Tablet pc for animation/sketching

[inbetweener]

Hi

does anybody have any experience with the following tablets?
I need to choose which one - I know they only have 256 levels of pressure but I can't afford a cintiq and need something to draw directly on. I have an intuos 4, but I would like something I can move around. I will be using a program called TVPaint.

HP/Compaq tc4400 - Core2Duo 2.00 1GB Ram 80GB HD Intergrated graphics 12"

HP Pavillion TX2500 - AMD Turion X2 2.1 4GB Ram 250GB HD Radeon HD3200 14"

The prices are the same for both (225 Euros)


Fujitsu T4215 lifebook Core2Duo 2.00 4GB Ram 250GB HD Intel GMA 950 12" (says it has active digitizer wide angle outdoor viewing - don't know if it's wacom)

Compaq/HP TC4400 Core2Duo 1.83GHz 2GB ram 60GB HD INTEL 945 256MB 12"

These cost about 250 Euros, so almost the same.


The cheapest is this one for about 165 Euros

Fujitsu Lifebook T4220 Core2Duo 1GB ram 60GB HD Intel X3100 384MB 12"

(I could add more ram as it is cheap)


Maybe somebody could recommend and alternative? I was thinking about a motion LE1700 but there is nothing for sale atm in my country. I would prefer one which has a wacom digitizer and a non-glossy screen.

All advice welcomed! Thanks)

[doobiedoobiedum]

Hi

does anybody have any experience with the following tablets?
I need to choose which one - I know they only have 256 levels of pressure but I can't afford a cintiq and need something to draw directly on. I have an intuos 4, but I would like something I can move around. I will be using a program called TVPaint.

HP/Compaq tc4400 - Core2Duo 2.00 1GB Ram 80GB HD Intergrated graphics 12"

HP Pavillion TX2500 - AMD Turion X2 2.1 4GB Ram 250GB HD Radeon HD3200 14"

The prices are the same for both (225 Euros)


Fujitsu T4215 lifebook Core2Duo 2.00 4GB Ram 250GB HD Intel GMA 950 12" (says it has active digitizer wide angle outdoor viewing - don't know if it's wacom)

Compaq/HP TC4400 Core2Duo 1.83GHz 2GB ram 60GB HD INTEL 945 256MB 12"

These cost about 250 Euros, so almost the same.


The cheapest is this one for about 165 Euros

Fujitsu Lifebook T4220 Core2Duo 1GB ram 60GB HD Intel X3100 384MB 12"

(I could add more ram as it is cheap)


Maybe somebody could recommend and alternative? I was thinking about a motion LE1700 but there is nothing for sale atm in my country. I would prefer one which has a wacom digitizer and a non-glossy screen.

All advice welcomed! Thanks)

One of my convertibles is a Fujitsu T4210 so I can answer your Wacom question - it has a Wacom 256 level digitiser as do the others. The build quality of the Fujitsu's isn't great - it feels very plasticky in parts and delicate in others. I also have a couple of Toshibas of the same age which are very different- they are and feel solid and nice to use. I tend to use the Toshiba pens on all my tablets as they have a much nicer feel in the hand.

I also tend not to hold my Fujitsu for drawing as it gets pretty hot whereas I can happily use the others around the house when sketching or drawing. (I have no problem holding a traditional sketchpad or a tablet pc for long periods to draw with - I have read others say they can't do it at all)

The HP TC4400 was the business class machine of the day and very well built (if looked after by the owner) but I'm not sure there are so many glowing reviews of the HP TX2500's. I remember them being a great price brand new a few years ago so it's the newest of your computers but the knockdown price compared to older models may tell you something about the build quality of HP consumer convertibles. (I used to have a very expensive HP DV 2970 notebook which had great components but poor build quality)

I note you also have an Intuos - I haven't tried using my intuos with my tablets as I think I remember there might be a clash. Anyhow - once I got my first tablet pc I stopped using my Intuos; I should sell it on Ebay someday or try and build a DIY Cintiq...

