Hei guys.
I am looking forward to buy either a Wacom cintiq 12wx or a HP touchsmart that comes with a pressure sensitive pen.
What is your opinion about this? Having better sketching possibilities or more mobility?
Greets! Napapiiri.
The Touchsmart is slow and laggy for even the most mundane of tasks. I’d stay away. You arm also gets tired from holding it out in front of you after 2-3min.
Wacom cintiq 12wx @ 1,048 pressure levels
HP Touchsmart… as far I know it’s about 256 pressure levels , maybe 512…but no more…
Have you ever considering a Wacom Intuos 4? … “Large” It’s about 12.8 " x 8 " @ 2048 pressure levels.
http://www.wacom.com/intuos/large.php
…and the wacom inutos 12 wx it’s about 10.3" x 6.4" @ 1,024 pressure levels
In my personal experience, I feel more freedom in movements with the Intuos, while the price is the half from the Cintiq 12WX. This last one requires a little bit more patience due the fact you’re watching your hand in the display area. You’ll probably get the idea that the display area “is too little”, because the space “visually” used by your hand is over the active area. Don’t know if that should be strange for you…
Consider that mobility is more about your ability & appealing for doodling. This could combine speed vs. quality in every surface available. Maybe sometimes you can use a wet finger to draw in a concrete wall when your Kind-of-eureka idea suddenly appears on your mind as a result of 4 day long journey thinking on what you’re developing . Then you maybe take your mobile phone out and take a picture from this very rough napkin diagram… an you got mobility…don’t you?
Going all the time with a little drawing pad with pen & pencil… so you can doodle everything. Also consider that mobility is better provided by this pen / pencil & Drawing Pad combo. Not only You can take them everywhere, but also you can replace them with a very low budget. And the doodles “history” makes you much easier to iterate what you’re are developing, getting back to remember why & how just turning the page, while in computer you must save files, put them a name and start a eye - demanding of opening / closing applications … maybe the zoom for take notes on details is a good point.
Having better sketching possibilities is the result of a process called practice & practice & more practice & more practice… an yes… even more practice & practice. Even if you’re are training your arm, using ink on paper, tracing on sand with wood … or sketching with prismacolor on bond paper… the fact is to practice, practice and more practice…
But…OK considering your thoughts maybe is much high rated the software (photoshop, painter sketchbook or whatever you can use) in a priority scale, than the hardware you use for it… it doesn’t mean hardware doesn’t matters…
Spending 4 hours doing digital sketching in different locations? 1 hour in a park bench, 1 hour in a meeting, 1 hour during lunch time and the last hour at the classroom… ?
Have you ever considering this combo iphone/ipod touch or ipad and the app for sketch book pro?..digital + finger + mobility…
At least, remember the tool is just an instrument while the instrument is a tool 
, your skills are the essence… where everywhere you go, you’re skills go with you… 