What would be best for an artist?

[Phantom]

1. What is your budget?
As cheap as possible

2. Would you consider purchasing used/refurbished?
New only

3. Do you prefer a Slate, Convertible or Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC)?
Convertible

4. What size Tablet PC would you prefer?
Doesn't matter


5. Which country do you intent to purchase from?
US

6. Do you have any preferences to brand loyalty or dislikes?
No loyalties, I'll consider any company.

7. How many hours battery life do you require?
Doesn't matter.

8. What will be the primary usage scenario of this tablet?
Digital art work

9. Do you have an OS preference?
Windows 7

10. What software and tasks do you intend to run?
Google Chrome, MS Paint, Gimp 2

10. Do you intend on playing Games? If so please list.
No


Screen Specifics

1. What resolution do you prefer?
Don't care

2. Do you require the screen to be readable in sunlight?
Yes

3. Do you prefer your display to be glossy or matte?
Matte

4. Do you require Touch?
No

5. Do you require a Pen?
YES!

Component Specifics

1. What size Hard Drive and Memory do you require?
Doesn't matter

2. Do you require an Optical (CD/DVD) Drive to be built in?
No

3. Do you require ability to add a second Battery or Hard Drive (Modular Bay technology)?
No

I'm a digital artist and i reallly need something portable, but i'd prefer something inexpensive if possible. I was looking at the HP Touchsmart TM2, but it seems to be impossible to find now.

[Agent 9]

The most affordable ones that also happen to be very powerful (Low Voltage to Full Voltage Core 2 Duo processors and the GMA 4500 GPU)... only problem is buying 'new' won't happen for *cheap* as a new unit these days will run you $1000 to $2000 typically! buying used from ebay is a lot cheaper, easy to get what you need, and very reliable from all I've seen of people doing it (and my own Tablet PC purchases there... the only Tablet PC that was 'new' was my Tm2 and I regret having spent that money on a 'new' unit instead of just buying used; and besides you get a LOT more for your money in a time when money is TIGHT!)
... well anyways:

-HP 2730p ($300-500 used from ebay, very solid machines with a great design, and usually a Hydis screen that looks great; only down side is it uses 1.8" SATA HDD/ SSD's so your options are a bit limited for drive upgrades);

-Lenovo X200 tablet (also called 'X200t': $400-600, also a very solid machine, usually came with a Pen + single point touch screen that was so-so but there were better 'outdoor' screen options that while lacking touch input had great screen quality, it uses standard 2.5" HDD/ SSD's so they are easier and a little cheaper to upgrade);

-Fujitsu T4410 & T5010 ($400-600, the T4410 is the 12.1" version and had 'outdoor' [Hydis] screen options that were better than the standard screen, while the T5010 was 13.3" and only ever came with a Hydis screen, these have a 'modular bay' built into them that can house a DVD/ CD drive, a second battery, or a second 2.5" HDD/ SSD; these came with Full Voltage Core 2 Duo processors and they use 2.5" SATA HDD/SSD's as the main drive);

-and the Motion LE1700 -slate form factor ($400-600, 12.1" screen but at a 4:3 ratio rather than the 16:10 the others have; there was also a pretty common SXGA+ screen that is 1400x1050 instead of the typical 1280x800 the others have. be careful though several had single core processors as they were the 'lower performance & heat' models as the Core 2 Duo ones ran a little hot. It also uses 1.8" PATA HDD/ SSD so upgrades are really limited and expensive)


These are all units that many use for digital drawing and more -excellent to use for 2D drawing, including complex Photoshop work (even 'minor' 3D modeling is pretty doable... they all have Wacom pens and they will all work as well as one another), and they all have pretty good battery life with a good condition battery, all about the same weight and size, its just they each have different feature sets than others so choose based on which features fit you best

And you will want to look in to some of the software that people have been using: Art Programs- user reviews and preferences -don't forget to at least try My Paint as its a great Open Source [Free] program that is cross platform

hope that can help point you in the right direction...

[AndreR]

The HP tm2 has the same display as my HP tx2500 and it is terrible!

I would suggest an old/used tablet to get the price down. However, you should be aware that the Lenovo x200t, x201t aint has the best accuracy (espacially at the edges), but rest of the computer is really good. Also, you should know that the outdoor screens doesn´t have finger touch. There are also some HP 2740p that have outdoor screens, but I don´t know how it is with other brands.

I have the x201t with outdoor screen and the screen is really good, light years better than the tm2. Also, it´s much faster with the core i5/i7 cpu.

Edit:
I just saw your post Agent9 and it´s great. However, I don´t think the hydis screen comes with the outdoor ability?

[heezy]

I would suggest buying the Lenovo X220 if you plan on buying within the next day. Right now, there's a Cyber Monday sale where it is 50% off the usual price, and the outdoor version is $1,090. Here's the website if you need it: Lenovo - ThinkPad laptops - X Series convertible tablet

If this is too much for you, then I'd definitely go with Agent 9's suggestions, because that's probably as cheap as they're going to get.

[PhotoMuis]

Also, you should know that the outdoor screens doesn´t have finger touch.

The T4410 did come with an outdoor "ultra-bright, ultra-wide-angle" screen AND touch, although it took me about a day of phoning around to figure out which reseller actually had that model, some had no clue themselves as to what they actually sell and did not list the screen version in the tech specs.