Dell Venue 8 Pro Pro Reviews

There aren’t many tablets that offer what the Dell Venue 8 Pro does: It’s an inexpensive device that can run mobile-friendly apps as well as the same apps you might run on your desktop or notebook PC. There’s an option for a pressure-sensitive pen which lets you jot handwritten notes in OneNote, enter text with handwriting recognition, or draw in art and graphics apps. And it’s cheap.

The Dell Venue 8 Pro tablet offers good performance, decent enough build quality, and Windows 8.1 in a lightweight, easily transportable package. The fact that Office Home and Student is included in the purchase price of $300 is an added bonus. We are not so sure that the new Venue 8 pro seamlessly integrates into corporate environments, as the tablet lacks a docking port or a dedicated video out. The 8-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels also doesn't offer enough real estate to place program windows side-by-side or to efficiently work with spreadsheets. With the tablet propped up on a stand and a Bluetooth keyboard connected, the display is even further away from the user, which does cause some eye strain over time. The active stylus is also at least one firmware update away from being truly useful. Both the Asus Transformer Book T100TA, which comes with a keyboard dock as well as the Microsoft's Surface Pro 2 have larger display areas, which makes productivity tasks a little easier. The latter also offers significantly higher performance at an admittedly substantially higher price. Users not looking for compatibility with Windows .exe files and those more interested in eBooks or simple web browsing might be better off with a Android tablet like the 8-inch Galaxy Note, or similar tablets.

Bottom line here, the Dell Venue 8 Pro appears to be a decent value for the asking price. We do have to admit though, we struggled a bit to find a place where it truly fits in our work flow. Granted, that is just one specific person, so we have to discount that thought a little bit. If you are living in a Windows world, whether it be for work or pleasure, the Venue 8 Pro could be a viable alternative as compared to your basic Android or iOS tablet. The big drawbacks for us was the lack of a full-sized USB port and more, the lack of HDMI for connecting an external display. In the end it seems we could have been using the Venue 8 Pro at home, in the office and on the go given that. But with the current setup, an 8-inch display just wasn't big enough for us to really get down to business in terms of work. But that said, the Venue 8 Pro is a $199 device, which means for some, this may be more of a secondary machine and that being the case, the external display support likely wouldn't be much of an issue.

Dell's 8-inch mini tablet packs full Windows 8.1 in a thin and light package with strong performance and battery life. The optional stylus is good only for short notes. not long handwriting or sketching.

The Dell Venue 8 Pro is a Windows 8.1 entry-level tablet that certainly corrects the problems that can crop up when from using mobile tablets like the iPad or Google Nexus families. But is it a replacement for a Windows laptop PC? On that, we're not so sure.

I've been waiting for the perfect 8-inch Windows 8 tablet, offering just the right design, features, and price. I'm still waiting, but the Dell Venue 8 gets closer than anyone else has to date. If it were available from Day One with its paired keyboard accessory, put the Windows button back where it belongs, and could find a way to scale certain Windows functions better to the small screen, it would be a real winner. As it is, as long as you're already making some sacrifices, it's hard not to suggest you look at the Asus T100, which pairs a slightly larger 10-inch tablet with an attachable keyboard dock, twice the storage space, and battery battery life, all for about $50 more.

Dell’s Venue 8 Pro is the best Windows competition for the iPad mini, but it’s still far from matching Apple’s tablet. The out of box experience of the display dimming is unforgivable in a modern device, and Dell’s odd decision to place a Windows key at the top of the tablet is equally puzzling. The lack of Windows 8 apps holds this type of device back somewhat, but the potential is promising. Microsoft has laid some solid foundations with Windows 8.1, and will let you read, surf, listen to music, and watch movies. That’s really what these types of tablets are about: consumption. But the Venue 8 Pro could be about so much more than that. It feels like Dell has created an average competitor here, but it could have gone further to tap the potential of these 8-inch Windows tablets by including a Micro HDMI port and a high resolution display. Windows 8.1 has all the driver support required to make this tiny 8-inch tablet a real PC when you need it, or even offered a quick way to connect your tablet to your TV with a single cable. A high resolution display would also help with movies, gaming, and all the other tablet activities I like to do every day. At just $299 the Dell Venue 8 Pro is certainly the best Windows-based 8-inch tablet I’ve used so far, but with Lenovo and Toshiba already offering similar competition I suspect there will be even more on the way shortly. I want a small Windows tablet to replace my iPad mini Retina, and I’m convinced it’s a good idea, but for now it’s hard to switch fully. Dell’s Venue 8 Pro might not replace my iPad mini, but it’s certainly good enough to sit alongside it in my bag. I’ll await more Windows 8 apps and a better display until I fully make the switch.