for a bit and likely order home and use my MSDN subscription to go pro if necessary.

I do like the 4 gig RAM and X64 OD though.

 

[Jared The Geek]

I am really wanting the LTE version. I hope they don't screw around like they did with the last generation and put out the LTE version almost a year later. I am also pleased that they went Wacom this time over the synaptics pen tech in the previous generation.

 

[Bo]

looks like the LTE version is now posted on Dell's website.

 

[prowade]

I bought the wifi version of the new tablet and the pen. In my opinion the pen from the older version seems to work better than the new one. Also, on the new model it over heats like crazy.

 

[Dragon Queen]

Anyone know if the front camera is compatible with windows Hello? Mine is supposed to get delivered today.

 

[Ray Adams]

I just ordered one from Dell , will be delivered somewhere in the middle of May. Ordered without LTE.
Anyone here has it already on the hands? Any small reviews of it?

 

[chevypad]

Over on TabletPC Review you'll find plenty of reviews and commentary, and tons of tips on how to go through the early quality bugs (which seemed numerous, but then every forum is full of numerous negative discussions)

Sent from mTalk

 

[Ray Adams]

Show me one tablet that does not have bug and negative reviews (Windows tablet I mean)

Review is good source of info and I already did search for it, but to get answers from actual owners of this tablet much better solution.

 

[chevypad]

I meant, their forum has a good sample of owners who provided that input*. The official review on that site was actually quite positive compared to the user feedback I've followed.

Bugs included a section of the touch screen being unresponsive when laid flat, audio QA problems, and it seems the battery is overall a poorer experience than the 5830, among other complaints. A few of the users had returns and a few replacements. Granted I find that the users there have requirements of their devices that do not match mine - I would not be bothered by audio QA, for example.

I would like to get one someday, for the improved pen experience, 4 GB RAM, and the potential USB-C has to improve extensibility of the device, all at half the price of a Surface. But my 5830 is still performing admirably, and a refresh improved it's sleep performance in Windows 10, so the expense doesn't suit my needs right now.

 

[Ray Adams]

I do not go often for TabletPC web site and do not use their forum. Prefer to be here
Anyway, I have received my tablet. Ordered 4Gb version without LTE directly from Dell with Windows 10 home (-50$) = $399. I though about HP ProTablet but even with the same configuration HP costs much more ($549.00). Pen I bought from ebay for the half price and USB-C adapter from Amazon with 25$ off.

What can I say?

First of all I use iPad for my daily needs which are surfing internet, use Facebook and twitter. Play casual games. I was with iPad staring from iPad 2. Went through all generation up to iPad Pro now. So my comparison can only be made with iPad . I was an owner of Windows tablet (ASUS Transformer on Windows 8) but it was a long time ago.

I bought Dell Venue for developing purpose, not as a daily device and it took about 3 days to install, update and fix all these problems. Right out of the box I had these kind of problems:
1. WiFi very unstable. Disconnects every second
2. Bluetooth was not working, I was not able to connect Pen to tablet.
3. Microsd 128gb (SanDisk Ultra) does not work

So I decided to update drivers, but because WiFi does not work it was almost impossible to do on device itself. I have downloaded all drivers from Dell using my PC and then transferred to tablet.

After updating all drivers,

1. WiFi was not fully fixed. 5Ghz still works very bad even though it doesn't disconnect you still do not have internet. I switched to 2.4Ghz WiFi and this one works much much better. But wth? I paid for tablet with good dual-wifi and still cannot use 5Ghz. Hope in a future someone (Dell, Intel, Microsoft or holy spirit) fix it.
2. Bluetooth was fixed.
3. MicroSD still does not work. Replaced with 64gb SanDisk Ultra and now its okay.

I also updated tablet to slow ring insider preview and today spent whole day playing with tablet.

I won't say anything about Windows bugs like disappearing onscreen keyboard and so on it is insider preview version and you have to expect all kind of bugs.

