Will the new Dell Venue 8.1 Windows Tablets run Logos?
Will the new Dell Venue 8.1 Windows Tablets run Logos?
Comments
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With 2 GB of ram, not very well. Very slowly.
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley0 -
Thanks for replying Michael. Shucks!
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There will be a Dell Venue 11 Pro that will have up to 8 GB of Ram and up to 256 GB of SSD drive. That should be able to run Logos quite well.
http://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/corporate/secure/en/Documents/dell-venue-11pro-brochure.pdf
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Reimar Vetne said:
There will be a Dell Venue 11 Pro that will have up to 8 GB of Ram and up to 256 GB of SSD drive. That should be able to run Logos quite well.
http://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/corporate/secure/en/Documents/dell-venue-11pro-brochure.pdf
I'm afraid that's going to be priced out of my reach.
MacBook Pro (2019), ThinkPad E540
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Reimar Vetne said:
There will be a Dell Venue 11 Pro that will have up to 8 GB of Ram and up to 256 GB of SSD drive. That should be able to run Logos quite well.
http://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/corporate/secure/en/Documents/dell-venue-11pro-brochure.pdf
The Dell XPS 11 looks nice as well. It is another take on the Lenovo Yoga 11S. I wonder if they will come out with a 13" version to take on the Yoga Pro?
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That sounds very interesting. You are right that should be able to run Logos 5. Sounds like it will compete with the Surface Pro 2. But there is not a Dell Venue Tablet with more than 2 GB RAM memory for sale at Dell at the present time. So we will have to wait and see.Reimar Vetne said:There will be a Dell Venue 11 Pro that will have up to 8 GB of Ram and up to 256 GB of SSD drive. That should be able to run Logos quite well.
http://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/corporate/secure/en/Documents/dell-venue-11pro-brochure.pdf
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley0 -
I am with Todd. Please someone make an affordable Surface Pro 2 competitor we can all enjoy Logos on.
Heavy sigh,.
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JoshInRI said:
I am with Todd. Please someone make an affordable Surface Pro 2 competitor we can all enjoy Logos on.
Heavy sigh,.
We all agree with that. <\P>
However, to run Logos 5 well a tablet will need 8 GB Ram, a strong processor, preferably a quad i5 or i7, and at least a 256 GB SSD hard drive. All that does not come cheaply. There may be a bargain tablet that will run Logos 5, but the question is how well. <\P>
I would expect Dells Venue pro 11 will be a little cheaper that the Surface Pro 2, but I doubt it will be much cheaper.<\P>
And even with the tablet that can run Logos, don't forget Logos 5 was not written for a touch screen, but a keyboard. That will be a factor to consider. Logos needs some modifications to make it more tablet friendly.<\P>
It is a couple of pounds heavier, but I wonder it the Dell XPS 12 convertible might not be a better solution right now.
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley0 -
I'm mixed on RAM. I'm more concerned with the CPU. Even if the OS pages because the RAM fills up, it will page to a flash drive which is typically pretty fast.
Also, get the 64GB and do not plan to use the MicroSD to store your library. I haven't tried the latest, expensive and fast MicroSDs. I have attempted to use the cheap 32GB MicroSDs and library performance was incredibly slow. Curious if anyone else has had this issue.
I have a Surface Pro and Logos 5 is pretty fast on it. Very bulky and limited battery life.
I'm interested to hear if anyone test drives the Venue 8 with Logos 5. I suspect it may be usable but slow in loading resources or searches.0 -
I think Jesus will come back before we get a useable affordable Logos 5 machine that is more than a reader.
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I agree Reimar, and I am seriously considering purchasing the Dell Venue 11 Pro to replace my laptop and iPad both.Reimar Vetne said:There will be a Dell Venue 11 Pro that will have up to 8 GB of Ram and up to 256 GB of SSD drive. That should be able to run Logos quite well.
http://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/corporate/secure/en/Documents/dell-venue-11pro-brochure.pdf
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley0 -
Still too expensive with not enough ram to run L5 properly.
[N]
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JoshInRI said:
Still too expensive with not enough ram to run L5 properly.
