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Tablet + capacitive pen

Or hell, Wacom makes a mobile version of their drawing tablet http://www.wacom.com/en/produc...

That's a really a poor option, and rather lame to be honest. A Cintiq 13" is infinitely better for the workflow you're describing and costs less( Unless you go by the paid-for-shill-youtuber opinions that were pro iPad Pro weeks before it was released ).

And I personally prefer Painter, but to say Photoshop kind of sucks as drawing tool comes off as naive, especially given the improvements Adobe has made to its paint and drawing tools in recent years. If I want to just doodle and I'm unfamiliar with Photoshop, OK, but other than that, I can not agree. There's NOTHING on iOS that remotely touches Photoshop, let alone any desktop level graphic programs. An app is an app, so incredibly limited.

And the iPad Pro is not at all worth its cost! It's not a real computer, but cost more than one, and it's not even remotely a professional product.. If it ran OS X, or if it were half the price and included its pencil, I'd have absolute praise for it.

And the Apple Pencil while good, is by no means excellent( going by your parent comment ), not when compared to what Wacom has been making for a long time now. Its tilt-support is pathetic( it's just ON or OFF ), no barrel-rotation, no side-buttons, no eraser, no support for multi-ID support( I use 3 styluses on my Wacom Companion, which is why I prefer Painter***), it's inferior technically all around, and it needs a "battery"! Some people like its pencil form factor, I don't, it's a throw back to the Artz stylus.

***I currently use a Wacom Companion( i7 model ) and love it for all of my 2D work. It replaced my MacBook Pro 17". It's the only tablet I bring with me now when I need to go remote. It's a real computer; which of course has some trade offs, but its benefits absolutely outweigh an option like a computer + iPad. I used to lug a Cintiq 12wx around with my MacBook Pro( my backpack felt like it weighed 50 pounds. ).

And here's a newer solution for what you're getting at. :) It's the Wacom 16 Mobile Studio Pro( i7 model with a Quadro GPU ): http://www.wacom.com/en-us/pro...

It's my next portable and the first portable in a long time, not since the first Wacom Companion and Titanium Power Books, that has me drooling. It has the power of my last desktop-workstation, so I'll be able to use it for 3D modeling and moderate 3D painting work when not near my current desktop.

If you think that's "expensive", I suggest you look up how much a stylus normally costs.

https://store.wacom.com/us/en/...

Get one of 27" QHD combined monitor and pen interfaces and strap a little Intel NUC or similar super small PC to the back. They do smaller ones if you only want 18".

Cintiq's are only good for essentially fixed workspaces. The 13" model is only 2.6 pounds, but the 22" model weighs 19 pounds and the 27" is 20 pounds - and none of them come with a battery.

You haven't looked at Wacom's stock in a while, I guess. They've made two hybrid Cintiqs that act as both a standalone tablet and a pen display. Originally there was a Windows and Android version, but the Android one hasn't gotten a second revision yet, so I think they gave up on the Android one. See here

Just shy of four bounds, 13.3" display, works as a normal cintiq when attached to another system or as a standalone Windows tablet otherwise, with a claim of "up to 4.5 hours" battery life. Also obscenely expensive, just like every other Cintiq.

I actually own and really like the 12" Galaxy Note Pro that Samsung made and hope that the rumours of this super-sized variant indicates they aren't going to abandon other sizes over 10".

This and a Wacom tablet and you are all set. Bit pricy though when you add the needed Wacom tablet. https://store.wacom.com/us/en/... OR you could just get one of these which took about 2 min to find with the Google http://www.chairslimited.com/p... http://evoluent.com/ Or for a whole page full of them http://www.aliexpress.com/popu...

You had good sense on investment. I was being told to buy in 2008, right before the bust, on a house I wouldn't be able to sell now because it's worth $50k less. I bought a house that I could pay off quick; in 2016, I'll have some $2200/mo less of expenses, which means I could go out and buy a brand-new Cintiq 2700QHD Touch every month and still have near $1000 left to spend, after paying all my bills.

I'll just max out my 401(K) and use that as a leverage source. When I take loans, it'll be at low rates, paying interest to myself.

