Cintiq Question

[MILES]

I just got the go-ahead to get quotes on 4 Cintiq tablets.
One will be used in a teaching lab at the professor's station and another I'll get for support purposes (like it huh?). The use of the other two will be determined at a later time.

My question is this: Since the money is available to me for the purchase of these, should I go with 3 of the 21s and a 12 for myself (so that I can come and go with it along with my laptop)? Or should I get 4 of the 21s? We are allowed to take our laptops off campus, so if I get the portable version, I can probably take it to and from work as well. But I'd have a hard time explaining my taking a 21 home with me. Of course, there is the option of doing all my modeling/texturing after hours from my office. It wouldn't be as convenient...but if the benefit of using a 21 over a 12 is great enough, well maybe it would be worth giving up the portability.

Xenobond

The 12" is smaller/lighter, but still not very portable. You'd still have all the cables/cable box to lug around with it.
So it'd only be slightly more portable than the 21" as you'd need a backpack big enough to stuff it in, as opposed to the 12" which should fit in most bags.

EarthQuake

hey, i want free cintiqs too!

Steve Schulze

I'll second the lack of protability of the Cintiq. You get a power cable that goes to a power adaptor that goes to a big converter box. From the converter box you have a cable running into the Cintiq, a usb cable and a chunky monitor cable running to your PC. All that great snarl of cable weighs at least as much if not more than the Cintiq unit itself. I love my graphic tablet but that really is a pain in the arse.

[MILES]

But overall...it would weigh less than the larger monitors, correct?

Josh_Singh

Yes it would. But I think if you were going to do something like a workshop and you had some set up time, it takes the same amount of time to set up the large Cintq.

pior

The 12 weights almost noting - I actually put it on my bed to watch dvds :P However don't expect to make any serious, long work on it, it's just too small. Good thing tho is that it heats up less that the biggies.

Maybe try out the new 20inchers too?

[MILES]

I think I'm going to go with the 12wx for myself. Despite the cables, I just can't see myself getting the kind of use out of a $1999 20 as I would with the $999 12. I'd just get to use it so much more at home than at the office. And even if I did work on personal stuff at the office, my wife and daughter would rather I be at home. Thanks, to those of you who offered input. I appreciate you taking the time out to do so.


Anyone who uses the 12wx, know of a backpack that can store the 12WX/(its junk) and a 17" laptop/(its junk)? Trying to stay under $80 and I'm not talking about an external frame backpack for hiking in the mountains. Just something comfortable for carrying my stuff around while riding my bike, to and from work. (Just started doing that. I love Texas, but man, it gets hot).

AstroZombie

pior wrote: »

The 12 weights almost noting - I actually put it on my bed to watch pr0n

fixed.

Justin Meisse

Probably look for a backpack that can hold one of those monster laptops like the HP ZD8000. I had a HP backpack that could carry my ZD8000, a smaller laptop and my Intuos

[MILES]

This one looks like it has LOADS of room:
http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=TCG216

This one is sleeker (and has a slicker!):
http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=TSB089US

Hah, maybe I should just break down and buy myself a small internal frame. Then I could haul around my laptop, tablet, and workout cloths & shoes with no problem. Unless I fall off my bike. Then I'd look like a helpless turtle on the side of the road.

hobodactyl

I'm able to fit my laptop and the cintiq into a regular Wenger laptop case (the Swiss one). I just have the laptop and the cintiq in the main compartment, then I leave the zipper open a bit at the top and tuck the cables from the cintiq into the outer pocket. Not sure about the size of my laptop's monitor, but you can definitely get creative with making the cintiq a little more portable (but it's true the cables are kinda a b*tch).

Backpack's probably your best bet if you're riding a bike.

azryth

I have the 12wx, and Im telling you now you are NOT going to like carrying it around with you and re-connecting everything everywhere you go... and your most definitely not going to be taking it to starbucks or anywhere public to work. If you don't have a lot space at your desk or you like to work with it on your lap or something then its a decent choice if you can front the 1grand price-tag. otherwise if you want portability the intuos tablets are still superior IMO, even without the screen beneath your pen - which is cool but like someone else said it is kinda small. Also one more thing to keep in mind, it essentially is just a 2nd monitor and windows treats it as such(with max resolution at 1280x800). So your going to be stuck looking at the small screen for all your work, unless you mirror the display (which is too low resolution for me personally), or calibrate the pen to a larger monitor (but that kinda defeats the purpose of drawing right on the cintiq anyway)

bottom line for me is: if you want to use it at your main workstation get a larger cintiq monitor if you have the budget/space. otherwise if you dont have space, or for some reason like the fact that it is small and still want the screen interactivity then i would recommend the 12wx

pior

Oh snap I forgot to mention this - If you want small and portable :
http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook

Official Apple parts, official Wacom parts.

hobodactyl

That thing looks pretty slick Have you used it?

Jeremy Lindstrom

yeah but it's a mac (which is awesome) so no 3ds max. unless it'll run bootcamp tooo..

Justin Meisse

Holy crap, modbook looks awesome!

robioto

The modbook looks cool except for this part : Intel GMA X3100 Video Chipset w/144MB Shared Memory

Doesn't look like it would be very good for 3d with that graphics card but it would probably be cool for drawing.

For some reason it doesn't seem like any of these tablet laptops ever have a decent graphics card solution. It's kind of counter intuitive I would expect a pressure sensitive laptop to have a totally badass graphics card.

Xenobond

robioto wrote: »

I would expect a pressure sensitive laptop to have a totally badass graphics card.

That would defeat the purpose of having a portable/lightweight laptop. You'd get poor battery life, and a molten lap.

Jeremy Lindstrom

My Toshiba Tecra M7 Tablet PC has a Nvidia Quadro NVS 110 256MB Video card and runs Max/Maya/Zbrush fine and it's almost two years old.

But tablets aren't that great because you have to plug in an external keyboard when using them in tablet mode as you fold the keyboard away on almost all of them if you don't you don't have many options and have to do everything with the pen which is not very efficient.

robioto

Xenobond wrote: »

That would defeat the purpose of having a portable/lightweight laptop. You'd get poor battery life, and a molten lap.

Sorry, a poor choice of words on my part. I wasn't so much thinking about one of those crazy dual slot Nvidia beasts but something better than the embedded Intel graphics chip with a measly 140mb ram. You raise a great point I just don't understand why they can't find a better balance favoring performance.

I haven't "road tested" any of these tablets myself, just read anecdotal information from people trying to use Maya or Max on them with lack luster results.

Dekard that sounds like a cool combination with a quadro. Thanks for the info and your positive anecdote

[MILES]

Who wears a glove when working on these things? Is it necessary to keep from getting oil on the screen...or does the screen clean easily?

Xenobond

I haven't had to clean it much at all since I've gotten it. It's sitting as straight up as it can get, and even with a lamp on in the office, I can't tell there's anything on the surface.

Maybe one of those thin white dust gloves would be handy in keeping it clean, but it's probably not too practical. The glove would get dirty far faster.

hobodactyl

I have fairly sweaty hands and I don't have any problems with my Cintiq getting dirty. I wipe it off sometimes with the edge of my shirt if I need to, but that's about it. The material of the screen doesn't show light smudges or anything like that.