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Okay, so we've got a bit of cash at work and i've been asked if there's owt I want tech-wise (I'm a teacher who makes lots of educational resources for my city.)

I'm pretty lucky when it comes to tech so I reckon I'll go for some kind of drawing tablet like the Cintiq. something I can draw on with a screen that magically goes onto my computer. What would you guys go for?

Quote from: Pete Wells on 09 February, 2010, 09:48:30 AM
What would you guys go for?

Cintiq is top of my techie wish-list, TBH.

Cheers!

Jim

Mine too

That makes four if you're buying! When should we expect our Cintiqs Pete?  ;)

Quote from: Pete Wells on 09 February, 2010, 09:48:30 AM
Okay, so we've got a bit of cash at work and i've been asked if there's owt I want tech-wise

I think it's worth mentioning that (IIRC) the actual LCD in the 21" version is of a significantly higher quality than the one in the 12", so if you can make a case for the larger one, I'd strongly recommend going for that one.

Cheers!

Jim

Definitely.  I love my Cintiq.

If you're going to get one, ring them up and haggle.  I got 400 quid off mine by doing that.

Quote from: Matt Timson on 09 February, 2010, 12:56:41 PM
If you're going to get one, ring them up and haggle.  I got 400 quid off mine by doing that.

Aha! So there is some wiggle room in that outrageous UK pricing, which amounts to swapping the dollar sign for a pound sign.

Cheers!

Jim

Bear in mind you'll be using the tablet as your pc screen unless you have a video card with two output jacks - of course, you might find getting an extra slot added to your pc is chickenfeed compared to the cost of the tablet.
Also ask about the calibration on any tablets you look at - some only use two points of reference and that's fine for a butcher like myself, but you might want more precision, depending on how you work.  Also buy some sort of screen protection - you'll be surprised how easily it scratches even without you dragging a bit of plastic around it for hours at a time.

its either that or you can up-grade by stuffing the port with blue cheese

The best tablet...

If money is a problem..

Aw Johnny, it looks like we're too late, I think I'm getting the Cintiq 21UX, woohoo!

I'm still gonna use PowerPoint to enter the art comps though...






Only joking guys, put the knives down!

Did you haggle?

Forgot to say- I haggled with the Apple Store, not Wacom- so I was even more surprised to get such a big discount.

QuoteDid you haggle?

Aw Matt, the short answer is 'No.' Just move along and skip the next few paragraphs if you don't want to read my little paddy.

I work in the public sector so obviously there is an unnecessarily long and complicated paper trail when buying absolutely anything. If we were to use our common sense and haggle, thereby saving the tax payer some money, it would mess with the strange autistic robots that work in city finance dept, causing them to pop a circuit and my tablet would honestly take months arrive.

It's a sodding joke, you can't buy something you see cheap in a shop or online, it has to come from either an approved catalogue or an approved site, often for much, much more than you could have bought it yourself. Usually taking much, much longer too.

We try to be cutting edge in my job, which led to our boss being investigated by the 'finance police' as he kept ordering stuff from unapproved sources. The common sense answer of 'The reason I ordered this very rare item from this company is 'cos they are the only ones that make it!' doesn't seem to compute to with the finance nazis. Don't get me started on any of our big purchases either, they take sodding months and we always end up with the company we wanted in the first place, grrrr!

Right, I'm off to work in a right strop now, cheers Timpson!

Bert, this bloke won't haggle.

Quote from: Pete Wells on 10 February, 2010, 08:11:51 AM

QuoteDid you haggle?

Aw Matt, the short answer is 'No.' Just move along and skip the next few paragraphs if you don't want to read my little paddy.

I work in the public sector so obviously there is an unnecessarily long and complicated paper trail when buying absolutely anything. If we were to use our common sense and haggle, thereby saving the tax payer some money, it would mess with the strange autistic robots that work in city finance dept, causing them to pop a circuit and my tablet would honestly take months arrive.

It's a sodding joke, you can't buy something you see cheap in a shop or online, it has to come from either an approved catalogue or an approved site, often for much, much more than you could have bought it yourself. Usually taking much, much longer too.

We try to be cutting edge in my job, which led to our boss being investigated by the 'finance police' as he kept ordering stuff from unapproved sources. The common sense answer of 'The reason I ordered this very rare item from this company is 'cos they are the only ones that make it!' doesn't seem to compute to with the finance nazis. Don't get me started on any of our big purchases either, they take sodding months and we always end up with the company we wanted in the first place, grrrr!

Right, I'm off to work in a right strop now, cheers Timpson!

There's no 'p' in Timson.

Quote from: Pete Wells on 10 February, 2010, 08:11:51 AM
We try to be cutting edge in my job, which led to our boss being investigated by the 'finance police' as he kept ordering stuff from unapproved sources. The common sense answer of 'The reason I ordered this very rare item from this company is 'cos they are the only ones that make it!' doesn't seem to compute to with the finance nazis. Don't get me started on any of our big purchases either, they take sodding months and we always end up with the company we wanted in the first place, grrrr!

To be fair to the Public Sector that admittedly monotonous level of dross is to stop Public Money from being abused or being used to support organizations that the Country may not want to have. Admittedly it works less well when the people setting out who is on the approved list balls it up or abuse their position or you work in part of the organisation that needs to have a more versitile attitue to aquisitions but if your organisation receives significant Public Money it has to do things a certain way because as soon as it turns out the cheapest supplier is so cheap because of child labour and drugs trade all hell breaks loose.

