Just snagged the Dell Venue 8 7840...wow

[grandgroove]

This is my first post as a registered member. Long-time reader. An initial blurb to thank everyone for building a great community

I picked up a Venue 8 7840 from Best Buy. Honestly, I really tried to avoid this baby by testing a couple of other units - Asus Memopad ME572c, Lenovo S8-50 and a Transformer 10" tablet. The Memopad was amazing for its feature set and price. I really needed a screen with high resolution, but I didn't want to invest in the land of Galaxy Tab S. After stating a half-assed business case with the Mrs, I returned the previous tablets and went with the Venue. Primary use cases are IT server/network administration and personal organization. I use a bevy of remote access tools to support work systems. There is also the steady stream of tech support calls from my in-laws. One of the unwritten clauses in my wedding vows was to provide free family tech support for life. I'm sure some of you here can relate. I have also been scanning and organizing important documents with a combination of Camscanner and Evernote. We set up a shared finance system with You Need A Budget. My wife and I also tied things together with Cal and Any.Do.

This device is, like, 'kid on Christmas morning' exciting. Seriously, I have owned 10-15 smartphones and tablets in the last few years, and this one has me more stoked than any of the others. The screen will immediately wow you. The factory Android flavor is very close to your average AOSP setup. I have never had a tablet that was this amazingly responsive.

The Venue was rooted using instructions from XDA - Check for forum: xda-developers Android Development and Hacking Miscellaneous Android Development Intel Android Devices Root / Temp CWM Session. As an earlier post notes, you will see an error message in the middle of the process, but it is temporary, and the temp CWM will indeed load fine. After installing SuperSU and rebooting, it's recommended that you buy a SuperSU Pro license and step through the configuration. It is worth it. I then used Titanium Backup, ran a full app+system backup batch job and copied the folder to an external drive.

Some notes regarding test of root-enabled apps:

- Xposed framework created a bootloop. I was able to boot to Safe Mode, uninstall Xposed and reboot to resolve the issue.

- Trickster Mod will give you a couple of options to tweak performance. Definitely test with caution.

- Installed FDroid in order to install AdAway. So far, it works great. YouTube ads seem to be effectively blocked, but it can add a few seconds of delay to the start of a video. Worth it, IMHO

- I will be testing Nandroid Pro app from Play Store. At a minimum, it should be usable for restore from the tethered CWM. This might be a good means of securing your freshly-rooted and working Android config.

As expected, case and screen protector pickings are pretty slim. I ordered two blue portfolio cases from Amazon (ACase and SPARIN) along with a Sknomi TechSkin screen protector. The stuff should be here Tuesday. I will write up a review post that will hopefully help others with making a decision.

I also picked up a Moga Power Pro from Best Buy. Retail is $79.99, but BB price matched a Target online price of $39.99. After I got home, I realized that the Target price was actually for the cheaper Moga Hero. You should be able to receive the same pricing. No judgments here.

I will test a few fighting games - Soul Calibur and King of Fighters series first. Console emulation will be tested - 8/16-bit systems, Capcom CPS1-3, PSX and Dreamcast.

If anyone has any questions or if there is anything I can do to help prospective owners, let me know.

 

[asabino]

Got my Dell 8! Leaving the Samsung note 10.1..now waiting for lollipop! Hurry dell!

 

[bespinct]

I have one to play with now too.

The screen is definitely everything promised. The speakers are impressive, at least compared to my Nexus 7 2013. And while the form factor makes for a beautiful device, I do find that the sharp edges make holding it to type a bit uncomfortable as I balance it on my pinkies. It's only been a couple of hours, so I wouldn't be surprised if I figure out how to better hold it over time.

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[John Furnari]

I just picked one up today. It really is a very well built device. I love the industrial design and harder edges. Screen is nice, nut on 8 inches its probably overkill. Definately very fast, but the animations do lag a bit sometimes. Only thing that sucks is its running android and not windows.

Not to get off thread here but really android is just aweful. Hopefully the guys as XDA figure out how to get windows on it.

 

[cpolism]

I just picked one up today. It really is a very well built device. I love the industrial design and harder edges. Screen is nice, nut on 8 inches its probably overkill. Definately very fast, but the animations do lag a bit sometimes. Only thing that sucks is its running android and not windows.

Not to get off thread here but really android is just aweful. Hopefully the guys as XDA figure out how to get windows on it.

Gotta say, that's definitely the first time I've heard that one haha

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[Laualie]

Isn't that bad? Screen should the main battery eater but on your case it looks like the Android OS is the majority. You are probably having massive wakelocks.

Anyway, how do you like it so far now? Are you keeping it?

+1 to this question. It seems like you're getting around 7 hours of use out of a tab rated at 9-10?

My tab also consistently reports Android OS at the top of the use page across varying levels of use. - in the 70-90% range. I haven't tried to see what the max life on the battery is yet, but the OS run-time is disconcerting. I started a thread on this here called "Battery stats?"

 

[gharika]

Bought it yesterday, and voila, an update is available.
Running it on 5.0.2 now. All works well except that earlier in 4.4.4 it used to wake up when I picked it up, now it does not.

 

[murphcid]

This is an intensely exciting tablet, especially with the new 32gb version coming out. I am thinking that this will be an ideal upgrade for my lovely spouse's Nexus 7! The screen resolution just makes me happy, happy, happy as the older I get I need sharper screens for reading. My wife uses her Nexus 7 as an e-reader for the most part. Even with the SD card (which never seem to work as claimed) 16gb was just not near enough storage. For the Dell put a good folio case on it, and I can see my wife taking it everywhere with her. I got the Nexus 7 so she could put it in her purse and take it along on trips.

