If you've been holding off on buying a Windows tablet until prices have dropped below the $100 mark, your wait is over. The 32GB Dell Venue 8 Pro 3000 Series is an 8-inch model that costs just $99, offers close to 7 hours of battery life and sports a vibrant In-Plane Switching (IPS) display. It's not the speediest performer out there, and its audio is somewhat tinny, but if money is tight, this is one bargain that's hard to beat. As such, it's our first Editors' Choice budget Windows slate tablet.

Design and Features

The Venue 8 Pro measures 8.51 by 5.11 by 0.35 inches (HWD) and weighs 14.08 ounces, which is just a tad heavier than the E-Fun Nextbook 8 and the LG G Pad X 8.3, both of which weigh 12.96 ounces, and the previous iteration of the Dell Venue 8 Pro (13.44 ounces) we reviewed back in 2013. Our review unit has a black, textured case, but you can also order it in white. The 8-inch screen maxes out at 1,280 by 800, which is relatively low compared with the 1,920-by-1,200-resolution display on the Android-equipped Dell Venue 8 (2014) we reviewed in 2014, but this newer model uses an IPS panel to deliver very good color quality and inky blacks. Unlike the 2014 Android model, its screen doesn't suffer from narrow viewing angles; color fidelity and luminance remain true from every angle.