Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

(Review is up-to-date as of February 2014 and reflects over 11 months of daily use, BIOS version is A09, daily Windows 8.1 updates) As of August 2014, Dell USA updated the Dell Venue Pro 11 BayTrail lineup into 3 different models: 1) slower 3775D processor without full HD 2) 3775 processor without full HD and 3) 3775 processor with full HD. This review is equivalent to the 3775 processor with full HD, more specifically: this review is for the Dell Venue Pro 11 (model 5130) with the Atom Z3770 (aka BayTrail, recently updated to Z3775) 2.4 GHz CPU, 2GB RAM, 64GB Samsung eMMC (Dell's website calls this "mobility solid state drive", but it is not a true SSD, arrives with 50.3GB usable, 14GB used (includes recovery partition), 36GB remaining), and Windows 8.1. The review includes the Slim Dell Tablet Keyboard which does not have a secondary battery. There is also a brief review of the active digitizer pen version A01 (initial version was A00, now I think it is at A02). Background: I am in the IT field, but don't consider myself a guru on the hardware or software side. I do use Windows 7 at work, Windows Phone, and iPad Air. I'll frequently compare to the iPad since it is my only tablet reference. I feel this is important for you to know, since what I use on a daily basis shows what I'm comfortable and familiar with. Packaging: I will mention the packaging because US carriers are known to drop and sometimes throw packages, so it's important for electronics. Both tablet and keyboard came double-boxed (box within a box), providing good insulation from shocks, though curiously the keyboard's box was almost twice as big as the tablet's. Excellent job Dell on the packaging, I don't think it could have been any better. PROS: - good performance/battery balance: from complete power off to login is about 12 seconds, sleep to wake is almost instantaneous, and orientation change takes about two seconds. Passmark scores show 538.2 overall and CPU mark of 1358. Internet Explorer, Skype, and other apps load responsively, you never get a sense that it's slow, although PDF rendering can lag with documents over 20 or so pages. Text-based programs are no problem for this machine, and MS Word 2013 loads to blank document in about 4 seconds. Official battery life is about 8-9 hours, for general usage, seems to live up to that. Video/media usage with wifi is about 3-4 hours, depending on volume. Battery life on standby/sleep seems to drain about 1-2% every hour, roughly 2-3 days of standby time. - full HD (now optional) 10.8-inch screen indoors: bright indoors, most of the time I have the brightness set to 30%. At 1920 x 1080 HD, text and pictures look sharp, though not as sharp as iPad Air, and viewing angles are excellent. Touch responsiveness has also been accurate except the virtual keyboard - size/features balance: officially weighing at 1.57 lbs without the slim keyboard and a fan-less design, pretty happy with what they squeezed in for that weight: 10.8-inch 1080 HD screen, full USB 3.0 port separate from the charging port, mini-HDMI out, and micro-SD card slot - full USB 3.0 support: the benefits of USB should not be glanced over if using peripherals, everything from a mouse, memory stick, backup drives, CD/DVD/BlueRay players, printers, etc. just plugging it in and working, very convenient - Microsoft Office Home and Student edition: this means full editions of Word, Excel, Note, and Powerpoint with an activation key - Windows x86 programs: whatever is lacking in the Microsoft Store, I usually can find a free, powerful desktop version for Windows x86. Example: Sound recorder, the standard Microsoft touch app is very basic with no control on quality, format, or save location. With x86, there is Audacity. Same thing with encryption software - TrueCrypt, or PDF annotator called PDF-Exchange (this one is not free though), etc. There is also a Bluestacks Android emulator for those vested in Android apps, although I haven't personally used it - consistent and decent-range wifi performance: thankfully have not experienced the wifi issues plaguing some DVP8 devices - removable battery: I can't think of any tablet that has this, the battery is rated at 4220 mAH. I like this not so much that I would have multiple batteries, but that if the tablet is still alive and useful after several years and the battery starts to fade, I could easily replace it without surgery - built-in LTE option: as a commentor noted, built-in LTE is now an option through the major US carriers as an added cost - reasonable price considering all of the above pros NEUTRAL: - relatively decent stability, with the recent A09 BIOS update, battery life and stability has noticeably improved. I can go about 1-3 days now without the need to reboot, however, things will start to get sluggish, jittery, apps/wifi/camera might stop working, unexpected shutdowns, etc. in other words, over time, it starts to destabilize, eventually requiring a reboot. For a Windows desktop-class device, I consider this reboot time-frame normal, although not so ideal for a tablet - graphics: 1080 videos render smoothly at half-screen size, at full screen there is almost a hint of dropped frames, less so with 720 video. Video performance seems to degrade over time however, and noticeably smooths out upon reboot, could be a memory/driver inefficiency. 