New Dell Convertibles, Tablets (Android and Windows), Ultrabooks

[bearxor]

Well, the Venue 11 Pro is a big let down for me.

Having used the Venue 8 Pro for just a few hours now, I'm convinced this quad-core atom is more than enough for my usage. So I'm actually more interested in the Atom series as opposed to Core i series, which are significantly thicker, like the Surface Pro 2.

So the Atom-based Venue 11 still only offers 2GB of RAM (I imagine they're using the Z3770D instead of the Z3770 like the spec sheet says) and no cellular connectivity option.

The Core i based one doesn't come with Office and still offers no cellular connectivity. I don't know why anyone would pick one of them over a Surface Pro 2.

I am dissapoint.

I do just want to say that I am loving the Venue 8 Pro, however.

 

[Roland00Address]

The Core i based one doesn't come with Office and still offers no cellular connectivity. I don't know why anyone would pick one of them over a Surface Pro 2.

The core I vs surface pro
The dell is lighter ( who knows about weight distribution), possibly better battery life with izgo and lower sdp processors, possibly better keyboard, possibly cheaper at normal price, possibly cheaper with sales, outlets, refurbs etc.

Both the pro and the core iX do not come with office, both come with active digitizers (we do not know who makes the dell model digitizer)

Pretty much we can't judge the dell till we get good reviews, note I put a lot of possiblies in the last few paragraphs.

 

[Synomenon]

I wonder if that keyboard w/ built in battery has backlit keys. Also, the Venue 11 Pro.'s product page says there's a model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD, but I don't see that configuration.

 

[bearxor]

The core I vs surface pro
The dell is lighter (who knows about weight distribution), possibly better battery life with izgo and lower sdp processors, possibly better keyboard, possibly cheaper at normal price, possibly cheaper with sales, outlets, refurbs etc.

The Dell may be lighter, but isn't it thicker? The thickness is the issue I have with the SP2.

And you're probably going to give me the "we don't know yet because they haven't officially announced" but when they were showing them off at the introduction, they said the Atom and the Core ones were going to be two different sizes, so I figure the Atom is the 10.2mm (slightly thinner than the SP2, slightly thicker than the S2) and the 15.4mm model is for the Haswell based systems (slightly thicker than the SP2). That's why I've been more excited about the Atom version than the Haswell version. I'm just not sure how I feel about a 10.8" screen in a 16:9 form factor yet. I might go to the MS store and play with a Surface 2 for a little bit more before deciding.

Both the pro and the core iX do not come with office, both come with active digitizers (we do not know who makes the dell model digitizer)

I did not know about Office. I thought every Surface came with Office.

But the sales and stuff are a valid point. If you could get a Core i3 11 for $600, it would be a pretty sweet deal, but still not for me simply because of the thickness.

Still considering the Atom Venue 11 though... 4GB of RAM would be a lock.

 

[Roland00Address]

I did not know about Office. I thought every Surface came with Office.

Surface rt and surface 2 rt come with office and too my knowledge other rt systems come with office, some 10.1 inch tablets will come with office for oems are getting cheaper bundles for tablets and ultraportables if the screen size is 10.1 or smaller. Tablets that are 10.6, 10.8, 11.6, or 12.1 inch are too big to get the office bundle.

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I understand about the weight and thickness I have a hate / kinda like appreciation with my clovertrail dell 10.1" latitude. My biggest complaint is the weight and thickness, yes I want more speed, and I wish it was less buggy (The times it has been buggy is due to graphics so I am guessing powervr drivers.). Sadly the surface 2 and dell venue 11 pro are going to be larger and heavier than what I currently have.

I wish they have a windows 8 tablet the size of the iPad air but that will be a couple of years off till Intel can make better processors with 14nm or smaller processes.

Hugs my nexus 7 2013!

 

[s44]

The Bay Trail 11 is the only plausible Window tablet at the moment -- if the weight (which I can't find) isn't ridiculous, anyway. But geez, that price...

 

[bearxor]

The Bay Trail 11 is the only plausible Window tablet at the moment -- if the weight (which I can't find) isn't ridiculous, anyway. But geez, that price...

The price doesn't bother me. It's only $50 more than the 32GB Surface 2, and $50 cheaper than the 64GB Surface 2. It's a full Windows machine with a USB port, HDMI port and mSD expansion for another 64GB. The only thing the Surface 2 has over it is the kickstand, IMO. I'm not sure it's a better choice than an iPad yet, but I'm going to let the wife play with the 8" tonight and see how it does.

 

[senseamp]

Good to see Dell is getting serious about displays on the consumer side. My XPS14 Ultrabook is nice, but the 16x9 display panel is complete garbage.

 

[Joe1987]

Are there any major sites with reviews of the Dell tablets? They look interesting

 

[Roland00Address]

Are there any major sites with reviews of the Dell tablets? They look interesting

The New Dell Tablets are coming out from Nov 8 to Dec 13 depending on model, thus we probably won't see reviews till after then.

 

[Akaz1976]

Anyone know the dimensions of the i3 version? is it 15mm thick or 10mm?

