I have a Surface Pro 4 with Core i5, Type Cover keyboard and docking station with me now and I’ve just finished the first of a set of videos for Notebookcheck (see it in the Surface Pro 4 review here) and come away, as you’d probably expect, impressed. One of the first things I did, however, was to put the new Type Cover keyboard on my Surface Pro 3. The ‘upgrade’ is significant and is one of a number of considerations to be made if you’re thinking of making the jump from Pro 3 to Pro 4.

I recently bought the Lenovo Thinkpad 8 Windows tablet, but not the Thinkpad 8 that was launched in early 2014. The latest version has the high-end Z3795 (Baytrail-T) CPU, 4GB RAM, 128 GB SSD,  LTE and runs a 64-bit version of Windows. CPU and disk performance are well above what you’ll find in the early versions. It also has USB 3.0 support which sets it apart from nearly all 8-inch Windows tablets. It all adds up to the lightest, most powerful, portable and flexible desktop PC that I’ve ever used. The best UMPC to date and one that can do real multi-channel full-HD video editing. Update: While writing this article I updated the Thinkpad 8 to Windows 10. See below.

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I bought a Thinkpad 8. Why? This high-end Windows 8 tablet with LTE and 4GB got an update to the Z3795 CPU, has much improved performance over the original and was retailing in the UK for an absolute bargain price. Since I bought it I’ve done a lot of testing and a lot of travelling with it. I’ve also treated it to a hard case and a USB 3.0 OTG adaptor which says a lot about how I plan to use it.

Update March 2019. I still use this tablet regularly. The hard case broke unfortunately but I am still impressed with it. Windows 10, plenty of storage and LTE.

More information on the Lenovo Thinkpad 8

I’ve just completed a detailed review of the Dell Venue 11 Pro 5130. This is the Atom-based version (there’s a Core-based version too) and it comes with 4GB of RAM, a full USB 3.0 port and the high-end, full 64-bit Z3795 CPU. The difference in usability between this and 2GB Z3745-style Windows 8 tablets was marked. Here’s a summary.

The Dell Venue range all have good screens with some of the blackest blacks in the Windows tablet market. The 5130 here has an impressively high max brightness too so the contrast is way over 1000:1. The 11. 8-inch 1920 x 1080 screen punches, but it’s also heavy and I found the 770 grams to be too heavy, especially as it’s a very wide tablet.

I’ve tested this before but it needs to be done again. A sub-$200 8-inch Windows 8 tablet with external Full-HD screen, Gigabit Ethernet, a 256GB SSD, external sound module and USB keyboard and mouse all driven over one UBS 2.0 link. I’m using the HP Stream 8 here.

Here’s the display set-up I’m working with now. IE11 (Modern) on the left with Bing News on the right on the main screen. On the tablet screen I have Tweetium running.

I bought the HP Stream 8 with 3G and the first video and first-impressions are ready for you. The video is below and if you’re interested in a truly mobile PC (that is a handheld PC with mobile internet) then you’ll need to watch this and think about this new class of sub-$200 3G-enabled Windows tablets. It’s an incredible deal when you think about it because it was only a few years ago when we were forced to pay many hundreds of dollars more for a 3G/4G-enabled PC. Manufacturers only had cellular options on business-class devices and those options were always $100 or more. The HP Stream 8 not only has 3G included but includes a small amount of data free every month. 200MB goes quickly on a PC but you can add more or put your own SIM card in and really start to enjoy the benefits of Connected Standby. Using a Skype-in number, this tablet could be a phone. Using a turn-by-turn navigation program, an always-online navigation unit. It’s a mobile hotspot, a great social networking tool and when Windows 10 launches there’ll be a whole new life injected into it. It comes with one year of Office365 Personal, 1TB of OneDrive (1 year uploading, always available) and 60 Skype call-out minutes per month.

I’ve just started a solar charging test with the ASUS Vivotab Note 8 Windows 8.1 tablet (running on the Intel Baytrail-T platform.) Normally it would require a 2A USB output to charge it but lets see what the 1.2A output of the Changers solar power pack can do. The tablet is registering that power is connected here but there’s a question over whether it’s really charging. I’ll update this post when I’ve got some results.

In general, this tablet should be able to run with screen-on and connected from about 3W of power and charge from 5-10W so obviously there’s little chance of doing both at the same time here. If it holds a charge while on standby I’ll be happy. If it can charge while off, ill be even happier’

Update: Charging from the power pack is working while in connected standby at a reasonable rate for a 1.2A output. 4-5hrs seems possible for a full charge. I have yet to test concurrent solar charging –> power pack and power pack –> ASUS Vivotab Note 8.

Lenovo has made an interesting move to segment their Yoga 11 and Yoga 13 models. The Yoga 13 is an Ultrabook convertible proper while the Yoga 11 is going to be an ARM-based device that runs Windows RT. If the convertible Yoga 13 form-factor interests you, the Yoga 11 might be a desirable Ultrabook alternative for those looking for a more portable package with even longer battery life (and probably lower cost). Lenovo still hasn’t announced a release date or price for the Yoga 11 but full official specifications are now available. Photos on Lenovo’s website show what could be a micro SIM card slot for 3G/4G.

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