3D graphics are also on the low side compared to iPad Air, games like Reckless Racing can get jittery, Asphalt 7 bogs down to about 10-15 fps and barely playable. Passmark shows 2D mark of 194.7, but only 2.36 for DX11 and 48.6 for DirectCompute. You'll have to do some research on how this measures up to your requirements, it is nice that you can install x86 PC games if the graphics can keep up - camera: 2MP front facing, Skype video renders relatively sharp and clear, the rear camera at 8MP is just ok, typical for mobile devices - with enough outdoor light, pictures come out nice and sharp, indoor pictures not as a nice - white balance not that natural, blur and high noise from medium to low light, flash would have been nice. Compared to iPad Air in indoor medium/low light, the iPad Air pictures come out better, meaning more natural/detailed and less grainy - speakers: the speakers are stereo and there's one on each side of the tablet along the shorter sides about 2cm long, but they sound tiny, at medium volume it sounds thin and can distort. The iPad Air speakers are in a different league when it comes to clarity and fullness, but for general usage and with low expectations for a device of this size, it is ok. It would have made a difference if the speakers were front facing, since cupping the speakers with my hands and redirecting the sound forward increased clarity, but the iPad speakers are not forward-facing either. Nokia 2520 and Surface Pro 3 are the only tablets with forward-facing speakers - NEW 05/2014, storage expansion: this is rated neutral because even though there are mobile expansion possibilities with USB and micro-SDXC, which is good, it is not possible with the soldered eMMC main drive, which is bad. This means the most economical path to mobile storage expansion that I used is a 64GB micro-SDXC and a 64GB SanDisk Cruzer Fit USB, total storage = 192GB for roughly $70 more. Please be aware that USB drains battery even during standby. Ideally it would have been nice to change the main drive through SSD expansion, but to be fair, no Bay-Trail-based tablet has SSD like the i-Core versions - windows capacitive button: without using the keyboard cover, I find this button too easy to accidentally brush over with my fingers and waking up the tablet, I wish there was a two-stage logic where a press-and-hold-for-3-seconds would wake up the tablet from sleep CONS: - virtual keyboard: I'm experiencing repeating letters using the virtual keyboard, even though the press itself is accurate/deliberate/careful, making the typing experience frustrating. Adjusting multiple settings in Windows does not seem to help. I've tried Surface tablets and they do not have this issue - screen-blackouts still happening on wake: (UPDATE 2/5/2015 Dell has just issued a BIOS update to address this, A10, so hopefully this is no longer an issue) periodically, about once every few days, the tablet will not wake from sleep, there is still haptic feedback with the windows button, but the screen stays black, requiring a hard boot - poor built-in microphone: either through Skype or recording audio, microphone input sounds thin with excessive noise and distortion. Other DVP11 and 8 owners noticed the same thing, search on "Dell Venue Pro bad microphone" - 10.8-inch screen outdoors: outdoors the screen is very reflective, also noticeable indoors depending on the light-source and angle. There doesn't seem to be any anti-glare baked into the glass. Add-on solution: anti-glare matte screen protector can help in diffusing glare hitting the screen, but also diffuses the screen sharpness going the way. A built-in solution is preferrable since there wouldn't be this sharpness/anti-glare tradeoff. The one sold from Dell is a 3M brand and pricey, it's thicker compared to SuperShieldz so the diffusion is greater. I prefer the one from SuperShieldz, it's thinner but a more comfortable tradeoff in the level of diffusion - no built-in GPS, although built-in LTE is now an available option. I still prefer a stand-alone GPS antennae over LTE, it never costs money and is not dependent on a carrier - no hardware orientation lock, but you can through the software in about 4 steps - no camera flash. To be fair, not too many tablets have this either, including iPad, but why not? - no physical covers for exposed slots: I'm not sure of the long-term consequences, I understand most tablets/laptops do not cover their ports either, but as a tablet that goes everywhere, I am a little concerned of debris going into the exposed ports. The only port covered is the micro-SD - physical slim keyboard (optional): pricey, although maybe reasonable compared to iPad's smart case. Magnets work well in keeping it attached and the cover on, even when upside down. Curiously the keys are hard plastic, which scuffs the screen protector every time I close it against the screen too hard, would prefer the keys to be rubbery and backlit similar to Microsoft Surface keyboards. Key travel is minimal (1-2mm) but allows fingers to rest on the keyboard, and the "precision" track pad, although small in size, is very accurate and responsive. Unfortunately, both the keys and touchpad are not fully sealed, so it raises the possibility of debris getting in and jamming the keys, although I have been able to pop off one of the keys, clean underneath it, and pop it back in. Lap typing is not a good experience because the keyboard flexes so much; a flat hard surface would be optimal. The keyboard has a built-in deactivation feature, where if it swings past ~190 or ~70 degrees, it will deactivate, which is a great idea. The keyboard has a few major drawbacks: disabled auto-orientation (locked landscape orientation), and disabled virtual keyboard in non-desktop mode. Microsoft Surface regular and pro versions do not have these drawbacks, so if seamless operation while the keyboard is attached is important, this is something to consider. I'm aware of some of the hacky solutions to get around this, but it is what it is - hacky. This really needs to be addressed on the firmware level by Dell - active digitizer pen: built by Synaptics, who's specialty is actually touchpads, this is their first generation device and laden with problems. Hovering actually works OK now, whereas before with version A00 it didn't work at all, but