Tablet PC ...which one to get

[niva]

Tablet pcs are missing some features a wacom tablet/cintique would have like pressure sensitivity and tilt/angle tracking... at least they were last time I saw one. This immediately makes them extremely lame to me as I can't live w/o my pressure sensitivity in particular... though I use the other features too just can make it w/o them.

So if I was to get one I'd get a regular laptop and haul it around with a separate tablet... until wacom actually puts out a real dedicated drawing tablet pc with a proper wacom pen.
I'm sure it will be expensive, just look at the price tag on the cintique lol.

[jeffclark]

In my opinion of using one every once in a while, but mostly my friend's experience, it's still too early to have one for serious work.

He says that Windows in particular just isn't ready for the touchscreen situation. Lots of things that should be easy just don't work.

[ThE_JacO]

I've been wanting one for a while, and my current laptop is pretty old by now, so I've looked left and right for every possible tabletPC or surrogate solution.

The simple answer is "it's not time yet".

Manufacturers still haven't decided who the market is or how to approach it, which results in very half arsed efforts, and the definite lack of a top end. A performing and reliable tabletPC is nowhere to be found, even if you're ok giving up weight, battery life and opening your wallet wide for it.

There are a few early adopters who swear theirs is God's gift to humanity, and easily as important a milestone in civilization as the first constitutional rights or penicillin, but frankly I don't know WTF they are rambling on about.

It's ok as a toy of for some limited use, but you will inevitably have to accept the frustration of them not really hitting the mark in terms of performance, control or fruibility if you compare them to normal laptops, normal tablets and in general what you would expect from current technology and what they could potentially be like if any manufacturer gave a damn about them.

[BigJay]

you missed a good window a few years ago. toshiba tablets had a good nvidia graphics chip and a wacom based screen that worked great. Now they are all aiming for the business crowd and have gone back to intel graphic chips and touch screens with no pressure sensativity.

if you want one for serious work you need to watch for one that has a good nvidia graphic card. Also avoid the touch screen versions(the ones you can use your finger on) if you can find the info only get the ones with the wacom screens.

Mine a Toshiba protege M205 is pretty good and use it all the time for photoshop and zbrush work. its decent for most tasks but can't beat a good desktop. I would not use it for rendering.
Think of it as a really good modeling tool and great 2D graphic tool that can't be beat.

[spoonsfee]

I personally have a HP tc4400 which has pressure sensitivity, 2gb ram and 60gb HD and dualCore2.0ghz of which i bought from ebay ($1400) bout a yr ago.

I was estatic about getting one and till this day I'm still content. I have utilized zbrush, photoshop, illustrator, 3ds max, maya, and sketchbook pro (version 2 is better).

However, in my opinion, the tablet is only good for sketches with sketchBookPro (better than photoshop, since photoshop hogs memory) and maybe some modeling with zbrush. All the other programs of course can be used, only to a certain extent until the tablet starts to slow you down. In the end you will probably become frustrated with the screen space (mines 12 inch), because, like me, you may want higher quality details and can't work "big." Therefore, "can" lead you to getting a 20'' cintque, which I got recently images/icons/icon11.gif.


(Oh btw purchasing a tablet/pc will a better investment than a 12inch-something cintque)

[crumbly]

I have a 14 inch Gateway similar to (but not as powerful as) the ultimate model on this page:

http://www.gateway.com/systems/series/529597319.php

I love it. Granted, it only has 256 levels of pressure and no tilt sensitivity, it still runs Photoshop and Sketchbook beautifully (after a few adjustments to the default Wacom driver). It actually handles Zbrush pretty well, too.

You might want to heck out the tabletPC forums here, too (if you haven't already):

http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/

You'll find lot of users with requirements similar to your own who've ventured into the tablet wilderness.

[erilaz]

This one looked surprisingly decent: http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook

[d0c]

Thank you guys for getting back to me. I do agree with alot of what has been said so far, and feel that maybe it just isnt the right time to purchase one. I have looked into the modbook and also the 12inch Cintiq.

I am on the fence about the modbook considering I haven't heard anyone speak on it yet.

while alot of people love the Cintiq 12inch, I was hoping to get something that was portable and not require me to be at my desk all the time.

But maybe the best thing to do is wait, the modbook is way up there in price. :)

[gamedeveloper]

There's been quite a bit of discussion about this in the TECHNICAL/HARDWARE forum. Also hit tabletpcbuzz.com for a wide range of pro/con opinions.

If all you want is a SECOND system for concept sketching, lowpoly 3D, and light gaming, a cheap tablet pc could fit the bill. Purchase the lightest (under 3.5lbs) slate or hybrid model you can find on eBay (you had the right idea). Lots of these come off-lease and can be had for about $500. See if you can get it "insured" through Squaretrade if the warranty is expired.

Try to go with a dedicated GPU unit (don't expect a cheap system to have more than a DX7 or 8 part). Max the RAM and add a 7200RPM HD. Also think about an Xkeys or Nulooq to add additional inputs when you inevitably try to run PhotoShop/Illustrator while away from a keyboard...

Expect 256-512 levels of pressure. Eraser pen. No tilt sensitivity.

Here is what I'm currently using:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Compaq_TC1100
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/11755_na/11755_na.HTML
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-965162-0403-NuLOOQ-Navigator/dp/B000ER23M2

also take a look at http://artrage.com/
and http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/default.aspx

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Btw, I'm probably what you'd call an 'early adopter' type. If something can improve my productivity I'll demo it rather than wait for it to become mainstream. Still my TPC wasn't an impulse buy. I researched and watched TPCs for over a year before deciding I could effectively use one.