For me at least, 32gb is the minimum I will accept in a tablet. I have two 32gb Nexus 7s (2013) for my wife and I, the 32gb Nexus 10 for my oldest daughter, 32 and 64 gb iPads for my youngest and myself. 16 gb is just a slap in the face these days, and I don't understand why Samsung and others keep offering it as their largest offering in otherwise great tablets!

I am very happy with it a week in. Great little tablet. Screen is beautiful, and its essentially stock android. So not a major drop off from my nexus7 with regards to the OS. The only thing I was bummed about was the 16GB storage. The SD slot is great, and I'm sure I'll have to use it shortly.

The tablet itself flies. Plenty of speed, never gets bogged down like my nexus7. Feels great in the hand(s) and the chin isn't an issue at all. It grows on you as you use it. The camera is so so. The measurement feature was taken away in the last update for some reason. My guess is that they will bring it back after some tinkering. Hopefully they have a case out for this thing soon. I hate carrying it around without anything to grip on it.

If you pick one up you won't regret it. The screen is completely worth it. Especially without a bezel. Let me know if you have any other specific questions.

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[CTRebel53]

Been a Dell Venue 8 owner for about 24 hours. Finally had to replace My N7 (2012) which was getting increasingly unusable even without updating to Lollipop. Now I am free to explore the world of rooting and custom roms on the N7 without worrying about bricking a daily use device.

I love the DELL. I have been waiting for a relatively high spec device in the 8" range and since Dell had a deal for the 32GB for the same price as the 16GB I leapt on it. I was not a fan of Samsung tabs or phone. I don't like the physical home button.

I don't have a problem holding this in portrait mode. Even with my relatively small hands I can grip the sides without touching the bezel and I don't even try to not touch it. It's my natural grip. The "chin" isn't an issue. Sure it looks different but it kinda fades out once you see the almost no bezel screen. About that screen...yep..gorgeous ...but way over saturated at times. I would not use for even casual color correcting of photos until I have a chance to compare it with editing done on the PC versus the Dell. However, sometimes the screen looks perfectly natural . One of the photos that come up the first time you open the camera or the Dell gallery is achingly beautiful. Really shows off the screen and the colors look natural.
Performance is snappy. Much better than the N7 even when it had no lag.

 

[quadtronix]

I recently picked up one of these. Loving it! It's my main tablet now with the iPad mini as my backup but hardly used at all compared to the Venue. My favorite thing about it is it's unique design although the screen is also pretty amazing.

Sent from my Venue 8 7840 using Tapatalk

 

[cjp39]

Just grabbed one for $189 from Dell. Impressive screen and really a nice portable size. Would be great on a trip.

 

[Jmullin009]

I know this is a really old thread, but i'm also considering picking one of these up to replace and essentially bricked Nexus 7 after stupidly upgrading to Lollipop. But even before lollipop, my nexus 7 was pretty much worthless. I just reverted to kit kat on a Nexus 7 at work and after a factory reset i'm getting pretty good responsiveness. Is this a major upgrade compared to your nexus 7 or should i just try to downgrade to kitkat and keep my nexus? Any input is appreciated, thanks!

 

[bespinct]

I know this is a really old thread, but i'm also considering picking one of these up to replace and essentially bricked Nexus 7 after stupidly upgrading to Lollipop. But even before lollipop, my nexus 7 was pretty much worthless. I just reverted to kit kat on a Nexus 7 at work and after a factory reset i'm getting pretty good responsiveness. Is this a major upgrade compared to your nexus 7 or should i just try to downgrade to kitkat and keep my nexus? Any input is appreciated, thanks!

I came from a Nexus 7 and never looked back. I think 8.4in is the perfect size and I prefer the on the Dell over the Galaxy Tab S.

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[quakerdan]

Just grabbed one for $189 from Dell. Impressive screen and really a nice portable size. Would be great on a trip.

Did you pick up the Dell Venue 8 7840 or the less expensive Dell Venue 8. If you did get a 7000 model for $188, where did you find it?

Dan

 

[Wobblin30]

Did you pick up the Dell Venue 8 7840 or the less expensive Dell Venue 8. If you did get a 7000 model for $188, where did you find it?

Dan

Dell ran a promotion a few week's back in their "Outlet" section on the site which sold refurbished Venue 8 7840's for discounted prices.They ran a $100 off coupon on the tablet at the same time. I picked a refurbed unit for $316.30-$100 coupon w/ free shipping + tax = $229.82 to my door. Other than the generic brown box it came in, the tablet was in brand new condition with the same one year warranty.

 

[cjp39]

Did you pick up the Dell Venue 8 7840 or the less expensive Dell Venue 8. If you did get a 7000 model for $188, where did you find it?

Dan

The 7000 series, the 7840 to be specific. I got it refurbed through the Dell site for $289, then there was also a coupon code for $100 off. I couldn't pass it up.

 

[Android_Muel]

Does anybody have an issue with how hot this tablet gets? I was playing 'Clash Of Clans' and it got to the point where I was struggling to hold in between the cameras.

 

[Nodnerb]

It certainly warms up, but no more than any other tablet I've ever had.

 

[quadtronix]

My Dell does not get warm at all but I don't game on it...

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[whit pomeroy]

Actually the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 screen is a super AMOLED, and this is a totally different OLED panel