Dell Venue pro 11 upgrade question

[kasfig]

I have seen one of these for sale second-hand going quite cheap but it has Windows 8.1 installed on it. I am thinking of purchasing one of these. However I would need to have Windows 10 as I would be using an app that works on Windows 10 but not Windows 8.1.

I have a question: Please does anyone know if the Dell Venue 7130 or 7139 are upgradeable to Windows 10 and if so is the upgrade free?

Yours with thanks
Ian

 

[xandros9]

To the best of my knowledge those models should be just fine with Windows 10.

However, the time for the free upgrade has long since passed - you may be able to work around it but I'm not aware of any surefire solutions at the moment. (I haven't needed it lately)

 

[ochhanz]

I have seen one of these for sale second-hand going quite cheap but it has Windows 8.1 installed on it. I am thinking of purchasing one of these. However I would need to have Windows 10 as I would be using an app that works on Windows 10 but not Windows 8.1.

I have a question: Please does anyone know if the Dell Venue 7130 or 7139 are upgradeable to Windows 10 and if so is the upgrade free?

Yours with thanks
Ian

, the venue 11 pro 7140 that I bought a year go already had win10 on it (default is win8.1 I think) and it works fine. We also had a dell win 8 laptop that we had to reset a few days ago and it could still update to win10.
It's a pretty good 2-1 though the attachment system (between the tablet and keyboard) is deteriorating with mine so you might want to double check that (see event viewer if don't often get events where it says that battery x is deattached/attached or if you don't get notifications about rotation lock changing). Atm I can still perfectly do stuff on it but maybe it will become an issue later.

 

[kasfig]

Hi xandros9 and Ochhanz
Thank you both for your helpful questions.
I appreicate the deadline for a free upgrade has gone by. I would want any upgrade to be legal rather than "pirated". However I wouldnt want to have to buy Windows 10 as doubtless that would be expensive.
From the helpful comment by Ochhanz it seems the possibility to upgrade free may still be present once a reset has been put in place although perhaps that might not be a definite matter for all cases. I would be grateful to hear if possible further experiences of people with Windows 8 on their systems and whether they had the chance to upgrade free after the " official" closure date of the free offer of Windows 10.
Thanks and best wishes
Ian

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

Hey, Ian. I just bought a DVP 7130 a little over a month ago. It came with Windows 8.0 installed. I tried to find any way possible to get the free upgrade to Windows 10, but everything I found pretty much made it clear that the free upgrade was over. You can still upgrade to Windows 10 by visiting the Microsoft website, but during setup, you'll be asked to input a valid W10 key. If you don't have a key, you'll have to buy one: US$139 to US$199. That free upgrade was a really good deal while it was available.

 

[ochhanz]

Hi xandros9 and Ochhanz
Thank you both for your helpful questions.
I appreicate the deadline for a free upgrade has gone by. I would want any upgrade to be legal rather than "pirated". However I wouldnt want to have to buy Windows 10 as doubtless that would be expensive.
From the helpful comment by Ochhanz it seems the possibility to upgrade free may still be present once a reset has been put in place although perhaps that might not be a definite matter for all cases. I would be grateful to hear if possible further experiences of people with Windows 8 on their systems and whether they had the chance to upgrade free after the " official" closure date of the free offer of Windows 10.
Thanks and best wishes
Ian

, np glad to help. After hearing what Scienceguy Labs mentioned, I would look for a refurbished venue pro tablet with win10 already installed on it (there might still be a good deal) or you wait for the Surface Go or Lenovo Tablet 10 to go on sale (Surface Go if you want the better form factor or Tablet 10 if you want a bigger battery). There is also the chuwi surbook mini, which also looks like a decent bargain (lower costs but also from what I read less premium build quality).

