Gadgetory

this video was brought to you by NCIX great technology selections and service hello everyone this is dimitri with hardware canucks and we are finally seeing windows-based tablets come down in price to compete with Android and iOS offerings the Dell Venue 8 Pro is under my review cap today as we take a look at how it functions as a Windows tablet and whether or not you should take your $300 elsewhere if this is the form factor you're after I think there is a right in the wrong place for Windows tablets within the market for general purpose tasks like media consumption and social interaction I think Android and iOS may be more fitting is there a little bit more user-friendly however there exists that certain demographic that needs two full windows experience while on the go however that market segment is much smaller under the hood the Venue 8 Pro is running an Intel Atom BHEL trail quad-core chip with boost frequencies of up to 1.8 gigahertz there's two gigs of ram and then comes at both 32 and 64 gigabyte capacities now the number 8 in the name stands for two things first this is an 8 inch tablet with 1280 by 800 resolution which i think is adequate as doing any precise navigation on the screen is already difficult using touch in such a form factor the second meaning is it's running full windows 8.1 32-bit so yet the entire proper windows experience you can run any executable files and this makes the entire windows ecosystem that much more seamless between devices the IPS display is exceptional with excellent viewing angles and vibrant colors with deep darks and I personally find the 8 inch size perfect mix between meeting something larger than your phone but not going overboard with the size it's thin and lightweight and that's exactly what we need I can hold this perfectly well with just one hand in portrait mode and well enough in landscape thanks to the rubberized cover at the back that both is part of the design and functions as anti-slip we have a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera that's in the corner allowing decent composition and either orientation of your Skype calls but the front viewing angle could be wider for note so in your face video chat a 5 megapixel shooter at the back is OK leave your phone to those pictures it does record the 1080p but really nothing to write home about up top we have a headphone and microphone jack that's combined into one a physical windows button I'm glad there's no capacitive windows button in the middle of the tablet as a simple swipe on the screen reveals the start logo anyway right on the side there is a microUSB for data and charging power button and the volume rocker with great clicky feedback and there's also micro SD card slot for expandable storage that's very much needed on any windows-based tablet as without a 32 gigabyte model only 23 is usable out of which less than 10% is available after installing a few games from the store app and Microsoft Office so you definitely need extra storage for any media or games you might want to store on the device the speaker is at the bottom it's ok but we seriously need to see integration of front-facing speakers instead on pretty much every mobile device thanks to HTC now one of the very appealing aspects about this tablet is the inclusion of full Microsoft Office Home & student edition I actually broke this review on the tablet with the inclusion of this Bluetooth keyboard that you can buy separately or $100 it's totally opie it's certainly much easier for typing but it's not perfect the keys are not wide enough with a tiny left shift and because the keyboard is so thin doing any long projects would be a pain for your fingers it does magnetically attached to the optional case that's an additional 40 bucks but no clip to secure the hold so it's just an OK all-in-one package but it could be better also the case allows only one viewing position with the Venue 8 Pro and sort of really uncomfortable to actually hold the tablet and use it with the case attached you can purchase the Dell stylus pen that's absolutely needed as desktop mode and Windows is absolutely a pain to navigate using touch and my overall experience with the Venue 8 Pro has been satisfactory to a point I love that one sign then into your Microsoft account everything is synced up to my apps and my theme for that seamless transition where I don't have to fiddle around to set up the tablet for use performance-wise playing games from the store app was flawless with just a few minor hiccups and different frame rates and sometimes browsing the web was also snappy and lag free I did that the camera app crashed on me a few times while installing Windows updates and unresponsive chrome and other windows that I couldn't close for some reason but generally I really could see this being in mobile replacement from your conventional laptops or even tablets where the foam factor over ways everything else the 18 watt hour battery life with a hundred-percent screen brightness and browsing the web the entire time served me only under six hours that's pretty short lifespan but of course it is limited by that battery capacity now you could do a lot more with the Venue 8 Pro then your standard Android or iOS tablet but that is really up to the user as you know Android and iOS devices may be more fitting in some instances while the Venue 8 Pro could be the complete driver for your social media and on-the-go business and to conclude there's a lot of positive starting with the excellent display and resolution just the right form factor with thickness weight and the 8 inch size for one hand holding included MS Office is a big one with smooth performance and lag free gaming and browsing the web as well Oh at the reasonable price of $2.99 for the 32 gigabyte model of course there are things we don't like such as the awkward side mounted speaker the stylus pen must be purchased separately even though I feel it should be included because of the clunky nature of touch navigation in desktop mode and also battery life is a little bit disappointing this is however an attractive windows-based tablet for users who are not sadist with Android or iOS offerings and the incredibly competitive price point from Dell with The Venue 8 Pro scores it Harbach Knox damn good value of Word now we realized that Windows tablets are not as popular but taking the Venue 8 Pro as a total package will you consider getting one over say and Nexus 7 that is similarly priced and sized let us know in the comments below of how you might use the Venue 8 Pro as always thanks for watching don't forget to subscribe and like for more similar content and we'll see you in the next one