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Call Me Charlie posted:As long as you weren't a complete dick in your email, they should give you a "one-time" price adjustment. Just got a response, they said because it was within 7 days it qualified and they refunded me $31+. Thanks to the person who mentioned the price drop in this thread or I would never have known.
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Nov 18, 2013 16:53
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Looks like the Toshiba Encore has a date. 12/04 for the 32 GB http://www.toshiba.com/us/tablets/encore/8/32gb 01/03/14 for the 64 GB http://www.toshiba.com/us/tablets/encore/8/64gb And it turns out it doesn't have a IPS screen like the others. But it does have a quad core processor unlike all the other 8 inch models.  - edit Updated entry Toshiba Encore (December - $329.99 for the 32GB base model)   - 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.43 inches, 0.98 pounds (depending upon configuration) - 8" HD 1280 x 800 WXGA display (5 point touch) - Intel Atom Processor Z3740 Quad Core (2M Cache, up to 1.80 GHz) - 2-megapixel front camera and 8-megapixel back camera, dual mics - Bluetooth 4.0, Micro HDMI out, MicroSD slot, Micro USB 2.0, GPS - AC Adapter for USB Charging Cable - 30 days free Skype - 6 month free pass to Xbox Music Upgrades: Up to 64 GB Special Accessories: PA1541U-1BLK Encore Soft Case PA1542U-1BLK Encore Portfolio Case with Cover, Black Call Me Charlie fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Nov 18, 2013 |
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Nov 18, 2013 16:54
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All the 8 inch models that were announced in the last few weeks use that processor. Venue 8, Lenovo Miix, etc. Some of them like the Dell use the D processor, but that just limits their maximum RAM and screen resolution.
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Nov 18, 2013 18:16
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Yeah, Dell's website advertises the processor of the Venue 8 as an "Intel® Atom™ processor Z3740D with 32GB storage (2MB Cache, up to 1.8GHz Quad-Core)" so I'm pretty sure they're quad core.
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Nov 18, 2013 18:47
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Maneki Neko posted:Curious if we'll see any good deals on Black Friday, all I've seen so far is the original Surface RT for $200 at Best Buy (lol). Not to be the QUOTING MYSELF guy, but it looks like the thing to do this year is clearing out the Surface RTs for the holidays. I see them in Staples, Best Buy and Microsoft Store's ad.
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Nov 18, 2013 19:16
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Jaygr posted:The only other issue is that over the weekend the price dropped to $349. I paid $379 and have an email in to Amazon about it. FYI also back to $379 today. There is another source at $349 [EDIT] Nevermind it's backordered. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1007242-REG/asus_64gb_t100ta_c1_gr_transformer_book.html Don't know taxes if you get free ship. Here's the slickdeals thread: It says its $360 but right now it's running at $349 http://slickdeals.net/f/6442972-asu...0-free-shipping Stick100 fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Nov 18, 2013 |
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Nov 18, 2013 22:16
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New Dell Venue Pro 8 firmware update to help the stylus issue: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers...885&lid=5050492
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Nov 18, 2013 23:41
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I just installed the update and it writes much better now. At first it didn't seem to help much because there was still a little amount delay in pen tracking leading to lines being drawn after you started writing and stopping after you finished while still following the pen. However once I started to treat it as a regular pen and pad (instead of hovering over the screen and lightly writing on the screen as you would with a capacitive pen), the writing experience became much better. Palm rejection works, the writing was pretty accurate, and delayed writing was almost gone. It's accurate enough that I could write down parallelogram equations and beam deflection formulas with acceptable results.  A little more practice and I could get the pressure sensitivity down and write parenthesis better. Speaking of pressure, the screen will distort when you apply heavy pressure especially towards the center. Apparently Dell didn't use a thick enough glass because I had to apply considerably more pressure to get the same effect on my Lumia 920. So take care so as to not push too hard and break the screen. EDIT: Whoops, I just realized that I missed a bracket. 
