Dell Venue 8 Pro The
tiny Dell Venue 8 Pro has a premium look and feel for such an inexpensive
system, offers good stylus support, and runs full Windows 8 in something about
the size of an iPad Mini.The Venue Pro’s 8-inch touchscreen has a resolution of
1280 by 800 pixels—that’s a far cry from the 1080p resolution of tablets such
as the more laptop-like Microsoft Surface Pro 2, and it’s even farther from the
iPad mini with a 2048-by-1536-pixel Retina display.The Venue 8 Pro is powered
by a quad-core 1.8GHz Intel Atom Z3740D processor with 2GB of RAM, integrated
Intel HD graphics and 32GB of internal storage. Supplementing the internal
storage is a memory card slot. The microSD card slot sits on the right side,
which is also where you will find the volume rocker, power button and microUSB
for charging. Looking over the rest of the device and you find a Windows button
and headphone jack up top and speaker on the bottom. The left side is clean and
clear.Microsoft has made a lot of improvements to support these types of small
Windows tablets, and it shows. The Windows 8.1 Start screen includes options to
resize Live Tiles for the smaller screen. There’s a new Reading List app to
help save favorites and apps between Windows 8 machines, a Reading Mode in
Internet Explorer. Most of the built-in apps run much better in portrait mode.
That’s exactly how I use the Dell Venue 8 Pro nearly 100 percent of the time —
reading in portrait mode — much as I do on the iPad mini.The non-removable
battery is rated by Dell at 9.9 hours of life per charge.
But, A misplaced Windows button
throws off the usability, and the 32GB of SSD storage won't hold much. A
promised keyboard accessory isn't available yet.
The bottom line: The Dell Venue 8
Pro comes close to being a great pocket-size mini-PC, but a misplaced button
and missing accessories feel like unnecessary errors.Specifications
Display type8 in
OSMicrosoft Windows 8.1
RAM2 GB - DDR3L
ProcessorIntel Atom
Weight0.87 lbs
Price:
$299.99
VS
Lenovo Miix 2 8
The Lenovo Miix 2 is
essentially a tablet loaded with the full version of Microsoft's OS (Windows
8.1, to be exact). It comes with its own custom dock that gives it a full
keyboard plus some extra ports.The Miix 2 8 is comfortable to hold in the hand
for extended periods. While the screen rotates to support all four
orientations, the placement of the Windows button and Lenovo logo support the
portrait orientation for primary use. The narrow width of the tablet fits
perfectly in the hand.Lenovo's Miix 2 is one of the latest slates to put
Windows 8.1 in your (jacket) pocket, touting a powerful Bay Trail processor and
a bright 1280 x 800 display.Measuring about 8.5 by 5.25 by 0.3 inches (HWD),
the Miix 2 8 is quite svelte. The light silver back panel is bridged by a
chromed ring, which highlights the edge-to-edge front glass panel protecting
the display.The Lenovo Miix 2 8 is equipped with Intel's Atom Z3740 CPU, 2 GB
of RAM, 32 GB of internal flash storage and an 8-inch IPS display. The current version
of Windows 8.1 32-bit serves as the operating system, and a full version of
Microsoft Office Home & Students completes the package.You'll have no
issues using the Miix 2 for most of the workday on a single charge, as the
Lenovo tablet lasted a strong 8 hours and 26 seconds on the LAPTOP Battery Test
(Web surfing over Wi-Fi).The new version cuts the screen size, but also smartly
cuts the price. The Miix was $550, whereas the new Miix2 is $299, and includes
Intel's latest Bay Trail generation quad-core Atom processors, a 16:10
1,280x800-pixel screen, and 32GB SSD storage (a 64GB version will be $349). The
system also comes with a full version of Microsoft Office Home & Student
2013, and a very iPad-like cover plus stylus pen is a $20 add-on. VS Toshiba Encore 8
The
Toshiba Encore 8 runs Windows 8.1, boasts zippy performance, and has a microSD
storage expansion slot.The Encore packs an 8-inch, 1280 x 800 display. The
colorful tiles and white text on the Windows 8.1 Start screen looked crisp on
the slate's screen, and websites such as ESPN.com were bright and easy to
read.Toshiba's tablet is also using Intel's new Atom Bay Trail processor with
2GB of LPDDR3 memory making for a tablet that's now much more capable of
running the full Windows 8.1 desktop experience.Battery is said to be around
seven hours but our Toshiba representative declined to give us a solid figure
considering that the tablet is not quite finalised.To take care of
picture-taking duties, there's a 2-megapixel front-facing Skype-certified
camera and an 8-megapixel main camera with 1080p Full HD shooting abilities to
play with.
But, The design is bulkier and
heavier than most other small tablets. With no keyboard accessory, desktop mode
is a headache to navigate.
The bottom line: The Toshiba Encore
8 offers a lot for its price, but the more appealing Dell Venue 8 Pro is a
cheaper and sleeker alternative.
Specifications
Display type8 in
OSMicrosoft Windows 8.1
RAM2 GB
ProcessorIntel Atom
Wireless connectivityBluetooth 4.0Wi-Fi
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