Dell Venue 8 Pro 5000 refresh

I've been searching for a great 8-9" Windows tablet that could double as a W10 desktop. Sadly, I found all the bay trail options sorely lacking in multiple respects. I couldn't understand why no cherry trail refreshes have come out either.

Just came across the new Venue 8 cherry trail tablet. Looks very interesting, except for the price tag. Seems to address many of the failings of the first generation of atom tablets (except for the cpu):
1200p screen available (up from 800p)
4/8GB RAM (up from 2GB)
TB3 (with optional dock)
Wacom stylus (add on, no built-in slot)

Unfortunately, we're still stuck with atom performance and eMMC storage maxed at 64GB. What I would really like to see is a Core M in one of these 8-9" tablets and a removable M.2 SSD. Also a slot to store the wacom in the tablet.

Still, I have to applaud Dell for the TB3 port (though I wouldn't mind a second USB3.0 as well). At $300 I'd probably be a buyer, but it's tough to spend $400 (plus $70 for the dock $50 for the pen) on nearly 1-year old atom performance.

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/dell-venue-8-pro-5855-tablet/pd?oc=bto10005t58558usca

 

http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/threads/new-venue-8-pro.67572/

Where do you see that it says there is an 8GB Ram version?

 

Seems like 8" Windows tablets this year will be a flop. Cherry Trail just doesn't seem like it can provide the performance boost over Bay Trail in the power envelope of an 8" tablet. Two-years since Bay Trail and we finally get higher resolution screens and more ram, but with no improvement in battery life or form factor (if the user reviews for it, the Envy Note 8 and HP 608 are correct it's even a regression) and a price increase (this New V8P is nearly double what I paid in CAD for my current 64GB/2GB V8P because of the exchange rate). Then add in the changes in Windows 10 that make it less friendly for small tablets.

 

Hello,

I have had hands on with this device (Dell 5855 Venue 8 Pro - Z8500, 4GB, 64GB, 1920x1080, wi-fi). A few thoughts when compared to the old Dell Venue 8 Pro.

• Unbelievebly the device has no auto brightness as it has no light sensor. This is a simple yet major omission - crazy. I wonder if this will be rectified in future or other models (mine certainly did not have a sensor).
• It feels comfortable in the hand but unlike its older model, the back creaks/depresses slightly as the internals do not feel as tightly packed. It is .5mm thicker than the old model but you do not notice.
• The outer frame of the device has a very slight lip on its edge. It may bother some.
• The windows button has switched places with the power button which I find odd as you now have to stretch to the top edge of the device when in landscape.
• Battery life is less than 5 hours according to the Windows 10 power tab. Assume the lack of auto brightness and the higher resolution hits battery life harder. This is very poor given 6-8 hours was the norm on the old model.
• The new speaker is much better.
• Back of the device gets slightly warm on general use.
• I thought the screen would be brighter. The brightness seems slightly less than the old model. Colours and blacks are good and the backlight even.
• Charge time is about the same as the old model.
• New USB type C port is welcome.
• Device is quick on Windows 10 (I still prefer Windows 8.1).
• A shame that no flash was added to the camera given the portability of the device but not a deal breaker.
• Device is loaded with a restore partition. 32BG free out of the box. Setup was a breeze and took 10 mins.

Overall a good device but several niggles (lack of auto brightness the biggest) which may be fixed.