Edward IV fucked around with this message at 06:06 on Nov 19, 2013 |
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Nov 19, 2013 00:18
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UPS just dropped off my Venue 8 64 GB from Newegg for about $320.. Not thrilled with the new price drops I'm seeing. I really like how easy it is to hold with one hand. The screen is shockingly good for a cheap Dell device. The resolution is just right too. Any more and touch usability would be quite bad on the desktop. The speaker is quite decent, although you only get 1. So far touch based Windows 8.1 feels like a strong first gen product but still a ways to go as a seamless daily driver. Wow is the app store barren. Good thing I wanted this primarily as a Kindle app reader. The device also runs 720p x264 videos decently. It uses about 1.2 gb of ram and most of the CPU but it hasn't lost sync yet. What browser is everyone using? Chrome is lacks a lot of touch features and kind of runs like crap. The beta was especially crashy. Is IE the way to go? I was pretty surprised how the built in browser will pop me over to the Desktop. NYFreddy fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Nov 19, 2013 |
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Nov 19, 2013 00:21
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NYFreddy posted:What browser is everyone using? Chrome is lacks a lot of touch features and kind of runs like crap. The beta was especially crashy. Is IE the way to go? I was pretty surprised how the built in browser will pop me over to the Desktop. I keep hearing that Firefox is developing a Metro version, but it's not done yet. Oddly enough, Metro IE does seem to have better touch controls than Chrome, which is weird to me because presumably Chrome is what Android tablets all use. I'm using IE for now, but I'm impatient for Firefox to get its poo poo together here because I'm seriously missing Adblock.
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Nov 19, 2013 00:35
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loquacius posted:I keep hearing that Firefox is developing a Metro version, but it's not done yet. Oddly enough, Metro IE does seem to have better touch controls than Chrome, which is weird to me because presumably Chrome is what Android tablets all use. I'm using IE for now, but I'm impatient for Firefox to get its poo poo together here because I'm seriously missing Adblock. Firefox Metro (I've been trying out the nightly) has a ways to go as far as touch support goes (it's not even up to Chrome standards, and as you know Chrome Modern UI isn't that great), also it uses the mobile plugin framework, not the desktop one. Which means among other things plugins will need to be ported, and they won't all have the same functionality. As I remember from my time dicking around with my 2012 Nexus 7, Firefox mobile on Android does have several plugins - including Adblock and Lastpass - but there's no word on when, or if, they will be ported to work with the Modern UI variant. There IS a solution of sorts right now, if you want to use IE11 (and if you are using the Modern UI, you probably want to be - for all it's faults it really is the best touch-friendly browser on Windows right now) - you can use the privacy/Smartscreen feature to import other filters. And guess what the most popular filter is? Two variants of Easylist, the very same used by Adblock. I did this and while it doesn't offer nearly the flexibility of Adblock + lists it does do a very good job blocking most annoying ads. I'm using it right now, and it's made IE11 much more tolerable. Google it, there are several walkthroughs out there on how to do it (hint: it's easy as pie).
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Nov 19, 2013 00:53
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Call Me Charlie posted:
The Dell Venue 8 pro has the quad core. redeyes fucked around with this message at 02:47 on Nov 19, 2013 |
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Nov 19, 2013 02:44
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redeyes posted:The Dell Venue 8 pro has the quad core. Yeah, I hosed up. I'll update the OP in a little bit with the right info.
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Nov 19, 2013 02:51
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So after some back and forth with a local buyer, finally sold my iPad for $275. Guess what that's immediately going to. 
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Nov 19, 2013 02:58
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I'm considering getting a Surface Pro 2 (Either 128GB or 256GB) for Christmas as a gift from my wife. I'm also considering a Dell Venue 11 Pro. I want a tablet to replace the laptop I currently take with me on out of town business trips as my ASUS Gaming Laptop is quite heavy and I have to carry a work laptop as well. I have a Desktop I play games with at my house. Will either of these tablets be able to play WOW, Kerbal Space Program, and BF4? I know the BF4 would probably be unlikely but I could get away with being able to play the other 2. Any other Windows 8 tablets with enough power to play games?