 

[kasfig]

Dear Scienceguy Labs and ochhanz
Thank you for advising the free offer is definitely over. Mind you I am still thinking about ochhanz' s comment earlier in which he said a Windows 8 tablet he reset just recently had the ability to upgrade to Windows 10? Perhaps some glitch means sometimes the upgrade facility has been retained?
Still, i sense the kind comment by ochhanz to the effect that buying one second hand that already has Windows 10 sounds good. I saw one just now on ebay a 7130 model - going for £120 pounds British.
Please would anyone recommend this or similar option as good value for money. After all I read somewhere that when these tablets first came out they cost a small fortune - upto 1000 us dollars!

 

[ochhanz]

Dear Scienceguy Labs and ochhanz
Thank you for advising the free offer is definitely over. Mind you I am still thinking about ochhanz' s comment earlier in which he said a Windows 8 tablet he reset just recently had the ability to upgrade to Windows 10? Perhaps some glitch means sometimes the upgrade facility has been retained?
Still, i sense the kind comment by ochhanz to the effect that buying one second hand that already has Windows 10 sounds good. I saw one just now on ebay a 7130 model - going for £120 pounds British.
Please would anyone recommend this or similar option as good value for money. After all I read somewhere that when these tablets first came out they cost a small fortune - upto 1000 us dollars!

, yeah I am not sure why the laptop could still be freely upgraded to win10 (especially since previously it was upgraded from win8 to win8.1 but never to win10). Might indeed be a glitch.
As for the price, to give you an idea I bought my 7140 for 300 euro in 2017 which was ~650 euro on release in 2015, though while it was refurbished I did bought it at a shop (the keyboard with a battery in it was included, also including taxes).
If the seller you found on ebay has a good reputation than it sounds like a good deal.

Oh another thing you may want to double check the battery since the device is probably 4 years old. The tablet's battery is probably still decent but the keyboard's battery probably lost some capacity over the years (since the keyboard battery is used first, afterwards the tablet's battery, unless the tablet is undocked of course). On the bright side; the battery life even without the keyboard's battery is good (for me on light usage I would guess almost 8 hours and with keyboard almost 12 hours).

 

[kasfig]

Dear ochhanz
Thank you once more.
If the device cost 650 Euro in 2015 then I guess a tablet with such a good build quality could be a bargain at a fraction of that price even if it is going to be for personal rather than business use (even if it came without a keyboard). I guess one would be getting much more for ones money than a similarly priced new android tablet because correct me if i'm wrong but I imagine a Dell Venue Pro 11 would be much more versatile than such like devices as well as being I imagine far more hard wearing.
I see the batteries even on ebay are quite expensive so for that reason I appreciate your tip about checking the battery is reasonably good

 

[ochhanz]

Dear ochhanz
Thank you once more.
If the device cost 650 Euro in 2015 then I guess a tablet with such a good build quality could be a bargain at a fraction of that price even if it is going to be for personal rather than business use (even if it came without a keyboard). I guess one would be getting much more for ones money than a similarly priced new android tablet because correct me if i'm wrong but I imagine a Dell Venue Pro 11 would be much more versatile than such like devices as well as being I imagine far more hard wearing.
I see the batteries even on ebay are quite expensive so for that reason I appreciate your tip about checking the battery is reasonably good

, hey you might want to buy something else than the 7130, did a quick search because I was curious what the differences between the 7130 and 7140 were but the 7130 seems to have issues: Trying to decide Surface 3 vs Dell Venue 11 Pro 7130 or 7140 | TabletPCReview.com - Tablet PC Reviews, Discussion and News

The 7140 is a good device though. I only had an issue with sleep but I just use hibernate which also lengthens battery life anyway. It is indeed quite a versatile tablet, it is fast enough for even running indie games on Steam and having a usb a port is nice if you want to connect a keyboard, mouse or usb dock. It does not fit as nice in the hands as a Ipad or a Surface Go (I guess) but not bad either, bit like holding an older Ipad.

