Portable Art tablet Recommendations?

PeterK

Hi All,  I have a Cintiq 22HD for office/home use, but I'd like something I can travel with (meaning take somewgere and plug it in, or use in a mobile fashion). Do you guys have any recommendations for a good, portable, high quality art tablet?  I'm not well versed in what's available.

Neox

i honestly only had one that really worked well. the old samsung slate. it was small and a bit clunky for its screensize. but it worked great.

i tried a few things, the surface pro 3 was my last attempt on that topic. but it never came close

the lack of a wacom pen was one thing. but for quite some time you couldnt modify the buttons on that thing. then the introduced customization and from then on you could change the eraser button to not start one note, but one note mobile or whatever it was called.

With a ton of hacks and shit it got better but was never as good. If only one could hack it so that the keyboard stays functional when flapped over to the backside, or when using it in book mode, then one could customize the keyboard for many many many shortcuts. but no... its not possible

The Wacom mobile studio i tested a bit, but ultimately its too fat and heavy and just no fun to use on the go - to me that is. I am sure it has its target audience.

If i had to pick i would go with a wacom based tablet, and check for current gen on screen touch shortcuts. Because with 3d work, you will need those.

So what I always wanted was

1. On screen Shortcut Menu

2. Palm rejection

3. drawing on it with a pen, duh

pick 2

on the samsung slate i had all 3 and it was pretty much perfect. but at the time i kicked it off the couch by accident one couldnt buy it anymore and the newer tablets i checked are all using the Microsoft Pen and not Wacom anymore.

rollin

4. kick from couch prevention ^^

Alex_J

DIdn't we just see this same thread not long ago? Is that really @PeterK ?

Eric Chadwick

We do see these kinds of threads a lot. But it's understandable, hardware changes quickly.

PeterK

I was wondering if anything new and interesting came out, and what other artists are using.

As an aside, I don't mind using something I have to plug in, I'm not exactly talking about a tablet that I can like, do 3d work at Starbucks. Just something I can take with me on travel, the cintiq is impossibly big/heavy.

For example: https://estore.wacom.com/en-US/screens/screens-displays/wacom-cintiq-16-dtk1660k0a.html

Mostly wondering if anyone has tried other brands, and it they're any good.

Blaizer

Hello Peter!

I've used Huion and Xp-Pen, and Wacom is the best brand with difference. But only if you just want an "interactive monitor" for your desktop/office.

I own that cintiq 16 you linked (i previously used to use a cintiq pro 24 i returned to amazon), and an Apple ipad pro.

If you want something you can travel with, i recommend you the ipad pro + good and powerful laptop (if you want to do 3d, or zbrushing). You only will need Duet to make the ipad as second screen. If you just want to draw, the ipad is enough powerful, and you won't need a laptop.

The ipad pro is one or maybe, the best tablet on the market, with the best screen (color space/Hz/responsiveness) and its pen has almost zero lag. It may be expensive, but it's the best option out there. Once you try it, you won't want anything less.

hope it helps!

Neox

is it also zero lag using it as a second screen with Duett? does pressure sensitivity still work in something like zbrush?

PeterK

Thanks Steffen and Alberto, much appreciated.

Blaizer

Neox, the lag is almost zero, and yes, we have pressure levels working with zbrush. You can watch some videos on youtube with the ipad pro and zbrush, here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDwCRHse2pc

Melazee

I have had previously the Wacom Mobile Studio Pro, a Microsoft Surface Pro and an iPad Pro (wow, why so many pros!).

The Mobile Studio Pro and the Surface Pro did not pan out as expected at all. It was really unfortunate, I expected better for the price point. I eventually settled for a good laptop and tablet combo for 3D, and an iPad Pro for 2D. I am very happy with this after searching for a long time for the perfect setup on the go.