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Nov 19, 2013 03:23
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NYFreddy posted:What browser is everyone using? Chrome is lacks a lot of touch features and kind of runs like crap. The beta was especially crashy. Is IE the way to go? I was pretty surprised how the built in browser will pop me over to the Desktop. This is actually configurable in the Internet options, it looks like Dell might have changed the default. Unless that changed in 8.1 and I didn't notice it. You can have it open link clicks in desktop mode or touch mode. And honestly for someone that uses Chrome on the desktop IE11 is actually pretty good. You can sync tabs/bookmarks in the settings too.
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Nov 19, 2013 04:11
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It's been a week since I got my Asus T100 - and today I packed it up and returned it to Amazon. In the end I only had to cover $8 in shipping, which was worth it for the time I got. I still think it's a decent little combo, and while I never really would have gotten used to the tiny keyboard/trackpad I was learning to tolerate them, however I think that device has two major problems (or one problem with symptoms of both): Memory, and Touchscreen quality. For the first - Windows 8.1 does a much better job with memory management, but 2gb is still not quite enough, at least if you plan on spending much time with desktop apps (which is kind of the point with x86 devices). Modern UI apps generally have a smaller footprint so there's no problem there but you very, very quickly run out of room with, say, desktop Chrome or Firefox running with 5-6 tabs, spreadsheet, Outlook...you know, regular Office stuff. And not a lot of it running, either. If you use it even less than that you can probably get away with it. I did quite a bit of tuning, disabling unneeded services, etc, I'm not new to that particular game, but in the end the things memory usage would start to max (actual, not reserved) and things would generally slow down (web pages take longer to load, programs longer to install, etc) like Windows always does when it has to start paging memory out. Second problem is the touch screen, specifically the touch part (the screen itself looks pretty good for what is essentially a 720p part). I never really figured out what the difference between 5 point touch and 10 point is (other than the obvious) but apparently it's code for "not as responsive an experience" no matter how many touch points are in use. Tasks like pinch-to-zoom in particular were slow/not responsive, which is a real killer on a screen this small. Maybe it's related to performance in general and has nothing to do with touch - I have no easy way to evaluate that independently, other then the fact that pinch to zoom was crappy no matter what I had running. In fact it wasn't great in general compared to better Windows 8 tablets. Speaking of which: What I do know is it took a week with the T100 to come back around to appreciating the Surface Pro 2. It's not really fair (also, kind of wishy-washy of me since I originally tried it) since you can buy 2 T100's for less than the price of the cheapest Surface Pro 2, but with the latter you really do get what you pay for. And pay for it I did this weekend. After a week with the T100 I realized that no matter what if I stuck with a T100 or iPad or other tablet I'd always be hauling it around with my notebook in tow, whereas the Surface Pro 2, weird form factor issues aside, really can replace my notebook - it *is* a notebook. It is a two pound beast. And the Type Cover 2 is actually really decent. It has compromises of it's own, just like the T100 and every tablet does - it took spending time with both to realize which one suited my needs the best, which is oriented towards heavy business travel. Others will probably prefer the T100 - hell, I preferred it at first. BTW the reviews aren't kidding about build quality - if I had dropped my T100 on the floor, it would have broken instantly. If I drop my Surface on the floor, I'll probably break the floor.
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Nov 19, 2013 05:55
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Trip report - went to a local Office Depot today to check out the HP Omni 10 and they unexpectedly had the Dell Venue 8 pro on display right next to it. I played with both for probably way too long, and decided that while they both have nice displays, the Omni's is definitely superior. Both were really snappy just screwing around with start screen, desktop and browser. Both devices have what appear to be fan vents on their sides. I guess Bay Trail isn't passively cooled? The Omni has a much larger bezel around its screen - more than half an inch on all sides. It makes use of this space to put the Windows button on its face, while the Dell has much narrower bezels, but the Windows button is its side, which just seems odd having dealt mostly with Android/iOS devices. I think I'm going to drive back up and get the HP tomorrow. The Dell venue would make a nice 1:1 drop in replacement for my 2012 Nexus 7 which inexplicably died last week (It's the same resolution and roughly the same size - a little thicker, but more than makes up for it being a real loving x86 PC) but I think I'd like the extra display size/resolution of the HP. The lack of an integrated keyboard dock isn't much of an issue for me because I have a relatively recent thinkpad I can hammer away on if need be.
