pixelplucker

Now thats pretty cool. The 256mb one seems like the best of the bunch.

Splitting hairs in technology, I vaguely remember the cig commercials, old enough to remember the beer ads when they drank on screen too. What would be good is a portable Cintiq that could fit on top of a standard laptop. Most laptops come in pretty specific sizes, one that could clip on top of say a 14" or 15" model would be cool.

Sounds like a forced upgrade then. I finally got a chance to try out one of the Sony Flips that are now no longer in production, very nice machine but it seems there is no win tab driver in the system so it wouldn't support pressure. I saw no controls in the control panel for pressure settings. Technically it could but without drivers and since it's no longer manufactured I was hesitant in dumping any $$$ out for it. As a laptop and touch screen it was pretty smooth, the dedicated video card really makes a difference on laptops for performance. Checked out the new Surface 3, if no one told me it was a 3 and I didn't bring a tape measure I wouldn't notice the difference other than the new price tag that goes with it.

Adobe has rewritten the eula where the user no longer pays a fee for the rights to use a program but rather pays a fee to have the rights to use the program for a fixed period of time. As far as native Illustrator files being supposedly locked out the .ai file format as it was at one time no longer exists but it is rather a pdf with the .ai extension. Toss an ai onto word pad or note pad and read the header. Changing the extension to pdf will open it fine in Acrobat. PSD format has hardly changed other than the use of clipping paths and better spot color (multi channel) support and better consolidation dcs it is very compatible with many other programs. InDesign is still a pile of steaming dog @#$ but I really don't know many shops that use it for any serious production. Majority of print houses will use pdf instead since fonts are embedded, screen angles and frequencies can be embedded, photos and graphics are embeded and overprint and trapping is retained. Digitally printing pdf files is more streamlined since many of the printers support direct pdf interpolation. On the other hand with version compatibility going forward with older files Quark ran into that with early versions being too old to be read into newer versions but was the actual cause was the files themselves were very different and the issue was Mac and PC hopping and version differences. That might be the case with AE. Apple did make huge changes in their OS, chipsets used and 32 to 64 bit changes over a fairly short period of time and there was all sorts of havoc with the lack of legacy. Is it me or did this thread stray way off course? Thought it was about the Surface3.

Adobe was always famous for forcing upgrades even with the simplest of objects ie a rectangle made in 16 cannot be opened in earlier versions. This isn't due to a feature change because in the eps code the rectangle is identical but rather in the header of the file. For me I have files dating back to the 90's that I may need to access so legacy is crucial to me. Adobe dominates the market more so because of their push in the educational market and heavy discounts. I see countless files daily created by some secretary at an office whose kid is going to college, probably a violation of the eula but the more people create garbage the busier I get. As far as opening an earlier version of an AE file, wonder if that has something to do with a 32bit app and a 64 bit version? Wonder if there is some sort of major difference there? I could never understand Adobe's work flow when they created the pdf format and you can only open one page at a time in Illustrator and cannot open a pdf in InDesign. As far as InDesign being a Quark killer it isn't and its a far cry from Pagemaker that I had use to help produce a couple of monstrous books for 3ds Max. Couldn't fathom doing an 800 page book in InDesign, I would bet it would crash on page 799 right after a save making the file unrecoverable. Back to the tablet choices you guys should check out a little program called DrawPlus from Serif. I stumbled on Serif and was leery because of the low price of their programs. I needed a Gimp replacement then moved on to PagePlus for its incredible PDF editing capabilities then DrawPlus for its illustration features. For extremely complex editing I still use Canvas though their upgrade is hard to justify in the last 2 versions at $300 a pop for added bugs and unjustifiable additions.

My customers had problems launching the program when the internet was spotty. I have used the latest version of Illustrator CC and its very slow launching and overall I would consider it bloatware. The files generated in it cannot always be color separated into spot colors, there are often open paths, exported text converts some characters into strokes instead of fills. The list goes on and on. Much of my work is for engraving or screen printing and many of the files I fix come from Illustrator. Price for CC is cheap, many of my upgrades are far more than a years sub on it. I don't use it because of what it is, even if it was free I wouldn't have it on my system. Years ago up to version 7 skipping 6 and 6.5 Illustrator was a nice program. I think Adobe strayed from the industry I cater to and lean towards the digital printing and web more so than older print technologies.