There are a ton of deskbound executive types out there who thought a TPC would make their life easier. For most the answer was a resounding NO. Typing at a keyboard is generally faster than handwriting. And digitally inking crappy ideas doesn't make them any more valuable. ;-) That's why you have a ton of good hardware selling cheap on eBay and stuff not getting lease-renewed.

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The thing constraining the usefulness of TPC tech is the lack of polished TPC-specific software for art/ideation. The most polished I'm aware of are Artrage, Sketchbook Pro and OneNote. MOI (http://moi3d.com/ ) also looks promising, but I don't have much experience with it. Digicel could be TPC friendly - at least the interface seems to be simple enough...

[BigJay]

OH. I forgot.

The biggest hurdle that has really stopped me from using a tablet mainstream. not sure if this has been really mentioned is that no software really can work without a keybord. all of them require short cuts. Zbrush can be used without one for most options and with alittle tweaking the 4 buttons on the screen can be configured for the most important commands.

Lightwave/modo/maya are hard to use since they need lots of input.

Lets break it down in terms of optimization for tablet use or at least can function with just a mouse.

Perfect:
One Note
Sketchbook
Photoshop
Illustrator
Flash
3DSMax (last version i used just had right click menus so easy to use in it)
MOI is designed for tablet use from what i remember.

Works with light configuring
Lightwave (new tab with tools needed swap left to right depending on handedness)
Zbrush (shortcuts added to screen)
Modo (add new forms for extra tools)

Works with heavy configuring
Maya (have not figured out how to deal with 3 button mouse issue)
Silo (make own interface. easy but time consuming. works great once configured)
Wings 3D(all shortcuts so have to configure the joy stick if one as well as screen buttons if any, this is the worst to use with a tablet)

[DaddyMack]

I use an acer c312xmi... has become an extension of me, I use it open in clam mode and take advantage of kb... It is perfect for sculpting on the train and handles max well enough when I need it to

[ultramedia]

I've had a little HP TC1100 for years, and I love it to bits, its a really great little laptop. Having said that, I wish there was a way I could put a shader 3 card in it so I could play oblivion on it.


As much as I hate to say it, if I could get a new laptop, I'd probably get a non tablet with a much bigger (than 12 inches) screen, great video card and buy a small usb graphics tablet to sit next to it. (Sorry TC)


Another thing you can do is check out some of the new fujitsu lifebook tablet pcs, they look pretty beefy, and cost less than I expected (~2600AU). Screensize is still on the smaller side though...

[gamedeveloper]

OH. I forgot.

The biggest hurdle that has really stopped me from using a tablet mainstream. not sure if this has been really mentioned is that no software really can work without a keybord. all of them require short cuts.

Agreed. It's rare to find non-tpc software that doesn't need keyboard input. And hotkeys are usually faster than clicking through menus. However, you could always purchase an Xkeys or Nulooq to use with your TPC. These provide enough control inputs for you to configure "hotkeys" for your most common tasks. If you're a CS3 and TPC user you should definitely take a new look at the Nulooq. :) It works well with PhotoShop CS3 and the Flash CS3 designer/artist workflow.

[BigJay]

Isn't there pens from other wacom devices that work on the tablet pcs? Thought someone mentioned the cintiq pens work on them?

[BARoNTiERi]

Hi,
I recently bought the Motion Computing LE1700, it's a slate because I didn't want to have a keyboard and it's an excellent product, it runs Sketchbook Pro and Artrage perfectly, smooth and easy, the display is the best one you can find among other TPCs, the levels of pressure are only 256 but honestly it doesn't matter as you don't really notice it. I love it, it gets warm after a long period of time but except for that it's a pleasure to use it, Vista is really adapted even though I was sceptic before.
I haven't tried PS yet but I wanted to buy this for a sketchpad use and trying to get away from my habbits in PS. Honestly, after only a week I can say that it's the best working environment I had so far, way better than all our current configurations (PC, tablet, cintiq...etc.), I can take it anywhere and paint, I just hope the market will grow faster to offer us more choice.

BTW i was on the listing for the Modbook but I finally chose the Motion because:
- it is an Axiotron modification of a current Macbook, their 1st one also so I don't trust that.
- it's about 700$ more than my Motion for the same features (pros and cons).
- you could be waiting for months before receiving it.
- it's bulkier and heavier than mine. the screen resolution is inferior and I favor this even if it has 512 levels of pressure, resolution on a 12.1" screen is really inportant.
- it is a Mac :) ok I'm kidding but I would wait for Mac to release one.

Good luck!

[spoonsfee]

Isn't there pens from other wacom devices that work on the tablet pcs? Thought someone mentioned the cintiq pens work on them?


the cintiq pen does not work on tablet pcs

(not sure if i should have tried it or not, but i tried it on mine)

[bassaminator]

I think the graphire pen does; in any case, you can buy a 2 button pen from wacom that works on tablets, and I think it's very similar to the graphire pen (I don't own a graphire so I can't be 100% sure)
the intous line pens do *not* work on tablet PCs either.

[My Fault]

the cintiq pen does not work on tablet pcs

(not sure if i should have tried it or not, but i tried it on mine)

The older cintiq pens, for the 15" and 17" do work on tablet pc's, that is what I used on my tc1100. Evidently the cintiq pens for the newer crop of cintiqs do not.

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