Josh,<\P>
It is a bit confusing because the thread has discussed two tablets: the Dell Venue 8 and Dell Venue 11 pro. I agree that the Venue 8 does not have enough RAM to run Logos well. But the Venue 11 pro can have 8 GB of RAM. It also has an new quad 4 processor. I believe that is more than enough to run Logos.<\P>
Expensive? That sounds like your mean the Venue 11 pro - Yes, but it is cheaper than its equally equipped competitors like Surface pro 2, and not much more than an equally equipped laptop. There is no such thing as a cheap machine with 8 GB of RAM, a quad 4 i5 processor, and a SSD 256 GB HD. The Venue 11 with these specs will not be out until about the first of December. Less powerful versions are for sale now. But if running Logos is the reason for buying, it is better to wait a few weeks.
<\P>But the Dell Venue 11 should have everything it needs to run Logos 5, and be not much more expensive an equally equipped laptop. And there are other tablets out there than can run Logos as fast as any laptop right now. But none inexpensively.<\P>
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley0 -
Just got the Dell Venue 8 Pro.
In my opinion, Logos 5 runs acceptable. Takes about 3-5 seconds to open a resource from my library. Around 10-12 seconds to run a search.
Touch scrolling is slightly laggy but acceptable - you'll want to go in portrait mode.
Voice reading is great.
Indexer is pegging my CPU right now but somehow it's still responsive.
RAM is at 1.3 of 1.9GB used - not paging yet.
Bay Trail is way better than previous Atom processors. I confirmed this with a Windows 8 App, Excel and PowerPivot as well (I'm a developer).
It's not nearly as fast as my Surface Pro but for a reader, it's just fine.
Now I'm certain that battery will go down the tube if the indexer is running and there's no telling how long it will run. I have the Logos Resource files stored on a microSDHC which is much faster than when I tried it over a year ago. (up to 30MB/s). I bought the 32GB Venue Pro but there's a 64GB available. I'm certain the indexer would run faster.
You cannot charge this on your desktop or laptop which is a little disappointing. It requires a 10W USB charger.
I also bought an Asus T100 for my wife for $389. I'm sure the experience would be the same as the CPU and RAM are the same.
I need to give it more time. I have about a 12GB resource library and I'm crossing my fingers the indexer can get through it on an SD card in my lifetime.
"Preparing your library" took about an hour.
However, I'm more than pleased with the responsiveness even while resources are pegged. I'm not sure if Logos does a full indexing after every update. If it does, that my hurt a little as it seems the devs release about every other week.
Oh it's soooo lite however. A much better companion to my work-horse laptop than the Surface Pro. I've come to the realization that even on a 10.1 or 12" screen you are not going to be productive. It's been a dream to have the Window Logos desktop app on something portable. It completely blows away iOS.
Folks, even if I had more RAM I'm not certain I'd get better performance. It's the CPU. i5s and Haswells work extremely well with Logos. When it comes to file I/O, CPU and disk speed is where it's at. Logos is continually loading your resources from GBs of file into memory and writing to the index.
Regardless - pleasantly surprised so far. Definitely will be using it in Church. I don't have a stylus yet but that's the next step.
Under screen resolution, you'll want to manually enlarge text to 125% right off the bat. Desktop mode is tiny.0 -
Thanks Mr. Weber. My curiosity is peaked. Keep posting - especially on the day you return it.
Community service freebie:
If you run into a problem with the wifi Dell's WiFi driver, go to the Dell site, download the Dell Wireless 1538 WAPI Application (File: DW1538_WAPI_2007_WB32_setup_ZPE.exe) updated on 23/October/2013, install and reboot. It might help. I borrowed this fix online and thought it might be fun to post it for you.
Please let us know how it works with a good stylus and cover/case. I pray its a blessing for you.
Waiting expectantly and hoping for us all.
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Very interesting. Thanks for the report!
