Last month, Dell shareholders approved a $25 billion buyout of the company by a group of investors led by Dell founder Michael Dell. Dell announced that he would take the company private and refocus its efforts on enterprise solutions and services. That doesn’t mean, however, that the company has fully given up on the hardware business.
Dell this week announced its new lineup of Windows 8 and Android tablets. All of the tablets are a part of Dell’s Venue-branded lineup, and the Windows tablets all come running Windows 8.1.
The Dell Venue 8 Pro and Dell Venue 11 Pro are the Windows 8 tablets that Dell seems to be pushing hardest. As per the names, the 8 Pro is an 8-inch tablet, while the 11 Pro has a full HD 11-inch display. The 8 Pro comes with Microsoft Office 2013 Home edition and costs $300.
The 11 Pro comes with several keyboard options, including a mobile keyboard/cover, a full-sized keyboard with its own battery, and an entire desktop dock that essentially makes the tablet into a notebook, complete with USB and display ports. The device also has a replaceable battery. Priced at $499, the 11 Pro is quite obviously Dell’s competitor device to Microsoft’s recently announced Surface Pro 2, which costs more than double that amount.
The Dell Venue 7 and Dell Venue 8 are both Android-based tablets. The hardware difference between the tablets is minimal, with the 7 having a 7-inch screen and the 8 having an 8-inch one. The price difference between them is also minimal, with the Venue 7 costing $150 and the Venue 8 costing $180.