Microsoft Office on Venue 8 Pro

[IndieAdmirer]

Hey everyone! Im looking to buy the Dell Venue 8 Pro as a cheap, portable, full Windows tablet for a college student. I have a Bluetooth keyboard and will also probably buy the Folio case so typing and a stand won't be a problem for me. The only real question I have is about the Microsoft Office suite. As a student, I use Word on a weekly basis (for the most part) and I want to know how the experience is with the Venue 8 Pro. I would mainly use it with the Bluetooth keyboard, but Im scared that the screen is too small for when I have it stationed with the cover to type an essay or anything like that. Sorry for the long post, just wanted to know as much about the product before I go out and buy it!

 

[kuwari316]

Something good the dell has for is that it performs well and the screen is very bright and clear. I haven't personally tried typing an essay on it but if you make the text bigger on word using the built in document size thing that is usually on tje bottom right hand side of word it should be fine. Microsoft Word wont loose things like formatting when you zoom in.
However being a college student myself i would recommend you going with something a bit bigger just to save your eyes from the strain.

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

 

[IndieAdmirer]

Something good the dell has for is that it performs well and the screen is very bright and clear. I haven't personally tried typing an essay on it but if you make the text bigger on word using the built in document size thing that is usually on tje bottom right hand side of word it should be fine. Microsoft Word wont loose things like formatting when you zoom in.
However being a college student myself i would recommend you going with something a bit bigger just to save your eyes from the strain.

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

Thanks for the reply! I was originally going to buy the Asus TF100, but I checked it out at my local Best Buy an hated the build quality. That and it was a bit hard to type for an extended period in just tablet mode (which is something I might do with the Venue 8 Pro). I was also eyeballing the original Surface RT for Black Friday since its going to be $200, but Im not sure I can live with the limited RT version of Windows as well as a fairly slow device.

 

[TrackSmart]

Hey everyone! Im looking to buy the Dell Venue 8 Pro as a cheap, portable, full Windows tablet for a college student. I have a Bluetooth keyboard and will also probably buy the Folio case so typing and a stand won't be a problem for me. The only real question I have is about the Microsoft Office suite. As a student, I use Word on a weekly basis (for the most part) and I want to know how the experience is with the Venue 8 Pro. I would mainly use it with the Bluetooth keyboard, but Im scared that the screen is too small for when I have it stationed with the cover to type an essay or anything like that. Sorry for the long post, just wanted to know as much about the product before I go out and buy it!

Honestly, these tablets are great, but not as a primary computing device for getting all of your work done. 8-inches will be fine for taking notes in class and reading documents, but you will want more space for using Microsoft office.

Here's my brutally honest advice:
1) Consider this a secondary device to a laptop or desktop computer
2) OR wait for an 8" Windows tablet that has a physical video-out port and a USB port that is not also the charging port! Basically, 8" would be fine if you could dock the tablet to a larger monitor when in your dorm room/apartment. But the Dell Venue 8 Pro doesn't have physical video out. And even if you got one of those USB video converters, you'd be in trouble because you can't use the USB port and charge the tablet at the same time (none of those adapters work - people have tried them). Further, while there is wireless display technology baked in, apparently it works really poorly and also requires an expensive adapter for your monitor or TV.

If I wanted a tablet as a main productivity device, I would either go with a 10" version (the Dell Venue 11 Pro or Surface Pro if you can afford it), or choose a model that has a docking station. Good luck!