Michael Weber said:Just got the Dell Venue 8 Pro. In my opinion, Logos 5 runs acceptable. Takes about 3-5 seconds to open a resource from my library. Around 10-12 seconds to run a search. Touch scrolling is slightly laggy but acceptable - you'll want to go in portrait mode. Voice reading is great. Indexer is pegging my CPU right now but somehow it's still responsive. RAM is at 1.3 of 1.9GB used - not paging yet. Bay Trail is way better than previous Atom processors. I confirmed this with a Windows 8 App, Excel and PowerPivot as well (I'm a developer). It's not nearly as fast as my Surface Pro but for a reader, it's just fine. Now I'm certain that battery will go down the tube if the indexer is running and there's no telling how long it will run. I have the Logos Resource files stored on a microSDHC which is much faster than when I tried it over a year ago. (up to 30MB/s). I bought the 32GB Venue Pro but there's a 64GB available. I'm certain the indexer would run faster. You cannot charge this on your desktop or laptop which is a little disappointing. It requires a 10W USB charger. I also bought an Asus T100 for my wife for $389. I'm sure the experience would be the same as the CPU and RAM are the same. I need to give it more time. I have about a 12GB resource library and I'm crossing my fingers the indexer can get through it on an SD card in my lifetime. "Preparing your library" took about an hour. However, I'm more than pleased with the responsiveness even while resources are pegged. I'm not sure if Logos does a full indexing after every update. If it does, that my hurt a little as it seems the devs release about every other week. Oh it's soooo lite however. A much better companion to my work-horse laptop than the Surface Pro. I've come to the realization that even on a 10.1 or 12" screen you are not going to be productive. It's been a dream to have the Window Logos desktop app on something portable. It completely blows away iOS. Folks, even if I had more RAM I'm not certain I'd get better performance. It's the CPU. i5s and Haswells work extremely well with Logos. When it comes to file I/O, CPU and disk speed is where it's at. Logos is continually loading your resources from GBs of file into memory and writing to the index. Regardless - pleasantly surprised so far. Definitely will be using it in Church. I don't have a stylus yet but that's the next step. Under screen resolution, you'll want to manually enlarge text to 125% right off the bat. Desktop mode is tiny.
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley0 -
Hello all,
Here's an update after a couple days of use.
Indexer stopped pegging my CPU after 30 minutes and went down to just 30% usage of the CPU. It then ran for about 4 hours, indexing my 12GB library. That's not bad. I could have also paused it, running it a more opportune time. This means the indexer will not completely drain my battery with updates. Last update I installed the indexer did not even run.
Folks, I'm not the typical user but if you're reading from a "forum", you may not be either. I've been IT for over a decade and I love Logos. I like portability as I have four kids and I try to grab study time when I can (my brain leaks Hebrew and Greek rapidly). Therefore, I have a high tolerance for customization. If you want to use this device with Desktop Logos, you should be comfortable with:
- Small touch screens with tiny buttons (stylus may help but I always lose them)
- A little patience with scrolling which, by the way, isn't the greatest on my Surface Pro
- A little patience with performance lag
- Know how to snap windows to the left and right with your finger - not Mary Poppins snap - drag the window all the way to the left or right until it snaps
- Know how to mitigate limited storage problems (moving your Resources and Index files to an SD)
Oh but how nice it is to have my interlinears, reverse interlinears and favorite book icons at the top. Program scale up Logos to 110% so you can touch them.
The Logos for Windows 8 App is sad - do you hear me developers? It's sad. I know money talks but you need to budget more for the Windows 8 App. Why am I still typing in the address to books on the onscreen keyboard? Spend a few hours and design a touch based book reference lookup. Depending on your orthodoxy, the books, chapters and verse numbers don't change so it should be easy. Why does my Lexham Hebrew-English Interlinear Bible freeze up? Why can't I turn on at least interlinear on the New American Standard? Put those interns to work - I'm not sure it could get much worse. For the right resources in my library, I would even do some work for you here
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For the Logos 8 desktop app, I'm really glad you added touch to scrolling. You could also do some really simple adjustments like enable us to make the icons larger and have a visual library explorer. Developers, how hard would it be to have a grid of large categorized icons with the option to sort by your prioritized list? Oh, group drag and drop to "hidden resource" would be a dream.
Digressing.
Pros
- Portability is truly great with current size and weight. Still waiting for case and stylus to come.
