Dell Venue 11 Pro
I have 3 used Dell Venue 11 Pros. 2 with 4GB RAM and 128GB HD. Another with 8GB and 256GB HD. Actually, I have 4th but this one broke after 30 days of purchase from eBay and I could not get my money back. I had nothing but trouble with one of these 3 usable ones. Its BIOS is password protected and its speaker was not working well.
Some apps don't install. To remedy this, I tried to run Windows Update but it stops in the middle and does not complete.
My last choice was to reinstall Windows 10.
But because of BIOS lockup, I could not boot from DVD.
I copied Win10 install files to the USB and tried to run setup.exe but it kept failing in the middle.
I created Win10 install USB stick from Microsoft and run setup.exe from USB.
This time it went through (I kept crossing my fingers during this ordeal) and what a relief after a few reboots when I saw a brand new Windows 10 introduction came up!
After hours of installation effort, the tablet is like a brand new computer. Everything works and it does very well.
Now I am in a process of updating all other Venue 11 Pros to the latest OS. One has Win8.1 (yikes!) with Classic Shell on it.
I won't recommend this tablet because it's heavy to use and the system itself does not look too durable. Venue 8 Pro, which I also have 3, is very light and comfortable to use, though its 64GB HD and Atom CPU prevent me from doing anything meaningful. Dell no longer sell either tablet.
But I find Windows 10 tablet to be actually very usable. I hope Apple reverses its reluctance to touch UI and build macos tablet one day. Not that I would ever use Mac again. The transition to ARM may come first before we ever see macos tablets.
Update on 8/10
I changed my mind about this tablet.
This is total crap. I gave up on using it. I need to be very careful not to restart and always select shut down and then wait a few minutes, press a start button and hold it for a while and hope it turns on. When it turns on, it either goes to the normal start up or goes to automatic repair. The automatic repair almost always cannot repair and I end up using Recover from Recovery disk. It is totally unacceptable. I would like to throw out this tablet in trash. It is ridiculous.
Update on 8/12
I did the unthinkable. I downgraded the OS to Windows 8.1 Home. It is running very well. There is no issue, except I can't use latest Universal Windows apps or Cubase 6, or 8. I can live with that. After all, the tablet is originally designed to run Windows 8, and they must have run thorough tests with the OS.
With Classic Shell, it is as usable as Win7.
Update on 8/18
There seems a lot of people were complaining about random BSOD issues with Dell Venue 11 Pro. I have been having similar issues. I really would not recommend this tablet. People on ebay are selling these cheap, but there are reasons. Don't buy this tablet!!!
Update on 8/20
It seems there is a problem with the latest Windows 10 Update and I may have gotten caught by this issue with my tablets. How lucky I am!
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4511553/windows-10-update-kb4511553
https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/cpw2ot/cumulative_updates_august_13th_2019/ewt1vpo/
I have one Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet with Win10 Pro on it and I disabled Windows Update so it is running a few months older Win10 and that may be why it is working well, while other two failed with the same reboot errors with the latest Window 10. Anyway, I am used to Win8.1 and it is working ok and I have no plan to upgrade to Win10 again for awhile
I downgraded 2 Dell tablets to Win8.1 and managed to install Cubase 8 and Arturia V Collection 6, so I am very happy. They do not have any reboot issues. I love the ability to control when I want to install the update.
Some apps don't install. To remedy this, I tried to run Windows Update but it stops in the middle and does not complete.
My last choice was to reinstall Windows 10.
But because of BIOS lockup, I could not boot from DVD.
I copied Win10 install files to the USB and tried to run setup.exe but it kept failing in the middle.
I created Win10 install USB stick from Microsoft and run setup.exe from USB.
This time it went through (I kept crossing my fingers during this ordeal) and what a relief after a few reboots when I saw a brand new Windows 10 introduction came up!
After hours of installation effort, the tablet is like a brand new computer. Everything works and it does very well.
Now I am in a process of updating all other Venue 11 Pros to the latest OS. One has Win8.1 (yikes!) with Classic Shell on it.
I won't recommend this tablet because it's heavy to use and the system itself does not look too durable. Venue 8 Pro, which I also have 3, is very light and comfortable to use, though its 64GB HD and Atom CPU prevent me from doing anything meaningful. Dell no longer sell either tablet.
But I find Windows 10 tablet to be actually very usable. I hope Apple reverses its reluctance to touch UI and build macos tablet one day. Not that I would ever use Mac again. The transition to ARM may come first before we ever see macos tablets.
Update on 8/10
I changed my mind about this tablet.
This is total crap. I gave up on using it. I need to be very careful not to restart and always select shut down and then wait a few minutes, press a start button and hold it for a while and hope it turns on. When it turns on, it either goes to the normal start up or goes to automatic repair. The automatic repair almost always cannot repair and I end up using Recover from Recovery disk. It is totally unacceptable. I would like to throw out this tablet in trash. It is ridiculous.
Update on 8/12
I did the unthinkable. I downgraded the OS to Windows 8.1 Home. It is running very well. There is no issue, except I can't use latest Universal Windows apps or Cubase 6, or 8. I can live with that. After all, the tablet is originally designed to run Windows 8, and they must have run thorough tests with the OS.
With Classic Shell, it is as usable as Win7.
Update on 8/18
There seems a lot of people were complaining about random BSOD issues with Dell Venue 11 Pro. I have been having similar issues. I really would not recommend this tablet. People on ebay are selling these cheap, but there are reasons. Don't buy this tablet!!!
Update on 8/20
It seems there is a problem with the latest Windows 10 Update and I may have gotten caught by this issue with my tablets. How lucky I am!
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4511553/windows-10-update-kb4511553
https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/cpw2ot/cumulative_updates_august_13th_2019/ewt1vpo/
I have one Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet with Win10 Pro on it and I disabled Windows Update so it is running a few months older Win10 and that may be why it is working well, while other two failed with the same reboot errors with the latest Window 10. Anyway, I am used to Win8.1 and it is working ok and I have no plan to upgrade to Win10 again for awhile
I downgraded 2 Dell tablets to Win8.1 and managed to install Cubase 8 and Arturia V Collection 6, so I am very happy. They do not have any reboot issues. I love the ability to control when I want to install the update.
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