Hey, everyone... I'm sorry to ask, but this is just overwhelming me. Can anyone give me any opinions on which tablet PC's might be best for digital artists? I'm finally in a position where maybe I can afford -either- a cintiq for the home office/studio or a new laptop for school, and I'm thinking a good tablet PC would be the best compromise. Obvious features seem most important to me... Levels of pressure sensitivity, tilt sensitivity, resolution... but it seems like all the spec sheets are aimed at accountants and traveling salesmen, and say nothing about art tool capabilities. Now... If there was one you could actually plug in as a second monitor and use as an input device on your desktop box as well... -That- would be something. ;-) Thanks for any input at all...

Now... If there was one you could actually plug in as a second monitor and use as an input device on your desktop box as well... -That- would be something. ;-) wacom do 1 but its

Wacom its definetly the best option, but as the zollster said it cost allot. So for the begining maybe you should buy something less expencive (Genious, Trust) and learn the techniques on it ;) Tihomir

Thanks, both of you... I completely agree that Wacom is the way to go in an on-screen pen tablet. The problem here is portability. I need a lap-top. So I'm looking for a TabletPC (not just the screen, the whole computer) that has features that work well for artists... Any ideas? ~H

One thing about tablet PC's that you won't get with the Cintiq is the pressure sensitivity. Or at least I think it doesn't exist on any tablet pc's that I know of. I was playing with the idea of getting a tablet PC as well for the exact same purpose. The ones I'd like are pricy. I'm still not a fan of the limited battery life of any laptop though. Apple has also made some noise that they may be coming out with a tablet. That should be interesting to see what they come out with. The thing that annoys me most is that tablet pcs seem to have some dorky specs compared to other laptops of cheaper price. I wonder if the Microsoft tax is pretty high for these machines. They probably don't exist much anymore but you might want to stear clear of Carusoe (transmeta) chiped devices as there is a bit of speed penalty which can affect the responciveness of the machine. Or at least with my toying with them in the shops it seemed to be the case.

Just in case anyone is interested, after some more research and shopping around, I ended up buying a Toshiba Satellite R15-S822. It has 256 level pressure sensitivity, and a 14.1 inch display that was a little larger than the 10.1 and 12.1's that most manufacturers were offering. Personally, I'd far rather have the extra screen real-estate than save a pound or two... I'm a big girl, I can handle it. It runs the Wacom "Penabled" standard, so it works a lot like a Cintiq. (there is a listing of Penabled compliant manufacturers on the Wacom website at http://www.wacom.com/tabletpc/oem.cfm) As it turns out, most all 'modern' tablet PC's are pressure sensitive, but only to 256 levels (as opposed to 512 or 1024 for a Cintiq) and the resolution is XGA (1024) as opposed to higher resolutions w/ Cintiq (full comparison: http://www.wacom.com/tabletpc/comparison.cfm) The selling point for me was that Toshiba has a trial version of Alais' Sketchbook Pro installed & running. (It came w/ a trial of version 1, but here's a link to version two: http://www.alias.com/glb/eng/products-services/product_details.jsp?productId=1900006) It's always mystified me that no art software was installed on these the display models in the store, and I (incorrectly) thought that was an indication they were unsuitable for art, so I didn't buy one. Let me tell you... I've never actually used a Cintiq, so this is -nirvana- for me. After about two minutes sketching on it in the store, it was in my -shoes- (ask your girlfriend what that means... she'll need context) and I was well beyond "maybe this is a good idea" and all the way to "I must have it! Bring me one NOW!!" (Yes, literally two minutes... As long as you're minimally conversant with Alias' menu style, where you click and hold on the icon to expand to other possibilities then drag to the one you want, same as in Maya, sketchbook pro is just that easy to get started on) This thing is on sale right now, several places, for about $1450-1499 US. When compared to every other decent one I found running $1899 minimum, and many as much as $4000, this will fit the student budget just fine. Anyway... Thanks for your comments. Sorry to gush about this thing, but I am just -amazed-. I'd have to say it's an excellent set ot training wheels on my way to a Cintiq, and with the added fact that it's a fully functional computer as well... I really can't see myself being without this, or something like it at any point in the future. ~H

Show as how happy you are by posting the new image made with it ;) Tihomir

smiles Unfortunately, this is also the first week of fall semester at school, including my ST (student technologist... basically, paid IT internship) interviews. But you can bet I'll be spending every spare moment with it as soon as I have spare moments to spend, and posting shortly thereafter. :-)

I too fell in love with the Toshiba R15-S822 and found not only was the Alias Sketchbook awsome but hats off to Microsoft, the Onenote office application that came with the office software (there's a certificate inside the Microsoft docs), works the way I like to work. Handwritten notes, sketches (with pressure sensitive lines), type written notes, (and it can convert handwritten notes, even my chicken scratch into type written notes with close to 99% accuracy!!)Find an item on the internet and copy and paste into into onenote and it automatically includes the URL so you know where it came from. As you can tell I like it. The Problem I am having is with Photoshop. I can not seem to convince it that this is a pressure sensitive device. The only help that I have been able to find from Adobe is the toll-free number and the have your credit card ready to pay for a reply. Not really what I want to do just yet. I figure if Alias, Microsoft and Lightwave can figure out that I am on a pressure sensitive (Wacom standard interface) device then why is Photoshop having problems? Have you tried to use photoshop yet? Maybe I am just doing something stupid. Thanks

Well, first, the fix. SBP is so cool it recognizes the pressure sensitivity right off... But everything else needs help. You need to go to the Wacom site and download the "enhanced" wacom "penabled" drivers... ( http://www.wacom.com/tabletpc/driver.cfm ) There used to be an additional file for our particular Toshiba, but I think this newest driver corrects it. If you install this patch, reboot, and it still doesn't work, PM me and I'll shoot you the other patch from before. Two other things... First, Aint it tha BOMB!?! Gawd, I'm -loving- it! Whether "it" is the tabletPC itself, Sketchbook Pro, or the handwriting recognition. I had one professor in school ask disdainfully "Oh, I suppose it does handwriting recognition...? Or fails to." I was sketching at the time in SBP, so I just clicked into "save as" and scribbled a name, which it converted beautifully... (not only does it start off good, it seems to 'learn' your handwriting as it goes, doesn't it?) I just grinned and said "I think it does ok." Second... I'm thinking of forming a web community specifically for promotion, discussion, info-sharing, etc for TabletPC art/artists. It wouldn't look to replace 'rosity or anything, just give people who have or are interested in that specific type of hardware (& to some degree, software) a place to get reviews, share ideas, ask for help, etc. Maybe some rating & review pages, tutorials, forums, and (if we could get manufacturers behind it) maybe some member discounts. Just as a channel marker, would that be anything you might be interested in? ~Honor