ASUS VivoTab Note 8 Unboxing

As expected, my VivoTab Note 8 (64GB) arrived today. Starting to set things up and I will have more to share in the coming days. Today we’ll stick to what’s in the box.

I was a little disappointed that ASUS included a 3’ USB to Micro-USB cable to go along with the 2A Power Block. I know keeping costs down is everything with these smaller devices, but with a 3’ cable you can’t be plugged into most any outlet and use the tablet. Especially;y as the UPS power port is at the top of the unit. Fortunately, I picked up a half dozen 6’ USB to Micro-USB cables on eBay for $3 each a few months back. The 3’ foot cable has already been deleted to my “spares” box. Oh well. The Note 8 comes with all the typical safety and Quick Start literature. I was surprised to see an Office Home & Student License included in the box. I knew Office was pre-loaded on the tablet, but I didn’t get a key with my Surface or Acer W8 tablet.

ASUS does recommend  an 8 hour charge on first use. Before turning it on for the first time, I had it on charge for about 10 minutes (I was anxious damn it). Interesting that when I was able to get to the Desktop, the device was fully charged. That tells me the battery can hold a charge well. Good thing. 

Not easy to take photos of a dark screen. The camera, camera indicator and ambient light sensor are all at the top center of the tablet.

The back of course has a camera along with the prerequisite labels. Hard to make out, both the lower left corner (looking from the back) of the Note 8 contains the stylus bay. Designed for righties.

The left side of the tablet includes the unusually placed Windows button and micro-SD card slot.

The right side of the Note 8 has the Power button w/indicator, and the volume buttons.

At the top you will find the combo mic/headphone jack and a micro-USB port. The port is used for charging and 

And finally, the ASUS VivoTab Note 8 with included stylus. Notice that when I placed the stylus on the screen the left/right scroll bar appears at the bottom of the screen. There is also a little dot, representing the stylus tip, on the screen if you can see that well.

Once I get all my mail & apps loaded and updated I can start to play with this new toy. That’s going to take a couple hours. After one or two battery cycles I will be back with my first impressions. Stay tuned.