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Windows 8.1, 8 inch Tablets. Are they any good?
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Gormond
21-09-2014
Hey,

I am considering getting an 8 inch Windows 8.1 tablet such as the Dell Venue Pro 8 but I am unsure what they are actually like to use...

My first question is, what are they like for casual games from sites such as GameHouse and Big Fish?

Second, Is it worth waiting for the next generation with Windows 9 and Cherry Trail?

Thanks,

Gormond.
Gormond
23-09-2014
Ordered a Dell Venue 8 Pro 64GB for £150, I shall report my findings
Brady12
23-09-2014
Was that a refurb?
Gormond
24-09-2014
Originally Posted by Brady12:
“Was that a refurb?”

Yeah from Dell Outlet, figured if I don't like it I can just sell it on.
Gormond
01-10-2014
Finally got it, you wouldn't know its a refurb as its in mint condition.

I'm really enjoying it so far, more than my Nexus and iPad tablets, it's a great size and weight with an excellent battery life.

I have also never been a fan of Windows 8.1 but on a tablet it really shines, very fast and the games I tried work great.

For anyone looking for a cheap tablet I couldn't recommend this more.
IvanIV
01-10-2014
The Dell one is nice if you don't mind a lower res screen. I got my niece Lenovo ThinkPad 8" with full HD screen. It's gorgeous, but triple the price of the Dell.
Gormond
01-10-2014
Originally Posted by IvanIV:
“The Dell one is nice if you don't mind a lower res screen. I got my niece Lenovo ThinkPad 8" with full HD screen. It's gorgeous, but triple the price of the Dell.”

yeah and 188 PPI isnt the worst, the text is perfectly readable even with my poor eyesight!

I did look at the Lenovo ThinkPad but as you say its much more expensive and the battery life is very poor, about half of what you get with the Dell Venue 8 Pro.
ssr
02-10-2014
I also have a refurb Dell Venue 8 Pro, in as new condition. I ordered the 64gb, which I believe is important as my C drive is now 37gb without installing MS Office. There has been a huge amount of Windows updates.
Because of this I would suggest you stick to 64gb and not 32gb
IvanIV
02-10-2014
Originally Posted by Gormond:
“yeah and 188 PPI isnt the worst, the text is perfectly readable even with my poor eyesight!

I did look at the Lenovo ThinkPad but as you say its much more expensive and the battery life is very poor, about half of what you get with the Dell Venue 8 Pro.”

I did not know that about the battery life of the Lenovo. It's really a pity. The screen on it is much better than on the Dell. Even on such a small screen the full HD makes a difference.
IvanIV
02-10-2014
Originally Posted by ssr:
“I also have a refurb Dell Venue 8 Pro, in as new condition. I ordered the 64gb, which I believe is important as my C drive is now 37gb without installing MS Office. There has been a huge amount of Windows updates.
Because of this I would suggest you stick to 64gb and not 32gb”

You can copy and then delete the recovery partition to save some space on the 32GB one.
Raven8472
04-10-2014
Can you turn the windows 8.1 tablet into a pure touch laptop so boot to desktop and install classic shell ?

I presume you can install most applications on them so Firefox/chrome and XBMC.
Gormond
04-10-2014
Originally Posted by Raven8472:
“Can you turn the windows 8.1 tablet into a pure touch laptop so boot to desktop and install classic shell ?

I presume you can install most applications on them so Firefox/chrome and XBMC.”

Yeah it's essentially just a laptop without a keyboard which is one reason I really like it. It's only running one of the new Atoms so don't expect amazing performance but it is rather good, nothing like the last lot of Atoms that were in netbooks... Those were terrible.
Raven8472
04-10-2014
Thanks for the reply Gormond, I currently have a Ipad 3 bit miss the full os expereince on a tablet form so a full Win 8 tablet may be the answer. did not want to spend more than 150 on it.
Gormond
04-10-2014
Originally Posted by Raven8472:
“Thanks for the reply Gormond, I currently have a Ipad 3 bit miss the full os expereince on a tablet form so a full Win 8 tablet may be the answer. did not want to spend more than 150 on it.”