[purplepeopledesign]

Not so sure about the Turion chips, but my Toshiba M400 runs so much cooler when undervolted I suggest you try that with either of the C2D machines. For 3D animation, the general rule is this: modeling requires powerful OpenGL graphics and rendering requires CPU power. That makes the Fujitsu the best compromise, and makes the going price that much better.

:)ensen.

[inbetweener]

Not so sure about the Turion chips, but my Toshiba M400 runs so much cooler when undervolted I suggest you try that with either of the C2D machines. For 3D animation, the general rule is this: modeling requires powerful OpenGL graphics and rendering requires CPU power. That makes the Fujitsu the best compromise, and makes the going price that much better.

ensen.

I won't be doing any 3d animation on the machine - it will only be used for tvpaint or digicell. They are light programs and just need a dual core.

The heating of the fujitsu sounds like it could be a problem.

I'm more drawn towards the tc4400 as it looks like the build is better. However the tx2500 has a bigger screen, more ram and a dedicated gfx card. Hmm:/ So still unsure.

There is a m400 for sale on my local auction site, but the price is about 275 with a 1.6c2d and a 1gb of ram.

P.s i don't plan to use an intuos with i'll - i will probably end up selling it.

[KLF]

I have tc4400 with Core Duo (not Core2) and it runs hot. T2500 2.0GHz if I remember correctly, it hits 70C+ and gets uncomfortably hot. Undervolting helps a bit. It is also rather heavy, so it didn't make my everyday computer. If I get my hands on T7200 or similar CPU I'll replace it to see if it can run cooler.
tc4400 has 32bit chipset so it will support only 3GB or so ram, even if you install 2x2GB. It is built like a tank.

tx2500's HD3200 isn't dedicated chip, it's integrated like GMA950 or X3100. However it was the first decently powerful integrated chip. Turions in general do make a lot of heat but they also undervolt nicely and thus become a bit cooler. What I've heard, tx2x00 series laptops have been pretty warm...

I have no experience on those Fujitsus, so I cannot really comment on those.

In the end, if I could choose between those two I'd take tx2500 myself. Bigger screen with touch (I think?) and better GPU. Both run hot and neither has stellar battery life.

[Agent 9]

The HP TX line is junk (Tx2000), I wouldn't call it worth buying at this point with issues from the awful AMD 'mobile' CPU, the GPU which is bad and plauged with problems, bad quality of build and parts (it is really the low end of a consumer device, nowhere near the quality of the business machines the rest are) then the biggest reason is the screen is utter crap [the screen itself is really awful TN panel with bad colors and about no viewing angles from dead on as the colors shift and the light shift is quite bad as well; add in the touch screen layer that adds a lot of graininess, and greatly reduces the clarity of the screen -you will not be able to simply 'remove' it as it is fused to the screen front and you need something in front of the screen when using the pen... I'm not sure where you get the idea that the TX is larger than the others as the ones you listed are all 12.1" but the TX is 16:10 compared to the 4:3 of the others -while a personal preference thing most would agree that 4:3 is better than 16:10 for drawing)

Of the units listed the T4220 is the best pick because it uses Hydis AFFS screens standard (great viewing angles with essentially no color or light shift, good brightness and colors and contrast; while the TC had a good number that had crappy generic TN panels. Though there was an optional SXGA+ screen on the T4220 but it's viewing angles are sub par yet some may find the greater screen realestate is worth it), the X3100 may seem like a slight upgrade only, but from my experience it is the 'missing link' from the GMA 950 (HP TC, and many other units) and the GMA 4500 (HP 2730p, Lenovo X200 tablet, Fujitsu T4410 & T5010 -while these are 16:10 these are the ones I'd recommend to you if you were in the US), it can use a full 4GB DDR2 compared to the ~3.2GB of a GMA 950 system (a GMA 4500 system can take 8GB of DDR2 or DDR3 depending on what the system uses)... it uses a Full Voltage Core Duo or Core 2 Duo processor so it will have more power than most others, but also run a tad warmer than some of the better ones (it isn't uncomfortable, but it is a noticeable difference from my 2730p, if you couldn't afford the 4 I mentioned with the GM 4500 then this is really a negligible point)... all the ones listed are using the same Wacom pen system

