DELL venue 8" WinTab

[fjtorres]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57...g-windows-8.1/

Oct 2 Intro. For now:
Win 8.1, 8" 1280x800 screen, Z3000-series CPU, stylus, and (apparently) Thunderbolt port.

If pricing holds up (~$299 ) things could get interesting...
A tablet that can be docked for desktop use in that general range would suit me just fine as a replacement for my aging netbook.

Edit:
For those wondering what the Z3000 series processors are like:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-576...droid-tablets/

[fjtorres]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/11/47...windows-tablet

The Verge has a high quality slide show thag reveals a 5MP rear camera. They say at least one model has 1080p display.

[robko]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/11/47...windows-tablet

The Verge has a high quality slide show thag reveals a 5MP rear camera. They say at least one model has 1080p display.

Wow, that article is even talking a $199 price point. If they can put a nice screen in it I'd be tempted even at $299. I have an Iconia W3 (8" full Win 8.1 tablet) and I love it, but the screen sucks (especially compared to my Playbook which it replaced). 8" is the sweet spot for me size wise. Surface tabs look nice, but just a wee bit to big for me.

[fjtorres]

The $199 price point for Z3000 tablets was floated by Intel at the chip intro.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic...t_at_under_199

That would be the lowest of the low end *android* configurations.
My guess is $300 will be the range for the lower end HD Venues and the FullHD models with lots of space will run $400, making both competitive with the name brand 8" android tablets and iPad Mini 1&2.

Still lust-worthy for what they are.
Would be nice if Dell returned to its rock-bottom pricing roots and they came in at $249 and $349, but since those are WinTabs they're not likely to ship with 1GB RAM and 8GB storage like the cheaper Android products.

[pl001]

Not a fan of the Thunderbolt port. What is the point of that? Almost all periphrials are USB.

Nice to see a decent 8" Windows tablet though.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by pl001

Not a fan of the Thunderbolt port. What is the point of that? Almost all periphrials are USB.

Nice to see a decent 8" Windows tablet though.

It's a desktop-grade port, really. Think of it as a standard docking port connector.
Plus, it carries video signals.
See, it's two. two ports in one!!!™
http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic...0?pageNumber=1

Based on copper, the Thunderbolt specification contains two protocols: PCI Express (PCIe) and DisplayPort. The Thunderbolt chip switches between the two protocols to support varying devices. DisplayPort offers HD display support as well as eight channels of HD audio. A Thunderbolt connector has two full-duplex channels; each are bi-directional and capable of 10Gbps of throughput.
Intel sees Thunderbolt supporting high-speed storage devices such as RAID arrays, HD displays and PCIe expander boxes for laptops -- pretty much anything that can benefit from a really fast I/O.

Salvator pointed to Thunderbolt-enabled products shown at the IDF conference earlier this month that included high-speed storage devices (RAID arrays), HD media capture, displays and a PCIe expander for laptops.

USB has its uses but docking stations and video aren't among its strengths.
A portable computer with thunderbolt and a PCIe expansion box is effectively a desktop PC.

[pl001]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

USB has its uses but docking stations and video aren't among its strengths.
A portable computer with thunderbolt and a PCIe expansion box is effectively a desktop PC.

Right, and it would make sense on something like the Surface Pro.

On a $299 tablet, I'd much rather have USB and HDMI, because that is going to better support a lot more of what a tablet in that price range will typically be used for.

Of course, any standardized port is better than a proprietary port.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by pl001

Right, and it would make sense on something like the Surface Pro.

On a $299 tablet, I'd much rather have USB and HDMI, because that is going to better support a lot more of what a tablet in that price range will typically be used for.

Of course, any standardized port is better than a proprietary port.

What *existing* tablets are used for.

WinTabs' best chance to grow their market is to be good for what other tablets are good for and *more*; to change the debate (and "requirements") from just the things lightweight OSes and media pads do well, to the things that need a full featured OS. As in, any tablet can display ebooks reasonably well, but only a WinTab can run Calibre on board.

