Microsoft to discount Dell's Venue 8 Pro tablet by $200 this Monday

[Shawn Knight]

One might think that Black Friday or Cyber Monday would be the two best opportunities to score a tablet for cheap but Microsoft is looking to break that mold. That’s because Redmond will be offering the Dell Venue 8 Pro tablet this Monday for just $99 – the cheapest we’ve seen this slate offered by far.

Dell’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday deal on the Venue 8 Pro didn’t come close to being as attractive as the upcoming offer from Redmond. Instead of discounting the tablet, Dell elected to include a free case with every tablet sold during last week's shopping bonanza. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather save $200 off the top than receive a free case, but I digress.

It’ll be difficult for some (and impossible for others) to get your hands on the $99 Venue 8 Pro. While Microsoft will offer the discounted slate online, only the first 100 customers will get it at the reduced price. After the first batch are spoken for, the price will increase to $199 – still a nice deal but not optimal.

It’ll also be available for purchase at physical Microsoft Stores across the country although only the first 20 tablets sold at each store will get the full discount. Similarly, the price will shoot up to $199 until the end of the day or stock expires. Unfortunately, given the fact that there are so few Microsoft Stores in the US, this method is only an option for a select few.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/54941-microsoft-to-discount-dells-venue-8-pro-tablet-by-200-this-monday.html

 

[tipstir]

Wow really I would buy two of them? What's the catch?

Looked up the nearest Microsoft Store in my area, found one like 10 mins from here. Sure enough not a full store. A booth in the middle of the town center (aka mall) I would have to drive like some 50 miles for a full Microsoft Store. So this one going on sale for $99 is an 8-inch tablet. First they tell me it will have Windows RT on it but then another guy comes out said it will have full Windows 8.1 Pro on it.

For 8-inch really small. Thin, but running Atom CPU, there is no Micro SD slot of this model. I couldn't find one there seems to be a doc port. It has 2GB of RAM. I don't want to camp out in front tomorrow just to get to be the first 10 to get one. Online to be the first 100. Right now it's $299 then $199 after the first bunch goes.

I was told another model will be out before Christmas for less too. Looking at the 8-inch would be best to get 10.1-inch with micro SD slot instead of none. Maybe the demo was like this without one.

Good luck on those that end with one.

 

[oldikes]

So wait, this is x86? O.O

 

[Guest]

Hey tipstir don't listen to this other guy he doesn't know what he is talking about. Demo has that slot covered.

 

[Guest]

So wait, this is x86? O.O

Yes, it's got an atom processor so it should run x86 programs. It's rather discouraging that they have put such a limit on the offer, though.

 

[Guest]

Hey tipster, he does know what he is talking about. Search for the product on Dell's site. I know it is a crazy idea and all but it really does work. And then you can read all of the specs and know exactly what you are talking about. Crazy but true....

 

[Guest]

What an ugly looking tablet. Go ahead and buy them, help clear out the inventory for the new stuff coming in a month. Or maybe buy it for $99 and get a $150 trade in on an Android tablet or better yet get seomething that actually works like an iOS tablet.

 

[tipstir]

The Microsoft Contract Clerk was telling me about the tablet. I wasn't too interested in it since it was limited plus it was only 8-inch with Atom inside. Only 10 per that location and 20 at full store and then 100 online. I had did a quick check on the tablet. They said there was no micro SD slot on it. Online said differ. So there was a SD slot but it was sealed. Full SD Card slot no micro SD slot. Though $99 price seems okay if you can get them for it. But they said there was another deal coming up over this one. I'll wait and see.

 

[oldikes]

What an ugly looking tablet. Go ahead and buy them, help clear out the inventory for the new stuff coming in a month. Or maybe buy it for $99 and get a $150 trade in on an Android tablet or better yet get seomething that actually works like an iOS tablet.

-implies that a more expensive iOS or android tablet is superior to a cheaper x86 windows tablet with similar/better generic specs (as in ram, base CPU speed, etc, regardless of the different architectures)

 

[Guest]

I would jump on this but the resell possibility is out the window with the limit of 1 per customer. Not worth my time....

 

[Guest]

Quad core Atom get real. I heard the case cost $40, the digitizer pen cost $30 then they are having issues with that already. 32 gb ssd get reduce to 9 gb if you load ms office 2013 on it.
If anyone had sense they would install kingsoft office 2013 free on this to save space.
To the guy that said limit one per customer, send in another family member into the store.

 

[ET3D]

If I was in the US I would already have owned one. Nice piece of hardware, but unfortunately a bit hit and miss in quality. Still, according to all reports Bay Trail is great, the screen is great, you can get about 19GB free IIRC if you remove the restore partition and the hibernation file, and it supports microSD, so adding another 64GB is not a problem. Also has the fastest internal flash I've seen on a tablet (after changing a BIOS option), with users reporting over 130MB/s read speed.

The ultimate Venue 8 Pro thread is here: http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/dell/59202-venue-8-pro-owner-s-lounge.html

 

[oldikes]

I havent seen it on sale all day. Am I missing something?

 

[Guest]

It uses micro usb btw...

 

[Guest]

Literally thousands of consumers want a tablet (and that's a LOW estimation)and they are only giving out 100 at that price ? that's not news worthy , that's insulting and tantamount to throwing scraps to a pack of starving dogs . thanks microsoft way to pander to the masses for advertising

 

[SJMarcus]

Hello tipstir, I got one at Microcenter, where they are $229, but you can actually buy one. It does have a Micro SD slot, it is hidden behind a little rubber tab you have to pull out of the way. I've used it and it worked fine.

It does not have a docking connector. You can connect to a mouse/keyboard using bluetooth and you can connect to a TV or monitor using miracast and purchasing a $40 miracast to HDMI dongle for the TV or monitor.

Doing that keeps the mircro USB port available for charging.

It does have an Atom, but it is the new quad core Atom which seems remarkably faster than the dual core Atom used in the Acer W3.

The sound is incredibly loud, there will be no problem hearing any videos. The screen is about half way in resolution between an iPad Mini and an iPad Mini Retina, so... it is much better for viewing web pages than an iPad mini, but it is not retina like.

It is running full Windows 8.1, not RT. It does run real Windows apps, and it comes with real MS-Word and Excel, which is an amazing deal.

It seems exceptionally unlikely that another model will be out before Christmas, or anytime soon. What is coming out is a new Acer W4, which has a real IPS screen, and will have Windows 8.1, not 8.0 like the W3 did.

The Acer W4 will be thicker, heavier and less sexy than the Dell, but.... it has an HDMI port on it, and it has a separate charging connector so you can use the USB port while you are charging.

There is also a Lenovo 8" Windows 8.1 device and a Toshiba as well.

 

[Rishad]

I would like to buy it.

 

[Guest]

I would like to buy it.

The best price I've seen is at MicroCenter. I purchased a returned one there at a really good price. Sadly I didn't know about the Microsoft deal back in early December, or I would have lined up at the Microsoft Store.