 

[kasfig]

Dear ochhanz
Thank you . I read the article in your link : I feel the 7140 would be a lot better as its lighter although the detachable back, it seems, isn't a feature of that latter device.
I see that given the price these seem to have been commanding when they first came out, there are some bargains to be had if one is careful buying especially since corporate businesses regularly upgrade their hardware and the old stuff seems to find its way onto the second hand market. I have read the build quality on these is very good too with as well lots of connectivity options.

 

[kasfig]

Dear ochhanz , Scienceguy and xandros
I have decided to take the plunge. I have obtained a Dell Venue Pro 11 on ebay at a good price. It arrived today and I must say it seems fine. I am struck by what a beauty it is and it has Windows 10 already installed . It has come tablet only. No keyboards, docking stations or other accessories other than a charger.

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

Dear ochhanz , Scienceguy and xandros
I have decided to take the plunge. I have obtained a Dell Venue Pro 11 on ebay at a good price. It arrived today and I must say it seems fine. I am struck by what a beauty it is and it has Windows 10 already installed . It has come tablet only. No keyboards, docking stations or other accessories other than a charger.

Awesome. Glad you got one and are happy with it.

 

[kasfig]

Thanks Science Lab It has 128gb sshdd, the 5Y10c processor, 4gb ram, looks like new.
It has Windows 10 home edition
I am just hoping this is a genuine install of Windows 10. Please do you know how I can be sure?
Also, I paid £120 UK pounds for it. It looks like new. I hope I haven't paid over the odds for the tablet. Any advice on these questions please would be most helpful.

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

Thanks Science Lab It has 128gb sshdd, the 5Y10c processor, 4gb ram, looks like new.
It has Windows 10 home edition
I am just hoping this is a genuine install of Windows 10. Please do you know how I can be sure?
Also, I paid £120 UK pounds for it. It looks like new. I hope I haven't paid over the odds for the tablet. Any advice on these questions please would be most helpful.

Nice.
Sounds like you paid a pretty reasonable price for it. The only thing that might have a little wear on it is the battery. You can buy replacement batteries on eBay fairly easily though, so that's not too big of an issue.

About having a legitimate install of Windows. When I first set up mine, as soon as it booted up, I noticed a watermark on the lower right side of the screen just above the clock that read, "Activate Windows" or something like that. That's how I knew that my install of Windows was most likely installed without a license key. I was lucky, because I had an extra Windows license key. Otherwise, I would have had to buy one.

If you were able to set it up with your account and you don't see a watermark on the wallpaper, I think you're good to go.

 

[kasfig]

Dear ScienceGuy
Thank you for your most helpful comment. To be honest the battery seems to be quite good holding a charge at least as far as I can see at present.
In regard to the Windows 10 installation: the tablet seemed to be already set up. There is no password to put in and it was ready to go with the windows username "Home". I can see no Windows activation icon nor does there seem to be a watermark anywhere.
I have been able to install some free apps including one that needed a Microsoft account and I was able to provide my Microsoft account.

Please can you advise:
1. Does this tablet have a 4g card (LTE i think is another word for that unless I am mistaken)
2. Does the tablet have a slot anywhere for a data sim card to use 4g?
3. Is there any software program similar to speccy or other similar pc progs that would tell me all the system specifications.
4. Does the tablet have GPS?

Yours sincerely, Ian

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

Dear ScienceGuy
Thank you for your most helpful comment. To be honest the battery seems to be quite good holding a charge at least as far as I can see at present.
In regard to the Windows 10 installation: the tablet seemed to be already set up. There is no password to put in and it was ready to go with the windows username "Home". I can see no Windows activation icon nor does there seem to be a watermark anywhere.
I have been able to install some free apps including one that needed a Microsoft account and I was able to provide my Microsoft account.

