Tablet Laptops

[Falisa]

http://bluegartr.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54957

Well instead of bumping an old thread about this subject, I decided to make a new one instead. I am looking into buying a tablet laptop, for college and to get back into drawing. I do know that tablet laptops like this aren't great for alot detail but its better than drawing with a mouse.

Several friends of mine have warned me against getting a tablet laptop because they break easily (the arm that swivels the monitor mostly?) but I just can't be convinced otherwise. Drawing on my monitor just seems so awesome in my mind. :< I just wanted to ask if anyone had any opinions on my situation/what I would use this laptop for mostly. I would mostly like to make this laptop my main computer, ie play FFXI on it, play other games, do schoolwork and draw etc. Just everything i would use a comp for, I would like 1 laptop for it. Are tablet laptops good to be used in this way?

And I already said I know they're prone to breaking, but is it really as bad as I hear? I'm really not rough with laptops. The one laptop that caught my eye was HP tx2500z because I've seen good reviews on it and got good scores but I'm really open to suggestions for the new tablet laptops out there. I want to buy a brand new one and I can dish out about 2k for one, just want to make sure I get a good one that will last me awhile.

Sorry for asking so many questions I'm just really clueless about alot of this stuff. I do plan on researching alot more, just wanted to see what BG had to say about it.

[Darus Grey]

You don't want a tablet PC, you will be disappointed if you plan to do drawing on one.

http://www.wacom.com/index2.cfm

That is what you really want.

[Akiyama]

I've heard they are extremely fragile if you rotate the screen too much and such. Just from what I've seen/heard from a few friends, so eh.

[Shuemue]

Wrong forum etc

[Nystul]

drawing on the tablet is really not a lot better/accurate than using a mouse <_<

You're far better off putting the extra money that upgrading to a tablet pc would cost into purchasing a tablet plugin thing like Darus linked to.

[The Stig]

I borrowed one for a short time. Let me say this, it's a gimmick.

You'll spend hours "training" how to use it.

Get laptop =p

[Isiolia]

I'd suggest buying a good Wacom tablet instead and using it on a good laptop. That way the extra money you invest in that can stay with you between machines, along with your experience/acclimation to the device. You can get a good Intuos starting at about $300.
The basic 12" Cintiq is $999 as well...it's not the most awesome thing out there, but it's easily on par/better than most tablet pcs. A laptop is not the only way you'll be able to draw on the screen.

Tablet PCs can be nice, but I've yet to see one that has a really great -looking- screen. Most aren't so much designed for art as they are for handwriting input and stuff like that. IE, a medical professional using them for electronic forms.

While you do say that you'd like one laptop for doing all that stuff, is there a particular reason that you'd need it to be like that? IMO, it's better to specialize a little more. If you want a laptop to bring to classes, get one that's good for that (small, light, power efficient, etc) rather than an 8 pound battery muncher. If you want a gaming machine, get a good desktop. It'll cost probably half as much for twice the performance.
If you've got a $2k budget, that's easily enough to buy two nice machines, and in the process give yourself some redundancy.

Seriously, if you're wanting to do digital art, why would you want to work on a laptop full time anyway? Small, usually poor image quality screen (optimized for power), small, slow HDD, temperature issues/throttling, etc.
Gaming and media work are very demanding applications, laptops generally aren't great at going at 100% for hours at a time.

[Elcura]

drawing on the tablet is really not a lot better/accurate than using a mouse <_<

What what what what what what what?

Have you even used a tablet before? This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read.

[Nystul]

What what what what what what what?

Have you even used a tablet before? This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read.

Just to be clear, I'm talking about drawing on a Tablet PC monitor, not drawing on a USB tablet art pad thing. The monitor sensitivity isn't that great. I was overstating it, sure, but if you think you're going to do high quality drawing then you need the tablet addon pad thing, not a tablet PC monitor.

[Stee]

I have a HP tx1410us, I didn't get the 2000z because it was a bit too expensive for me at the time and I didn't plan on using the tablet for anything extreme like drawing.

The 1000z has a passive digitizer which basically depends on the pressure of the pen to sense it on the tablet, while the 2000z has the active digitizer which is a lot better as a tablet since it is much more sensitive.

Most people who say the tablet sucks I'm betting has only used a passive digitizer tablet, I think the 2000z should fit your needs though I would do a little more research on it.

The swivel thing it only goes in one direction, so as long as you watch where your twisting it you shouldn't have a problem.

[Elcura]

Just to be clear, I'm talking about drawing on a Tablet PC monitor, not drawing on a USB tablet art pad thing. The monitor sensitivity isn't that great. I was overstating it, sure, but if you think you're going to do high quality drawing then you need the tablet addon pad thing, not a tablet PC monitor.