- Responsive CPU. I love this processor. It's cheap and it does the job. However, the last Atom machine I had was truly insufferable.
- Battery is great. I estimate 5-7 hours is right depending on what you're doing.
- Connected sleep. This means you can virtually power down the device and still have your favorite Audible book, music or podcast playing. This saves a ton on battery life.
- It's loud.
- Works well as a Logos reader (slightly laggy scrolling). If you don't need the language or search features, Logos for Windows 8 does very well. You can even download the books for offline usage.
- Windows 8.1 has made everything better - awesome mail app, easier navigation with the start button and set your start screen background to your desktop to avoid epileptic seizures.
- Comes with full Office 2013 Home and Student (Word, Excel PowerPoint). Learn how to use One Note. It's amazing for note taking and life organization.
Cons
- Tiny desktop, tiny print requires tiny finger gymnastics and good eyesight. You will only do one thing on the screen at a time. Although I do like the desktop-snap a logos reference next to Foxit's Adobe Reader sometimes. All 8" tablets have this problem no doubt. They're too small for snapping documents side-by-side. Under resolution, play with bumping up the text size scaling. Mine is set to 125%. I think you need a 10" to snap two documents on the screen at the same time.
- Storage is limited. Get the 64GB version. I got my 32GB at microcenter for $259. 32GB is small even with the 32GB microSDHC. I had to move SkyDrive, the indexes and resource manager to the SD card. Performance is still good. To move SkyDrive, you need to format the SD to NTFS.
- Plan to spend money on the case - $40 and probably the stylus - $35.
- No full USB. You'll need a micro-to-full adapter I think if you want to connect a keyboard unless you go Bluetooth.
- DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE TO BE PRODUCTIVE (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Get an ultra-book.
Summary of Configurations
- Screen came really dim due to power settings. Go to power settings -> change plan settings -> change advanced power settings -> expand Display -> disable adaptive brightness. Then just adjust your brightness from settings. Even 40% is better than the default.
- If you have the 32GB, move Resource Manager and Indexes to a fast microSDHC (30MB/s) - format to NTFS first if you want to move SkyDrive there
- Increase text size under resolution to 125%
- Increase Logos 5 program scaling to 110%
- Buy the case and stylus ($70+) - join Dell Advantage and get percentage off
- Set Start Screen background same as Desktop background (task bar - properties - navigation)
- Install Foxit Adobe Reader (it's free)
- Install Amazing Lock Screen, Audible, Kindle and Logos from the Windows Store and run it
- Set Mail, Weather, Bing News to LARGE size tiles (press and hold tile on start screen)
- Pray for Logos developers
If I've discouraged the technically faint-of-heart, fat-fingerers or hard-of-seeing then I've done my job.
There's also a lot of encouragement here. I thought this device would be a big no-go running Logos 5 and am very pleased with it. I love it. As my eyes go and dexterity diminishes with age, I'm certain those Windows 8 App developers will catch up and offer me a fine alternative!0 -
Thanks for being so thorough. I am now even more discouraged.
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Dell Venue 8 Pro 32 GB is currently $229 on Amazon.
Amazon.com: Dell Venue 8 Pro 32 GB Tablet (Windows 8.1): Computers & Accessories
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FEE7B1I/?t=slicinc-20&tag=slicinc-20&ascsubtag=6LoxiFXgEeOPCnJfawW3Wg0_A7zo3_s6Q_0_00 -
Here's an interesting dock idea for it. Read the comments to see how to charge and use USB hub.
Pluggable Dock For The Dell Venue 8 Pro - posted in Dell: Interesting demo;
http://www.surfacegeeks.net/forums/index.php?/topic/876-pluggable-dock-for-the-dell-venue-8-pro/0 -
Is it possible to download only a select list of books/resources on your Dell Tablet (e.g. just the various Bible, lexicons) or any laptop without downloading your entire library? It hopefully consume less space and also allow the indexer to run faster?