the problem is with selecting and opening things, which is consistently inconsistent. Selecting objects in the corners is also difficult, even with multiple calibrations, so closing x86 programs with the X in the corner, or selecting things in the taskbar, can get quite difficult. Palm-rejection seemed to work when dabbling in One-Note and Fresh Paint. I apologize for not having a more in-depth review of this, I lost the pen a few months after using it, but the impression I got was that unless you really need a pen for hand-written annotations or maybe light artwork, it doesn't work well in general, forum posts show even with the latest A02 version there are still major usage issues Tips: - pay careful attention to what is installed and when, since a new background service maybe installed that drains battery. An example was Lexmark wireless drivers for my printer, after installing, battery drained 5% (versus 1%) in standby every hour, had to disable the service called lxeb which stopped the battery drain - speaking of battery drain, I have verified that leaving in a USB memory stick (and other USB devices) increases battery drain during standby, from just over 1% to about 3% every hour. That means overnight the battery will go from 100% to 75% in standby, versus the typical overnight 8-10% loss. For my usage, this is significant enough to make me rethink the memory expansion route, I might need to pony up for the expensive SanDisk 128GB micro-SDXC. And it's not just USB memory that drains the battery in standby: http://www.tomsguide.com/us/squeezing-more-life-out-of-your-notebook,review-583-26.html - Nokia opened its offline HERE maps to all Windows 8 devices. This allows full offline directions and address searches, although unfortunately there is no turn-by-turn drive navigation. Also disappointed that a GlobalSat USB GPS receiver did not work with HERE maps, even though Windows itself was receiving the gps signal. Looks like the increasingly outdated Microsoft Street and Trips is still the *only* Windows 8.1 navigation option for stand-alone GPS - if you see a subtle screen flicker, try the "Intel HD Graphics Control Panel". Inside this program, there are two settings: Panel Self Refresh, and Display Power Saving Technology, by turning both off, the flicker went away for me - be aware that Windows has two levels of lock screens - screen lock and account lock, and both have different settings configured in different locations - if the screen seems dim, in desktop mode, click on the battery icon in the task bar, then click on "more power options", then click on "change plan settings", and then click on "change advanced power settings". Expand "Display", and turn OFF Dimmed brightness and Adaptive brightness. - if you're having trouble with the SDXC card, even if it's brand new, it could be the quality of the card. I purchased a new generic 64GB card and had problems with file and copy corruptions from the start, and formatting to NTFS, FAT32, and back to exFAT did not help. Eventually got a SanDisk card which worked flawlessly. In hindsight, saving a few dollars for the cheaper card was not worth the hassle. Dell sales/service: No Dell product review would be complete without the usual mention of Dell's abysmal sales/service, which seems to be consistently rude across the board, and sometimes (ok, many times) I find them hard to understand, it doesn't help that they get impatient or read useless scripted answers or just hang up on you. I find with my colleagues that have used Dell products, as long as you can stay away from actually talking with someone, or if the request/problem is relatively simple, the experience tends to be better. One commenter said she got better experience going through Dell's small business channel. Conclusion: This tablet is not for everyone, especially for those focused on content consumption where the more refined but less capable iPad or a cheaper Android tablet might be the better choice. It is also not a clear Windows choice either - if refined keyboard integration is important, Surface Pro series might be the better but more costly choice. The tablet is also buggy as mentioned in the CONS section, bugs that pop up the more the tablet is used, not the ones you see if you're using it for a day or less. Where this tablet fits in is for those who desire full Windows functionality and rather have more battery life than Haswell horsepower, with about the same size and price of a Surface Pro, better than average screen, and can live with the un-refinements, especially the physical keyboards. Without considering the physical keyboard, I would rate this tablet 3.5 stars, docking points for the inaccurate virtual keyboard, subpar graphics, low-grade microphone, and stability that can still improve. With the physical keyboard factored in, rating drops to 2.5 stars, the landscape orientation lock and missing virtual keyboard grew from a minor annoyance to a larger one. Would I buy this again? I'm not sure. I admit for the next tablet the Surface line looks more tempting, the cost/refinement balance is a personal thing that only you can decide. 2/5/2015 UPDATE: finally purchased a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (SP3) at a good discount, and compared to the Dell tablet, frankly it's night and day. I was hoping the Dell would be a cheaper alternative, but in the end, it was simply too problematic and frustrating, including both the thin and mobile(battery) keyboards and dysfunctional stylus. I'm using the SP3 for two months now, and the experience with the vastly superior keyboard, significantly more reliable tablet, and excellent speakers and stylus is revelatory coming from the Dell, should have got this all along. For Dell to address the screen black-out issue only now, well over a year after release, gives an idea of their support.