Hi all, I have a question regarding the revie

[kneofyte]

Hi all,

I have a question regarding the review written by Spencer Goad on the HP/Compaq TC1000. He said that one of the cons is that it lacks a pressure sensitive screen. What is a pressure sensitive screen and how does it affect the way a tablet pc would behave?
Thanks

[TMetzinger]

with pressure sensitivity, applications (primarily drawing and painting) will modify what they do based on the pressure put on the pen. some examples:

with a drawing package, pressing harder may make the line you draw wider, or the color deeper.

With a painting package, pressing harder may make the paint you're applying more opaque.

With a music package, pressing harder on a piano key may make the note sound louder.

These are just a few examples.

-Tim

[MooseMaster]

In regular day to day useage, pressure sensitivity plays absolutely no role whatsoever.

[pkhuong]

it makes recognition a bit better, i've heard (and makes your writing better looking)... Unfortunately, there currently are a lot of conflicts between the wacom drivers(wacom digitizers is the only type of pressure sensitive digitizer used currently) and XP tablet PC edition. Until they fix this, it's nearly useless.

[yvilla]

pkhuong, I don't think the problems with the Wacom drivers you referred to are general to all Tablet PCs. As far as I know, Toshiba owners seem to be having the most problems after installing them. I've got them installed on my Motion, with no conflicts or difficulties. Thus, I don't think it's a conflict with XP Tablet Edition per se.

Also, the add-on Wacom drivers are only necessary for 3rd party applications that can take advantage of pressure sensitivity, but were written before XP Tablet Ed. came out. The native XP Tablet Ed. programs, such as Journal, use pressure sensitivity without needing to install the Wacom drivers; the same with any programs or applications written specifically with Tablets in mind, such as Corel Graphigo or Alias Sketchbook. Ultimately, with updates to major 3rd party aps like Photoshop for compatibility with XP Tablet Ed., there won't be any need for the stop-gap Wacom driver add-on.

[bloom]

kneofyte,
You know what? A lot of us fretted over this subject and a lot more. Just read through the TC1000 forum, and all the others too, and you'll see that probably 90% of us who bought the TC1000 LOVE it with or without pressure sensitivity.

If you're an artist and plan to use it for a lot of drawing maybe you have to think about pressure sensitivity. Otherwise, don't sweat it. Get your HP/Compaq and start enjoying the fun!

[Appraiser]

The lack of pressure sensitivity definitely isn't an issue for me, and I love the smooth look of the writing on my Compaq TC 1000. If you want thicker lines for writing, in Journal you can choose the width of the line (color of the ink too & can choose to Highlight instead of using opaque ink).

[kneofyte]

Thanks everbody for your responses and valuable information. If crazy sketches and alien like images were the most happenening, then I would sure be an artist :D Seeing all your responses I am all the more tilted to this lovely toy.