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Thanks for your description of Logos and the Dell Venue 8.1. Might you share a bit more regarding how one stores the Resource files on a microSDHC card? Can that happen in the actual install process? Or only post-install? With the 32GB Dell and the limited available memory, and a resource folder larger than the limited available memory, I've wondered whether any install of Logos would short-circuited . . . i.e. I'd never get the resources to a point where I could transfer them to an SDHC card.
Also, can the index file be moved to an SDHC card?
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Michael, your posts have been such a blessing here and so informative. Thanks.
Why would anyone want the less robust Dell Venue 8 with even fewer GB please?
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32GB is fine if you get a 64GB SD card as I indicated.
You will have to move the resource folders using mklink. I can't recall the exact command but I think you'll find if it you search for it on the forums. It creates a "symbolic" link - a pointer - to your SD.
General steps:
1. Shutdown logos.
2. Go to resource folder and copy specific folders to SD.
3. Make symbolic links in resource folder to point to new location.
Also remember to increase your desktop resolution to 125% at a minimum.
The stylus is subpar. See if you can get along without it.
I love my Dell Venue 8 usage with Logos. But unlike with people, I'm longsuffering with technology. (Work in progress!)
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I moved my BibleIndex, LibraryIndex and ResourceManager to the SD.
Works fine for me.
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Make sure it's the microSDHC. Or avoid headaches by getting the 64GB Dell Venue 8. You'll pay $40+ for the SD anyways.
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This is perfect. Thank you very much for your time. One follow-up question . . . given that a successful initial install is critical to make possible a later move of files, I'm assuming you had enough space in the 32GB version to do that initial install? [My resource folder is 13GB, and my total Logos folder in the Users locations is 21GB]
I was envisioning a possible workaround there--http://wiki.logos.com/Quick_Installation_onto_multiple_computers (Method 3)--where I could install only the system (absent resources) on the Dell, and then I'd copy resources from my laptop onto the SDHC card, and then I'd "scan <path to your resources> in the Command box, designating the SDHC card as the path. If I'm understanding the "scan" function correctly, I'd be left with my system and index files on the Dell, and the resources on the SDHC card. If needed, does that workaround make sense?
Again, thanks for your time. And for the reminder that the 64GB version would avoid some of these challenges
A $229 Microsoft deal today on the 32GB version was the conversation catalyst.Blessings.
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I'm not sure in your case. I have about the same size.
I did not wait for the indexes to complete but I did let them start. I then stopped Logos and got everything moved over.
Indexing will be much slower on the SD so if you have the space, you may want to let them finish.
Logos will run faster on the main drive then SD. It's not much of a difference but you will notice it.
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Again, thank you for the time you took to respond. Much appreciated! God bless.
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Michael and others, anyone have a good link for the 64 GB version?
My wife would be thrilled if I spent under $400 for such an item? What other cons are there?
Can it be hooked up to a larger monitor? Charged at the same time its being used? Do you need a magnifiying glass and a needle to use the menus? Is it ok that my heart is pumping faster thinking this might be a good cheap possibility at long last?
I wonder what Lisa at www.mobiletechreview.com thinks. Will have to check.
Blessings,
Joshua
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Microsoft is running a sale today. The 64GB Dell is on sale for $299. http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/list/Tablets/categoryID.67092800 I don't believe there is an easy way to connect it to a large monitor, unfortunately. The Toshiba Encore does have an HDMI out. The Lenovo ThinkPad 8, offered for sale as of today, is starting at $429, but it has a much better display than either the Dell or Toshiba and possesses impressive porting ability. It has HDMI as well as USB 3.
The Dell can be charged while being used, but there is no way to use the mini-USB for anything else if you are charging it.
The Asus VivoTab Note 8 is not available yet, but that uses the reliable WACOM active digitizer, storing the pen in the case. It has similar specs to the Dell, but with a superior digitizer (Dell has had lots of problems with their active digitizer; they are currently not selling it--is an add-on--but a Dell rep told me today that it will be available mid-February for $40 . . . the VivoTab's pen will be included in their base unit price).
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Thanks. Steve. The Toshiba has a lot of cons and I've read its quite bulky.
I had looked forward to this one but its got a lot of problems too.
