After a long wait and a lot of speculation surrounding the eventual American release date for Dell’s Venue 11 Pro, Dell finally began taking orders today. The Venue 11 Pro is a Windows tablet that Dell has touted as “The tablet that’s three devices in one”, claiming it will “boost performance anywhere you go with the portability of a tablet, power of an Ultrabook and experience of a desktop”. Today we’re taking a look at the confirmed specs for the tablet, and examining how it stacks up to the competition.

 
Tablet enthusiasts looking to nab a Venue 11 Pro will have a few configuration options. The entry-level tablet, which retails at around $500, features a Bay Trail-based quad-core Intel Atom processor, 2GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and an 8-inch IPS display. For users who like their tablets with a little more processing muscle, Dell also offers models with Y-series Core i3 and i5 chips. The Core i3 processor model comes with 4GB of RAM, 12GB of storage and an $800 price tag. Its big brother sports the same RAM and storage, but comes with an i5 processor and a slightly higher $850 price tag. Both models have 1920 x 1080-pixel IPS displays with 10-point capacitive touch support, WiFi and Bluetooth, an 8-megapixel camera, swappable battery and USB 3.0 and HDMI ports. Currently WiFi slates are the only available option, but word on the geek street is that LTE-equipped versions are on their way.

 
All models of the Venue 11 Pro will ship with Windows 8.1 software, but only the base model will also come with a fully licensed copy of Office 2013 Home & Student preloaded; the pricier models will come with Office Trial software. This is likely due to Microsoft giving away Office software to PC makers looking to load it onto small tablets with ARM or Intel Atom processors. Additionally, the base model will feature Windows 8.1 32-bit software, while the beefier models will run 64-bit versions of the operating system.

 

 



So how does the Venue 11 Pro Series stack up against its competition? Its closest rival looks to be Microsoft’s Surface Pro 2 tablets which are about the same size, include similar optional keyboards for tablet or Ultrabook use, and also support active pen input. While many of the internal specs are similar as well, the Venue 11 Pro tablet appears to have a leg up on the competition in a few areas. While there is only roughly a half-pound difference, users who were able to spend time working with both tablets stated the Venue 11 Pro felt much lighter than the Surface Pro 2, and noted that the rounded edges gave the carrier a more comfortable grasp on the machine. Additionally, comments were made that the balance of the tablet seemed “just right”, which is impressive considering the slightly larger 10.8-inch display. Most notably though, the Venue 11 Pro offers a greater range of processor choices than any other tablet currently on the market.

 

Regardless of which model best suits your needs, it will be a while before consumers will be able to get their hands on any version of the device. Dell won’t begin shipping Venue 11 Pro tablets to buyers until December 5th.