Its been rumored for a while but its now official, the Asus VivoTab Note 8 has been announced by Asus and its set to take on it’s 8 inch brethren as it brings with it a feature that’s been missing for a lot of users from the current crop of portable Windows tablets.
Update: ASUS Vivotab Note 8 now in our database. View specs, compare, comment and more.
On the surface the Asus is similar to most other 8 inch Windows tablets, with a 1200×800 resolution screen, Intel Bay Trail Z3740 CPU, 32 & 64GB eMMC storage options, 2GB of RAM, micro USB and micro SD card slots and like the Dell Venue 8 Pro has an active digitizer.
However unlike the Dell the digitizer pen comes as standard with the tablet and more importantly uses Wacom technology, which has arguably been the top requested feature for an 8 inch Windows tablet, and additionally has a silo on the tablet to house the stylus. At $299 for the 32GB version it costs the same as the Dell (and Lenovo Miix 2 8) while also including the stylus making it quite a good deal.
Asus also manages to one up the competition again by providing true stereo speakers powered by its SonicMaster technology and includes 802.11 ABGN, Bluetooth 4.0+HS, Miracast and front and rear cameras. You also get unlimited access to ASUS WebStorage for a year.
Missing from the Asus though is an HDMI port just like the Dell which means you are reliant on Miracast or a USB displaylink adapter to connect the tablet to an external monitor. Size wise its also similar to other 8 inch tablets, with 220.9 x 133.8 x 10.95mm dimensions and weighing 380g. A 15.5Whr battery powers the tablet for up to 8 hours.
Could this be the 8″ Windows tablet to get? If notetaking and sketching are important to you it could well be, though Dell has been updating the Venue 8 Pro to improve its stylus performance so it could still be a worthy alternative in time.
There’s also the Lenovo Thinkpad 8 which has a slightly bigger 8.3 inch screen, HDMI, USB 3.0 and a full HD resolution but no stylus and costs $50 more for the 64GB version. You’re probably wishing the Asus and Lenovo tablets got together and had a little baby……
The Asus VivoTab Note 8 will be available late Q1/early Q2 priced at $299 for the 32GB version and $349 for the 64GB version.
ASUS Vivotab Note 8 now in our database. View specs, compare, comment and more.
8″, Wacom and stylus silo? Bought. Sorry Lenovo, your ThinkPad line really has missed your supposed target audience.
Looking forward to it myself. Oddly the stereo speakers are a big draw for me as well, love the Dell’s speakers but being mono spoils the effect a bit when watching movies.
Spring? Despite having a highly desired feature, ASUS totally missed the boat when it comes product availability schedule. By then Dell will have had 6+ months as the only 8″ Windows tablet with a active digitizer / stylus. And you can bet Dell will be well on their way to prepping a hardware refresh for next fall.
I plan on buying an 8″ tablet in Spring anyway. I hope more tablets get released by then but right now it looks like I’ll be getting the ASUS. Based on my usage used of Windows on small screens in the past, I really need the active digitizer WITH a silo for the pen. I don’t mind sacrificing high PPI, video out and USB 3.0 for that.
I plan on buying an 8″ tablet in Spring anyway. I hope more tablets get released by then but right now it looks like I’ll be getting the ASUS. Based on my usage used of Windows on small screens in the past, I really need the active digitizer WITH a silo for the pen. I don’t mind sacrificing high PPI, video out and USB 3.0 for that.
Full specs, links etc now in our database.
http://www.umpcportal.com/products/ASUS/Vivotab%20Note%208
To me, this is the best 8″ Windows 8 UMPC so far. Hoping that the UMPCs keep on coming!
I dont understand all these manufacturers, why should there always be something missing.
I am still waiting for the perfect 8inch tablet. If only asus had added a micro hdmi port, this would have been perfect.
Lenovo also came out with its 8 inch think pad and excluded a stylus….sigh…
why are all these manufacturers so out of touch with consumers.
Samsung is still the only company that makes almost a complete product but unfortunately seems there are not into windows tablets this year. no announcement from them yet.
please forgive my ranting
Ya, there’s never a perfect device for whatever reason like keeping costs down by forgoing certain features and manufacturing a single design vs multiple configurations. Maybe the OEM just plain thought people won’t use certain things or pay past a certain price.
It’s always going to be like that because everyone has different definitions of perfect so I personally just buy the closest to perfect device and just enjoy using it instead of using nothing because I’m waiting for that perfect device.
Personally, my “perfect” device would have a 5″-7″ screen, small bezels and a slide out thumb keyboard and mouse (ie. an OQO successor) but I’ll settle for the Wacom digitizer and silo combo. Of course, I want other things too. Come Spring, I’ll be having fun with some sort of UMPC, perfect or not.
This is the sort of announcement that might have had me crying into my tea – as the wacom digitiliser was the only thing I thought I was missing from the DVP8 I recently acquired. But the bottom line is I got my DVP8 for $199 (£120) during the Microsoft store promotion. Owing to the fact that $299 translates to £249 in the UK stores trying to justify paying £130 for a wacom digitiliser is just impossible.
Finally, an 8″ Windows 8 tablet worth buying. Good thing I didn’t get Dell Venue Pro when they were on sale.
15wh battery…. no thx
Sold! Sorry Lenovo, I was rooting for you but you finished second. I just hope this has good build quality. I’ve only had ASUS motherboards, which were good, but no experience with any of their complete systems.
Still hoping for an OQO type form factor though. I’ ll buy that too if such a thing comes out.
Does Wacom means that the device supports right mouse click via stilo?
Also, what about Linux on this device? Any UEFI issues possible?
If the Wacom pen has a button to signify a right click then yes. So if anyone can confirm if it actually does have a button then that would be great. I’ve seen some Wacom pens not have a button.
Since it’s not out, no knows if the UEFI is hardcoded to look only for 32-bit boot loaders. Judging from ASUS’ 10″ T100, it’s likely the Vivotab suffers from the same problem. So if you plan on buying this for Linux use then wait until others have tried it or the place you bought it from has a good return policy for non-defective items.
Right click by stylus works without a button … just hold the stylus in place for a few seconds.
I hate tap and hold. One of the reasons I want an active digitizer. Hated it on Apple PCs, smartphones and tablets. If I can help it, I’d rather not tap/click and hold.
If you connected one of these to the micro usb port, could you have a usb device connected at the same time you project to another screen via hdmi?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-Female-to-Micro-USB-Female-Male-Adapter-Splitter-White-Giwpb-/310724161251?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item48589a6ee3
And can it power a 1 TB harddrive via the micro USB port?
I think by now we should keep an eye on or have somewhere a small list with which of these have USB3. Especially that as we’ve seen in the video with Toshiba Encore the 8 inchers are capable of being main boxes for light to somehow average use. And if you can expand their capabilities over usb and you want Ethernet, multiple monitors and of course storage it better be USB3.