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Dell-Venue-11-Pro-Tablet/productID.289455100
Can a person really use Logos 5.0 with 2.0 GB/64 GB SSD?
Is this one any better?
Hate to be stuck with an turkey I have to ebay.
Found this at besbuy site as advice after buying this one.
Right click or long press on the start button and choose computer management, then on the left hand side of the mmc window choose device manager. tap on network adapters in this list and right click/long press the broadcom wireless SDIO adapter and go to properties. Under advanced go through the property list and set them as follows:Property =Value20/40 coexistance = Auto40 Mhz intolerant = Disabled802.11n preamble = AutoAfterburner = EnabledAntenna Diversity =mainAssoc listen Interval = 1Bandwidth capability =11a/b/g 20/40mhzBluetooth Collaboration = autoBSS PLCP Header = auto short.longBT Amp = enabledD2 listen interval = 5Disable upon wired connect =disabledenable disable ltr = enabledfragmentation threshold =2346IBSS 54gm protection mode =autoIBSS mode = 802.11 onlylocally administered mac address = not presentLTR value in microseconds = 60Minimum power consumption = disabledpacket coalescing = enabledpower output = 100%priority & vlan= disabledrate = best rateroam tendency =Agressiveroaming decision = autoRTS threshold = 2347Wake on pattern match = enabledwake on RSN rekey = enabledwake up mode = allWFD channel number = 11WMM = autoWZC IBSS Channel Number = 11 (20mhz)Xpress technology = enabled0 -
JoshInRI said:
I think Jesus will come back before we get a useable affordable Logos 5 machine that is more than a reader.
Here is a nicely configured Windows 8 machine - not a tablet, but a nice desktop for less than $500:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EOGGTJ2/tag=fhj-20
Blessings,
FloydPastor-Patrick.blogspot.com
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Floyd, I will have some trouble using that one in bed, Sir.
As for the Venue 11 pro I just found this among many negative early reviews.
Dell's Venue Pro 11 offers a Surface Pro 2 alternative at a lower price point, but disappoints with sub-par battery life
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JoshInRI said:
Floyd, I will have some trouble using that one in bed, Sir.
You did not ask for a bed sized one. You asked for a "useable affordable Logos 5 machine" - this fits that bill. I understand that most of this discussion focused on tablets - but your comment left me enough room to post a link to a "useable affordable Logos 5 machine."
Blessings,
FloydPastor-Patrick.blogspot.com
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The problem with the Dell and the other Windows 8 tablets is that they don't have a Wacom active digitizer. On such a small screen you need an active digitizer to manipulate the Logos controls.
I am waiting for the Asus Vivo-Tab Note, which is an 8-inch tablet with Wacom digitizer and pen. Reportedly, the 64 GB verison will be $349 when it is released sometime at the end of the first quarter, 2014.
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Bill, Sir, I just just found this. "Even at 100%, we found the display was too dim to effectively use outside, with reflections and glare getting in our way" and this too "However, the screen isn’t as sharp as we’d like and it’s also too dim to comfortably use out of doors, while we noticed the occasional stutter during everyday use."
Rats!
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Bill Anderson said:
The problem with the Dell and the other Windows 8 tablets is that they don't have a Wacom active digitizer. On such a small screen you need an active digitizer to manipulate the Logos controls.
I am waiting for the Asus Vivo-Tab Note, which is an 8-inch tablet with Wacom digitizer and pen. Reportedly, the 64 GB verison will be $349 when it is released sometime at the end of the first quarter, 2014.
Bill, I am not a tech expert. But I can speak from my experience on the Surface Pro. I don't what kind of pen the Surface Pro uses, but I know it works very well. It is really great for taking notes. That thing even reads my sloppy handwriting and converts it to text. Okay, it reads more of my handwriting than I can, and sometimes needs a little editing.
(I am speaking about in OneNote there. Logos, of course, does not convert handwriting to text. And I know it is the program, not the pen reading the text. But the pen does its work almost flawlessly for me.).
And it has no problem with the Logos controls. That is my experience about 6 weeks out with extensive use.
