the tablet pc owners thread

[zorro]

Hey guys, I draw a bit from time to time and am into computers and photoshop a bit as well. Eventually stumbled into tablet pc's. I started on a cheap drawing pad made by wacom under the label "Bamboo". It was nice, but eventually I wondered if it would be better, more accurate, and better overall to draw on a screen as opposed to using a pad, while staring at a screen. I'm on my 2nd tablet right now and I can't imagine being limited to a computer which is anything less than completely in tune with the user.

I use an HP elitebook 2740p right now and after I have adjusted all the settings I like everything about it. I spent 8 hours adjusting the color (a couple hours here and there for a week) and I don't see my computer as anything but a big smartphone. It accepts pen input and touch input so it has all the gestures you can use on your smartphone and it makes everything that much easier.

I would like to know how many other people in these forums are tablet owners as well (avid or not) what kind of tablet you have, what you use it for, etc?

mine is my everyday computer, I use it for alot of internet usage and photoshop, I use it for alot of airbrushing on photoshop. Once I used magix music maker 15 on it and composed note by note, and it was easier than using a mouse.

only downsides are it uses an external dvd drive to keep it's weight down

 

[Tango]

this oughtta be good.

edit... haha. You caught it eh man?

 

[zorro]

yeah, I cut the caffeine so I'm a bit tired today. But since I started a topic I would like to turn it into something interesting and positive.

 

[Curt]

I got an iPad 2 this week. I'm thoroughly impressed at how effective it really is. I originally hated on the first iPad because I fet there wasn't really much innovation compared to a iPhone or iPod touch. I was right... But turns out that's not a bad thing.

I'm glad I waited and was able to snag the second generation because now there are so many really amazing apps.

I can really do virtually everything I can do on my notebook. Just so much easier.

Im using TiVos app to control my dvr.
Do donpachi and espagaluda are amazing with touch controls. (run fine in iPhone res)
File browser to browse virtually ANY file on my network
Air video to play virtually all of my torrented tv shows and movies in hi def
Hulu and Netflix for the jersey shore fix and the daily show. You name it.
eBay has a fantastic app amazons I'm not too crazy about
YouTube runs like a champ but oddly no comments are shown. Probably a good thing.
Xbmc commander to control my pc when it's in htpc mode (beautiful)
Aweditorium is a great music discovery app that I was completely unprepared for. It's unbelievable. It uses the iPad to the max... It's hard to describe.

Safari works like a champ. Im using it now. It dispays the forums for the most part great but occasionally misses some embedded videos. But most YouTube shows up fine.

I've been most impressed so far with splashtop which let's me screen share any of my computers on my network and completely take them over and do virtually anything. Perfect for managing my torrents etc. Touch control works fine. And I can choose to have streamed sharp or smooth depending on my needs.


But here's where it gets really amazing.

I have an apple tv 2 and the iPad will throw nearly anything I'm doing onto my big screen tv or speakers. Videos, Netflix YouTube you name it. It's also kind of snazzy because it likes to multitask. For instance if I see a YouTube video I like, it will throw it onto my tv and let me keep browsing around etc.

I have the 64 gb wifi version. And so far it feels like one of the best purchases I've ever made. It really is magic.

 

[DanAdamKOF]

I use a rooted nook that I got with the gift certificate I posted about a while ago. I really like it, there's fancier out there but it was $70 for me and I just keep finding more uses for it.

I want a capacitive stylus for it but it seems like most of them aren't very good for precise stuff.

 

[MilkManX]

I am really torn on these Tablets. I am an artist and what I had hoped with the iPad is that it would also have a digitized stylus.

I did find this baby but man is it expensive!

http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook

So that is basically what I want/need but maybe a bit smaller/lighter.

Someday...

 

[IcBlUsCrN]

i had a rooted nook and overclocked too. it has a great piece of hardware. i sold it to get a ipad 1 when the 2's came out but never stepped up.
now i regret selling the nook and am looking for another one. I never used it for much except angry birds and as a comic viewer
for the price a rooted nook is hard to beat specially when overclocked. the screen is great you dont know it till you try something else. i was looking at a viewsonic tab and the screen was sub par.

 

[zorro]

MilkmanX that is an interesting link. I wished a mac had the pen that i needed, but since they don't I ended up with this: http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF06a/321957-321957-64295-3740645-3955549-4145567.html. Mine was a custom model with 3.33ghz top speed on the i7. But they can be found with 3ghz for 1500. I like it, I like macs too but I just wish they were priced realistic in comparison to the hardware pc's feature.

I feel like the ipad2 could almost be there if photoshop were to be introduced for it, escpecially with the 10-ish hours of battery life they get. I like the functionality of them, but feel like there aren't any real choices in terms of production software. I did like garageband though. Hopefully soon enough it will get the software it deserves

 

[MilkManX]

There is the Autodesk Sketchbook for iPad. It is very nice but there is no stylus...

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?siteID=123112&id=15119465&preview=1

That is what keeps me from diving into iPad.

Right now I have a 2007 Macbook Pro with a Wacom 5x7 USB Tablet and I use Manga Studio 4 for most of my stuff and some PS CS3.

 

[zorro]

that does look nice. I saw something coming out in japan which is a stylus for ipads. It is supposed to mimic the density or feel of a finger on the screen. But those are too thick. The way normal touch screens are supposed to work is that when you cover lets say 1.5 cm with your finger on the touch screen it will realize and calculate the point that your finger is trying to press by finding the middle between the two edges of what you are covering.

 

[Lastblade]

I just received the Lenovo x220t tablet (convertible laptop), and I love it. It is much heavier than iPad variant of tablets, but then again, this has a full keyboard and I can also "write" on it. It also has an IPS screen so it is as beautiful as the iPad's screen.

 

[J. Max]

Most tablets aren't designed for content creation. The iPad and Android tablets definitely aren't and most of the affordable Windows tablets are hamstrung by low-end Intel Atom CPUs and other netbook type specs.

 

[Solo_Tek]

I have an Acer Iconia A500 Tab that I was using in grad school to quickly read PDF's and research. I also used the Google Body app when I was studying for anatomy. I don't use it as much now but if you are in college and don't want to lug your laptop around and leave it at your dorm a tablet works great.