Dell Venue 8 Pro

Let’s face it: Despite the fact that the Dell Venue 8 Pro is probably the most impressive of the three tablets released simultaneously to market by the electronics manufacturer, the ultimate decider for a would-be purchase will be how he/she feels about the Windows OS, which is included here.

For some folks, Windows is the only answer to truly step a tablet up to a laptop’s level in performance. The Windows 8.1 operating system included in Venue 8 Pro allows multiple applications to be running (and used!) at once, plus the Office suite is included. On the downside are those inexplicable lags and crashes when the OS seems to evidence a mind of its own.

An otherwise outstanding tablet is already dragged down by the relatively below-quality touchscreen which isn’t very responsive. The 1.8 GHz Intel Atom CPU is quick enough, but why couldn’t Dell have included the 2.0 version that the Venue 7 and 8 pack?

Perhaps it’s got to do with weight, a real selling point for the Venue 8 Pro. At about 14 ounces, the Venue 8 well outdoes the pre-Air iPads and nearly halves the suddenly heavy Venue 8’s weight. So again, the question is: Can you deal with Windows enough to enjoy an easy-to-carry, quick-performing functional tablet…?