New Dell Active Pen and Dell Active Stylus: New Venue 8 Pro and Venue 10 Pro get Wacom ES
Dell unveiled revamped Venue 8 and 10 tablets at CES 2016 in January. They included the New Venue 8 Pro 5000, now with a Wacom ES digitizer and the New Dell Venue 10 Pro (5055) and Venue 10 (5050).
“New” is part of the name of the New Venue 10 Pro, but not part of the name of the revamped Venue 10, though they refer to it as a ‘new’ Venue 10 with a lower-case “n” in the product info. Sigh. So, in with the New.
These new models are currently sold only through Dell.
New Venue 8 Pro 5000 (see at Dell.com):
Dell New Venue 8 Pro
The New Venue 8 Pro comes in 32 and 64GB storage and 2GB and 4GB RAM, runs Windows, and has an Atom processor and 8″ screen.
Dell Active Pen
The New Venue 8 Pro 5000 (5855) now uses a Wacom ES pen, the Dell Active Pen. See it on Dell.com. The pen is sold separately. You cannot use the Dell Active Stylus from the old Venue Pro line on the New Venue Pro line. The old ones used Synaptics tech and Dell has now switched over to Wacom and is using the term “pen” rather than “stylus.”
Manufacturer Part# : N1DNK
Dell Part# : 750-AAMI
PN556W
The Dell Active Pen is also compatible with some other Dell 2-in-1 laptops and tablets. It uses Bluetooth and takes an AAAA battery and 319-type coin-cell batteries. It has an LED light that indicates pairing. Its tip is 3 mm, which is still pretty fine-tipped.
Here is the list of compatible Dell devices:
Inspiron 7568, Latitude 11 5715, Latitude 11 5179, Latitude 7275, Venue 10 Pro 5056, Venue 8 Pro 5855, and XPS 12 9250.
The new system is an improvement over the old Venue Pro line. The new one has 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity and good palm rejection.
New Dell Active Stylus for New Venue 10 Pro
There’s also a new Dell Active Stylus, the 750-AAIZ, (click to see it on Amazon) for the also-revamped Venue 10 (5050) and Venue 10 Pro (5055). “New” is not part of the name of the stylus. Same name, different stylus than the old one. Double sigh.
Wish they could at least call it “Dell Active Stylus 2” or something–they already caused heaps of confusion with the three versions of Dell Active Stylus for the old Venue Pro. Maybe “Son of Dell Active Stylus”? If you’re confused now, try finding info on their site–it’s a haystack! So I’ve compiled the relevant info in this post.
The new “universal” Wacom Bamboo Smart Stylus, a Wacom ES pen, will work on the Venue 10 5000 Series (5050) and the Venue 10 Pro 5000 Series (5055). That one comes with two swappable tips, one firm and one soft. Since the tablets don’t come to a pen, you could get this one instead, then you would have the two tips.
Even though the new Dell pens are both Wacom ES, they are not interchangeable.
Here’s the Bamboo Smart Stylus on the Wacom site.
New Dell Venue 10 Pro (5055)
The New Dell Venue 10 Pros also have 2GB and 4GB models with a 10.1″ screen.
These tablets, which run on Atom processors, are for sale only at Dell. See them
See our review of the old Venue 8 Pro
Comparable: Asus VivoTab Note 8
Toshiba Encore 2 Write
Samsung Galaxy Tab A with S Pen
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i cant found PN556W for my latitude 7275. any replace?
Hi, it’s impossible to say for sure without trying it, since it depends on drivers, but these pens SHOULD work: Huawei Matepen 02452047, Lenovo Thinkpad Active Capacitive PEN 4X80H34887, Wacom Bamboo Smart. These are all Wacom ES like the Latitude. I have specifically heard that the Huawei one works well on the Latitude.
Dell Active Pen – PN556W works with Dell Venue 8 Pro 5830. Learnt this from Dell Support desk.
I am now confused whether to buy Active Pen or Active Stylus for my Venue 8 Pro 5830.
Please suggest. I will use it mostly for notes taking and basic diagrams. I had been waiting since 3 years to get a good stylus. I definitely don’t want Synaptics.
For the 5830, you want the Dell Active Stylus, the 750-AAGN. The “New Venue 8 Pro” is the 5855 and that one uses the Wacom ES Dell Active Pen. But the good news is, they issued 3 versions of the Synaptics one, and the last one, the A03, is not bad.
Does the Dell Active Pen have a replaceable tip?
Hi, no, it does not, the whole pen has to be replaced.
Hi,
whether the Dell Active Pen is working on Dell Venue 10 pro (5055)? And it really have 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity?
No, for the Dell Venue 10 Pro (5055) you need the Dell Active Stylus (750-AAIZ). It’s Wacom ES and yes, 2048 levels.