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bay trail tablets are awesome

D

desura

Diamond Member
Running a dell venue 8 pro.

It is awesome.

For web surfing and everyday use it feels a little faster than the surface pro while being significantly smaller. I'd say it is basically the same size and speed as an iPad mini 2 but windows software compatible and with expandable memory, and with being able to access full flash desktop websites.

Easily better than the surface rt.

Blows android tablets out of the water.

Can even run a few steam games.

Probably the best tablet buy available currently imo.
 
Great tablet for the money (~$200), but I had a few issues with it.

*It definitely doesn't feel faster than a Surface Pro (I own a SP2), especially if you go to desktop. Mapping apps (like Zillow) didn't feel as fast either.

*The screen gets very bright, but you can tell it lacks DPI. Here's hoping we get a 1080p panel in the next revision.
 
I've also noticed my Dell Venue 8 Pro loads websites faster than my Surface Pro 1. Not yet sure why that is, as it definitely should not be the case.

Yeah. the Dell Venue 8 Pro is very nice tablet. Love mine. Really hope Dell updates it with a 1200p display though and then it'd be perfect (and ditch the worthless digitizer).
 
Only issue I'm running into is an overly sensitive screen while web surfing. That makes websites sometimes zoom when I do not want them to zoom.

Yeah it is a shame the surface rt is so darn big. I could accept rt's limitations if a good form factor, but the venue 8 manages to be faster and smaller at once.
 
First time I've really been interested in Windows tablets. That's fantastic battery life!

Any benefit to using Dell's keyboard over another bluetooth keyboard? How would it hurt battery life? Can you plug USB devices into the microUSB port with an adapter?
 
desura said:
Only issue I'm running into is an overly sensitive screen while web surfing. That makes websites sometimes zoom when I do not want them to zoom.
Click to expand...
I saw that issue a lot as well. I sold mine before I was able to test any software updates, but I do know there was a firmware update for the Synaptics digitizer it uses. There's also a BIOS update. Might help, might not.
 
Yuriman said:
First time I've really been interested in Windows tablets. That's fantastic battery life!

Any benefit to using Dell's keyboard over another bluetooth keyboard? How would it hurt battery life? Can you plug USB devices into the microUSB port with an adapter?
Click to expand...

I have not tried the Dell keyboard. I worry something that small would be difficult to use. I tried a Logitech keyboard with my iPad mini and that was painful to type on because of the size.

I use a Motorola BT keyboard, it's not too big, made for 10 inch tablets, and it's cover folds into a stand. There is also the Microsoft Wedge keyboard that also comes with a stand. And the Logitech K810, while larger, is an excellent BT keyboard that can pair with 3 different devices at once and is backlit.

Yes, the micro USB port works with an adapter and I can plug in a USB keyboard, Gigabit controller, flash drives, and such.
 
I've been thinking about getting a windows table and the Venue 8 Pro is most likely what I'm going to get.
At the moment though I'm not sure if I should get it now or wait for the version with 64 bit windows. What do you guys think? Will the 64 bit version add anything really useful?
 
metafun said:
I've been thinking about getting a windows table and the Venue 8 Pro is most likely what I'm going to get.
At the moment though I'm not sure if I should get it now or wait for the version with 64 bit windows. What do you guys think? Will the 64 bit version add anything really useful?
Click to expand...
No. In fact, the 32-bit versions are better for right now until Microsoft can deliver Connected Standby for 64-bit.

The 2GB of RAM isn't bad either.

My wishes for a new V8P successor would be a 16:10 hi-res screen, a real SSD instead of eMMC and a port for charging and for USB. Otherwise, I think the V8P is pretty top notch.
Yuriman said:
Would it be possible to install a 64bit version with a flash drive?
Click to expand...
Yes, you can install the 64-bit version of Windows 8. But there would honestly be no point in doing so, especially at this time.
 
I updated the touchscreen firmware.

The good is that pen input is better in OneNote.

Bad is that the touchscreen is still jumping around during article scrolling.
 
Yuriman said:
Would it be possible to install a 64bit version with a flash drive?
Click to expand...

well, not for the Windows 8 x64 on the Asus T100 (think it's the same for dell venue 8 pro)

these devices have a 32-bit EFI bootloader, can only boot up to 32-bit images


for linux, you can try to hack/load a 64-bit OS with a 32-bit image (so far, that's why I along with other T100 users have been doing
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2500078
 
There doesn't seem to be a point for 64 bit on tablets.

Or phones.

I wouldn't worry about it. Just seems like a lot of work for something you won't even notice.
 
desura said:
Running a dell venue 8 pro.

It is awesome.

For web surfing and everyday use it feels a little faster than the surface pro while being significantly smaller. I'd say it is basically the same size and speed as an iPad mini 2 but windows software compatible and with expandable memory, and with being able to access full flash desktop websites.

Easily better than the surface rt.

Blows android tablets out of the water.

Can even run a few steam games.

Probably the best tablet buy available currently imo.
Click to expand...