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Nov 19, 2013 06:10
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I wouldn't call the Venue 8 Pro a 1:1 replacement for the Nexus 7. In a portrait layout, the Venue is a good 1/2" wider, 3/4" taller, and no more than 1/32" thicker than my 2013 Nexus 7. Don't expect to shove this thing into your pockets (pants or jacket) especially with the folio cover and digitizer. Also, you must have mistaken the fan vents for speaker grilles or something because the Venue 8 Pro has no active cooling.
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Nov 19, 2013 06:26
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Looks like you're right about the thickness - according to the quoted specs, the dell (216 x 130 x 9mm) is actually thinner than the 2012 Nexus 7 (198.5 x 120 x 10.56mm). I guess I was fooled by the chamfered edges on the Nexus. 
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Nov 19, 2013 06:43
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ShadowStalker posted:I'm considering getting a Surface Pro 2 (Either 128GB or 256GB) for Christmas as a gift from my wife. I'm also considering a Dell Venue 11 Pro. I want a tablet to replace the laptop I currently take with me on out of town business trips as my ASUS Gaming Laptop is quite heavy and I have to carry a work laptop as well. I have a Desktop I play games with at my house. Will either of these tablets be able to play WOW, Kerbal Space Program, and BF4? I know the BF4 would probably be unlikely but I could get away with being able to play the other 2. The Pro 2 handles many games quite well. Obviously it's not a "gaming" notebook but I've found most Source engine games, stuff like Borderlands 2, Starcraft 2, etc run really well at medium detail levels. And Steam has tons of "indie" titles that work really well too - I've been playing a lot of Trine 2, for example. I haven't played WoW in years but if I remember it's pretty easy on system requirements, and if the Pro 2 can handle Starcraft 2 I am sure it can deal with WoW. You're not going to be playing Crysis 3 or Battlefield 4 on this thing, at any detail level, but you probably already knew that. For games like that you really need to step up to a bigger notebook with discreet graphics, and even a lot of those don't handle games like that well. Overall though I think you can get a fair amount of gaming on the go out of it (Surface Pro 2 or other i5 Haswell tablets that is - the Bay Trail tablets can handle some games too, but in a much more limited fashion). NYFreddy posted:
IE11. I started out hating it - due to the trauma of having to deal with the infamous IE6 as a developer years ago I have a reflexive dislike of anything IE - but IE11 has come a long way. It's very fast and has by far the best Modern UI implimentation. Chrome kind of sucks for touch on Windows 8, and I haven't been impressed so far with the Firefox nightlies either. Also both of the latter are going to come with the same limitations of IE when it comes to addons - the Modern UI versions don't support desktop addons. For that, I've found a couple things that improve day to day IE usability a lot: Adblocking: IE has SmartScreen, and it's much improved since last I looked (IE9). Open IE Modern UI Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Settings. Tap or click Privacy, and under Tracking Protection, tap or click Add Tracking Protection Lists. Pick a Tracking Protection List from the Internet Explorer Gallery, tap or click Add, and then tap or click Add List again to install it. The two most folks seem to use are the EasyList standard and EasyPrivacy (the very same used by Adblock Plus). The former blocks ads, the latter ad tracking. Some folks like PrivacyChoice too for the tracking protection. Along with the "regular" Smartscreen filtering (which blocks malware sites) all of these list update silently in the background. I've found that with the two Easylists enabled I get about 90% of the functionality of the Adblock extension for Firefox/Chrome. It's not as convenient to manually block specific elements - you have to get the address and enter it in to your own custom filter, a process Adblock proper makes seemless - but it's a definite improvement over not having it. Note that Smartscreen filtering by default submits sites to Microsoft for "analysis" so be sure to turn that off if you don't want to do that and just want to rely on the lists. It's in PC Settings. Bookmarks & Passwords: If you use IE all over it's easy - you can sync those with Skydrive. If you have Windows 8.1 you already have Skydrive available for free up to 7gb. If you move between different browsers XMarks is still a good choice and is what I use to move between Firefox on the desktop and IE11 in ModernUI. I also use Lastpass, which is a bit more combursome - there is a ModernUI app, but it doesn't integrate directly with IE11. This means if I want my passwords sync'd I have to install the IE desktop addon and periodically open it - then it will sync to the ModernUI version. Now that I've gotten used to the various swipe gestures for things like opening bookmarks, tabs, and such, combined with the steps above, I find I'm actually liking IE11 Modern UI. Now it's even better than Safari is on the iPad.