[inbetweener]

The HP TX line is junk (Tx2000), I wouldn't call it worth buying at this point with issues from the awful AMD 'mobile' CPU, the GPU which is bad and plauged with problems, bad quality of build and parts (it is really the low end of a consumer device, nowhere near the quality of the business machines the rest are) then the biggest reason is the screen is utter crap [the screen itself is really awful TN panel with bad colors and about no viewing angles from dead on as the colors shift and the light shift is quite bad as well; add in the touch screen layer that adds a lot of graininess, and greatly reduces the clarity of the screen -you will not be able to simply 'remove' it as it is fused to the screen front and you need something in front of the screen when using the pen... I'm not sure where you get the idea that the TX is larger than the others as the ones you listed are all 12.1" but the TX is 16:10 compared to the 4:3 of the others -while a personal preference thing most would agree that 4:3 is better than 16:10 for drawing)

Of the units listed the T4220 is the best pick because it uses Hydis AFFS screens standard (great viewing angles with essentially no color or light shift, good brightness and colors and contrast; while the TC had a good number that had crappy generic TN panels. Though there was an optional SXGA+ screen on the T4220 but it's viewing angles are sub par yet some may find the greater screen realestate is worth it), the X3100 may seem like a slight upgrade only, but from my experience it is the 'missing link' from the GMA 950 (HP TC, and many other units) and the GMA 4500 (HP 2730p, Lenovo X200 tablet, Fujitsu T4410 & T5010 -while these are 16:10 these are the ones I'd recommend to you if you were in the US), it can use a full 4GB DDR2 compared to the ~3.2GB of a GMA 950 system (a GMA 4500 system can take 8GB of DDR2 or DDR3 depending on what the system uses)... it uses a Full Voltage Core Duo or Core 2 Duo processor so it will have more power than most others, but also run a tad warmer than some of the better ones (it isn't uncomfortable, but it is a noticeable difference from my 2730p, if you couldn't afford the 4 I mentioned with the GM 4500 then this is really a negligible point)... all the ones listed are using the same Wacom pen system

Wow, thank you everybody for your advice!


I have decided to go for the fujutisu t4220 as I have found a C2D 2.2 with 4mb cache, 2gb ram and 80gb drive for 165 euros Also many reviews mention the quality of the display.

I will update the ram to 4gb - can I use just any DDR2 ram?

[Agent 9]

Yea, pretty much any DDR2 ram will work, you will need 2x 2GB to max it out, it'll probably be about $50 USD (in the US that is the price anyways; try to get a reliable brand like Patriot, Crucial, Kingston, PNY, Mushkin, or others; avoid OCZ. Most likely the ram is 2x 1GB in the computer you are getting, but you'll need to check).
And if it currently has a DVD drive in it you can simply buy a drive adapter that is IDE and 12.7mm like this SATA 2nd HDD HD Hard Driver Caddy Enclosure for 12.7mm Universal CD DVD-ROM Bay | eBay and take the adapter from the DVD drive [its a special ribbon cable and a plastic cradle of sorts] and put it on that so you can put a second 2.5" HDD in the computer -I'm running mine with a 1TB 2.5" HDD in the bay drive adapter and a SSD in the main bay, that way I can have access to my files on the go without dangling drives and can have a SSD-only system for when I want it to be silent or shock proof, but it can use just about any SATA drive in either bay; then you can get an enclosure like this NEW IDE TO External USB case enclosure for 12.7mm IDE CD VCD DVD ROM drive W7 | eBay and turn the DVD drive into a USB DVD read/ writer you can use on any computer.

[inbetweener]

Actually it will have 1gb not 2gb - so I suppose it will have 2x512mb.

I read in another post there are problems with fujitsu and memory compatability. Could I remove the two 512 sticks, install one 2gb stick leaving one slot empty
, and then add another one at a later date if it turns out to be sluggish??

Thanks for the info about the adaptors, they look as if they could be a cheap upgrade