For cheap, off-the-grid entertainment, OTA digital TV is the only way to get live information onto a tablet. I took a DVB-T receiver from Terratec, installed the driver and the TV software along with a codec pack on a Dell Venue 8 Pro and it’s working very well. According to tests, one charge should run for the full length of a footballl game, including extra time and penalties. It’s perfect for the up-coming World Cup!

I’m using the DVB-T standard Terratec Cinergy DT USB XS which is a USB-connected receiver and from the image above you can see it has two antennas. It’s connected via a USB adaptor so you’ll need to make sure you‘ve got one of those. (MicroUSB to USB female connector.) As I’m testing approximately 500 meters from the local DVB-T transmitter I can operate it with no antennas attached, indoors but most people are going to need some sort of antenna. The cheaper USB sticks only have one antenna and may not be good for the edges of reception areas so you’ll need to be aware of that but there are a few with integrated antennas which would be practical if you’re in a good reception area.

The receiver doesn’t auto-install on Windows 8 so I downloaded the latest drivers and the Terratec DVB Viewer software. Unfortunately there’s a third step due to lack of MPEG-2 support in Windows 8.

The problem and solution for MPEG-2 on Windows 8

Windows 8 doesn’t include the required MPEG-2 codecs like Windows 7 did so you’ll need to install a codec pack which is always a bit risky but I’ve found what appears to be an ‘honest’ and simple codec pack with easy installation and setup in the Shark007 basic codec pack. Install the standard 32-bit codec pack and remember to ‘skip’ the freeware offers. For configuration choose the Shark007 SUGGESTED settings. If you’re running a 64-bit system you’ll probably need the 64-bit extensions but I haven’t tested that.

The Terratec viewer software is for desktop only and isn’t very finger friendly but scanning of the local frequencies here was straightforward and resulted in 34 channels being found. Unfortunately this receiver won’t pick up DAB (radio) or the new DVB-T2 standard but the quality is fine for this 8-inch tablet and casual usage.

Quality of the streams on DVB-T is ‘standard definition’ 528×576 25fps MPEG-2 at about 2.5Mbps with an MPEG2 audio channel. (DVB-T2 offers high-definition streams.)

Under normal viewing conditions on this Z3740D-based tablet the CPU is using 17%. In aircraft mode (no WiFi needed for this) and with full screen brightness I was seeing 5.6W of power usage which, on this 19Wh device is going to give you 3hrs 20 minutes of viewing time. Let’s say 3hrs to be safe.

The Terratec software I’m using here allows TV to be recorded to disk at a rate of about 20MB / min which means you’ll have no problem recording a few hours of something for later playback.

The Dell Venue 8 Pro is a great tablet PC for this TV activity due to its bright, high-contrast IPS screen and loud speaker. It’s mono, but it’s still the best speaker you can get on a low-cost 8-inch Windows tablets.

DVB-T and DVB-T2 won’t work for everyone but if you’re in a good reception area it’s a good, simple, off-the-grid solution for entertainment.

With only 2/9 touch PCs updated here, 1 installing as I write, 1 downloading and 5 failures that need re-trying I suspect that there’s quite a bit of throttling and control going on by Microsoft today. I’m behind 1 IP address and after trying concurrent installs I’ve dropped back to a one-at-a-time method and it seems to be working now. I advise you do the same if you have multiple PCs

The Dell Venue 11 Pro, Lenovo Miix 2 10 and Acer W510 have updated successfully and all three are booting to Modern, as expected. Non-touch PCs will now boot to desktop.

I’m not a fan of integrating the mouse controls on the Modern UI but because they are hidden when using touch, it’s not an issue. The start-screen search box is a good idea. A Control Panel shortcut now appears in the Modern ‘Change PC Settings’ menu and you can pin Modern apps to the desktop taskbar – a first step in cross-environment integration but remember there’s no floating Windows Store apps in the desktop yet and no changes to the Start Menu. They are coming in a future update. Newly installed apps are easier to find in the Modern apps list now.

For those of us lucky enough to have Connected Standby-capable devices, you won’t see the Power icon on the Start screen.

Just in case you think it’s not worth updating because you’re on a tablet, think again. If you don’t update you’ll eventually lose the ability to update in the future. This update is obligatory.

A new ‘Disk Space’ menu item is a good start in providing users with 16, 32 and 64GB SSDs easier ways to control disk usage but there’s a lot more that could go in there. A shortcut to the ‘Disk Cleanup’ option for a start.

Here’s a video update from my home office this morning. Let us know what your experience was in the comments below and if you’ve had problems, let us know which device it was.

[USA-focused post]

The 8-inch Windows tablet segment is pretty hot right now which is no wonder considering that these usable tablets are also fully-capable PCs. Microsoft have price reductions on three of the 8-inch low-cost Windows 9 tablets today and Amazon have an offer on the Lenovo Miix 2 8. Here’s an overview for you.

Dell Venue 8 Pro Tablet – 32GB $229.00 (was $299.00) save $70.00

You’ll find the Dell Venue 8 Pro 32GB for just $229. That’s probably the easiest Windows 8 tablet to recommend right now because of the price and the all-round quality of the device. There’s no HDMI which makes the free Office suite a little more difficult to take advantage of.

