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 Yoga Tablet
8 The
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 8's super-slim, unique design makes it easy to hold.Sporting
a 1.2-GHz quad-core MediaTek ARMv7 chip with 1GB of RAM, the Yoga Tablet 8's
performance was hit or miss. We were able to snap successive pictures without
delay as apps like Chrome, Gallery, Flipboard and "N.O.V.A. 3" ran in
the background.The Yoga’s 8-inch screen is a good size for gaming and reading
books, but magazines, comics, and videos feel a tad cramped. Not that you’ll
want to read much on the tablet anyways, as its 1280 by 800 resolution makes
all content look fuzzy. Going to the Yoga after using the Nexus 7 or any of the
retina display iPads made me feel like I needed glasses. It’s also only $250.
But, The tablet’s low-resolution
screen is dull and the heavily modified operating system is downright ugly.
The bottom line: Though it feels
well-built and has a handy kickstand, the Lenovo Yoga Tablet’s poor performance
makes it hard to justify even at its low cost. Specifications
Release date10/30/13
Display type8 in
OSAndroid 4.2 Jelly Bean
RAM1 GB
Processor1.2 GHz
Wireless connectivityWi-Fi 802.11
b/g/nBluetooth 4.0
Dimensions (WxDxH)8.4 in x 0.3 in x
5.7 in
Weight0.88 lbs
VS Apple iPad Mini
The iPad Mini's ultrathin and
light design is far more intimate and booklike than the larger iPad, and its
cameras, storage capacities, optional LTE antenna, and general functionality
offer a full iPad experience. The screen's dimensions elegantly display
larger-format magazines and apps.
Performance:
Another similarity with the iPad 2
is the processor. The A5 chip is getting a bit old, but our benchmark results
show it can still rub shoulders with the current crop of 7in tablets.
Importantly - and this is something benchmarks often fail to reflect - the iPad
mini feels snappy in use, whether loading apps, scrolling around maps or
browsing the web.
In the SunSpider JavaScript test,
the iPad mini scored 1442ms, which puts it towards the head of the pack, but in
the synthetic Geekbench 2, it managed only 752 - not a great score compared to
the Nexus 7 (1452) and even the Kindle Fire HD (1124). For gaming, it's still
pretty good, managing 24fps in GLBenchmark 2.5.1. The Kindle Fire HD could
muster only 8.2fps here, and the Nexus 7 just 14fps. It shows that, when it
comes to more demanding games, the iPad mini leads the way.
In terms of battery life, we found
the mini didn't quite live up to Apple's 10-hour claim. Running our usual
video-looping test, we recorded just 7 hours and 21 minutes with Wi-Fi turned
on. That was at maximum screen brightness, however, so at a lower brightness,
you might just reach 10 hours.
But, The iPad Mini costs too much,
especially considering the lower resolution of its 7.9-inch non-Retina Display.
The A5 processor isn't as robust as the one in the fourth-gen iPad and iPhone
5. Typing on the smaller screen is not quite as comfy.
The bottom line: If you want the
full, polished Apple tablet experience in a smaller package, the iPad Mini is
worth the premium price. Otherwise, good alternatives are available for less
money.
Specifications
Display type7.9 inTFT active matrix
- LED backlight - Yes
OSApple iOS
ProcessorApple A5
Wireless connectivityBluetooth 4.0
Dimensions (WxDxH)5.3 in x 0.28 in x
7.87 in
Weight0.68 lbs
Price;$329.00
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