Got my attention!
 
paperwastage said:
well, not for the Windows 8 x64 on the Asus T100 (think it's the same for dell venue 8 pro)

these devices have a 32-bit EFI bootloader, can only boot up to 32-bit images


for linux, you can try to hack/load a 64-bit OS with a 32-bit image (so far, that's why I along with other T100 users have been doing
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2500078
Click to expand...

I was able to install Win 8.1 Enterprise x64 on a Bay Trail Venue 11 Pro, which, if I understood correctly, has the same UEFI bootloader as the Venue 8 Pro. I think I had to tinker in the BIOS to disable secure boot though. Didn't mess with the Venue 8 at that level while I had it.
 
Whatever you want. I've used a Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse on the Venue 8 when I had it. Bluetooth devices work best, since getting USB devices and charging the tablet at the same time is a bit of a hack since the mUSB port does double duty.

Played a lot of Burnout Paradise on the Venue 8 Pro when I had it without issue.
 
I agree with the overall sentiment here. The Dell VP8 Pro is the best tablet I have owned to this point (we also have a iPad3 and a Note 2014 10.1) and as a benefit it is also the cheapest.

Once I installed that touchmouse pointer program all of my complaints in regards to using the classic desktop quickly went away. I had to train myself to get over the whole "scan the app store for <insert anything useful here> functionality". There is no need, just run whatever full Windows program you need. Being able to have access to a full desktop OS and applications makes our two $500+ tablets feel like toys.
 
bearxor said:
I was able to install Win 8.1 Enterprise x64 on a Bay Trail Venue 11 Pro, which, if I understood correctly, has the same UEFI bootloader as the Venue 8 Pro. I think I had to tinker in the BIOS to disable secure boot though. Didn't mess with the Venue 8 at that level while I had it.
Click to expand...

http://www.cnet.com/news/finally-here-come-the-64-bit-windows-8-1-tablets/

i guess dell treats their customers nicer than asus... we'll see if asus updates

Dell will roll out updated Venue tablets for 64-bit. "Dell will offer 64-bit OS support for its Venue 8 Pro and Venue 11 Pro tablets running Bay Trail (Atom) later this year," a Dell spokesperson told CNET.
Click to expand...
 
For the money yes, they are good. However, owning a Surface Pro 2 and playing with my friend's SP and my other friend's Dell Venue 8 Pro, this is no way the Dell is faster than either of the SP devices. I can personally say the Intel Core i5 in the SP2 is speedy enough for most tasks. I do use it for taking notes, work, web browsing, media consumption, and the occasional Steam game
 
tsupersonic said:
For the money yes, they are good. However, owning a Surface Pro 2 and playing with my friend's SP and my other friend's Dell Venue 8 Pro, this is no way the Dell is faster than either of the SP devices. I can personally say the Intel Core i5 in the SP2 is speedy enough for most tasks. I do use it for taking notes, work, web browsing, media consumption, and the occasional Steam game
Click to expand...

I would also disagree if someone is saying that the DV8P is 'as fast as' the SP2. However the SP2 is not even remotely in the conversation for competition as it is more than 4 times the price. It's basically several levels above it and should not even be mentioned in the same sentence.
 
cronos said:
I would also disagree if someone is saying that the DV8P is 'as fast as' the SP2. However the SP2 is not even remotely in the conversation for competition as it is more than 4 times the price. It's basically several levels above it and should not even be mentioned in the same sentence.
Click to expand...
Absolutely - apples vs. oranges. The DV8P is a great value for the money, told my friend to get it during the black Friday sales. He was initially looking at the Nexus 7 2013 (which I have and love), but I told him about the DV8P/BF deals, and he made the choice in the end. If I didn't have a SP2, or the Nexus 7, I would have gone with the DV8P myself.
 
I had the DVP8 for about a week before returning it. The screen is just way too small for desktop mode, and I don't care for Metro apps.
 
tsupersonic said:
For the money yes, they are good. However, owning a Surface Pro 2 and playing with my friend's SP and my other friend's Dell Venue 8 Pro, this is no way the Dell is faster than either of the SP devices. I can personally say the Intel Core i5 in the SP2 is speedy enough for most tasks. I do use it for taking notes, work, web browsing, media consumption, and the occasional Steam game
Click to expand...

cronos said:
I would also disagree if someone is saying that the DV8P is 'as fast as' the SP2. However the SP2 is not even remotely in the conversation for competition as it is more than 4 times the price. It's basically several levels above it and should not even be mentioned in the same sentence.
Click to expand...

Well to look at the context of what he said... the DV8P is faster at web browsing than the Surface Pro. And I chimed in commenting I have the same problem.

I've been testing this out more and it seems to only be with the Modern IE 11 browser (for me anyway). Modern IE 11 is very slow on my Surface Pro 1. But it works perfectly fine on the Dell Venue 8 Pro. Desktop IE 11 and Chrome both work fine on the Surface Pro. Something is wonky with Modern IE 11 on my Surface Pro, giving the impression it's slower than the DV8P.

But yeah, obviously the SP1 with a Core i5 and 4GB of RAM is otherwise a much faster tablet than the DV8P with Baytrial and 2GB of RAM. 🙂
 
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