The Venue 8 Pro's 32 GB of solid-state storage won't get you very far if you plan to install games on your tablet. That's why the 64 GB model is tempting. Fortunately, Dell equips the Venue with a microSD slot. Not all mobile devices have one, so prioritize expansion as you shop for mobile devices. You can find a 32 GB Class 10 card to drop into that slot for as little as $15, instantly doubling your capacity. If you're even more committed to the cause, 64 GB cards start at the $40 mark.
For this story, however, I was planned to install a lot of games. It just so happens that SanDisk recently launched a long-awaited high-capacity card, the Ultra 128 GB MicroSDXC Class 10 UHS-I with an adapter. Call me old-school, but it's surreal to think that such a tiny device holds 128 gigabytes of information. Is it fast, though?
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| Capacity | 16 GB | 32 GB | 64 GB | 128 GB | 32 GB |
| Format | SDHC | SDHC | SDXC | SDXC | SDHC |
| Class | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Read Speed | 30 MB/s | 30 MB/s | 30 MB/s | 30 MB/s | N/A |
The company claims up to 30 MB/s read speeds, which is expected from a UHS Class 1 device (they have to guarantee at a 10 MB/s minimum). In our tests, performance indeed varied between 10 and 40 MB/s. In fact, I measured the same read transfer rates from a 32 GB G.Skill Class 10 microSD card also in the lab. Both designations are rated for the same minimum performance level, so that checks out.
SanDisk isn't marketing the Ultra 128 GB under its Extreme brand, which tells us that the product's purpose is primarily mass storage, not peak transfer rates. Regardless, if microSD-based storage space is what you need, it's hard to go wrong with 128 GB. Then again, for many folks, the $15 32 GB option delivers the biggest return on investment. It all depends on how much information you need to keep local.
- Do You Want to Game On a Windows 8.1 Tablet?
- More Storage: SanDisk Ultra 128 GB MicroSDXC Memory Card
- Game Control: SteelSeries Free and GestureWorks Gameplay
- How We Tested Tablet-Based Gaming
- Strategy Games: Dota 2 and Battle for Middle Earth 2
- MMO Games: World Of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic
- First-Person Games: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Left 4 Dead, Unreal Tournament 3
- Racing Games: Need For Speed World and Burnout Paradise
- Gaming On a Windows Tablet: Not a Plug-And-Play Experience
Finally i see one noticeable advantage of Windows Tablet over Android
Finally i see one noticeable advantage of Windows Tablet over Android
Does not compute
- Battery (maybe most important when you speak of portablility) - how long does it last with this model. I was eyeing the Asus Transformer Book T100TA, which they say has a quite respectable battery (but is also more expensive)
- Does a PS3 controller (free, if you have a PS3) work with it?
I would ideally have liked to see a mention of the Prince of Persia / Max Payne (1+2) / (Older) Tomb Raider / Splinter cell (1-4) and similar older third-person adventure games. In my opinion those work marvellously with a PS3 gamepad. Ah, I forgot - I wonder whether the touch would work directly with games from the Monkey Island series. Ah, another great genre for playing on a tablet, that was totally missed here - turn-based strategy games like the Heroes of Might and Magic series and Civilization (4). And also the grand-daddy of "modern" open-world FPSs - FarCry 1
The biggest risk with those games is still compatibility with touch/Win 8.
An expanded re-visit maybe when the new generation of chips come out from either from Intel or AMD?
Some games run very well on the tablet - Left4Dead 2 and Unreal Tournament 2004 run fantastically, as you might expect because they're a bit older, or based on older engines. Likewise, some other games that have lower system requirements run perfectly well (indie stuff, smaller games, games that were ported from PC to tablet). Examples include Castle Crashers, Geometry Wars, Plants Vs Zombies, Puzzle Quest, Pac Man DX, etc
Some newer games that I've tried have framerate issues, but still at least play at lowest settings and resolutions. The games below, despite their framerate issues remain playable for the most part.
Battlefield 4 (looks horrific because resolution scaling must be used, 20-35fps)
Diablo 3 (35fps out of combat, 20-25 in combat, 17-19 in Torment II/III combat).
Borderlands 2 (30+ out of combat, some dips in combat)
Saints Row IV (45+ in places, 17-20 in others, it's odd, more geometry = bad)
Tomb Raider (27-45fps or so, perfectly playable for the most part).
In most cases, I am nerfing settings to a ridiculous degree.
(3DS XL and 2DS aren't really directly comparable due to the different form-factor - clam-shell vs tablet)
(3DS XL and 2DS aren't really directly comparable due to the different form-factor - clam-shell vs tablet)
That was a bit of a brainfart in the intro, the actual article mentions the 3DS XL.
Anyway, thanks for catching it. Fixed.
As far as being comparable, in the broad sense any portable gaming device is comparable. Portable console, phone, phablet, tablet... so I believe it's a relevant comparison in this context.
MSI has. MSI W20. I think the issue has more to do with the clock speeds on the APUs in this power envelope, around 1 ghz. With this low a clock it may not have the necessary oomf. The recent APU has the power envelope and oomf, but we are only now starting to see it used in Tablets.
The Venue 8 Pro got warm during our play time, but I never found it uncomfortable.