My parents's reasoning was never sound in any context. They're the "I saw it on TV, Obama is putting us in concentration camps, we need to stock up on guns now" type.

I'm holding out for the next generation of the Cintiq Companion (which currently stands at a whopping 4lbs, keyboard not included.)

One could say that this tablet is also competing with the Wacom cintiq tablets that were announced recently. here and here. It's ~3" smaller and has 1024 vs 2048 levels of pressure, but it's half the cost. So yeah. Maybe it's 'too expensive' for most people, but for artists, especially hobbiests and amatuers, it's amazingly cheaper.

One could say that this tablet is also competing with the Wacom cintiq tablets that were announced recently. here and here. It's ~3" smaller and has 1024 vs 2048 levels of pressure, but it's half the cost. So yeah. Maybe it's 'too expensive' for most people, but for artists, especially hobbiests and amatuers, it's amazingly cheaper.

Wacom just introduced something close to that, the Cintiq Companion --- your choice of Windows 8 or Android: http://cintiqcompanion.wacom.com/CintiqCompanion/en/

Press release: http://www.wacom.com/in/en/news/971

Same size as the ModBook Pro which has been out for a while: http://www.modbook.com/modbookpro-specs

Unfortunately, the iPad and Android Tablets pretty much killed off the Tablet PC, so there aren't any new tablets that I'm aware of in the 15--17" size range. There is the Sony Tap 20 if one wants to go larger, but it's not really portable:

http://store.sony.com/c/VAIO-Tap-20-Touchscreen-Computers/en/c/S_J2_SERIES_PAGE

Wacom just introduced something close to that, the Cintiq Companion --- your choice of Windows 8 or Android: http://cintiqcompanion.wacom.com/CintiqCompanion/en/

Press release: http://www.wacom.com/in/en/news/971

Same size as the ModBook Pro which has been out for a while: http://www.modbook.com/modbookpro-specs

Unfortunately, the iPad and Android Tablets pretty much killed off the Tablet PC, so there aren't any new tablets that I'm aware of in the 15--17" size range. There is the Sony Tap 20 if one wants to go larger, but it's not really portable:

http://store.sony.com/c/VAIO-Tap-20-Touchscreen-Computers/en/c/S_J2_SERIES_PAGE

Check Waccom's page for the Cintiq Tablet - Win8 and has the full Cintiq digitizer interface. Pricey though at $2500 but if you're a digital graphics artist it may be worth the money. http://cintiqcompanion.wacom.com/CintiqCompanion/en/

It's that pen. Wacom pen-tablets are not cheap, and what you have here is essentially a small Cintiq with a built-in computer.... which is why I bought it. The thing is a dream with Photoshop and Moi3D.

Wacom Inkling?

http://www.wacom.com/en/products/mobile/inkling

Wacom actually makes screens you can draw on, it's called the Cintiq. They are, however, quite a bit more expensive than the Surface Pro. Of course, the Surface Pro won't replace the larger model Cintiq devices.

The real problem is that the RT, which is the subject of the article, is a fancy tablet with a nice keyboard cover. There's no legacy application support, for obvious reasons to anyone reading Slashdot. There's no Wacom digitizer functionality. It does have Office, in the Desktop view. Microsoft failed on the RT by not having any obvious advantages over the major competitors in the space and by creating confusion between the RT, the Pro, and plain Windows 8. If a potential customer isn't sure which Windows tablet they need, they are just as likely to get an iPad or Android tablet because of the ecosystem those have.

My point comes down to this, anyone reviewing Window 8 should do so with a touch screen. Never install in a desktop.

Finally someone who gets it here on /. BTW desktop is fine if it has a new generation input device like a http://www.wacom.com/en/creative/products/pen-displays/cintiq

I had the same requirements as 'timothy' and there really is very little on the market that meets them. I suspect all the sufficiently small HD screens are being snapped up by tablet manufacturers. It's a shame Apple seems to have banished USB pass-through apps, or the iPad + AirDisplay would make a nice choice. I looked at the AOC E2251Fwu, a "semi portable" product. Bit large for me, and the build quality and design don't suit me. This HP-U160 seemed cute, but is not HD, so I ruled it out. I eventually settled on the Wacom Cintiq 13HD It is actually designed for pen input, and is rather expensive because of this. Since I have also the occasional need to use a graphics tablet, it works okay for me. The only issue is that there's no decent portrait-mode stand for it yet. Makes coding less pleasant. Over all I'm satisfied with it though.

