did anyone successfully get a dell venue pro8 for $99 on monday? for $199?

[OBLAMA2009]

i didnt even bother trying, but im wondering if any of you get in on this deal. if so how is that tab? i saw it at staples yesterday but they didnt have it plugged in

 

[gus6464]

Nope, it was all a sham. I logged in right at 7am and everything was sold out before that time. Also I heard people complaining that at some MS stores people showed up at 5am and there were already signs saying that the $99 deal was already sold out.

 

[poofyhairguy]

MS and Dell FINALLY have a mobile device people want, so of course they are going to screw up promoting it.

 

[cronos]

I didn't get it on Monday, but I've had one for a couple of weeks now (bought it at Walmart online store on/prior to Black Friday for $230, thought I was getting a great deal, those bastards).

If you haven't tried a Baytrail-based machine before (which is probably most people, because there aren't a lot of those out yet), you'll be surprised. It's amazingly fast and smooth. It's really a fully functional Windows 8.1 machine without a physical keyboard that's incredibly tiny. Even at the 1280x800 resolution, at 8" it's plenty. In fact since I got this for my dad he elected to increase the UI size to 150% (200% at first, but that messed up some pop up boxes) to be comfortable with it.

One of the best features is that it comes with its own full license of MS Office Home. There was about 8 GB left in the drive after the OS and Office, so I installed a 32 GB microSD card. The microUSB takes flash drives and usb mice through OTG cable without a problem (those two are the only ones I tried). I don't think it has enough to power a portable disk drive, although I haven't tried it myself.

In short, this is a great device at $230, definitely at $199 or $99 which is a steal. Windows 8 is sort of funky with all of its built in features and how it's built for touch (this is my first experience with it), and it's going to take time getting used to it. In fact I was pretty much set on getting a 10" android tablet next, now I started to think if a Baytrail Windows tablet isn't a better idea for me considering what I need it for.

 

[Radeon962]

Saw (3) listed in one ad in the For Sale/Trade section this morning here, coincidence? Not mine, but would be a tidy profit if one had been able to snag (3) at $99/each and flip at $255/each.

No idea, but good for him if he was able to get in. I checked a little after 7:00 a.m. thinking I could just get one, but according to SD/FW they sold out in seconds whatever amount they had available at $99.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

I didn't get it on Monday, but I've had one for a couple of weeks now (bought it at Walmart online store on/prior to Black Friday for $230, thought I was getting a great deal, those bastards).

If you haven't tried a Baytrail-based machine before (which is probably most people, because there aren't a lot of those out yet), you'll be surprised. It's amazingly fast and smooth. It's really a fully functional Windows 8.1 machine without a physical keyboard that's incredibly tiny. Even at the 1280x800 resolution, at 8" it's plenty. In fact since I got this for my dad he elected to increase the UI size to 150% (200% at first, but that messed up some pop up boxes) to be comfortable with it.

One of the best features is that it comes with its own full license of MS Office Home. There was about 8 GB left in the drive after the OS and Office, so I installed a 32 GB microSD card. The microUSB takes flash drives and usb mice through OTG cable without a problem (those two are the only ones I tried). I don't think it has enough to power a portable disk drive, although I haven't tried it myself.

In short, this is a great device at $230, definitely at $199 or $99 which is a steal. Windows 8 is sort of funky with all of its built in features and how it's built for touch (this is my first experience with it), and it's going to take time getting used to it. In fact I was pretty much set on getting a 10" android tablet next, now I started to think if a Baytrail Windows tablet isn't a better idea for me considering what I need it for.

if it only has one microusb, would you be able to plug in a full sized adapter, and then plug in a powered hub and us a keyboard, mouse , flashdrive, etc...i dont think my android phones can do this

 

[ponyo]

if it only has one microusb, would you be able to plug in a full sized adapter, and then plug in a powered hub and us a keyboard, mouse , flashdrive, etc...i dont think my android phones can do this

Android phones/tablets can do all this and more.

I returned the $230 one from Walmart. I didn't feel it was better than the Nexus 7 (2013). If I didn't have two Nexus 7 and Yoga 13, I would've kept it. But I don't think 8" is the right size for the OS. Everything is too small in desktop mode. Using the Venue 8 Pro did make me appreciate Yoga 13.

 

[lopri]

Well, an employee told me that I could buy one for $199 so I assumed they were selling for that price.

 

[lopri]

I did not buy one, btw. I thought it was a good deal nonetheless. Very snappy performance.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I bought one two or three weeks ago for $300 at Walmart. I ended up returning it because I already had a Nexus 7 and iPad Mini and while I liked the Dell Venue 8 Pro, I already had two really nice tablets in the 7-8 inch size. My plan was to put that $300 and some more towards the bigger Venue 11 Pro.

