Are there alternatives to the Cintiq 21"?

Junkie_XL

With Windows 7 out I thought I'd search around for touch screen monitors and see if more competition has popped up in this category. I came across this which blows away the $1999 Cintiq price...

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/ET2203-B0017-21-6-Inch-Desktop-Windows-Premium/dp/B002P3KMNA/ref=pd_cp_pc_1[/ame]

Would that not make much sense as a Cintiq 21 alternative? Not sure what Cintiq's offer as a difference...I imagine pressure sensitivity would not be present.

pior

I think you just answered your own question!! And, huh, it's not even stylus based nor touch based right. Are you asking if a regular computer with a screen, keyboard and mouse is a good alternative to a 1024 pressure levels pen display?

Junkie_XL

Oops, I must've pasted the wrong link...thought this had touch screen...damn google shopping threw me off and I got too excited there for a second...

Yeah I dunno, I'm looking for an option that lets me leave my office and I can move around to different rooms in the house like the living room while I drop in some edge loopage in max. That way I can pretend I'm giving the needy woman some attention as she watches TV while I work on stuff.

I'd probably still leave the photoshop work stay in on my main office machine.

pior

well on the subject of new, integrated displays with touch capabilities, they honestly kinda suck. I tried the all in one HP something like a year ago.

You could use it in two ways : Either use plain Vista with your fingers, or use the dedicated media interface built around the tech.

The first option was a pain since the OS is clearly not built for that (wacoms know the difference between moving the cursor and clicking ; this stuff does not)

Second option had you use a dedicated, fisher-price interface (think Apple FrontRow) and it gets tiring very very fast.

Why not go for a decent tablet PC? Or even, a laptop with an intuos or Bamboo. I personally dislike the laptop solution as it is just too annoying to carry around, but alot of great digital artists work that way and seem to be doing fine!

Junkie_XL

Regarding the second option I could always format the crap interface away and install windows 7 if that windows touch stuff is actually competent.

hmmph. yeah the tablet PC stuff with a decent size screen starts approaching the Cintiq 21 price anyway. Wacom needs more competition in this arena.

pior

I honestly wouldnt keep my hopes too high regarding 7 and touch screen capabilities. I am pretty sure that all it gives is the thing to rotate and zoom pictures, nothing else.

I could be wrong but I didnt hear anything more than that really. It's already on the Macbook inger pad, it's cool for gestures and navigation too but not for modeling or anything close...

Isaiah Sherman

Is a cintiq really necessary? I feel with so much arm movement it is a bit hindering, actually. I used to use a big 9x12 intuos 2 but downsized to a size smaller with my new intuos 4.

It's not the size that counts, it's how well you use it

pior

As a matter of fact I feel like it would benefit from being even bigger. Not so much for more arm movement, but for the big advantage of not having to zoom in and out too much ...

Seeing the whole canvas at all times is great in order to have more consistency on the final piece. Not so important in texturing, but crucial in illustration!
BTW a cintiq in portrait mode is awesome for portrait sculpts or full body illustrations.

Isaiah Sherman

Quite true. I suppose the reason I disliked using the cintiq was because I still had to fuss with zooming and panning when I would have preferred not to with it. With my intuos I just adjusted all my keys so my primary quick keys include zooming without having to move my hand.

Anyways, sorry for derailing your topic. Please don't hate

Illusions

Haiasi wrote: »

Is a cintiq really necessary? I feel with so much arm movement it is a bit hindering, actually. I used to use a big 9x12 intuos 2 but downsized to a size smaller with my new intuos 4.

I found that when using the Cintiq at work I could work much faster and with less errors as I could rapidly place the pen/stylus where I wanted it in relation to whatever was on screen, as compared to the Intuos where whenever I put pen to tablet I'd have to concentrate more on accurate cursor placement on the screen and how it relates to where I'm holding the pen on the tablet.

pior wrote: »

I honestly wouldnt keep my hopes too high regarding 7 and touch screen capabilities. I am pretty sure that all it gives is the thing to rotate and zoom pictures, nothing else.

I've been thinking about how well another seperate, small monitor with touchscreen capabilities would pair with funky bunny's funkybar, if you treated it as if it was a keyboard or another desk level input device and not a monitor.

ikken

Looks like an ugly sony vaio iRip-off, except with windows 7