About the tablet itself:

cons: Most bad
- It works a little slow, 4 gig ram is good, but CPU looks very slow. May be it is my imagination after switching from iPad pro and my powerful PC
- It has bad habit to heat itself up for no reason!
- Battery life is awful. (I recharged it 2 times today)
- Bad support for 128gb MicroSD cards

cons: Not so important

- Sound from speaker not good. (Of course I compared it to iPad), but I do not need it listen music. I have Bluetooth speakers from Bose and that's enough for me.
- To much software from Dell which you do not need all times. Good you can uninstall them.
- When connected to the monitor using Dell USB-C -> HDMI adapter you have only 30hz refresh rate at maximum 1920x1080 resolution. (why!?)
- 64gb storage maximum. Why not release 128?

pros:
- Good screen
- Good pen support, not as good as Surface but still very good. I found that it is very useful especially for non-Metro applications.
- I have dell USB-C adapter with DVI/VGA/USB/Gigabit Ethernet. When you connect tablet to monitor, network and mouse with keyboard. You have full featured PC. Enough for simple tasks.


Can this tablet replace anything in your life? I pretty sure - it cannot! If you need something to consume internet, social networks. Buy iPad and you won't be disappointed. but if you need something to do more than just web surfing you can try this tablet. But only if you have PC and/or laptop. You cannot live with this tablet only.

Most bad experience is coming from Windows 10 itself as it is not yet ready for touch screens.

Feel free to ask me anything about this tablet.

Thank you

 

[Ray Adams]

Almost forgot to add! No NFC in my model

 

[brainzx]

Hi Ray,

I've been thinking of buying this tablet. But I've read many negative reviews about it ... it doesn't seem to justify its price. May I know how's your experience with it so far?

 

[Ray Adams]

Hi
I am sorry for late reply!

So, what can I say about this tablet. First of all, I bought it to test my apps on it, not to use tablet. I have iPad Pro and I am happy with it.
Venue Pro 8 - not so bad tablet, but not good. It has a lot of problems. All of them I described in my previous post.
Nothing changed since then. I do not think someone can use it for work purpose and even for recreation. Still slow, awful apps, bad touch support in Win10.
Just imagine , every time I turn on this tablet to test my app (occurs once or two time a week), I cry! May be I am over reacting, but after smooth experience with iPad and I just cannot stand with Venue.

What do you need table for? Work, recreation? There are plenty of other choices on different OSes you can look into.

 

[brainzx]

Hi Ray, thanks for the reply!
I was hoping that it could be a secondary computer that I could use on the road to reply an email, update MS office documents and run a few Windows applications required for my work. Hence, I need a Windows tablet instead of iOS or Android. And I prefer 8-inch ones which are more portable than the 10-inch ones. Seems that both Venue Pro 5855 and HP 608 G1 are problematic, from all the feedback I've read online so far.

 

[rory753]

Hi Brainzx,
I've been using this tablet for about the past month. I got a refurbished 4gb non-wifi model for around $250 off the dell website. My previous experience is I've had a asus vivotab note 8, surface 3, surface pro 3, and a surface pro 4.

I want to like this laptop. it has a usb-c, a nice screen, and it's inkable. being 8", its very portable, which means i can take things like my movies from the microsoft movie store and others with me on trips easily. 64gb with sd card expansion/usb-c expansion is plenty big for me. i've never noticed a huge performance problem, but i have limited knowledge compared with other OSes.

I was optimistic that the new atom processors would have improved enough with driver support and 4gb of ram that the speed would have picked up. that said, it's not. the main thing that i have an issue with is it never just sleeps. it always turns completely off/freezes, and requires a 10 second press to turn back on. I don't recall my surface 3 having this issue, which also ran an atom processor. I want it to operate like my phone, where it's just on, and doesn't turn off. and yes, i've researched/not found any setting to fix this.

the best thing this has is an inkable screen in an 8" form factor. The next problem is there is no good case for this. if you look for an ipad mini/android tablet, you can usually fine any number of 1st party/3rd party cases. with this, nada. even the dell case looks pretty crappy. so, no really good option to carry the pen and protect this highly portable option. theres a bunch for the earlier version, but not so much for this one.

so, for the price, it made sense for me. i wouldn't pay more then $250 for it, though.