I don't use CC, think it's computer bound and huge downfall is it calls back every time you launch it and sluggish as all hell. The last thing I need is some network connection fart and I can't work because the program can't call home. Couple of my customers use Illustrator and they send me all the production work, they basically use it to print to their rip's. Editing is horrible in it.

Sony had a slew of problems in the past with input issues to poor wifi and performance that probably many people shied away from their systems. I think laptops as we know them are going away for the most part and this is Sony's chance to concentrate their efforts in that area. I never considered Sony as a big player when it came to systems. Bottom line for me is not so much getting a tablet that I can draw on but rather the cost of getting extra licenses of the software I use to load on it. Under 2k for a tablet isn't that big a deal but add up all the programs and ouch!

Scrap the Flip PC, looks like Sony is bailing on the desktop and lap top markets and focusing on the tablets. Too bad because the Flip was ahead of it's time.

I was using the Anywhere Driver which was different than the stock supported driver.

CPU, ram and video card benchmarks charts: http://www.cpubenchmark.net Thought this might be handy for anyone looking at new machines or are interested in how their systems compare.

The joystick is operated by your thumb. I had looked into those before. I do have a Zpad that has common game keys on it's own game board, basically a reduced keyboard. Personally I find it easier to remember the short keys in each program rather than try to re-map them to something else and re-mapping on a separate device takes more getting used to. I actually stopped using my 3d mouse after the "fixed" the universal anywhere driver and no longer offer the older one. At the time it was really nice to breeze to pan, scroll and zoom and in some apps rotate the screen as well as the usual 3d manipulations but the stock drivers are best described as crap making it only semi useful for some apps.

No lefty models of those. I do find the space mouse to be pretty handy when modeling but lacks programmable buttons for modifier keys. The more expensive ones have lots more buttons but not really worth the price tag since they could cut into my beer budget :0

Actually the company that made the cd dongle is gone, kapoots and ceases to be. I did a test on some plastics using a ceramic stove top cleaner (cerama bryte) with a damp cloth and it polishes plastics really nicely. I didn't test on any cd's since I don't have any that are scratched but it did work well on my phone display and a scrap of plexi. Test it out and let me know. Worked much better than toothpaste but lacks the minty after smell.

If it your able to install from the cd then the cd drive and cd should be good. Is this an external USB cd? That might be the issue. I would suggest scavenging around for an internal cd drive and all should be fine. Price wise and all the really nice features of the latest one, I think it is worth going to subscription. They really keep up on the any bugs and tweaks and it renders so much quicker. Many people spend more in gas in a week with their suv's or pickups than a years worth of AM! Rodney is correct that it is possible to take out scratches on a cd. Good old tooth paste and a damp soft cloth will do the trick and take out most of the fine scratches but there is no way of removing deep gouges. I don't think scratches is the issue if you can install from it.

Good AV and backups is the way to go, glad to see someones finally cracking down on this stuff.

Wow that is $1700 more than I paid for mine and mine was new. One thing I do regret is not getting one of those protective surfaces for it. The pens had a nasty habit of picking up tiny dust that can scratch the surface, and left mine with a couple of small marks. You should check out the Ergotron arms for yours, make is much better to work with.

1024 is nice, bambo and the old graphires are all 1024, only the Intuos Pro and Cintiq are higher but doubt you can tell the difference, most applications only support 1024. Bummer its android all my programs are windows

S-pen pressure sensitive? I take it the Galaxy is Android right? I think the Surface pro is way overpriced for what it is especially when you can get an i7 system with a dedicated video card, larger screen and a terabyte drive for around the same price running the same os. Haven't tried the new Photoslop, ever version they come out with they add another 20-30 sec load time (feature). I think it is done intentionally to build on the anticipation of something great might happen when it loads. Oh the drama of it all! Who was the dork that came out with those tiny option arrows on menus anyways?

Small screen and super high res, I can't imagine running MS Office or any of the Adobe products with those tiny triangle menu buttons. I think I would find that one dead pixel on the screen and keep clicking on it hoping something would happen.

