Dell Venue 8 Pro Initial Review

[liquidkoshman]

Thank you for the great review!

I'm really tempted by the Dell myself especially at that price. I hope it is available in the Czech Republic soon...

 

[theefman]

One thing is obvious from that thread: The Surface Pro allows for some beautiful tracking when writing notes in print or cursive, while the Dell V8P does a lousy job in print and is on only passable for cursive handwriting (below). I'm guessing this has to do with the software implementation more than the hardware, but who knows?

The real question is whether it is still "good enough" for One Note and the built-in Windows keyboard to translate your handwriting reliably into text. If 'yes', than I can live with it. If 'no', then I will pass on this device as the Stylus is the main input method I was planning to use.

http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/att...enue-8-pro-owner-s-lounge-20131028_213151.jpg

View attachment 48246

Latest reports are that the digitizer is absolutely abysmal so you're probably better off looking elsewhere.

 

[abel920]

Thanks for your reply! I'm glad to hear that Windows 8.1 handles screen rotation properly - and without drama - though I'm a bit disappointed I can't run out and buy a 64GB model + stylus to try out right now. :grin: It would be pretty tempting given the price and the compact form factor.




I suppose I may have unrealistic expectations for this device. I was hoping that the DV8P + Stylus could serve as a reasonable productivity device on my (public transit) commute and when on-the-go. I hear that Windows 8.1 has built in support for handwriting recognition in the virtual keyboard - and that it works pretty well. Of course, there is obviously a difference between "works pretty well" for jotting down a grocery list versus editing a significant document.

The touch keyboard actually does a very good job with Office. But then again, I am using a 10 inch tablet, and the touch keyboard compliments my tiny hands perfectly.

 

[TrackSmart]

The touch keyboard actually does a very good job with Office. But then again, I am using a 10 inch tablet, and the touch keyboard compliments my tiny hands perfectly.

I'm glad to hear that the on-screen keyboard works well for you at the 10" tablet size. I'm guessing that the 8" size will be more conducive to portrait-orientation thumb-typing than setting the tablet down and using it like a real keyboard in landscape orientation (too tiny). Hence my high hopes for the stylus - hopes which are unlikely to be met based on initial feedback from early users.

 

[cafp89]

This is probably the most useful review I've ever read. Thank you very much. I was having trouble deciding between this one and the ipad mini retina display, but now I'm convinced.

 

[fatclue_98]

This is probably the most useful review I've ever read. Thank you very much. I was having trouble deciding between this one and the ipad mini retina display, but now I'm convinced.

If you were stuck between this and an iPad, you really need to do more research. I'm not criticizing, I'm suggesting you evaluate your needs carefully because they are 2 very different devices. They might look the same but are very different user experiences.

 

[mase123987]

Just read Daniel's initial review. Have to say, it reads like a summary of mine!

 

[Ivan421]

Halo is not recognizing my resolution for some reason so I can't play it. Minecraft doesn't seem to have touch only controls so I can't play that either.

This has actually got me a little concerned. I hated the W3 I owned for 2 days, but it played Halo okay. It had a 1280x800 resolution too. It concerns me that this one isn't working. Has anyone else tried this with different results?

 

[lionlightning]

Hi, thanks for the info. Hopefully they'll release this in Singapore soon, I'm looking to replace my Acer W510 and Nexus 7 with this device. Can you check it's 3DMark unlimited (the Metro one) score?

 

[kuwari316]

Hi guys can anyone please tell me just how much space is available out of the box for the user. Thank you

Sent from my IdeaTab A3000-H using WPCentral Forums mobile app

 

[mase123987]

Hi guys can anyone please tell me just how much space is available out of the box for the user. Thank you

Sent from my IdeaTab A3000-H using WPCentral Forums mobile app

I didn't check immediately as I turned it on, but my guess is around 10gb. It does use a page file so the availability will go up and down as needed. My guess is that there are some recovery files on there as well that could be removed. I will look into that at some point.

 

[mase123987]

Hi, thanks for the info. Hopefully they'll release this in Singapore soon, I'm looking to replace my Acer W510 and Nexus 7 with this device. Can you check it's 3DMark unlimited (the Metro one) score?

I will try and do that sometime in the next couple days.

 

[kuwari316]

Thanks a lot you were a great help to me :thumbup:

Sent from my C6503 using WPCentral Forums mobile app

 

[fc000]

I ended up ordering one of these on Monday, and it appears to have shipped yesterday. My guess is Dell has separate Canadian inventory than what's available in the US considering many are still waiting for theirs to ship from orders placed last week or earlier.

I can't stop refreshing the tracking page...

 

[Blkacesvf41]

Is it Gorilla Glass or any other type of scratch resistant glass? Does anyone know?

 

[mase123987]

Is it Gorilla Glass or any other type of scratch resistant glass? Does anyone know?

I haven't been able to find any info on that.

 

[w8gaming]

Give this virtual mouse a try when not using a mouse, it a onscreen virtual mouse for desktop mode. Sort of like having a touchpad except this appear on screen:

TouchMousePointer - virtual touchpad (on-screen mouse)
Touch Mouse Pointer: Get Mouse Pointer & Trackpad On Windows 8 Tablet Without Connecting Mouse

 

[w8gaming]

A couple of questions:

1. Why the Venue over the T100? Considering the ASUS option comes with the dock and Office (not sure if the Venue comes with the latter), I'm curious as to what this thing offers over the ASUS solution. Is it just because of the 8-inch display, versus the 10-inch one? Oh, and I don't see a frontal picture of your device, so I wanted to ask--is the Windows key placed along the long or short side? Since it's branded in portrait, I wondered if they oriented the Windows key that way as well.

2. Are you sure this is 32-bit Windows? I saw that they list the Bay Trail as x86-64 architecture, so I thought I'd ask.

All Bay Trail 8" tablets that have been announced all come with Office. This include Asus, Dell, Lenovo and Acer.

Atom based tablet usually comes with small storage size, and being 32-bits OS helps to cut down the OS size. Also, this particular CPU cannot address 4Gb RAM so the advantage of 64-bits OS able to use more than 4Gb RAM is moot.

 

[MaxHu]

Thanks for the awesome review. Pretty much everything I wanted to know.

I am wondering if there is any other way to output the video signal apart from Miracast. Would something like a MHL cable (micro usb to HDMI) work with it? I am keen to hook it up with a FHD TV for movies.

 

[rav16]

Very nice review , thanx a lot . May I ask some questions please ?
1) what kind of battery life are you getting ?
2) can you post some day light pics taken from the rear cam ?
3) how is the metro browsing experience ?
4) does Walmart stock 64gb version ?