Dell launches £149 Windows 8.1 Venue Pro 8 tablet

November 3, 2014 | 11:21

Tags: #atom #tablet #windows-81 #windows-tablet

Companies: #dell

Dell has announced an entry-level 8" Windows 8.1 tablet, the Venue 8 Pro 3000, designed to compete in the newly-formed market for low-cost tablets running the full-fat operating system.

The Dell Venue 8 Pro 3000 has as its main selling point a display offering higher qualities than rivals at the same price point: an 8" diagonal boasting a 1,280x800 native resolution and featuring in-plane switching (IPS) technology. A 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera and five megapixel rear-facing camera are also included in the body, which is an impressive 9mm thin and has the option of high-grip textured black or shiny gloss white case finishes either one of which weighs 391g.

Internally, the tablet packs an Intel Atom Z3735G, which is oddly described by Dell as a dual-core processor but listed on Intel's Ark as a quad-core model. Regardless, both agree that it features a 1.33GHz base frequency with up to 1.83GHz burst speed in a scenario design power (SDP) of 2.2W. Graphics processing is handled by Intel HD Graphics running at 311MHz core or 646MHz burst. The choice of processor, which features a single-channel memory controller, does result in one major concession to the price point: a mere 1GB of memory. 32GB of solid-sate storage is provided, which can be expanded via micro-SD.

The tablet comes complete with a full-fat 64-bit installation of Windows 8.1 and a year's subscription to Microsoft's Office 365 cloud productivity suite. As an entry-level device, however, it's no surprise to see that there's no bundled keyboard - although it is compatible with Dell's Tablet Wireless Keyboard, available separately - and no HDMI or WWAN SIM slot.

Dell is clearly hoping that a low price point will help drive sales of the tablet despite some lacklustre specifications: the Venue 8 Pro 3000 is available now from the Dell Shop priced at £149 including VAT and shipping, £100 less than the launch price of its similarly-named predecessor the Dell Venue 8 Pro.

UPDATE:
Dell has apparently decided that £149 was too generous, quietly amending the price of the Venue 8 Pro 3000 to £169. The specifications remain as reported.
Discuss this in the forums
YouTube logo
MSI MPG Velox 100R Chassis Review

October 14 2021 | 15:04