But then the $200 sale came and I was already having second thoughts about the 11 inch Venue because it's $630 with keyboard and has a really crappy digitizer. So I ended up buying the $200 Venue 8 Pro again because I figure this will satisfy my Windows 8 tablet cravings until the better Baytrail tablets with 4GB of RAM and Wacom digitizers arrive next year.

Unfortunately a traffic jam prevented me from getting to work in time to try to get a $99 Venue 8 Pro online. And it sounds like nobody actually saw that price online anyway. Some users said they called Microsoft and had the reps order for them at $99 while the website was jammed, sneaky bastards. So I'm guessing all the online $99 tablets went to phone orders.

It was probably around 7:45am PT before I could try to order and it showed the Venue 8 Pro out of stock and the price back at $300. About an hour or maybe two later I just looked again and it showed back in stock at $199. And I was able to place an order.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I really like it at $200. And I think it is even really nice at $300. It doesn't feel cheap, Dell did a good job with the build quality. And I really like the textured back on it. And it's not riddled with Windows and Intel stickers like some Windows tablets.

The only complaint I have, and it seems to be an issue with most Atom tablets I've used is they got a lot hotter than any ARM tablet I've used recently. That's usually just when gaming though.

The 1280x800 display is okay, It's 188 DPI. I'd prefer something over 200 DPI, but it's noticeably more clear than the 155 DPI I saw on the 1366x768 10 inch tablets.

It seems to be a tad heavy for an 8 inch tablet, but it fits nicely in my hand and I don't find the weight to be much of an issue.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Oh one other thing. Apparently if you went to a Walmart on the day of Microsoft's $99 door buster sale, it sounds like a lot of the store employees were actually dumb enough to price match that limit quantity door buster sale. So a lot of people cleaned out most of Walmart's inventory at the $99 price. I went around myself trying to find any left in stock with no luck that day. Staples didn't fall for it though and wouldn't price match.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Oh, one other things. Home and Student version of Office doesn't include Outlook or Excel. So the included Office is pretty much worthless to me.

 

[sweenish]

Oh, one other things. Home and Student version of Office doesn't include Outlook or Excel. So the included Office is pretty much worthless to me.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/b...px?WT.intid1=ODC_ENUS_FX102759646_XT103926218

It comes with Excel.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Oh, one other things. Home and Student version of Office doesn't include Outlook or Excel. So the included Office is pretty much worthless to me.

how is dat office wifout excel. office=word +excel+...

 

[paperwastage]

The only complaint I have, and it seems to be an issue with most Atom tablets I've used is they got a lot hotter than any ARM tablet I've used recently. That's usually just when gaming though. .

at least it's better than the 1st gen atom netbooks...

my Dell mini 10v (1st gen atom N270) runs hot on idle already (it's fanless though with a spinning 2.5" hdd)

 

[cronos]

Oh, one other things. Home and Student version of Office doesn't include Outlook or Excel. So the included Office is pretty much worthless to me.

It does come with Excel.

 

[desura]

I'm just wishing that they would come out with an AMOLED Windows 8 tablet running an ATOM processor.

IT would be perfect.

 

[Ravynmagi]

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/b...px?WT.intid1=ODC_ENUS_FX102759646_XT103926218

It comes with Excel.

Hmm... Mine has no Excel when I swipe up to all programs. Word, Powerpoint, Onenote, something else. I can't double check it now though since I just upgrade to Office 2013 Pro.

 

[gus6464]

Hmm... Mine has no Excel when I swipe up to all programs. Word, Powerpoint, Onenote, something else. I can't double check it now though since I just upgrade to Office 2013 Pro.

Maybe it decided to leave since you were talking smack about it.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Well the real pain is having no Outlook for me. I don't want to use the integrated Windows Mail client. So I needed to put Office 2013 Pro on it anyway.

 

[bearxor]

My biggest complaint is that the 8" size is a little on the small side for desktop apps.

But its not too bad, especially if yore looking for a tablet first and a laptop second.

 

[Canbacon]

Great device, however, it is missing one important feature. HDMI out.

If it included this feature, it would have been the hands down winner in the Windows 8.1 8" category.

 

[Ravynmagi]

My dream 8 inch Windows 8.1 tablet would be the Dell Venue 8 Pro with a Wacom digitizer with pen silo and included pen, a micro HDMI port, and full sized USB port (it seems thick enough to accommodate that).

Oh and maybe a physical Windows 8 button on the front wouldn't be bad either. That side button is worthless.

 

[Ravynmagi]

One weird that that bugs me once a day when I go to plug in the micro USB charger. Why does the micro USB port on the tablet have a perfectly rectangular plug instead of that normal micro USB plug that a couple slants on the top edge? It's impossible to tell which direction to plug the micro USB cable unless you look really closely.

Usually micro USB ports have that special shape so it's impossible to insert the plug the wrong way. With this it seems like I can insert it the wrong way and damage the fragile connector inside the port. Never seen a USB port like this before.