Lenovo Miix 2 8 Touchscreen Tablet – 32GB $249.00 (was $299.00) save $50.00

How about the Lenovo Miix 2 8. It’s $20 more than the Dell Venue 8 Pro right now but comes with GPS on board which might be attractive to those looking for a location-focused device. The Lenovo Miix 2 8 is the lightest Windows 8 PC in the world right now and also has the ability to do concurrent data and charging over the MicroUSB port. Our full review just went up this week. Click here.

Update: While writing this post the price dropped further. Lowest price is $213 at time of writing but latest lowest price at Amazon always available here.

Toshiba Encore WT8-A32M Touchscreen Tablet $299.00 (was $329.00) save $30.00

The Toshiba Encore WT8 is the big boy of the group. Large battery life, HDMI port and probably the best mics of all the Windows 8 tablets. With that HDMI port you’ll be able to take advantage of the free Office Home and Student license and, honestly, you’ll be surprised how fast it is at doing that. Our full review here.

Acer Iconia W4 Windows Tablet 32 GB $249.99 (was $299)

The Acer Iconia W4 is, again, a larger tablet with a a bigger battery, GPS, good screen and that all-important HDMI port for those wanting a mini desktop. We’ve just had the W4 with us for a three day trip and are pleased to report that it was on active standby (InstantGo) for the whole time and used just 60% of the battery. Acer have a range of keyboard and cover accessories and a 3G option making this the all-round mobile PC winner.

You can find all the Microsoft offers on their store page here.

A side-by-side comparison of these four tablets is available here.

All 8-inch Windows tablets are listed here.

The 8-inch Windows Tablets all look similar but underneath the specifications there’s always one or two unique features. The Lenovo Miix 2 8 offers us the lightest 8-inch Windows 8 tablet build, GPS, a good price and some good looks but are there any issues lurking under the cover? We take a deep-dive in our Lenovo Miix 2 8 review.

The Dell Venue 8 Pro, in many respects the best 8-inch Windows 8 tablet out there, has just dropped below $200 at Amazon. I’ve tested them all and trust me, the Dell is the one you should go for if you want the best screen with the best-ergonomics. It’s $198 at Amazon right now.

Update: It’s up to $250 again now. Keep an eye out for more offers. (and note that the Asus VivoTab Note 8 is now up for preorder at Amazon.com)

Dell Venue 8 Pro 32GB – $197.99 at Amazon.com. (Affiliate link.)

The Dell Venue 8 Pro was the winner in a sunlight readability test recently and you’ll find our review here.

It’s currently $197.99 at Amazon. The 32GB storage might shock some of you but recovery partition removal, saving to microSD or OneDrive is easy and clearing temporary files isn’t a problem. I’ve got a few 32GB 8-inch tablets and although they need a little care and attention sometimes, they work well. If you have questions before you buy I’ll be monitoring the comments closely here this weekend.

Dell Venue 8 Pro 32GB – $197.99 at Amazon.com. (Affiliate link.)

For those with the Dell Venue 8 Pro (and there seems to be a huge number of you out there) you’ll want to take note of two news items came to my attention in the last few days. Firstly, the new digitizer pen has been shown and tested. Secondly, you can use the Dell VP8 microUSB port to charge and connect devices at the same time.

For information on the pen we go to TabletPC.it who already have one and are about to test it. Comments on the German tabtech.de blog indicate it’s turned up in Germany too and the users report a good improvement over the original digitizer experience.  I believe that those with the original digitizer pen will get a swap-out (via registration on the support page?) For those people that didn’t get a pen at all (like me) I don’t know what will happen.

On the subject of powering the unit while using the USB port I have good news. A huge, huge thread of nearly 500 posts confirms that it works. No modding is required although quite a selection of cables is needed to get it working. It’s probably something you’ll only use in a static scenario.

The thread is over at TabletPCReview and it’s probably best to dive in at the most recent post.

The Dell Venue 8 Pro is already the most comfortable 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablet so for those looking for a good pen experience it might rise to the top of their list, as long as they’re happy with a non-stowable pen. If that’s an issue then there’s still only one option….

One more comment on the community activity around the Dell Venue 8 Pro – there are 672 customer reviews up at Amazon.com. It’s the 27th best-selling tablet and the best selling Windows tablet. Congratulations Dell.

Thanks @Chritian_Wobig

What a great way to get people into the Microsoft Store, what a great way to get journalists writing about the small-screen Windows tablets and, for some, a great way to pick up a Dell Venue 8 Pro for $99

All 78 of the Microsoft Stores will have 20 Dell Venue 8 Pro Windows 8.1 tablets available at $99 followed by a minimum of 10 more at $199. 100 will be available online starting from 7am PT.

Read the full story

Our Dell Venue 8 Pro has already been unboxed and reviewed but today we’ve got more detail for you. This 15 minutes video deep-dive into this ultra-mobile PC includes  browsing performance,  split keyboard usage, YouTube playback, Store app install, Desktop usage, Microsoft Word demo, Bluetooth Keyboard Demo and Steam Gaming Demo with Civ V. We’ve got another video on the Miracast / WiDi feature coming up too so stay tuned!