So I've had a lot of time to play with the tablet and it's time for a review. This won't be a professional review, but I will just tell my experience using the tablet.
Because this is a long article, I will be splitting it to 5 parts. This is part 1, ease of holding the tablet and look and feel.
The biggest concern I had before buying this tablet was the weight. It weighs as much as a full sized iPad and that is heavy. But I guess I've gotten used to the weight of it overtime and I don't really care anymore. I don't read a lot so maybe it will be too heavy for a readaholic. But it is no iPad Mini. However, maybe due to the landscape orientation of the tablet, holding it is easier than the full sized iPad. I can even hold it fine with one hand.
However, since the back cover of the tablet is not made of metal, it doesn't get hot at all. I've never felt it running hot. It’s not slippery at all and maybe it helps hold the tablet easily as well.
The build quality isn't the best, and you can here the odd creaks here and there I you look for them, but that's not a big deal. I've dropped the tablet twice on cement floor, about a two feet drop each time, and nothing's happened. But quality wise, the iPad is much better I guess.
I have a soft case for the tablet and it feels too big and heavy with it on. I rarely use it. I only use it when I need to watch something while doing something else since the case can be arranged as a stand. The tablet doesn't get scratched anyways. You only need the case if you are taking it outside and traveling by bus or train.
Snapped into the soft case
I’m not sure if Dell completely redid the back case of the tablet from the standard model. There is a weird slot, with a plastic cover plugged in and I don’t know what it is to this date. You cannot pull out the plastic cover. Well, you probably can, if you did it forcibly but I don’t want to break the tablet by doing so.
This is not a SD card slot. There is one, but this is not it. They have just covered this up with a piece of plastic. No idea what should have been there though.
There is also a Kensington lock below to volume buttons just like you get in the laptops.
The screen is an IPS screen with a modest resolution of 1366x768. Nothing special about it. But the smaller PPI is better for the desktop actually. Otherwise the UI elements would be too small to be selectable by the finger. Metro is resolution independent though. More pixels the merrier when it comes to that. This is one place you have to compromise.
I also use an anti-glare screen filter which I bought from eBay. I did a really crappy job of installing it though. Managed to let some air bubbles sneak in. There is no way you can take it off and reapply it. I will have to buy a new one instead. It's a bit expensive so I don't feel like ordering another one. Since I really hate glare, I am putting up with the odd air bubble. The screen is otherwise OK. It lacks the vertical viewing angle (becomes dark) despite being IPS though. What's up with that? Have never used IPS displays before. Maybe that's the way it is.
Next: Usability
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