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Whats a somewhat decent Tablet PC?
10 years ago
SO, Wonderful things have been happening and it's changed everything for the better. Just this weekend hubs disability claim had finally gone through and we were ASTONISHED to find that that he'll actually be getting a check each month that will put our financial status at GREAT ease. With the Backpay that he'd gotten we were/are able to get rid of ALL our credit card debts that we've had to accrue over the past 4 years of crappy situations. For once we wont have to worry about if we will have enough for bills and food. THIS IS AN AMAZING AND PERPLEXING FEELING.
Anyways...I ALSO finally got paid by a client that I've been waiting a while for and because of that I'm thinking about getting a table PC, that way I can take it to cons, take credit cards, look up references, etc. it would be NICE to get a surface pro 2, but it may be out of the budget. I really will only spend about $400 on one anything past that and I'd rather save for a wacom companion. So I figured I'd ask you lovely people on what you'd suggest. Reason i'm looking at a Pro 2 is you can draw on it. I wouldn't be using it for large things but smaller stuff i could potentially do at cons. Eventually I'd like to get a wacom companion, which would both alleviate a ton of back pain because i wouldn't be hunched over my computer and be super ridiculously convenient while traveling, but that will be a fair in the future investment...for now I'm just looking for something I can get before FWA and will be uber useful.
Personally my art has improved DRASTICALLY since I got my Pro 3. It's just easier to draw directly on a surface instead of having to look up at a monitor. Big plus not having to sit at my desktop all day either. I think the first few months I had my Pro 3 I didn't sit at my desktop once. Heck I'm laying in bed as I type this.
And I hate to sound like a fan girl but Microsoft customer service is pretty epic when it comes to they Surface Pro customers.
I had a cord fall apart on me and they replaced it no questions asked, didn't even ask for my warranty info. My first Pro 3 had the wireless adapter crap out on me and they replaced it immediately. The one they gave me had a weird screen bug and they replaced that one right away too.
Though do you have the $700 pro 3? I was afraid that wouldn't handle photoshop very well. I wouldn't mind saving a few extra hundred bucks to get a 3 if i know it's significantly better... I've heard iffy things about the 2 but a friend of mine has it so I know I can get smaller things done on it, like badges and stuff.
I DONT KNOW WHAT I"M DOING I HAVE MONEY WHAT IS THIS *flails around in circles*
I've personally drawn with a pro 2 and Autodesk Sketchbook and it was all very smooth.
A friend of mine however went with a Toshiba Portégé Z10t-A-12Z and is really happy with it. Haven't tested it yet though so I can't talk about personal experience.
(edited out some spelling derps. Oops.)
rotarr had gotten herself a Companion at some time and, as I recall, wasn't very happy with it. Iirc it was just too big and heavy for constant carrying around, you might want to talk to her personally about that.
That said, you won't find a tablet with tilt sensitivity and things like that unless you get one directly from wacom. They don't let third parties sell that level of device.
My only major complaint with the surface is that you can't remap what any of the pen's buttons do.
I also just remembered if you use SAI at all the Pro 3 doesn't support pen pressure in SAI for some reason. It irks the crap out of me because I was really beginning to like SAI on my desktop.
http://www.n-trig.com/wintab-2/
I haven't tried SAI specifically, but that fixed all the other apps I had so I wouldn't be surprised if it also fixes SAI.
Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
Toshiba Encore 2 Write
ASUS VivoTab Note 8
Lenovo ThinkPad 10
Lenovo ThinkPad 2
I tried out the VivoTab Note 8 at the store when I was looking for a device. I found an 8" screen to just be much too small to draw/write on. There just wasn't enough space for me to rest my wrist on it while I wrote/drew. It also only has a 1200x800 resolution, compared to the Surface Pro 3 at 2160x1440, so there's a lot less art you can actually fit on the screen.
If you care about processing power, I think all of those are either Intel Atom or ARM processors. Great for battery life, not great for processing power. The Surface Pro 3 has an Intel i-series processor. I got the i5 version (middle tier) and so far it's been able to run anything I've thrown at it very smoothly.
And I have to second the comment about customer support on it, as well. They're amazingly pleasant to deal with and seem to really want to go out of their way to make sure everyone who buys a Surface is happy with it, period.
Tidma is crazy and works with files in the 11000 x 8000 resolution so the Ivy bridge chips are the best way to go (i5, i7 even the i3).
I can't really help, i was planning on a companion too, but that's really expansive compard to my amount of money don each month (+ saving for said surgeries)
BUT i was here to say i'm really happy to se you're money problems are quietly solving, that is always great to hear! You both deserve it, and i'm really happy to see something good is happening to you ^^ !
*hugs*
and yea I'm just not ready to make the big purchase of a companion, but need something pretty much for the same reasons you do. If you'd like and I dont chicken out of getting a tablet i'll let you know what i get, how much it was and if it's any good.
Awh, that may be great yes! <3
(i always hesitate before purchasing anything like "should i just way to get that thing which is more expansive but getting it only once without spending another 400€, or do i buy the other now and take time to buy the more expensive after?" , but yeap, i totally understand the need to get something decen tto work on, especially when a con is right there (aaah you lucky, there is no con near us and going to eurofurence would cost us like 500€ for once person, thing we can't allow us to spend ;; and there is no other con near here (well, that i know) i'm jealous :P )
means i'll have a chance to break even x)
I ended up getting the Tab S because it was a far better device then anything in the market, and still is regardless of the Air 2's release. At the time, the Fire HD's were out but they did not catch my eye that much. The new HDX 8.9 is very comparable to the Tab S.
The only true short coming I can find on the HDX is that it has a quad core while the Tab S has an octa core. I do not know if there is good art app's for the Fire products though since it has a unique OS despite it being able to use Android app's. How well Android is supported on it I do not know. Either way, it's currently $380 vs the Tab S at $350 for the time being.
You will find more support for Samsung products from app's to accessories. Since you want to draw and a stylus is pretty necessary to do so, you would want a glass screen protector since they don't pick up scratches like the plastic stick on's. Of which, I don't know if anyone makes them for the Fire's in good quality.
If it's just for browsing, looking up references.. watching videos (the usual entertainment stuff) a usual android tablet most likely would do.
If you want something with basically no limits you'll need something like a laptop with a touch screen. It'll be less handy, but a lot better performance wise.
If you want something in between the upper two there are pretty handy convertibles, I personally have a Lenovo Yoga (the small one) - a lot better than usual tablet performances, but still far far away from what a laptop in a similar price class could do.
Let me know if I can help you with anything more in detail :>