cintiq vs tablet pc

My boss asked me about updating our technology because of our new budget. YAY! I had mentioned to him that cintiq’s are pretty sweet, but I also brought up tablet pc’s.

Now I know that a Cintiq pretty much beats the crap out of a tablet. However, it’s hard to bring a Cintiq with you to China and trade shows.

What do you guys recommend I do? Get the cintiq for the office and go old school when away, or get the tablet. Using the tablet when I’m not in the office is a HUGE plus for me.

Can a cintiq also be used as a second monitor when not being used for sketching purposes?

They make cases for them for when you go to China, not too light however.

So I’d go Cintiq.

I just noticed that they off one of these

Anyone have any experience with the 12wx?

You would still need a computer to run it and the screen size is smaller than a Tecra M4 or M7 which are full fledged computers. The only other one with a 14.1" screen are gateways with lower resolutions however.

The big problem I’ve seen is I haven’t found any vendors making a good, Wacom enabled 14" tablet right now. It seems like the Tecra M7 (which I have) was the last of a dying breed.

Anybody have any luck finding any good tablet PC’s recently?

I’ve been using the 12wx for about six months now. I’ve had nothing but great results from it. It is a substantial investment, but I can enthusiastically say it is well worth it. I’ve used tablet PC’s in the past, and the Cintiq’s interface(minus the smaller screen) with the touchstrips and hotkeys will speed up your workflow substantially. The main drawback is the mess of cords that are required in addition to a computer. In terms of software, I currently run cs3, painter, and sbpro09. If you can do it, you should. You won’t regret it.

It can get a bit cumbersome using a small Cintiq hooked up to a laptop if you are sketching outside of an office. I agree Cintiqs are dedicated tools while tabletPCs have the ability to convert into a sketch tablet while sitting on a plane.

When I was doing my research last fall my decision came down to either the 12WX or the C-143XL. The C-143XL has the 14" screen, if that’s what you’re looking for. I went with the 12WX because it has twice the pressure sensitivity of the C-143XL, and it has the hot keys right there, which are readily accessible. The proven Wacom technology in the 12WX sold me, the C-143XL only posses Wacom technology within the stylus, not the screen itself.

I stick the old school methods when I’m traveling so I can keep those skills sharp as well. Plus I’m going to wait a few years to see what kind of technology improvements come along with the tablets.

Here’s a link to the Gateway C-143XL

http://www.gateway.com/programs/cseries/index.php?cmpid=topnav_computers

Ultimately, it’s your decision?

I’ve got a Dell tablet docked to my Wacom 21". Best of both worlds.

If you’re considering a smaller Wacom, then I say just go for the tablet.
But the 21" is really what you need!!!

Eco: I believe the Gateways are using the full Wacom digitizer - I don’t believe the technology is capable of using a pen from Wacom with some other type of digitizer. I know the old gateways needed an active digitizer (battery in the pen) and I don’t believe any other passive digitizer would support the Wacom pen.

The Tablet PC sensitivity isn’t great, but its plenty usable…just needs to getting adjusted to, but then again so does the Cintiq.

Cyberdemon, When I called Gateway the sales representative informed me that only the stylus had the wacom enabled technology. I then asked him if he was certain that only stylus had wacom enabled technology, and does the screen have the wacom enabled technology as well, he put me on hold to ask, he came back a said no, so I figured this guy was looking for the correct information and I believed him. Maybe he had no clue what he was talking about and was only trying to make a sale.

Either way, I’m glad I purchased the Cintiq 12WX.

Interesting…I’m wondering if they thought you wanted to know if the screen was a touch screen. I chalk up 99% of salespeople to being idiots (stop trying to sell me $100 HDMI cables!) and based on my understandings of the technology, theres no way for the passive pen to work without a Wacom digitizer.

just had both Cintiq models on trial for a couple of days. theyre great! really really great, i loved’em and already miss them dearly. hope i can convice the brass!

anyway, i spend my time evenly between the two and didnt have a real preference for either. theyre just different. the 21 is BIG but works wonderful with the stand and the overview you have when doing quick exploratory sketches is great. the sketching with the 12 feels more natural since youre working flat on the table. but the display is dim and youre zooming and moving a lot. if i were still freelancing from home id go with the 12. but this evaluation was for the studio and im recommending the 21 to my boss. itll be a dedicated workplace then and i feel the use will be more intense that way.

also, i mostly used sketchbook. so smooth! easily beats painter and photoshop for fluidity and ease of use, especially for the price.

hope my 2 cents are worth something to you, cheers!

Yeah, sketchbook is the most usable program for sketching out there…a 4 year old could grasp it, yet it produces great work.

I wonder how isketching would work not having ctrl-z when sketching on a tablet pc…i mean, i guess in sketchbook there is the “back” arrow…anyone?..did they add that feature specifically for tablet pc users?..

Sketchbook Pro 2010: http://area.autodesk.com/sketchbook_preview

The first version of Sketchbook was designed specifically for the tablet PC - so those little undo/redo areas have always been part of the UI.

Just saw this on Engadget for anyone thinking of going the tablet route. I think it’s wacom technology powered but I think that it only has 250 levels of sensitivity?