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Nov 19, 2013 21:18
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So is there anything that approximates the Surface Pro 2 without the ridiculous price tag? I don't even see the Omni 10 on Amazon and it sounds like the T100 is kind of a bust if you want a fast experience.
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Nov 19, 2013 23:33
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Syrinxx posted:So is there anything that approximates the Surface Pro 2 without the ridiculous price tag? I don't even see the Omni 10 on Amazon and it sounds like the T100 is kind of a bust if you want a fast experience. The Dell Venue 11 Pro seems to be a reasonable facsimile, but the configurations of it that approximate the SP2 aren't really that much cheaper. The difference seems to be about $150 for equivalent models.
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Nov 19, 2013 23:51
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Syrinxx posted:So is there anything that approximates the Surface Pro 2 without the ridiculous price tag? I don't even see the Omni 10 on Amazon and it sounds like the T100 is kind of a bust if you want a fast experience. Cheaper - not really. Microsoft isn't putting a lot of markup on the Surface 2 Pro; the cost is in the hardware. The Venue 11 Pro is one I looked at (as loquacius points out, once you spec it to S2P levels the price difference isn't much). It's a little thicker and slightly lighter than the S2P (when comparing the i5 version). I like the idea of its keyboard dock - the weird stand ergonomics of the S2P take some getting used to - but I haven't seen many reviews of it yet and it looks to be fairly heavy. For the tablet, the build materials aren't as good. Looks like a decent effort though. Where that thing would be interesting is a configuration with the Bay Trail and at least 4gb of memory. Then you save money, a little bit of weight, and get better battery life - I think a Bay Trail with 4gb would make for a decent combo, based on my experience with the T100. The big unknown is the screen. Spec-wise it's decent, but it's an easy area for vendors to go cheap on. I ended up with my SP2 based in a large part on it's all around excellent screen.
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Nov 20, 2013 00:53
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I went back out and bought the HP Omni I was talking about yesterday. It looks like some Office Depots are getting one demo unit and one to sell. A few more impressions: Screen Really loving nice. No complaints at all here. Software This thing arrived shockingly free of bloatware. The ubiquitous McAfee/Norton trial is nowhere to be seen. There are a few HP apps, including some music thing I uninstalled immediately, but nothing has tried to poo poo up my tablet so far. I probably won't even bother to flatten and reinstall. My C:\ drive shows 15gb of 28gb free, and the recovery partition was actually included on a small removable sd card, which is awesome. Charger Here is my main grievance with the device so far - it has a proprietary charger in the form of a small grey wall wart with a short three and a half foot cord. The cord just barely reaches my tablet dangling off the edge of my desk and I can't charge at all while reading on my couch or bed. The output listed on the label is 12V/1.5A and it managed to charge the tablet (powered off) from 6% to full in 3-4 hours. Syrinxx posted:So is there anything that approximates the Surface Pro 2 without the ridiculous price tag? I don't even see the Omni 10 on Amazon and it sounds like the T100 is kind of a bust if you want a fast experience. Don't look to the Omni as a performance upgrade over the T100 - it is the same hardware pushing a lot more pixels, so if anything it would be slower.