WinTabs are starting in third place; "I'm just as good" won't hack it.
"I'm more useful", or "I'm useful to more people" is what's needed.

Edit: For example, adding Cortana to a tablet:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57...ri-google-now/

Cortana will be more than just an app that lets users interact with their phones more naturally using voice commands. Cortana is core to the makeover of the entire "shell" -- the core services and experience -- of the future versions of Windows Phone, Windows and the Xbox One operating systems, from what I've heard from my contacts.
In Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's strategy memo from July about Microsoft's reorg, there were hints about Cortana. Ballmer mentioned that Microsoft will be working, going forward, on "a family of devices powered by a service-enabled shell."
That "shell" is more than just the Metro/Modern/tiled interface. Ballmer continued:
"Our UI will be deeply personalized, based on the advanced, almost magical, intelligence in our cloud that learns more and more over time about people and the world. Our shell will natively support all of our essential services, and will be great at responding seamlessly to what people ask for, and even anticipating what they need before they ask for it."

...Like warning you when a swarm of Covenanters are incoming.

[Rbneader]

Ooh. The first real chance to get a functional OneNote tablet.

I've got 2 perfectly good tablets though. Think I'll wait.

[greenasterisk]

This is not running Windows RT, is it?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by greenasterisk

This is not running Windows RT, is it?

Nope.
It's using x86 processors so it can run desktop apps as well as tablet apps.
Corporate road warriors are going to love it; it's selling to consumers that is going to be the challenge.

[pl001]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

What *existing* tablets are used for.

I don't see that changing, at least not yet. These tablets may be 2x as fast as the old Clover Trail Atom tablets but from what I've read they are still only 1/4 as fast as the current Surface Pro and I believe memory is limited to 2GB.

Don't get me wrong, it's still great for a tablet and a heck of a deal if those prices are correct. But these are not desktop-class machines and I don't think they are good enough to replace most people's PCs. But they are getting closer.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by pl001

I don't see that changing, at least not yet. These tablets may be 2x as fast as the old Clover Trail Atom tablets but from what I've read they are still only 1/4 as fast as the current Surface Pro and I believe memory is limited to 2GB.

4GB max on the dual-channel processors.
It's a family of chips that runs from 1GB single channel memory for the cheapie Android-focused chip to 4GB on the top of the liner. And they are 64-bit chips.

And the question isn't about replacing most people's desktops (they're not core i5s nor intended to be; they soak up 5W instead of 50W, after all) but rather of replacing *some* people's desktops, which is something no android or iOS gadget can realistically claim (anecdotal claims aside--I saw somebody once claim, with a straight face, that a PalmPilot was all the computer anybody really needed).

And then, not everybody out there is running year old PCs.
There's a fair amount of people still using old desktops on PentiumDs and old Celerons (XP boxes run forever) to whom any Z3000 cpu will be an upgrade. Add in the ones using Netbooks, high school and college students--there is a pretty broad market for a properly configured/priced "tablet-by-day, desktop-by-night" computer.

Where this Dell is it of not remains to be seen, but whoever gets there first is going to score some serious sales.

[Mivo]

Well, 1280x800 isn't that great for reading. Fairly pixelated at only around 188 ppi. I also wonder what the battery life will be. It's mostly just the price that makes it it interesting, I feel. But then again, do I need Windows on a 8" tablet? It's still too small (for me) for any serious work, so would I use it for anything that I can't use the Nexus 7 for? Costs the same and has much better specs, especially for reading.

[xendula]

For those of you who use smaller than 10" WinTabs, how easy is touch/pen based operation in desktop mode?
I have a Samsung Ativ 700T, which I love with reservations, and even with its 11.6” 1920 x 1080p display, it is sometimes hard to use desktop apps, because they are simply not optimized for less precize clicking.

At a very reasonable pricepoint, I can totally see myself giving it a try, but since I never use the Metro mode (or whatever they call it these days) on my Ativ, I'd need to know that I can easily operate it by touch, sans peripherials when on the go.