Looking for USED Tablet PC for Comic Strip Artist

[DavidBeoulve]

Whoa, watch out for Vista.

You know that bug, where when you play a music CD, 90% of your Internet bandwidth is hogged? That's not a bug. That's the way Microsoft verifies that the music you are listening to actually belongs to you - if you have a fast enough connection (cable-ooplex) the percentage used goes down - Vista locks that copy protection can "only" take up 90% of your bandwidth. So no listening to music and surfing for, well, anyone.

But the best approach is to look at the cost / benefit analysis. Fortunately, someone with a PHd in computer science has already done that.

http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut00...ista_cost.html

That said, it might not steer you clear of Vista, but you owe it to yourself to go into that wedding with your eyes open.

[DavidBeoulve]

Oh and, I don't own, but have a friend who owns a TPC with Vista, and so that's where I get my direct experience from. He had enough trouble with it that he tried to see if he could reformat his TPC with my old copy of Windows XP TPC edition, but never followed up on that so I assume that proved too much of a hassle as well. He is not an artist, however, and likes to use his TPC as a computer that he can write on. Different usage.

[TedRx]

Thanks for the added Vista info.

As for me, and the tablet I would be using, the amount of music content played would be ZERO.

As I have gotten older, I don't find myself listening to music much anymore, not even in the car I drive. I mostly stick to Talk Radio. And the ONLY MP3 uses I have, is downloading and listening to my FAVORITE talk Show COAT TO COAST AM. I got hooked on it since I work nightshift at work, and being alone all night it keeps the mind stimulated, to say the least. It, for me, harkens back to old time radio where the mind is stimulated by stories. Mostly on COAST, it is paranormal, aliens, past civilizations, the future of the future, and conspiracy focused with interviewed guest telling thier stories. And as long as they sound as though THEY believe what they are talking about, it is entertaining. So I miss it when I am not at work and download shows I want to hear that I missed. Also my wife has gotten used to listening to the shows too. So it would be nice to have those mp3's running aloud while working on comicstrips, but I could always stay with my current desktop for download and mp3 player for listening , as I do now.

Does anyone know what would happen with a TIVO-TO-GO show ... especially since if i watch them it would be when I had NO connection to internet for VISTA to verify authenticty.

Anyone else outthere doing art on a VISTA tablet to give feedback ??

And i am still loking for people who use the Fugitsu St4000 slate for art to give thier info.

As well as any artist to answer the original questions i posted in the first post of this thread ....

Thanks!

[schroder]

I do most of my artwork on a tablet actually including the rough sketching. The glass screen effect I get around by using a anti-glare screen protector which adds a layer of finely textured silicon/plastic stuff and if thats still not enough you can switch to Wacom felt nibs which will increase the friction on the screen dramatically. Some machines such as the Lenovo X60 and X61s have screens that have already been etched to give a similar textured feel. I agree that RAM needs to be maxed in order to have a smooth sketching experience for the most part. I've reformatted a HP TC4200 with an external USB drive without any problems so it can work. I do know that only certain drives can be used but there are some other than the manufacturer options which are cheaper (mine was sub-$100).

The primary advantage of working digitally is layers, undo, scale/rotate tools, and cut/paste. As well as less clutter and ability to carry your entire art production studio in a backpack. I have been working in vista for the last 4 months and while there have been some problems (mostly hardware driver related), I have got it all sorted out at this point and everything is working fairly well. I have a co worker though who is having a lot of problems and wants to revert to XP as well. XP is safer as its tried and true. I think if you have a decent amount of technical knowledge and willingness to tinker you can get a vista box set up working well but its not worth the hassle for many.

[Shogmaster]

The thing about Vista or not to Vista with your Tablet PC is rather simple: What art apps do you use? If all you use if Sketchbook Pro, then you don't need to go Vista at all. Sketchbook Pro uses Microsoft's native tablet driver. Everything will work swimmingly.

But if your art apps rely on Wacom's tablet driver, then you will have pressure lag during your strokes with XP:Tablet Edition. This is why I have to use Vista with my TPC, and have gave up on XP:TE (even though I have 2 licenses).

[TedRx]

Hey ShogMaster !!!

Glad to see you showed up ... I really appreciate it.

Currently I use Corel PhotoShop X3, but I am very willing to venture over to SketchBook Pro if necessary.

After all these years on a Tablet Pc, what is overall satisfaction level with Tablet Pcs? Would you say the are 'good enough' to work with and a better form factor than my old Laptop/graphire tablet set up?

Also, thanks for the lead on the Gateway c140s i saw you give on another posting. It is under $800 ... and looks very acceptable, with the only noticeable compromise being another $300 (small price for NEW) and being on the 6+ lbs size (but a 14" screen ... probably worth it also)

Are you using the gateway C140x now, and how is it compared to your older smaller screens.

