I need lots of programmable buttons

[Mattoo]

Hello.

Can anyone shed some light on what's the most 'buttony' of the current tablet PCs out there?

I plan on using a tablet PC for Photoshop and some lite 3D work while on the long commute on the train every morning. The problem is, both my 3D software and Photoshop really require a keyboard for navigating well (at least for me).

-So, I need programmable buttons on the screen rim - as many as I can get, at least 4 preferably... more is better!

-I also need good resolution, 1024 minimum.
-And of course an active digitizer screen.

Anyone got any recommendations. The number of programmable buttons seems to be rarely advertised - it's a real pain trying to find a suitable machine.

Many thanks
Matt

[John Hill]

Funny you should mention that. I just created a little video about programming the buttons.

The Motion has 4 programmable buttons plus a scroll button which can be programmed. Looking at the Pen and tablet options, you can program up to 16 different functions by using different combinations.

Here is a link to the video which doesn't cover everything you ask about but should give you a good idea.

Watch the video

[Mattoo]

Hey thanks! I didn't realise all the buttons were programmable, I thought most were hard-wired. That really opens the field up.

thanks.

[sbtablet]

Another thing you might want to take a look at is a program like ActiveWords or a gestures program that will let you substitute ink for a lot of different commands.

Good luck!

Sharon

[Mattoo]

Thanks Sharon. The main reason buttons are so necessary and gesturing won't do is because the keyboard controls I want to replicate are depressed while mousing. So in Photoshop, pan across a canvas I need to hold down the space bar while leftclick-dragging. And for 3D stuff I need to hold down the Alt key to orbit around objects.

But I'm hoping gesturing will do for things like the Enter and Escape keys and stuff.

cheers
Matt

[bmhome1]

Checkout freewares miniscroller and Quickbuttons.

[Mattoo]

Hey thanks. Looks like miniscroller might be particularly useful from what I can gather.