A WACOM Penabled slate/tablet computer

[yogsodoth]

For artists serious about having a powerful, portable tablet, I stumbled across this: http://www.scribblertabletpc.com/model/SC4100.aspx

It might seem pricey, but this thing packs a wallop.

• Dual digitizer (pressure-sensitive WACOM or touch - that is, a true WACOM device)
• Up to 4GB RAM
• 60 to 160GB SATA internal hard drive
• 2x USB ports
• PCMCIA card slot
• Wireless G and Bluetooth
• built-in webcam
• Windows 7 Home Premium

This thing packs all the features of a decent laptop into a slate formfactor.

You'll be able to run all your high-end graphics software (ArtRage, Photoshop, Illustrator, Painter, the full version of Sketchbook Pro, what-have-you), color-calibrate your screen, go mobile with a PCMCIA cell modem, etc. USB ports for external storage and alternate control (keyboards, etc.).

This is not an e-reader, mobile app platform, or mobile web browser - this is the full meal deal. My laptop budget for this year may just have to get extended.

[Juz]

This is one of the nicest tablet pc offerings i've seen.
Would be so fantastic to be able to take photoshop illustrator painter etc to a face to face meeting with a client and just make the changes they wanted right there on the spot.

[ScottF]

Thanks for sharing! Seems to be something worth taking a closer look at.

[Doug B]

For artists serious about having a powerful, portable tablet, I stumbled across this: http://www.scribblertabletpc.com/model/SC4100.aspx

Dual digitizer (pressure-sensitive WACOM or touch - that is, a true WACOM device)

It looks promising. Any idea what the specs are for the number of pressure levels? I've seen tablets like this before that looked promising till I saw that it only had 512 pressure levels. For $2000 I would want and expect at least 1024 pressure levels like an Intuos 3.

[yogsodoth]

If it's a standard WACOM Penabled screen, then it's 512 levels - but email the manufacturer to be sure, that's just my educated guess.

I personally don't see much difference between 512 and 1024 levels... it's just not something I feel human touch receptors are capable of distinguishing. Like the difference between audio at 22 KHz and 44 Khz... just not audible to the average human. Bear in mind that the original Cintique and the Intuos 2 both shipped with 512 levels of pressure, and I didn't hear any artists complaining about them not being sensitive enough. I also haven't read any qualitative studies about how 1024 levels are much better than 512. I honestly don't feel it's a perceptible difference, and I'm pretty sure that if one were to do the research (with a blind study) one would find that artists wouldn't be able to distinguish between the two, providing the drivers were properly tuned.

If it actually is 512, and you absolutely can't live without 1024, you can always wait a year until 1024 levels becomes standard.

[janetcwest]

This almost sounds too good to be true. Has anyone used one or known someone who did.

I would want to have some personal recommendations before shelling out that much. It seems the site should have a little more detail available. It doesn't really show you much besides that outside of the hardware.

Am I being too much of a skeptic?
Janet

[yogsodoth]

It is indeed expensive. Most slate form factor computers are. And I'd definitely want to try it out before blowing that kind of cash, considering that tablet-style notebooks are getting cheaper all the time.

Other tablet-style devices like the Lenovo x60 series or Toshiba's Penabled series are pretty much a notebook with a WACOM-enabled screen you can flip to cover the ketboard. Some of them start around $1000.