Review: Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet

The Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet changes one's whole perception of tablets.

---

I have been one of those who view tablets as unnecessary gadgets in this age of high-end smartphones. To me, a tablet was just an over-sized smartphone only suitable for browsing the Internet or playing games. There are countless times I have carried my tablet thinking I would use it productively, only to find myself going back to my good old laptop when duty called.

However, upon using the Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet, my whole perception of tablets changed.

The Dell Venue 11 Pro is an 11-inch Windows 8 tablet which is black in colour with a smooth finish. On the device's left short edge sits a headphone jack, volume buttons, a speaker, and ports for power (micro USB), micro HDMI and USB 3.0.

There is a power button, microSD card reader, speaker and lock slot line the right short edge. At the bottom are a series of docking ports and magnetic connectors.

The tablet is light to carry, weighing only 726 grams. In regards to thickness, it measures 10.2mm (width) and 177mm, (length). This makes it ideal for today's professional who is always on the go.

What separates the Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet from the majority of its peers is its ability to be converted into a laptop using the mobile keyboard. Users can also expand it to a full desktop solution with the Dell tablet desktop dock. However, for the dock, you will need to pay more.

I have never mastered the art of typing productively on a touchscreen keypad, so for me, the addition of the mobile keyboard on the Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet is its biggest selling point.

Although this additional hardware adds to the weight, it's worth the effort as its keypads are also quite responsive. The only problem with the keyboard is that its keypads are not as spaced out as the ones on laptops but not to take anything away from it, it gets the job done.

The keyboard also has a touchpad that is responsive to the slightest of touch. Although two-finger scrolling was sometimes slow, the pad quickly recognised pinch-to-zoom and the switching-app gesture.

Judging by its versatility, we can only conclude that Dell made the device with the business user in mind.

Thanks to its full HD screen with wide-angle viewing for watching videos, the Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet also comes in handy as a leisure device.

Armed with a full-HD 1 920 x 1 080 pixel display, the device stands above its competition as this display is rarely found in a screen of that size.

The Venue 11 Pro 7140 sports an 8MP rear-facing camera and a 2MP front-facing Web cam. The rear camera takes decent pictures but was not as impressive when taking pictures in the dark. The front-facing camera is perfect for video chats and such-like. However, it comes short when taking selfies.

For someone who is quite accustomed to Windows 8.1, the Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet did not disappoint. The user interface even works better on a smaller screen, especially when making use of the touchscreen.

Coming with a 1.4-GHz dual-core Intel Core M-5Y10 CPU with 8GB of RAM, the Venue 11 Pro proved to be a beast when it comes to performance. It did not have any issues when asked to multi-task. I could copy files, watch movies and stream music all at one go and the tablet was up to the challenge.

Thanks to its Intel Gen 7 Graphics, the Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet is ideal for gaming. The only worry here was the device got a bit hot when downloading some games.

Dell also pre-installed some applications on the device. These include Backup and Recovery, Command Power Manager, Command Update, Digital Delivery (for software downloads) and System Detect (collects data about your system for support purposes). There's also BitLocker security software and Remote Desktop Connection to connect to your PC from a separate computer.

Another selling point for the Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet is its remarkable battery life. The review unit came with a swappable 32Wh battery which lasted more than 10 hours, which will be more than enough for a business user.

On top of that, the device's dock also boasts its own battery which will in turn double the Venue 11 Pro's battery life.

Retailing at R15 540, the Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet is ideal for the modern professional who needs the sleekness of a tablet and also be able to convert it into a mini laptop if necessary. Its biggest attributes are the mobile keyboard, long battery life as well as an impressive display. However, to get the dock, you will have to pay more.