I'm considering using a tablet for art and writing, but which ones are best for that? (WiFi, laptop)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This may not be the best place to ask this, but I was wondering what is a good, affordable tablet made for drawing that can also be used like a normal tablet, if there' such a thing. I'm talking about something preferably no more than roughly $300.
I'm going on a volunteer trip for ten months, and the people I am working for only want me to take a duffel bag and carry-on worth of stuff. Normally I would take my gaming laptop with me, but since I suspect I will be doing a lot of travelling and not a lot of game playing, I don't really want to take it. Plus, the thing got a new hard drive, and it won't connect to the internet.
My other school laptop is busted, and this small refurbished one can't handle much of anything and lags a lot, so since I'm interested in practicing drawing and writing, I decided that maybe I should give a tablet a try. Normally I don't like tablets. I think they're much more limited in what they can do compared to computers, but aren't as portable for casual everyday life like a phone, and if I'm hypothetically am going to be doing a lot of writing for a company in a regular job, I would just bring a laptop since it's (usually) faster and more dependable than a tablet, arguably. And if I don't need a computer for work, I would just use my cell phone when out on the town, and use my laptop when I'm at home.
Despite my own bias against tablets and what a few threads say on here, I still think tablets can have their uses, and if I can get a decent-running tablet for $300 that I can write in, search the web on, and draw with a stylus on accurately, it would be perfect for my unique circumstance, as it is more portable than a gaming laptop, feels more natural to hold for writing on, and (hopefully) can hold a charge longer than most laptops I've used, or can at least easily be recharged by a portable USB battery.
I would prefer one with a stylus, a Windows 10 or lower operating system, and maybe a textured tip or surface. Although it may be reaching a bit, it would also be cool if it let me write words by actually writing them on it instead of tapping letters, which I hate. If not, and I can't use a detachable or wireless keyboard with it, then I'll just take this crummy used laptop with me and write with it when I'm not out in the field.
I do a little drawing on my tablets occasionally. Using the various photo editing or sketching apps, like PicsArt Studio, Aviary, etc., and an inexpensive capacitive stylus, I think any tablet or smartphone can be used this way. Both my Samsung tablet & smartphone have a built-in memo app that also allows for drawing or writing with a stylus.
My newer Galaxy Tab S is faster and more powerful than my older model, so that helps also. The 8" version cost me $249 about a month ago.
These are Androids that I am mentioning here. Not sure about how this would work on a Windows OS. One of the things I like best about my Android devices is that they don't use Windows. :-}
Well, I mostly just wanted to use Windows 10 because Windows is what I'm most familiar with, and what I USED to expect to work with Microsoft Office, but now that I remember Windows Vista, Windows 8, and since using this refurbished laptop and having to go through so much trouble to get Windows 7 to update, and STILL not being able to use Microsoft Office, I just remembered that although advance and versatile, Microsoft OSes are clunky and bloated as ****, and the only reason I use it is because it's familiar, versatile, and the "standard".
But after stumbling across the Nvidia Shield tablet, and seeing how sleek and supposedly versatile and powerful it is, I kind of want to look further into it, despite using Android, which I often associated with cheap cellphone OSes and phone apps.
I kind of assumed or believed that a textured touch screen is what is needed for the best drawing experience, but with my small amounts of money and the fact that I'm still new to drawing, maybe a textured touch screen won't make much of a difference, especially with all of the different styluses I am seeing. Maybe I should just get used to the flat and smooth surface of a tablet.
But you know, I've always been skeptical of whenever a gaming-focused company releases their own sort of console...it tends to not work well at all and be cheaply made, but every time I hear and see Samsung anything, I just see "cellphone".
That Surface Pro looks pretty good. It almost sounds and looks like as if it's a laptop built like a tablet, and it looks pretty competent, too, like it can run some games. It's too bad the price range is a bit up there. Maybe I can save up enough money for the $600 one or pawn some things off before leaving for work, but first, I'll need to do more research on it.
The Nvidia Shield K1 looks pretty nice, but it also screams "cheap gamingware crap", and I want to make sure I get my money's worth. The Samsung Galaxy S Tab thingie looks pretty nice, but it screams "cellphone", and I don't want another cellphone.
If the Surface Pro 4 has a good battery life and is truly portable and good for drawing and writing, I may just have to see if I can get it somehow.
OK, so after researching it, I don't think the Surface Pro 4 is what I am looking for at the moment.
From what I understand, I also can't get an iPad Air without getting some cellphone service plan, and I don't want another cellphone.
The only cheap, portable, and affordable tablets I have found that could be remotely competently used for drawing or painting are Nvidia Shield K1 and Samsung Galaxy Tab dat Dab S 20XX, and I don't want another godd**n cellphone.
From my understanding, it's not really possible to do a lot of really fine, competent art work on any of those tablets (except for the super expensive high-tier ones like Surface Pro 4), let alone do detailed painting. Considering how I haven't even started drawing yet and just want to practice doing sketches and some basic painting, it makes me think I'd be better off just getting a sketchbook and some pencils, and then get a cheap Thinkpad or some tablet with keyboard support.
I was also curious to see if it was possible to write letters on a tablet and they be interpreted and converted to text so I wouldn't have to use a keyboard, but from the research I did, that's not easily doable yet either. So basically, I'm just looking for a half-decent, fast running tablet that doesn't have bloatware, can use Microsoft Office, and allows for use of a stylus and a detachable keyboard.
1) the Air does NOT require a cell plan. It can run on Wifi.
2) The Surface IS a tablet computer... it's a full blown computer in a tablet shape.
3) You can absolutely draw well on (even the cheapest) Surface 4.
That was kind of my confusion when it came right down to it. I wasn't sure if there was something special about the iPad Air when it comes to drawing or doing anything with the stylus, or if it was all just a combination of special stylus design and software made to mimic the feel of drawing on a pressure sensing pad.
Just to make sure, do you mean any iPad Air, or iPad Air 2 specifically?
It's a combo of stylus design and the software on the tablet and the screen resolution.
Both Air's are capable.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
