Tablet PC: Versa LitePad review
polycounter lvl 19
Ok, I bit the bullet and bought a tablet pc. I have a 6x8 intuos 2 platinum at home, with dual sgi 1600sw lcd monitors, and a 9x12 intuos 2 at work with plain jane 21" crt. I prefer my tablet pc over both setups.
I got the NEC Versa Litepad. It is 2.2 lbs, and .6" thick. Thats roughly the size of a 70 page spiral bound notepad. I take it with me everywhere. I was skeptical about the 256 levels of pressure, as I'm used to 1024 on the intuos 2. A coworker got a tablet pc, and after trying his, I couldnt notice a difference in pressure response. I spend only 750 dollars on mine, won it off ebay, what a steal! When this model came out, it was almost 3,000 dollars!
It has a 933 mhz p3 mobile processor, 256mb of ram upgradeable to 512mb (my next purchase) it has a 20 gb 1.8" hd that is NOT upgradeable (its the only hd that size in existence, 5mm thick, single platter) and it has wireless networking. It runs photoshop 7, painter 9, artrage, opencanvas, alias sketchbook pro, and the gimp, perfectly. Ive had canvases up to 1200x1200 with multiple layers working flawlessly, and I expect to go larger when i get the ram upgrade (being a game artists, most of my textures are way smaller than that anyway)
I paint on the couch now, by the pool, I am planning a trip to the zoo, I take it to life drawing, and lunch. It really is worth the money. Im sure after the novelty wears off, I will start using my home pc again while im at home, but for on the go, it cant be beat.
Couple of things worth mentioning. Upgrade to SP2 right away and the latest wacom penabled drivers. Make sure your tablet pc is wacom (ther are other non pressure sensative digitizers in tablet pcs) load up on ram. In photoshop and painter, turn off brush outlines, so you just have the brush icon (sux, but it gives you a huge performance boost)
anyway ill check this thread to answer more questions, but for anyone who wants the benefits of painter or photoshop on the road, a tablet pc rocks. Specifically the NEC versa litepad as its still the smallest and thinnest available in the US (the versapro is 1.7 lbs, and .4 inches thick, but is only available in japan)
I got the NEC Versa Litepad. It is 2.2 lbs, and .6" thick. Thats roughly the size of a 70 page spiral bound notepad. I take it with me everywhere. I was skeptical about the 256 levels of pressure, as I'm used to 1024 on the intuos 2. A coworker got a tablet pc, and after trying his, I couldnt notice a difference in pressure response. I spend only 750 dollars on mine, won it off ebay, what a steal! When this model came out, it was almost 3,000 dollars!
It has a 933 mhz p3 mobile processor, 256mb of ram upgradeable to 512mb (my next purchase) it has a 20 gb 1.8" hd that is NOT upgradeable (its the only hd that size in existence, 5mm thick, single platter) and it has wireless networking. It runs photoshop 7, painter 9, artrage, opencanvas, alias sketchbook pro, and the gimp, perfectly. Ive had canvases up to 1200x1200 with multiple layers working flawlessly, and I expect to go larger when i get the ram upgrade (being a game artists, most of my textures are way smaller than that anyway)
I paint on the couch now, by the pool, I am planning a trip to the zoo, I take it to life drawing, and lunch. It really is worth the money. Im sure after the novelty wears off, I will start using my home pc again while im at home, but for on the go, it cant be beat.
Couple of things worth mentioning. Upgrade to SP2 right away and the latest wacom penabled drivers. Make sure your tablet pc is wacom (ther are other non pressure sensative digitizers in tablet pcs) load up on ram. In photoshop and painter, turn off brush outlines, so you just have the brush icon (sux, but it gives you a huge performance boost)
anyway ill check this thread to answer more questions, but for anyone who wants the benefits of painter or photoshop on the road, a tablet pc rocks. Specifically the NEC versa litepad as its still the smallest and thinnest available in the US (the versapro is 1.7 lbs, and .4 inches thick, but is only available in japan)
Replies
I heard some tablet pcs have washed out screens, hows is this one?
they have the most perfect color ive ever seen on a monitor. you would have to kill me to get them away. the color on my laptop is about 70-80% as good. so about 90% that of a regular crt monitor. i find it is a tad washed out, but not enough that a little adjustment on the home pc cant fix
the screen is 10.4 inches. its 1024x768.
did i mention i love it?
full specs http://www.necsam.com/mobilesolutions/products/Versa/litepad/
Now then, why are the posters in the background blurred out? Ashamed to show the hairy naked men you have up on your walls? :P