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Nov 20, 2013 03:32
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I guess Toshiba is going to push the Encore hard. Their YouTube posted 6 TV spots. Cop = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XAblzn-s7k Dance = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edi0E9K4nWo Drive-In = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1t-8UwnT0o Game = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnd6lw178dc Race = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9ZqDlzjxWc Skype = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBARFjsJkXI Can somebody tell me what a HFFS display is?
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Nov 20, 2013 05:05
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It means high-transmittance advanced fringe field switching. Wikipedia says "AFFS panels are mostly utilized in the cockpits of latest commercial aircraft displays," so I'm not exactly sure there's a frame of reference.
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Nov 20, 2013 05:17
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I went ahead and ordered the HP Pavilion 11 X2. HP considers it a hybrid laptop, which is basically a tablet with a keyboard dock. My build on it is: -Windows 8 64-bit -Intel Pentium N3510 Bay Trail-M CPU (Quad Core 2.0GHz / 2MB Cache) w/ Intel HD Integrated graphics -4GB DDR3 RAM -128GB SSD -Keyboard dock w/ built in 2nd battery and ports -11.6 LED screen (1366x768) with the 128GB SSD, this build runs about $650 plus tax/shipping, but I was able to get it a little cheaper. May be a bit closer to what some others are looking for without paying SP2 prices. It's not shipping until the end of the month, so I'll let you guys know how it is when I get it. The have a "Pavilion 13 X2" as well, but a 13.3 inch tablet seems a little big for me. And its CPU/GPU combo is an AMD A6-1450 Mobile CPU + AMD Radeon HD 8250. I'm not a big AMD fan. It does have more RAM and Storage options than the 11 X2 though, if you want to move closer to a laptop with a removable screen.
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Nov 20, 2013 05:20
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Call Me Charlie posted:Can somebody tell me what a HFFS display is? (High-something) Fringe Field Switching. It's a similar tech to IPS. Wiki claims the output is similar to superior to IPS but there's, as always, a very good chance that Toshiba wrote that.
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Nov 20, 2013 05:23
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Oz posted:I went ahead and ordered the HP Pavilion 11 X2. HP considers it a hybrid laptop, which is basically a tablet with a keyboard dock. I've played around with those at Best Buy and the build quality is pretty crappy - cheap plastic, mostly. And the screen isn't that great. But it is a Bay Trail with 4gb, so maybe it'll work for you better than the T100. Build quality of that wasn't great either.
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Nov 20, 2013 06:02
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Personally, I feel like a lot of reviews make a bigger deal out of build quality than is really necessary. I was looking at reviews for the T100 before I bought mine, and I saw stuff like "the keyboard has a bit of flex when you push down in the middle," or "the glossy back of the tablet is a fingerprint magnet," and I'm just thinking, really? This is what you're going to rate the device by? So it's not a sleek, aluminum unibody construction like a Macbook; if the construction is solid enough that it's not going to just fall apart in my hands, I don't think it's something that should be held against a device. Sometimes it seems like these reviews are just reaching for another metric because "it works well enough" doesn't make for a compelling review.
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Nov 20, 2013 06:21
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANUYRzAwJQI Here's a video of the updated firmware for the dell venue stylus
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Nov 20, 2013 06:28
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404notfound posted:Personally, I feel like a lot of reviews make a bigger deal out of build quality than is really necessary. I was looking at reviews for the T100 before I bought mine, and I saw stuff like "the keyboard has a bit of flex when you push down in the middle," or "the glossy back of the tablet is a fingerprint magnet," and I'm just thinking, really? This is what you're going to rate the device by? Tech journalism always does this and it drives me nuts. Perspective always seems to be from the journalist, not the consumer. I mean, I know they must have some sense of informing consumers of potential problems, but if it isn't actively hindering usage, does it really need a mention?