Now personally, I do prefer my wireless mouse and fingers combined over the pen in Logos. It is just easier to touch, and I am used to using the mouse for small controls, where my fingers are too big. But I have used the pen a good bit, and it worked well.
I don't know tech, but I know what works. I have never had a device better designed than the Surface Pro 2 for using Logos. Inside of two days I was addicted. When I have to use Logos on another computer, I catch myself reaching up and tapping or scrolling the screen with my fingers, and wondering why nothing is happening, And I am forever changed in how I take notes.
Nor have I had any problems with screen brightness, I would say it is beautiful and bright screen. Of course, I haven't tried it at the beach. But on porch and patio, there is no problem.
By the way, neither I nor my family work for Microsoft, though I bet some of you are beginning to wonder. Lord, help me. I sound just like the Mac fan boys!!! I will try to shut up about this, unless I have something worthwhile to add to the discussion.
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley0 -
Surface Pro has the best pen experience.
I still like the Venue 11 as a cheaper alternative. Also, the Venue 11 has a softer tip which provides resistance. The Pro's stylus is hardened and slides across the glass - not in a good way.
Although - I used the Surface Pro for year and it was magnificent except for battery. I think the Surface 2 fixed that however.
Believe it or not, I still like the Venue 8 - glitches and all - over both. It's just small and easier to get out. I agree, fat fingers need not apply
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Michael Weber said:
Surface Pro has the best pen experience.
I still like the Venue 11 as a cheaper alternative. Also, the Venue 11 has a softer tip which provides resistance. The Pro's stylus is hardened and slides across the glass - not in a good way.
Although - I used the Surface Pro for year and it was magnificent except for battery. I think the Surface 2 fixed that however.
Believe it or not, I still like the Venue 8 - glitches and all - over both. It's just small and easier to get out. I agree, fat fingers need not apply
.I don't disagree with that, especially if the price is better and the processor as good. In fact, I tried to buy the Venue 11 with 8 GB of ram hoping it would cheaper. I think it is a good option. I didn't buy it because (1) it wasn't available for the home market with 8 gig of ram, only for the business market and I had no business account, and (2) I have some concern about its processor. I like Dell products as a rule. In fact, my last couple of laptops have been Dell.
As for the Venue 8, I wanted my Windows tablet to be able to do everything my laptop and desktop could. Two gig of ram will never do that for me. Eight gig is the minimum I could accept. My Surface Pro 2 is really a full desktop replacement with no compromise. So I could not consider the Venue 8. I would pull out my hair just waiting for Logos to do something. I guess that I just don't understand what the Venue 8 could do for me.
My battery life on the Surface Pro 2 is just a bit more than 5 hours of steady use. Of course, I keep it plugged in at my office to have the battery for use at home in the evening. Seems to more than meet my needs.
As for the pen, I have nothing else to compare it to, but it works perfectly for me.
Hey, it is what works for you. God lead you and bless you, and I believe which ever you chose will be a wonderful tool for God's glory. After all, none of us would exchange the Holy Spirit for any computer, tablet, or device.
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley0 -
so 4-8 megs of ram, a stylus, and a prayer of affording it?
got it? I guess I am back to hoping an Amazon drone will one drop off a free Surface Pro 2 on my doorstep...on a parachute that lands softly of course.
Its nice to have a dream.[G]
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Michael Childs said:Bill Anderson said:
The problem with the Dell and the other Windows 8 tablets is that they don't have a Wacom active digitizer. On such a small screen you need an active digitizer to manipulate the Logos controls.
I am waiting for the Asus Vivo-Tab Note, which is an 8-inch tablet with Wacom digitizer and pen. Reportedly, the 64 GB verison will be $349 when it is released sometime at the end of the first quarter, 2014.
Bill, I am not a tech expert. But I can speak from my experience on the Surface Pro. I don't what kind of pen the Surface Pro uses, but I know it works very well. It is really great for taking notes. That thing even reads my sloppy handwriting and converts it to text. Okay, it reads more of my handwriting than I can, and sometimes needs a little editing.
I believe the Surface Pro and Pro 2 have a Wacom digitizer. As you say, the pen works very well in Logos on the Surface Pro 2. For my tablet wants, I like an 8-incher because it is light and easy to hold. If the Asus tablet comes close to functioning well, I may consider it.
