Need to work remotely. Experiences with Vaio Canvas Z, as a mobile option?

Bumper

I will need to work remotely in about a month due to an illness in the family, and am in need of a capable tablet or laptop.

I'll be doing character work using Zbrush and Max. Possibly some Painter. I am going to do my best to avoid any engine work, or dealing with source control.

I've researched quite a lot and am intrigued at the Vaio Canvas Z. It appears to be positioned to compete with the Wacom Companion.  I like the form factor (tablet screen, wireless keyboards, etc), and most the specs look solid. I don't like working on a laptop as the keyboard always gets in the way and I prefer a cintiq-like tablet interface, for modeling.

It has plenty of horsepower and should run Zbrush like a champ. My only concern is that the graphics are handled by an integrated chip and may or may not be a good choice for Max. I can always run in Open GL, but once polycounts get high I fear it'll crap out. 

Any thoughts?

Marshkin

For that type of price, you might be better off getting a traditional laptop. Especially if you already have a traditional tablet that you can bring you with you.
Compare that with this laptop http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX63429
Lovely beast runs super cool. The processor wouldn't be my first choice, but for travel I use it with Maya and a decent amount of polys with no issues. 

Bumper

Thanks for the reply Marshkin. What is your physical set-up? I can't stand accessing the hotkeys with laptop keyboards, as you can't offset them to the side. Furthermore, the tablet has to sit so far back it is just awkward, IMO.

Eric Chadwick

I use a laptop for artwork, since I am frequently moving between home office and on-site.

I carry a wireless mouse and a wireless keyboard, plus a stand to raise the laptop to comfortable eye level. Well worth the extra bulk. The big cintiq is less travel friendly, depends whether I need to paint a lot or not, stow it in the car if so.

Stand is similar to this. Many people at work use these, they're good.

Bumper

Ah! I hadn't thought about such a stand. That's a good idea. Thank you, Eric.

Eric Chadwick said:

I use a laptop for artwork, since I am frequently moving between home office and on-site.

I carry a wireless mouse and a wireless keyboard, plus a stand to raise the laptop to comfortable eye level. Well worth the extra bulk. The big cintiq is less travel friendly, depends whether I need to paint a lot or not, stow it in the car if so.

Stand is similar to this. Many people at work use these, they're good.

Marshkin

That stand is pretty awesome! I'm boring and just use a usual set up. If I'm using my tablet, I don't use my keyboard since all my hot keys are mapped to it.
downside is that I can't pull it forward so my head is always tilted down when working on my laptop (where as on my desktop, the monitor is raised to eyelevel).
It's not ideal, but as you said, it is a short term solution for you for a year. 
I like Eric's idea of a wireless mouse and keyboard as well, that would solve the issue. Even wired would be fine since the cables would be plenty long.

throttlekitty

I can't speak for the new ones, the vaio's historically have been total crap, especially for people doing any kind of work that involves using or being near a computer. They used to be filled with proprietary hardware and bloatware that did more harm than good.

Magihat

As someone who thought that the Cintiq Companion 2 would be good enough for my needs (Maya, ZBrush, Substance and Photoshop) I have the following tip: don't. Integrated graphics chips are the worst. Especially substance ran absolutely terribly and Maya froze constantly and could not smoothly handle meshes larger than 50k tris or so for some reason. I gather that most current tablets are the similar in performance.

Now I have a MSi GT72S, same as the one Marshkin posted, but with a 980M and I have not had any problem to run anything at all. Can even play most games in high settings and still get a decent frame rate. 

Bumper

You've solidified my inclination to write off anything with integrated graphics. The Canvas Z is out.

There is the Lenovo Yoga P40. It is a similar machine (convertable tablet). However, it uses the Quadro M500M GPU.  

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/p-series/p40-yoga/#SYSTEM

That said, it's not much of a GPU. 

I want sooo bad to use a tablet, but I do fear throwing good money after bad (correct context for that saying? ). The laptop option really does sell it's self in terms of  compatibility, horsepower and future-proofness, Were I to go in that direction I will certainly have to rethink my physical setup and ergonomics.

Magihat said:

As someone who thought that the Cintiq Companion 2 would be good enough for my needs (Maya, ZBrush, Substance and Photoshop) I have the following tip: don't. Integrated graphics chips are the worst. Especially substance ran absolutely terribly and Maya froze constantly and could not smoothly handle meshes larger than 50k tris or so for some reason. I gather that most current tablets are the similar in performance.

Now I have a MSi GT72S, same as the one Marshkin posted, but with a 980M and I have not had any problem to run anything at all. Can even play most games in high settings and still get a decent frame rate. 

GrevSev

Magihat said:

I have the following tip: don't. Integrated graphics chips are the worst. Especially substance ran absolutely terribly and Maya froze constantly and could not smoothly handle meshes larger than 50k tris or so for some reason. 

I hear so many warnings but I still want one 

Bumper

Ok, I know this is going to damped the portability factor, but now I'm eyeballing a smaller screened laptop for under a grand, and then getting a Wacom 13HD. My budget is 2K and I think I can just squeak by.

While I LOATH the idea of giving Wacom any more money, it might be the best when it comes to mirroring my current set-up/style of modeling, painting, etc.

Bumper

If it's the Canvas Z's form factor you like, check out the Yogo P40.

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/p-series/p40-yoga/#SYSTEM

Similar specs BUT comes with a dedicated GPU. An Nvidia Quadro, no less.



GrevSev said:

Magihat said:

I have the following tip: don't. Integrated graphics chips are the worst. Especially substance ran absolutely terribly and Maya froze constantly and could not smoothly handle meshes larger than 50k tris or so for some reason. 

I hear so many warnings but I still want one