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Nov 20, 2013 06:57
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Yeah, "build quality" can be a misleading thing too. I mean, unless you actually go and comprehensively test the item for durability, I've had several pieces of electronics with nice feeling "build quality" fall apart on me after a year or two.
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Nov 20, 2013 07:01
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waffle posted:Yeah, "build quality" can be a misleading thing too. I mean, unless you actually go and comprehensively test the item for durability, I've had several pieces of electronics with nice feeling "build quality" fall apart on me after a year or two. Yeah, I absolutely hate that term. I mean, I own a bunch of Asus stuff that creaks and flexes like no other, but it hasn't fallen apart - not even my laptop I dropped on the driveway on accident. I'm sure they learned from the Transformer days where screen lift was notorious. I would hope, at least. Everyone I know who gets the T100 seems to go "well, it's plastic alright" then stops giving a poo poo and enjoys the tablet for what it is.
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Nov 20, 2013 07:08
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I mean, I kinda get why it happens. The reviews are all about full disclosure, and if one guy mentions it, the others can't just ignore the matter. But then it sorta ends up being this information arms race where all the reviews try to hit all the points, which can seem to overstate things like overall build quality. It's just a little funny to see it pop up in every single review, when I personally have no problem whatsoever with how it feels in my hands.
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Nov 20, 2013 10:22
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Fair enough re: build quality but I wasn't parroting another review when I said it - that's how I genuinely felt about the cheaper tablets/hybrids I've tried. I mean, if it doesn't bother you that's great, but it is a real thing which is why it comes up all the time. Creaky cheap feeling plastic is something a lot of people take in to account when they drop hundreds or thousands of dollars on gadgets, not just reviewers.
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Nov 20, 2013 15:30
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Looks like you can order a red Venue 8 Pro direct from Dell's website. And I updated the OP 
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Nov 20, 2013 15:46
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Build quality is more of an issue for me for cellphones than it is for tablets/laptops. Your phone is going to get dropped considerably more than your laptop, and it's important for it to be able to take a hit or two without looking like you fed it to your dog. That's why I switched away from Samsung -- yeah, their phones weigh basically nothing, but they won't after you put them in a decent case so they don't shatter into a billion pieces if your grip slips. (Nokia phones are tanks and don't need cases at all, but I'm an MS fanboy so naturally I'd say that; from what I can tell Motorola and HTC build theirs fairly solid too) A laptop or tablet, though, you're not going to be using while walking around or climbing stairs or at a concert or whatever, so it's probably okay if it's made of plastic as long as you are not Lennie from Of Mice And Men. (Unless you are using it while walking around, as a note-taking device, in which case yeah maybe you need to worry.)
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Nov 20, 2013 15:55
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loquacius posted:Build quality is more of an issue for me for cellphones than it is for tablets/laptops. Your phone is going to get dropped considerably more than your laptop, and it's important for it to be able to take a hit or two without looking like you fed it to your dog. That's why I switched away from Samsung -- yeah, their phones weigh basically nothing, but they won't after you put them in a decent case so they don't shatter into a billion pieces if your grip slips. (Nokia phones are tanks and don't need cases at all, but I'm an MS fanboy so naturally I'd say that; from what I can tell Motorola and HTC build theirs fairly solid too) For you, sure. And there's nothing wrong with saying "it doesn't matter as much for me". But sweeping statements like "you're not going to be using it while walking around or climbing stairs" don't apply to everyone. I see tons of people toting tablets around - I went on a trip to Ephesus last year and there were folks climbing around the ancient Roman library there with tablets. Hell, my office has stairs and I walk up and down them all the time holding my tablet, sometimes while using it. Statistically there may well be more opportunities for the "average" user to drop a phone than a tablet, but it's not quite as black and white as you believe. They are portable devices too, and a fair number of users are going to care if it's made of cheap plastic or not. I'm not saying that you or anyone else should personally find it important, just don't dismiss the fact that other people do
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Nov 20, 2013 16:49
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