Most people with tablets want them as a passive device, not a machine to replace the one on their desk.

Most people don't know what they want until someone gives it to them. After all, Apple doesn't do focus groups, or so the apocryphal story goes. Funny how you fanboys criticize Microsoft for being more like Apple. And you contradict yourself, in typical fashion...

If you're doing full blown photoshop, WTF would you want to be doing it on a tablet for? Everyone will say "god, I miss my long battery life".

Excusing a UI limitation with technical whining, like the fattest, smelliest, most inept neckbearded open source programmers. I guess you've never seen one of these.

Or, to make it more obvious...

Slashdot have a tendency to say "this is what I want, therefore it's what everybody wants

I use my tablet primarily for entertainment and light web surfing. I'm not remotely interested...

Since the Sony Tab 20 is a Windows x86 machine, you should be able to run anything you'd like on it:

http://www.wpcentral.com/look-at-sony-vaio-tab-20-windows-8-pc

That said, if you're billable rate is high enough, and you need a beefier machine you should probably just get a monitor for your existing machine which has stylus support (there's a 24" model which has touch):

http://www.wacom.com/products/pen-displays/cintiq/cintiq-22hd

If you consider Windows "like" OSX then I wouldn't worry. Phone OSes will be like each other as much as OSX is like Windows. What Apple is trying to stop is a much higher degree of similarity.

I don't see that. They are suing stock Android today, and it is very much different from iOS - about the only common thing I can think of is the "grid of icons" model, though even that is employed rather differently in Android. Well, and notifications drawer, now that Apple has swiped it from Android wholesale.

That being said, assume Apple had won. Well then Microsoft likely abandons the mouse and pointer paradigm. From there there are lots of options. We know Bill Gates was huge on tablet so perhaps they move over to the stylus / touchscreen approach early. For Windows the tablet technology is part of the GUI from the earliest days and Microsoft is much stronger in laptops since Windows is a tablet technology with things like http://www.wacom.com/en/products/cintiq.aspx being used for the desktops. I can see lots of ways that isn't so bad.

Looking at the likes of Gnome 3, I can see far more ways of it going bad than it going well.

Either way, things like double tap should not be patentable, period - or if they are, they should be considered FRAND patents too, in accordance with "form follows function". So far Apple has shown itself to be very willing to use them to screw up all its viable competition. You keep saying about how they go after Android just because it's so similar, but, having used both, this sounds like clear BS to me. Like I said, they're similar in the same way OS X and Windows are similar - both have icons that can be double-clicked...

Nah, they go after Android because it's the only one that has comparable market share, and that has so far stood up to Apple's march to take over the entire market. And if they do succeed in that, the only outcome I see is a decade of a single company having 90+% dominance in smartphones, with everyone else lurking in the corners; consequently, most apps would also be targeting iOS, so we'd have roughly the same arrangement as with Windows vs everyone else circa 2001, except that in this case it'll be even worse because Windows, at least, did not restrict third parties with respect to software they could build on top of the OS, nor end users with respect to hardware they could run it on. With an Apple monoculture, it would be a cross-cutting one. And that would be very, very bad. So I do hope that Google does go all nuclear on their ass with everything they have at their disposal, FRAND patents, whatever - for purely selfish reasons of actually wanting to have a viable mobile OS choice going forward.

sufficiently "like" OS X today - among others, Windows and some Linux DEs.

If you consider Windows "like" OSX then I wouldn't worry. Phone OSes will be like each other as much as OSX is like Windows. What Apple is trying to stop is a much higher degree of similarity.

And I can't help but think just how fucked up things would have been by now if Apple has successfully pursued that look and feel case against Microsoft over Windows back in the day.

It was a different case because Windows 1.0 was licensed. Same as Microsoft licensed a whole bunch of OSX technologies today. Microsoft never questioned if double click was patentable they just proved that things like that were not both patentable by Apple in a way enforceable against Microsoft.