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JoshInRI said:
That's been out for a while, Josh. I actually tried this tablet out for a week and took it back. It just didn't have enough power for Logos. Scrolling with the pen or a finger was very slow. Great form factor, though. If Lenovo comes out with the same tablet with upgraded Atom specs, it could be worth considering.
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Hi Mr. Anderson (Bill).
I look forward to your encouraging cheery posts (seriously). Thanks for the great tip. My wife and my wallet thank you.
Please remind us again what you are using well or looking forward to switching to...thanks.
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Just got the new Asus Vivo Note 8 and the stylus is AMAZING. I've been through some tablets and nothing has come so close to the experience on the Surface Pro. And this in an 8" form factor.
I'll be selling my Dell Venue 8 on amazon for dirt cheap - comes with case and stylus.
If you care about stylus, do not get the Dell Venue 8 or Lenovo. Asus is the first W8 tab to get it right.
I think I have 15GB free because they put the recovery partition on an included 8GB SD card. Another nice touch.
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Did you retire your Surface Pro? I just got one.
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Here are some of my thoughts after getting the Dell Venue 8 Pro two weeks ago:
- I first got the 32 GB version with the hope to run Logos off a 64 GB MicroSD card. I had two problems with this. First, the MicroSD port on the Dell is very slow - no more than 10MB/sec writes and 15 MB/sec reads (there was an option to increase these speeds in an earlier Dell firmware, but they removed that option from the most recent firmware, A04). The slow speeds meant that the indexing of my Logos library took forever. We're talking days. But then I ran into problems. As users have reported on other forums, the SD card would dismount itself from the system during times of high usage, meaning Logos would crash. After many attempts and many dismounts, I decided that I could not rely on the SD card space for any important programs, and especially not Logos.
- I returned the 32GB tablet and got a refurbished 64GB for the same price. Came from Dell looking brand new.
- The 2 GB of Ram is not a problem at all. With 8 tabs open in Logos right now, it's only using 125 MB of my ram.
- Searches run very quickly, like <1 second.
- I installed the fantastic freeware TouchMousePointer, which enables a mouse pointer on the desktop. Single tap = click. Double tap + drag = highlight. Double finger tap = right click, etc. I couldn't do Logos by touch without this program.
- I'm a heavy highlighter and notetaker in my resources. I've set up my highlighter pens to use keyboard shortcuts. So to use Logos as a reader, I make sure that I have only one window in my layout, and then I activate the touch keyboard. I can highlight text by touch using the (virtual) mouse pointer, I can scroll with double touch + drag, and I can highlight selected text with a single tap of a keyboard shortcut. It takes some setting up, but it works great.
- Everything else on the tablet runs great. I installed Office 2010 because my refurbished tablet didn't come with a 2013 activation code. It doesn't matter that 2010 isn't as touch friendly because TouchMousePointer makes it easy to use.
- I have had problems with sleep mode. Sometimes the tablet drains a lot of battery when it is put to sleep (the power button defaults to sleep mode). Other times the screen doesn't turn on when I try to turn the tablet on from sleep mode. Users on other forums are reporting the same problems, but I've tried all of their fixes and they didn't work (Wifi drivers, uninstalling Windows updates, command line investigations, etc.). I have resorted to using a freeware program called Open PowerCfg, which allows me to remap the power button to Hibernate. So I always hibernate, and never sleep the tablet. Saves my battery, at the cost of having to wait 15 seconds when turning the tablet back on.
- I bought an IVSO case, a cheap USB dongle to connect a mouse, and a $30 foldable Bluetooth keyboard. With those and the tablet together, this thing is a full desktop experience. Wow!
All in all, I have had a very positive experience with the Venue 8 Pro, and it's mind boggling that this little thing can be so powerful with a full version of Logos running on it.
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Brian, That was a well thought out, feature rich review! Thanks for sharing your experience and especially the tips for add-ons.
"I read dead people..."
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Excellent, Brian. Happy it is working well for you. Many people will be glad to hear this.
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley0