Thanks

[Shogmaster]

quote:Originally posted by TedRx

Hey ShogMaster !!!

Glad to see you showed up ... I really appreciate it.

No prob. I didn't even know the Buzz was back up. Thanks for reminder.

quote:Currently I use Corel PhotoShop X3, but I am very willing to venture over to SketchBook Pro if necessary.

You CANNOT use Corel PhotoShop and expect any halfway decent drawing responsiveness out of it. Just forget about it. It's just too slow and cumbersome in that respect. You have to either go Sketchbook Pro (2.0 is the current version), or Corel's other product, Painter (X is the latest version) to get the kind of sophistication in line quality with your drawings that will make your TPC art experience a satisfactory one.

quote:After all these years on a Tablet Pc, what is overall satisfaction level with Tablet Pcs? Would you say the are 'good enough' to work with and a better form factor than my old Laptop/graphire tablet set up?

If your art relies heavily on doing line art, you can't go back to regular tablets after using TPC or Cintiq. My satisfaction level with TPC is "can't live without". I simply don't want to think about a scenario where I have to do without it.

quote:Also, thanks for the lead on the Gateway c140s i saw you give on another posting. It is under $800 ... and looks very acceptable, with the only noticeable compromise being another $300 (small price for NEW) and being on the 6+ lbs size (but a 14" screen ... probably worth it also)

Are you using the gateway C140x now, and how is it compared to your older smaller screens.

Thanks

I have NEVER seen the C-140 series in person, so I really can't give you any kind of reliable opinion on the thing except for what I see in the specs. I can tell you that having a bigger screen is rather important for doing better drawings in my case. I find anything smaller than 12" too constricting to draw well on.

I currently use the Toshiba R25 and the only thing I find wanting is little more horsepower (Mine is only 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo). The rest I'm quite happy with. The thing that Gateway will be smart to do with the C-140 is to offer a 1440x900 LCD option like my R25 has. 1280x768 is on the low side.

P.S. Apparently, there is a coupon code that takes the C-140S down another $30 right now. That's $769 + tax for a brand new 14" convertible TPC! Ridiculous!!

[TedRx]

correction :

I said Corel PhotoShop ... guess it was a wishfull slip (dreaming of Adobe PhotoShop), What i meant was Corel PhotoPaint X3 from the CorelDraw X3 Suite.

I also have CorelDraw Suite 7 (from like a decade ago) that contains a PhotoPaint 7 that i ran back on my Windows 95/98 computers. And I know the Newer version has pressure sensitivity, but (please no cringing or screaming please) I don't use that feature. I just pick nib sizes and Transparency levels for my 'simple' line-work. So I'm thinking, if that ran ok on my 10 year old computers, couldn't it run acceptable on a *only* 3-4 year old tablet Pc?

...but still that Gateway is getting better by the minute ... weighs more but gives a 14" screen and built in Optical drives ... for under $800 ... i'd PROBABLY be stupid not to use that as my entry level tablet Pc ... wouldn't I?

[Shogmaster]

quote:Originally posted by TedRx

correction :

I said Corel PhotoShop ... guess it was a wishfull slip (dreaming of Adobe PhotoShop), What i meant was Corel PhotoPaint X3 from the CorelDraw X3 Suite.

I also have CorelDraw Suite 7 (from like a decade ago) that contains a PhotoPaint 7 that i ran back on my Windows 95/98 computers. And I know the Newer version has pressure sensitivity, but (please no cringing or screaming please) I don't use that feature. I just pick nib sizes and Transparency levels for my 'simple' line-work. So I'm thinking, if that ran ok on my 10 year old computers, couldn't it run acceptable on a *only* 3-4 year old tablet Pc?

Yeah, that's the one. I downloaded the trial couple of versions ago (after it went to X IIRC). It was stinky slow with most brushes. It was Corel's mainstay art app before they purchased Painter from Meta Creations (sorta poor man's Photoshop). Now it had lost it's aim IMO.

quote:...but still that Gateway is getting better by the minute ... weighs more but gives a 14" screen and built in Optical drives ... for under $800 ... i'd PROBABLY be stupid not to use that as my entry level tablet Pc ... wouldn't I?

I'd say yes. I think it's an excellent way to enter the art TPC world, unless there is some big design flaws in that model.

[schroder]

I own the new gateway C140 and it is an excellent machine. I have owned the Toshiba M200, R25, Fujitsu ST5020, HP TC4200, and now the Gateway C140. The gateway holds up very well, it was surprisingly high quality and has great speed and value. Viewing angles are similar to the R25/M7 screens in that it is better than they used to be but still not on par with the Motion VA screens and the like. Good enough for me though, I am quite happy with it and have used it on a few professional projects start to finish now. I still prefer to do color work and complex painting on my cintiq but theres no reason not to sketch on a tabletpc imo.