Tablets running win 8.1?

Does anyone have any experience with them?
I ordered a Dell Venue Pro and it come with Full Win 8.1.
I was thinking about getting the Kindle fire HDX but it was another $100.00
I went with the 64GB version as; Win 8 takes up allot of room according to reviews.
It has a micro SD slot for expansion, blue tooth, quad core intel atom CPU.

Thanks


JD

An Atom is under power to run Windows 8.1, you will be better with an Android tablet or an iPad, unless you go with a Surface Pro with an i5 processor.

The Dell Windows tablets are "ok". Many of their tablets have Atom processors, which are just barely adequate to run a desktop windows O/S. The more expensive Gen2 models contain I5 processors. A javascript heavy web app we tested with, took 14 seconds to load a page on the Atom model, and 4 seconds on the I5. The venue pro appears to have the I5 so you should be ok.

Compared to Ipads they're heavier, less reliable, and feel like they were built for desktop first, with 'tablet' bolted on after. For instance, if the battery is low/dead; on reboot it'll prompt you to press F1 to continue. Of course, one can plug a USB keyboard into it, but that defeats the purpose.

The Gen2 tablets (like yours) are much better than the Gen1 MS tablets. And they are absolutely great for a true, mobile windows x86 experience. I think you'll be pleased if you're a windows guy; and I suspect the 3rd generation tablets will be much better still. Can't speak to the RT tablets, but I don't think they'll be around much longer.

I'm not a fan of Dell, Apple, or Microsoft; BTW - though I use all of them in my day job.

I've use the Ipad 2 at work and have issues with it, I never liked Apple products.
I have an Android smart phone but, do not like where they are headed with locking everything down.
Amazon's Kindle fire OS is meant for Amazon only for the most part....
That steered me away from it.

I just received it and have begun to install apps and profiles.
It does come with an activation for MS Office 2013.
Looks like it has to be downloaded first.
Apps install within secs. I'm hoping to be able to loads some rocketry stuff Missile Works downloading software and such.


JD

Here is a review from a long-established blog that specializes in small computers of various form-factors (started with netbooks, now phones, tablets, "ultrabooks", etc.). Offered without further comment. https://liliputing.com/2013/12/dell-venue-8-pro-windows-tablet-review.html

I can't speak from experience here as I've not yet jumped on the tablet bandwagon but we do own several netbooks. Win 7 on an Atom does work. One of our Acers is set up that way. (But the one I use now for my go-to-the-field computer has an AMD processor) Don't know about 8/8.1.

I won a HP Elitepro 900 tablet last week in a holiday drawing at work. So far I like it, but I've installed a app that make windows 8.1 feel more like windows 7. I really don't get the "tile desktop".

Here is the article that tells you how to do it if you want to go that route. I'm running the trial, but will buy it for $5.

https://blog.laptopmag.com/make-windows-8-like-windows-7

Mine is running the Atom process and seems to run just fine. I don't plan in doing anything too processor intensive though. It is certainly worth what I paid for it!

Under Win 8.1 they replaced the start menu with the tiles similar what they did with Xbox Live home.
Desktop is still there and a little harder to get to. One of my main reasons for getting it over an Android tablet was the ability to run Adobe Flash player. There are some apps still use it to play video. Google has stepped away from it in favor of the newer HTML 5.

JD

I have two Windows tablets; a Venue Pro 8 and a Samsung Ativ 700T. The 700T comes with a keyboard so most of the time I use it as a laptop. The Venue Pro 8 I bought two weeks ago and I love it. I was actually going to buy an iPad Mini Retina, but the Venue Pro 8 blew me away. About the same size (a little heavier), resolution not as good but good enough, and it's full Windows instead of a self-crippled Mac. I would suggest using it for as long as you can without buying an SD card. I got the 32GB version and still have 6GB (and I threw in a 4GB card I got for a keychain camera, so I have 10GB to play with). I also suggest Dell's folio case if you take the tablet out and about.

EDIT: I just read the Liliputing.com review BEC gave a link to, and I pretty much concur with it, though I think it sounds more negative about it than I would be. I'm really pleased with this. I don't expect it to be an ideal replacement for a laptop, but if I need to show a website, or make quick changes on one, or show a presentation, or review documents, read a book (I haven't noticed the syncing problems with Kindle that the reviewer had), or run a radio show (like I did with my 700T a few weeks ago... the Dell would've worked just fine and not taken up as much space on the board), the Venue Pro 8 works admirably.