I honestly think the Surface and other tablets are still toys if you intend to try to use it for work Screens in general too small especially once you try to access any menus. So far 15" seems to be the largest of the portables. Wacom isn't the only ones that make high end tablets, there is also CalComp. I used to use one from them back in the late 80's. The pucks are fully programmable too which is ideal for 3d apps. I had looked into getting one but at the time my monitor was getting tired and I ended up with the Cintiq. Wacom is 2048 dpi and the Calcomp is 12700. http://www.gtcocalcomp.com/graphics-tablets If you do find a used Cintiq and the screen looks like the bottom of a cat box, Wacom charges around $300 for replacement/repair.

Robcat You just subliminally wanted to say what Roger said lol Roger as a Cintiq owner I'm not sure if it is something for everyone. What I do like it is where you touch on the screen you interact with, though with a 9x12 approx size tablet and the huge price difference you may do just as well with that. With any touchscreen or tablet/screen you may find it annoying having a fat hand in the way of the over all picture as you work. With a Cintiq you are drawing on a monitor that isn't necessarily flat down like a piece of paper or tablet and will get tiring. There is also the issue of eye focal length, I have 20/20 vision and can find it tiring being close to a screen, keep in mind it isn't reflective light like paper but back lit with a very bright led and being close is a strain on the eyes. A tablet you can lean back some and work. I draw on the Cintiq daily for better than 10 hours a day 5-6 days a week, for me it has more than paid itself off but in many ways it does seem nice to be able to step away or back and work. Thats the reason I looked into the Surface series and others and so far found out of them all that Sony seems to have the best specs and best price. I haven't tried one yet but would love to if there is some place that has one on display... I have an older laptop with 8gb of mem with my old intuos on it and I can draw pretty much as well on that as I can on the Cintiq. I think the tablets have an advantage where you can physically turn them as you work if the application doesn't have a page rotate feature though the Cintiq can be rotated but it is more work than clicking a key and only goes counter clockwise. My past experience with laptops in general is they are usually underpowered and don't have the longevity of a desktop or workstation. Nature of the beast because of the electronic real estate is at a minimum and heat is always an issue.

I'm not crazy about the cloud, few of my customers have it and they reverted back to old versions due to downtime from trying to connect to Adobe. Wonder how secure uploading your signature from Acrobats echo sign feature is? They should have a box where you can upload your SS# too along with blood type and any other misc data you might want to "securely" store on some unknown server somewheres in the world.... Always wondered what goes through the tiny brains in corporate to come up with this crap. Maybe the average IQ out there as diminished below the 60 mark and I never realized it until recently. Thanks for your help, I'll look into some other avenues to do this.

With the Sony Flip it has a dual core i7 up to 3gz and the ideal part of a dedicated video card is you can use it on a regular monitor or display on a tv with pc input, I think it has an HDMI jack. Again it's comparable to the Surface Pro in price. As far as hand eye coordination if you can't draw on paper then no tablet or screen will be any better. Downside of drawing on a Cintiq is with the stock stand it get's tiring and I would recommend an Ergotron arm but that adds another $150 to the price tag. It is better than a standard tablet but the larger tablets are pretty nice in the 9x12 size but they don't have the same aspect ratio as the most screens so scaling does make it harder to get used to. Big downside to tablets and portables is the processing speed isn't there yet. My workstation is a dual chip xeon quad cores thats 8 cores with combined 24mb cache. Dropping back to a the top of the line i7 dual core could be an issue with rendering and with crunching huge files, something I breeze through right now and fear stepping back to something else. Atom chips are fine for poking around the web but pretty much useless for any graphical work. Stay with i5 or better. With Win8, 8gb minimum for ram. Glad they solved the virtual smudge issue, I'll take another look at them. Good vector drawing application to use is Serif DrawPlus X6, pressure support is nice and the program is realy light on the os, should fly on those little tablets. I use it here for much of my illustration and layout work. Try the free one and you can upgrade from that.

Is it only in Acrobat Pro that has the option to import a 3d file? I have the free version since I only use it as a reader.