Keep an eye on Dell Outlet which is where I got mine for £150, I went for the 64GB version and also put in a 64GB SD card as 32GD would be no where near enough on the base model.
IvanIV
04-10-2014
You get Office Home and Student 2013 with the models with Windows 8.0 and 8.1, not the pro version, which is worth a few quid on its own. I don't know, maybe it's my big manly hands and fingers, but it takes some effort aiming to get around the desktop UI on 8" screen but it's all there and you can install any 32bit programme on those and it will run, within reason of course.
Raven8472
07-10-2014
I have seen a few Dell tablets on sale for half their current retail price but without a OS. How difficult is it to install win 8 on these. I am comfortable with laptops and desktops installs but is it worth it if i have a spare licence for Win 8.
IvanIV
07-10-2014
Originally Posted by Raven8472:
“I have seen a few Dell tablets on sale for half their current retail price but without a OS. How difficult is it to install win 8 on these. I am comfortable with laptops and desktops installs but is it worth it if i have a spare licence for Win 8.”

I am just guessing I did not (need to) do it. It has a micro USB port so you could probably boot from it, but the drivers could be a problem. I just checked the Dell site, they do have driver updates there, so once you get the OS running you could probably install those, too. You will need 32bit Windows for it.
Raven8472
07-10-2014
Originally Posted by IvanIV:
“I am just guessing I did not (need to) do it. It has a micro USB port so you could probably boot from it, but the drivers could be a problem. I just checked the Dell site, they do have driver updates there, so once you get the OS running you could probably install those, too. You will need 32bit Windows for it.”

USB Hub, usb keyboard, mouse and bootable usb drive using something like
windows 7 usb/dvd download tool- guessing fat32 only
clonmult
07-10-2014
Originally Posted by Gormond:
“Yeah it's essentially just a laptop without a keyboard which is one reason I really like it. It's only running one of the new Atoms so don't expect amazing performance but it is rather good, nothing like the last lot of Atoms that were in netbooks... Those were terrible.”

The dual core atom in my sons netbook wasn't bad at all - performance could be described as acceptable. Ex's daughter somehow knackered the HD in hers, I put an SSD in there as a replacement, it boots faster than my i7 laptop

Dell have the 32gb variant going for £119. That is a damnably good price, and the 64gb is only another £20.
Raven8472
09-10-2014
Had a Dell Latitude 10 ST2 tablet delivered yesterday(not the newest Tab ) But sold cheap with no os. But when i turned it on it had windows 8.1 Pro installed with all the drivers working . It would not activate but found a key finder program that was able to extract the bios stored windows key so used that and its activated.

All setup and verified surprisingly fast Atom CPU and installed classic shell to make the desktop more accessible. Great thing about it is has 3G installed and setup and 64GB SSD with full size USB socket and SD card. Currently running an additional 64GB SD card so hopefully it will be reliable. Screen is great with decent touch response.
IvanIV
09-10-2014
How much for the toy? It has nice specs from what I have seen except the screen which is "only" HD ready. But then you probably could not get one with full HD too cheaply.
Raven8472
09-10-2014
I paid £120 (have a look on the bay ) Currently owning a Ipad 3 and Iphone 5 im finding the screen very acceptable and has a great battery life something having full HD Res would have to sacrafice. Mine has a working Sim card slot and currently with the SD card has 128GB of storage.

Metro apps work well on it as well.
IvanIV
09-10-2014
Nice. I hope you'll like it.
Raven8472
13-10-2014
I just put windows 10 preview on my Dell Lattitude 10 ST2 tablet and is quicker than 8.1 pro. Needed to use a usb hub Mouse and USB key with files but working after installed all drivers to get everything working including touch screen.

Just using the Start menu with windowed apps rather than metro.
IvanIV
13-10-2014
I put W10 on my laptop and it is faster, I just did not want to install it on my Surface Pro 3, which is my main device now. W10 is surprisingly stable, but not all is available, e.g., Metro version of IE which I use daily. BTW they can now call Metro Retro
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