[aceflor]

I know we are talking about 8" tablets, and I am too waiting for the surface pro mini, but in the mean time have been using two bigger windows 8.1 tablets, one with (Samsung Ativ Tab 3) and one without stylus (Asus Transformer T100).

Funny enough, I get much better performances out of the Ativ, which has received really bad reviews everywhere (it features a Clover Trail processor whereas all new ones are on Bay Trail). I have had no problems whatsoever running everything I need. It runs 8.1, has Office Home, an S-pen and a nifty cover with a BT keyboard.

So for those reading this, wanting a win 8.1 tablet with a pen, and not needing it to for photographic projects (I hear Photoshop has problem running smoothly on the Ativ Tab) but maybe for classes or small graphic works (this is my primary use for it), the Ativ could be an alternative. I use Office extensively, One Note, surf the web, watch movies, read during recess. I do not play games with it.

I bought the tablet new for 399,-€ including S-Pen (it slips in the tablet) and BT Keyboard Cover. The format is 10.1", and for those of you owning a Galaxy Note 10.1", the Ativ Tab 3 will look extremely familiar. I have a Galaxy Note 8 and it has been a great companion, but my work group switched to One Note and I needed a Win 8.1 solution because the Android One Note version is just crap.

I will still look at the Surface Pro Mini (if it ever comes out) but am not sure at all to like the price....

Edited to say: Oh, yes, the most important : as with every Samsung I have owned, the S-Pen is just magical. How can it be possible that only Samsung gets it to work perfectly well ? After all, it is using Wacom too. I had tried an Asus Vivotab a month ago and was very disappointed with the stylus performance, I never had a Dell in my hands (they are hard to find) but did not read the best about their stylus.