Please can you advise:
1. Does this tablet have a 4g card (LTE i think is another word for that unless I am mistaken)
2. Does the tablet have a slot anywhere for a data sim card to use 4g?
3. Is there any software program similar to speccy or other similar pc progs that would tell me all the system specifications.
4. Does the tablet have GPS?

Yours sincerely, Ian

1. Does this tablet have a 4g card (LTE i think is another word for that unless I am mistaken).

As far as I know, there were models released that were equipped with a 4G card. Not all of them had it though. Oddly enough, some were even sold with a wired sim card slot, but no wwan 4G card installed. Don't know why they did that. The model that I bought was like that. I ended up buying a 4G card for $35US and installing it myself. Pretty easy thing to do it your tablet is capable. You can check by peeling off the back cover. On the left side, there will be a sim card slot, if you happen to have that model.
This video helped me out a lot, but I bought the 7130 model. It still might help you to watch it though.

https://youtu.be/48I0IkPBmto


Or, you can search your model number on Google or YouTube and see what you find.

Do you happen to know the exact model that you bought?


2. Does the tablet have a slot anywhere for a data sim card to use 4g?

Some models do. Some don't. Just depends on what you bought.


3. Is there any software program similar to speccy or other similar pc progs that would tell me all the system specifications.

Don't know about this. My 7130 model came with some Dell software preinstalled. It's some sort of Dell PC diagnostic app that checks for software and hardware errors. If you have that, it'll run a scan and tell you everything you need to know about your tablet. Here's a link to it:

https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...-tablet-or-servers%3Flang%3Den&token=OBWi5MvB


4. Does the tablet have GPS?
Mine does not. I'm not sure if any of the 7130 or 7140s do.

Hope that info helps you out a little.
If you give me more info on your tablet, I can try to find some more info for you.

 

[kasfig]

Dear Scienceguy Labs
Thanks again. You know I just cant see the exact model no. or find it.
I will have to take the back off soon to look inside - I understand the 1 screw has to be removed first though. I hope I find a sim slot and if necessary to install a 4g card at a later date because the "on the move" internet is good
I don't know if there is a 4g card that also does GPS if so I could use the tablet for satnav too!
When I get a keyboard (which I hope to soon) I will look in bios by pressing f12.
It seems finding the service tag is the key to success here. If I obtain this info I will definitely ask for your kind help which is appreciated.
I have seen on this tablet "previous versions of windows" under disk cleanup can be deleted . I note this could save 30gb space on the disk. Please do you know if it is safe to do so? since I got the tablet yesterday I did windows update and it updated to the April 2018 build of Win 10.
With kind regards
Ian

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

Dear Scienceguy Labs
Thanks again. You know I just cant see the exact model no. or find it.
I will have to take the back off soon to look inside - I understand the 1 screw has to be removed first though. I hope I find a sim slot and if necessary to install a 4g card at a later date because the "on the move" internet is good
I don't know if there is a 4g card that also does GPS if so I could use the tablet for satnav too!
When I get a keyboard (which I hope to soon) I will look in bios by pressing f12.
It seems finding the service tag is the key to success here. If I obtain this info I will definitely ask for your kind help which is appreciated.
I have seen on this tablet "previous versions of windows" under disk cleanup can be deleted . I note this could save 30gb space on the disk. Please do you know if it is safe to do so? since I got the tablet yesterday I did windows update and it updated to the April 2018 build of Win 10.
With kind regards
Ian

I hope you find some useful info.

I always delete the previous versions of Windows after an update. I wait a day or so, just to make sure the latest update plays nicely with my PCs. After that, I run disk cleanup and free up as much space as I can, which includes the previous versions. It shouldn't give you any problems.

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

@kasfig
I just watched a teardown video of your 7140. The setup inside the back cover is different than my 7130. You might want to try this:
1. Go into Settings.
2. Click on Network.
3. Look for an option for "Cellular".
If that option is there, you most likely have a wwan card installed.
If that option is not there, you don't have one installed, and you might have to pull the back off to see if you can install one.