 

[bearxor]

No word yet, but it's almost certainly 15mm thick, with the Bay Trail version being 10mm.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I just picked up the Dell Venue 8 Pro from Walmart. Sadly brick and mortar retailers seem to only be selling the 32GB version, so I'm more or less just showcasing this before deciding if I like it enough to buy the 64GB version (love the red) from Dell (sorry Walmart).

I'm still installing updates, so don't have a good impression of it yet. But so far I really love the way this tablet feels in my hands. Dell did a great job with the rubberized finish on the back with the circular patterns. It's nice and grippy and is a pleasure to hold. And it feels very solid, but not too heavy either.

I only wish Dell include a micro HDMI port. The Lenovo Miix 2 didn't include HDMI either. Only the Toshiba and Acer have HDMI ports on 8 inch tablets and I think both of those companies suck at tablets and I wouldn't buy a tablet from them with a gun pointed to my head.

Though I'm also wondering if I shouldn't wait a bit longer to see what the 8 inch Lenovo Thinkpad tablet is like. I'd really like an 8 inch tablet with an included pen silo and I bet Lenovo does that with their next Thinkpad.

PS. In case you are wondering, the 32GB version only has 11GB of free space out of the box.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Ravynmagi, I would love to hear your thoughts of comparison to your Android tablets.

 

[IntelUser2000]

So the Atom-based Venue 11 still only offers 2GB of RAM (I imagine they're using the Z3770D instead of the Z3770 like the spec sheet says) and no cellular connectivity option.

The datasheet says Z3770 and its 2x1GB dual channel RAM.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Ravynmagi, I would love to hear your thoughts of comparison to your Android tablets.

My first thought is, after buying the new Nexus 7 and iPad Mini, I need this tablet about as much as I need another hole in my head.

Before buying this, my feelings were mixed on an 8 inch Windows 8 tablet. On one hand I'm really excited about it, because I think the 8 inch size is great. It's comfortable, easy to hold in one hand, and light. It's so ideal for surfing the web, reading, playing games to me.

On the other hand, the 8 inch size is mostly about content consumption, and Andriod and iOS would be better platforms for this because of their larger app stores. And the main Windows 8 advantage is somewhat weakened because the desktop won't be quite as finger friendly on the smaller screen.

I'll need to use this a bit more before I can form any opinions on if I'd consider replacing my other tablets with this.

 

[Synomenon]

The XPS11 looks nice. They should have put 8GB of RAM and Iris Pro. Graphics on it though with that 2560 res. screen.

 

[Fox5]

XPS 15

• 3200x1800 Screen Resolution on a 15.6” Screen (5.7 Million Pixels), IZGO Display. Note they also have a 1080p option and this will be the starting option
• Corning’s Gorilla Glass
• 18mm Thick (15” Macbook Pro Retina is the same thickness), 4.4 lbs
• Core I5 or Core I7 (Quad Core) Haswel Chip
• 3 USB 3 Ports, 1 USB 2 Port, HDMI, Mini Displayport, SD Card Reader
• Intel Graphics or Nvidia Geforce 750m
• 500 GB or 1 TB Hard Drive with 32 GB SSD Caching or 512 GB SSD
• No Optical Drive
• Carbon Fiber and Aluminium
• Prices start at $1499 (Ships in October)

CNet
Endgadget
[url="http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/2/4793836/dells-new-xps-15-aims-to-be-the-king-of-portable-windows-machines]The Verge[/url]

I got this one. It's pretty nice, but the keyboard is on the small side. I'm not sure why they left all the empty space around it.

Also, the Windows implementation of using a touchpad is nowhere near as good as OSX's.

Overall though, I think this is the nicest computer on the market.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Wow, that is the saddest thing I've ever seen. A 15 inch laptop with an 11 inch keyboard. Seems super cheap of Dell.

 

[Akaz1976]

No word yet, but it's almost certainly 15mm thick, with the Bay Trail version being 10mm.

That would be sad though likely. I hope some one will come out of a 10mm thin but all day battery fanless core I 10" tablet soon! I thought that haswell was going to enable that, if not then might have to wait another year and hopefully surface pro 3 will nail it!

 

[vi edit]

More I read, more I like what I see with that Venue 8 pro. Looks like a very nice, capable little tablet.

 

[Joe1987]

More I read, more I like what I see with that Venue 8 pro. Looks like a very nice, capable little tablet.

I'm interested in them as well, I really want to see some major sites review one though

 

[bearxor]

I don't think it's going to happen. Just go to Walmart and buy one. Use it for a week. If you don't like it, or decide you want the 64GB version, return it.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I was playing Civ 5 on my Venue 8 Pro last night. I needed to turn the settings down to low to speed it up, but it seemed to do okay. It did get pretty dang hot though, I was a little concerned about that heat, even the glass was hot to the touch. But that seems to be normal with the tablet when really stressing out the Atom. Normal day to day stuff doesn't seem to warm it up much.

I was looking at the red model at Dell. Sadly the red color apparently won't ship until December 17th. I guess I'll stick with the black model if I decide to keep this.

I tested the eMMC and SD speeds. I have a 64GB Sandisk UHS-1 card. And it seemed to be held back quite a bit on the Venue 8 Pro.

Internal eMMC.

SD on Venue 8 Pro.

And for reference this is the same Sandisk SD in my Dell Latitude E6430 laptop.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Wow! Amazing 4k write speeds.