Lol, good enough. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[The Stig]

The swivel thing it only goes in one direction, so as long as you watch where your twisting it you shouldn't have a problem.

Of course, but hand it to an unsuspecting friend to look ...

"OOOO, so it folds up and then ..." *crack*

[Raineer]

Expensive but the best you'll find for actual drawing and art is from http://axiotron.com/

[Isiolia]

For their starting price you could buy a Macbook and a 12" Cintiq...

[Falisa]

Thanks for all the advice, although it seems alot of the responses are things I already stated that I knew in the OP. I'm not looking for high quality detail in drawing (i'm not that great at it, i just want to get back into it), just something to have fun with.

I already own a good desktop that can be used for more hardcore games. This laptop would be more for college, and if I didn't have a tablet laptop, I don't think I'd bring anything period or atleast take it out during class. I also go out of town a lot and I'd like to be able to play FFXI while I'm away from my desktop. I guess I've fallen for the gimmicky side of it, because like I said before, drawing on my laptop screen just seems really cool.

But I've heard a lot of negative responses about them even outside of this post, so I'm starting to lean towards just buying a really good regular laptop. I'll make my decision after I find one to play with in a computer store/hear more about people who actually own one of these for awhile.

[Nystul]

I talked to my friend the other day about his. He felt that it was a cute gimmick, but after a while it just became another thing that could break/go wrong/get quirky. I have another friend that loves hers though.

[Isiolia]

I've seen some people who really get into the whole thing. One advantage of a tablet for note taking and things is that you can more easily input complex diagrams n' such that would be basically pointless to have a regular laptop for.

But, really, I have around 60 student athletes with tablets among those that I support at work. Very few of them actually use that aspect of the machine.

If you think you'd actually take the time to learn EndNote or something and utilize it, then that might be something to consider. IMO, if you're trying to get back into drawing, it's not necessary to use a tablet to do it. A sketchbook and some pencils are a lot less expensive. If you mean digital art specifically then that's different, but if not, meh, lots of ways you can do art that don't require an extra $500-1000 investment.

[Sumy]

I purchased a Gateway C-140XL back in October, right before they stopped allowing you to fully customize them (I ended up getting it fully loaded one anyway.). I chose it cuse it was the only Wacom enabled Tablet PC WITH a Graphics Accelerator, and in 16x9 aspect ratio. I work with 3D Studio, maya, Truespace, Photoshop, Torque, 3D Game Studio, and eventually would like to try using Beyond Virtual / GameCore - so far it handles all of these really well. I have yet to install FFXI, but considerig this tablet is faster then my desktop I currently play FFXI on (in higher resolutions too) I'd imagine it'd run just fine.

I was hesitant in getting a Gateway, lots of horror stories, used to be packard bell, horrible customer service, ect. ect.... but I chose it anyway simply cause it was everything I wanted in one package; speed (at the time) , convertable, wacom pressure sensitive (although only 512 levels instead of the full 1024), bluetooth, semi-expandable. I had a laptop and a desktop at the time so it was not going to be my main computer, however due to it's versatility it became my preferred computer, and I dont regret my purchase at all.

some things I was amazed with:
- the speed is great, even working with vista
- the device does NOT need training to recognize your handwriting (unless you have REALLY bad handwriting -- and even then it trains itself after about 4 days of use.)
- the battery life, my sony viao laptop lasted about 2-3hrs on a FULL charge, the gateway lasted an entire 6hr flight from Oregon to NewYork running Photoshop AND 3DSMax (wireless and bluetooth were turned off, of course), and even with Wireless and Blueetooth headphones I can watch 2 2hr movies before I get my 20% battery warning.
- I have a wacom tablet for my desktop, I dont notice much of a differnce from the 1024 levels it offers and 512 levels or pressure sensitivity on the tabletpc, however I -LOVE- seeing where I'm drawing!
- total price, $1100 including shipping and 1 year warranty.

negatives:
- the divice has some issues with the fingerprint reader when coming out of hibernate mode. It doesn't want to activate. I never use this feature so I dont have an issue with it, but I suppose if that is a feature you would use it might lead to frustration.
- I have yet to figure out how to set the outter macro buttons, and from what I see their is only ONE. This is not good for most software that requires the use of the CTRL, ALT and Shift buttons.
- the hinge starts to 'creek' and needs to be oiled (I use WD-40, lol) every 3 months or so.

so there ya go - honest insight from an artist owner.

[Beckwin]

wow, 1100 sounds really reasonable for that. I've been considering a wacom monitor for my pc (my 4x5 tablet is getting cramped and it really would be nice to see better what you're drawing), but 1100 for a laptop with that functionality on the screen.... sounds nice.

[Senoska]

Don't you scratch the shit out of your screen?