A taste of awesomeness: Testing the Dell Venue 8 tablet

Windows 8.1 introduced the support for new range of resolutions and form factors. Among others, the 8’’ form factor is definitely a must have for me.

That is why I bought a Dell Venue 8 tablet. And I can say I am not disappointed at all!

The beast

One of is obvious quality is its price: 299$ for the 32Gb version.

At this price, you will get:

• 32 bits version of Windows 8.1
• 2Gb of RAM
• MicroSD reader
• Wifi 802.11n
• Two webcams (5MP and 1.2MP)
• Micro-AB USB2.0 (for trickle charging and data transfer)
• Headphone and microphone combojack
• Miracast support for Wireless display

The dimensions are the following;

• Thickness: 0.35” (9mm)
• Width: 5.12” (130mm)
• Length: 8.50” (216mm)
• Weight: 395g

A Intel® Atom™ processor Z3740 (1.3GHz Quad-Core) is running a fully functional Windows 8.1 accompanied by a version of Microsoft Office Home and Students 2013.

The thing is that in the palm of your hand you can get all the raw power of Windows 8.1 with both the Windows Store apps and the desktop apps (for instance VLC or Visual Studio).

This tablet is also able to accept stylus (you have to buy it separately)

Some tests

Performances

From the performance side, I must admit I was amazed by the power of the GPU of the Z3740. For instance here is a scene grabbed from www.babylonjs.com:

You can see that babylon.js is running at an incredible frame rate of almost 30! Everything is smooth and perfectly fluid.

This is the very first time I saw a tablet running 3D graphics at that speed (Please note that babylon.js is running inside Internet Explorer 11 using WebGL).

Windows 8.1 seems to be happy with this processor and runs like a charm. You can easily switch between apps without any lags or glitches.

Battery

With an intensive use of 3D, apps and videos, the battery was able to last more than 7 hours which is great.

What can be improved?

For me the main issue is the lack of a true USB port. There is a mini USB but you need to buy a special cable to be able to connect your devices.

The resolution of 1200×800 could be a bit low and perhaps a full HD version would have been better but thanks to WIndows 8.1 the screen is well used and filled:

Conclusion

This is (by far) my favorite tablet right now. I love the form factor and the overall performance. This is the first time I have the feeling that I get a really powerful PC inside the palm of my hand.