Dell Venue 8 Pro

“By most important measures, 8-inch Windows tablets are about a year or a year-and-a-half behind Android tablets. Applications for many major services exist, but they aren’t always up to the versions on other tablets. Windows 8.1 still needs some work before its touch interface is quite up to speed with Android and iOS. Battery life and performance are good, but screen resolution is about a generation behind what Apple and Google are offering.That being said, 8-inch tablets like the Venue 8 Pro stand to do for the Windows tablet ecosystem what the original Nexus 7 did for Android. They're not perfect, but unlike the first efforts, they're good enough that early adopters and enthusiasts might actually want them. Generating that basic level of interest is the first step toward success, and by this time next year we might be looking at some Windows tablets that we like as much as we like the 2013 Nexus 7 or Retina iPad mini today.If you need Windows on a small tablet, the Venue 8 Pro is one of the few we would actually recommend. It's fast enough, attractive enough, and comfortable enough. Regular people buying their first tablet will still be served better by Android or iOS, but Dell, Intel, and Microsoft are beginning to close that gap.”

“The Dell Venue 8 Pro comes close to being a great pocket-size mini-PC, but a misplaced button and missing accessories feel like errors.”

“Dell’s Venue 8 Pro is the best Windows competition for the iPad mini, but it’s still far from matching Apple’s tablet. The out of box experience of the display dimming is unforgivable in a modern device, and Dell’s odd decision to place a Windows key at the top of the tablet is equally puzzling. The lack of Windows 8 apps holds this type of device back somewhat, but the potential is promising. Microsoft has laid some solid foundations with Windows 8.1, and will let you read, surf, listen to music, and watch movies. That’s really what these types of tablets are about: consumption.”

“I've been waiting for the perfect 8-inch Windows 8 tablet, offering just the right design, features, and price. I'm still waiting, but the Dell Venue 8 Pro gets closer than anything else has to date. If Dell made it available from Day One with its paired keyboard accessory, put the Windows button back where it belongs, and could find a way to scale certain Windows functions better to the small screen, it would be a real winner.As it is, as long as you're already making some sacrifices, it's hard not to suggest you look at the Asus T100 , which pairs a slightly larger 10-inch tablet with an attachable keyboard dock, twice the storage space, and better battery life, all for about $50 more.”