Zack Maxwell

I'd really just recommend an Intuos for portability, and not any sort of tablet monitor.
Older gen Cintiqs like what you already have aren't portable.
Newer gen Cintiqs are unstable, overpriced brand-gouging that I've had nothing but problems with.
Alternative brands like Huion or XP-Pen still don't play well with most 3D software.

another caveman

my girlfriend has an ipad pro with a mat screen cover. Does a very fine job for illustration/2d

poopipe

for pencil type drawing feel nothing comes remotely close to a remarkable  - only having to charge it once a month is nice too.  I love mine but they're very expensive considering their limitations 

i nearly bought an ipad pro over the weekend but instead i came to my senses and grabbed one of the new amd based lenovo yoga laptops and a pen - this way ill be able to use it for something other than procreate and telling people i have an ipad pro

I'll report back with findings  -  i expect it'll be fine for drawing and a lot less irritating than my last windows based pen tablet for everything else


edit : 
my suspicions were correct. Perfectly decent pen behaviour - its not a cintiq but its solid enough and seems to work fine with zbrush & clip studio after an hour or so poking at each. 

its a 13" yoga 6 + active pen if anyone's considering it - they come in at about £750 

huiwang

ipad pro, suaface pro, or samsung galaxy tab, all are supports pen input and portable to carry out.
This Article can help you a lot: https://pctechtest.com/12-best-portable-standalone-drawing-tablets

gnoop

I don't like small tablets with screens.   They are small and you cover their screens with your  own right hand . Well until you are a left handed person my guess .  

  So I use just a small intuos .    For travels it's much more important to have  a nice ips monitor with a portable leg you can unscrew  and  altogether fit into 22" suitcase with a laptop, laptop cooler  and  a puffy jacket  and socks in between .   

Neox

poopipe said:

for pencil type drawing feel nothing comes remotely close to a remarkable  - only having to charge it once a month is nice too.  I love mine but they're very expensive considering their limitations 

i nearly bought an ipad pro over the weekend but instead i came to my senses and grabbed one of the new amd based lenovo yoga laptops and a pen - this way ill be able to use it for something other than procreate and telling people i have an ipad pro

I'll report back with findings  -  i expect it'll be fine for drawing and a lot less irritating than my last windows based pen tablet for everything else


edit : 
my suspicions were correct. Perfectly decent pen behaviour - its not a cintiq but its solid enough and seems to work fine with zbrush & clip studio after an hour or so poking at each. 

its a 13" yoga 6 + active pen if anyone's considering it - they come in at about £750 

How does it handle a on screen finger controlled hotkey bar, multifinger Support, drawingand palm rejection at once?
I really miss my Samsung Slate (Wacom), which did that nicely but any MS operated pen device just sucked in comparison. Usually could handle 2 things well, but the moment you added a third it failed more than it worked. So i stopped putting money into MS pencil devices. Ntrig or trigN was the name i believe, just not comparable to Wacom pens/screens

poopipe

erm,  there's a fair bit to try and answer there and I probably don't draw on it enough to give you a really confident review. I mostly use sketchbook pro or clip studio and i tend to sketch rather than do anything finished on it.  I quite like sculpting on it too

I can say that It pisses me off less than most windows devices do in tablet mode
the general multitouch behaviour is completely fine
palm rejection has been totally fine too - I'll caveat that by saying I started using tablet PCs before palm rejection existed and muscle memory means I tend to be quite floaty
It's not as good as an intuos or cintiq in terms of pen tracking - it's not bad at all though and you don't get the shitty stepped lines etc you see on some machines. 

The only real negatives are related to the form factor.  it's a convertible so its quite a bit fatter than a proper tablet, it's a bit heavy and having the back surface be a keyboard isn't very comfortable to hold

I wouldn't recommend it as a cintiq alternative or even a dedicated drawing device but if you want a very small laptop for fairly lightweight work that you can do quick sketches or sculpts on it's great. 

the new ones are probably better - lenovo have been on fire recently

Neox

Thanks!
Yeah i looooved the samsung slate with custom hud in zbrush, because it had all this down and was fine price wise.

Any device after did have SOME issue that led me use it as an expensive browsing device but not much more.