Quote from: Matt Timson on 10 February, 2010, 11:23:16 AM
There's no 'p' in Timson.

Did someone take it?


Wakkawakkawakkka

Oops, sorry Matt!

No P in Timson? That's dehydration that is.

I scratched my Cintiq yesterday. I was a little bit cross.

Interesting ... Stylus for iPhone and iPad that incorporates pressure sensitivity (http://tenonedesign.com/sketch.php).

Someone puts out a decent MangaStudio or Photoshop analogue for iPad and it could be all over for the Cintiq.

Cheers!

Jim

Not really- not unless they're going to bring out a 21" iPad. I already treat my 21UX as a bit of a step down from my 30" display, viewing-wise.  I certainly wouldn't choose to go any smaller.

Quote from: Matt Timson on 13 February, 2010, 08:32:39 PM
Not really- not unless they're going to bring out a 21" iPad. I already treat my 21UX as a bit of a step down from my 30" display, viewing-wise.  I certainly wouldn't choose to go any smaller.

There's no way on God's earth I'm ever going to be able to afford the 21", so it'll be the 12" or nothing for me. I'd sacrifice two inches of screen real estate to save £400-£500 quid -- it'd still be a step up from a normal tablet.

Cheers!

Jim

Fair enough- but I doubt that there'd be any serious danger of it all being over for the Cintiq.  A lot of people just aren't going to want to go that small- and certainly not if they're already used to something that's over twice the size.

Quote from: Matt Timson on 13 February, 2010, 09:44:54 PM
A lot of people just aren't going to want to go that small- and certainly not if they're already used to something that's over twice the size.

I'm not suggesting that people would abandon their Cintiqs in favour of the iPad. OTOH, I know a fair number of people (myself included) who are thinking of selling kidneys in order to afford one because there is literally no alternative product available.

Given Wacom's frankly outrageous UK pricing, I wouldn't be sorry to see them given a little UK competition.

Cheers!

Jim

Bah!  If you want it- just ring up Apple and get them to give you a discount- then load up your credit card and stop going to the boozer until you've paid it off- or until the monetary system collapses.  Simple!

What, just ring 'em up? What's the blag, just beg or plead?

Quote from: Matt Timson on 13 February, 2010, 09:59:33 PM
Bah!  If you want it- just ring up Apple and get them to give you a discount- then load up your credit card and stop going to the boozer until you've paid it off- or until the monetary system collapses.  Simple!

Hey, I'm not one of you overpaid arty types, getting paid vast sums of cash for drawing an Impala, I'm a letterer ... we work for a living.

Cheers!

Jim

re: those pens - they are horrible (well, maybe not the pogo ones) but the requirements of the touch sensitive on the iPod/iPad require a peculiar type of 'nib' that is, ultimately, like trying to sketch with a bit of soggy sausage. Just horrible.

(And a quick scout of the website confirms that the 'pressure sensitivity' is, essentially, the graphic tablet seeing how much of the pen is being applied to the tablet - and then adjusting the width appropriately - lean heavier giving a thicker amount of the 'nib' on the tablet and you'll get a thicker line - in other words; there's nowhere near the precision of a cintiq/wacom)

-pj

Quote from: pauljholden on 13 February, 2010, 11:28:20 PM
re: those pens - they are horrible

Pants. Back to the "selling a kidney" plan, then. The info is appreciated. However, I find it hard to believe that it's beyond somebody's wit to build a proper pressure sensor into the pen and feed the data back to the iPhone/iPad via Bluetooth.

Cheers!

Jim

I think the technology used by the iPhone/iPad prohibets the use of anything too fine...
http://www.lionprecision.com/tech-library/technotes/cap-0020-sensor-theory.html
==
Effects of Target Size
The target size is a primary consideration when selecting a probe for a specific application. When the sensing electric field is focused by guarding, it creates a slightly conical field that is a projection of the sensing area. The minimum target diameter for standard calibration is 30% of the diameter of the sensing area. The further the probe is from the target, the larger the minimum target size. (bac
==

(Yes this is both dull and pointless. I should be in bed. BUT SOMETIMES I MISS WORKING IN IT ...)

-pj

Quote from: James on 13 February, 2010, 11:17:04 PM
What, just ring 'em up? What's the blag, just beg or plead?

Just ring Apple up, tell them you want it for your business, and ask if they can do you a better rate.  Oddly, I was able to get more off my Cintiq than the discount I was offered for a new Macbook Pro that cost half as much again.  I've no idea why this should be, but I certainly didn't question a 400 quid discount either- I just gave them my credit card details before they changed their minds!
:D

Quote from: pauljholden on 14 February, 2010, 12:19:32 AM
I think the technology used by the iPhone/iPad prohibets the use of anything too fine...

Aha! But you're talking about using the capacitance technology of the touchscreen, aren't you? I'm talking about a relatively simple device to measure downwards force built into the pen itself (the reverse of a simple spring balance would almost be enough) which could then send pressure data to the drawing app via Bluetooth. I think the resolution of the capacitance sensors is sufficient to accurately track the position of the stylus via the screen, with pressure data supplied by the mechanism I describe.

Should I be filing this for a patent?

Cheers

Jim

I don't think you're wrong, but I do think it'd be hard to use a drawing tool that looks and feels like the end of a stubby sausage...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/12/korean_sausage_stylus/

Quote from: pauljholden on 14 February, 2010, 12:51:25 AM
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/12/korean_sausage_stylus/

Heh. Nearly posted that myself. Not sure how you build a pressure sensor into it, though.

Cheers!

Jim