That being said, assume Apple had won. Well then Microsoft likely abandons the mouse and pointer paradigm. From there there are lots of options. We know Bill Gates was huge on tablet so perhaps they move over to the stylus / touchscreen approach early. For Windows the tablet technology is part of the GUI from the earliest days and Microsoft is much stronger in laptops since Windows is a tablet technology with things like http://www.wacom.com/en/products/cintiq.aspx being used for the desktops. I can see lots of ways that isn't so bad.

Or they never use things like double clicking but instead have multi button mice much earlier. So Windows is dominated by say 4 buttons usable in combination (16 combinations of types of clicks) while Apple has a simple one button approach. Apple stays strong in education and ends up as a children't computer while Microsoft dominates the adult market.

I just don't see the problem.

Huh? How is someone going to play "Draw Something" effectively on a laptop or desktop with no touch screen? Have you ever tried to draw with a mouse or trackpad? Haha.

Microsoft seems to think everyone will be going the touchscreen route on desktops and notebooks eventually. Even ignoring that, there are graphics tablets from Wacom, or even ridiculously cheap ones from Monoprice

Even if you're not an artist, they can be nice to have and use, so it's not unthinkable that someone would have one, and at the Monoprice prices, a Draw Something junkie might even be willing to buy a cheap tablet just to play on a larger screen.

I'd swap it for an Android tablet tomorrow if I could. I'm sick of Apple telling me how I can (and can't) use the product that I bought.

When I learned Apple would be releasing a tablet I was excited about getting one. But when the iPad was released my dreams were dashed. I imagined a 17" MacBook Pro with a built-in digitizer, like Wacom's. I guess the only way I'll get one is if I get a Mdbook Pro, which hasn't been released yet, I hire some one to make one, or I make my own. Since I don't have the money I guess the only tablet I'll get is an Android. Then I hope I can install OSX and Ubuntu on it.

Falcon

Maybe consider Inkling by Wacom?

http://www.wacom.com/en/Products/Inkling.aspx
http://youtu.be/fXbBA1DRE84

I haven't used that so I have no idea if it works for lectures but on the concept it sounds interesting. I have heard people using for note-taking though.

So... you want a Wacom Cintiq? All the way from 12" to 24". Of course they start at $1000 and top out at $2600. Why? Because making a photo-quality touch screen with high enough precision and low enough latency to mimic paper is damn expensive. It's also heavy and bulky, with the smallest 12" model weighing 4.4 lbs and 3/4 of an inch thick.

And they still need to plug into a computer.

And none of this will show up in tablets for the foreseeable future. Because if it could be done cheaper or lighter or more portable Wacom wouldn't have spent the last decade as the only company making them.

These folks aren't getting it. Bigger is better. I work with many businesses and they would all love a bigger tablet - the size of a piece of paper - like a 13" model. They'd snap those up so fast, it would make the HP fire sale look amateurish.

bigger is better? then how about a 21-inch or a 24-inch one? not exactly portable but they work almost like a tablet if you don't need to move around.

here:
24 inch: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/18/wacom-cintiq-24hd-approved-by-fcc-makes-us-wish-we-went-to-art/

21 inch (and 12 inch) ones:
http://www.wacom.com/en/Products/Cintiq/Compare%20Models.aspx

Wacom makes those and they cost about $1,000.

...to rule them all. Seriously though, as someone with a RSI, this sounds like a great alternative. I have tried everything from the 3M Ergonomic Mouse to the Wacom line of tablets (which I am currently using). This device sounds like a great alternative to the mouse...I only hope a Bluetooth version is made for the PC.

Reminds me of the virtual laser keyboard that came out a few years back. Is there anyone out there who actually bought one and used it regularly (or, like, more than 5 minutes)?

Yeah, I have one. Funny thing about typing is that fingers need a resistance buffer (ala buckling springs) so that you can rest your fingers without triggering a key-press, and get feedback (even, mmm audible clacks) to notify you to stop pressing.

I have tried using the laser keyboard, and it fails in the same way that all touch-pads & touch-screens do.

• No resting position
• No physical response to keypress
• No pressure buffer

By "pressure buffer" I mean that pressure goes from none to 100% ALL STOP on each press using any touch surface. This is retarded behavior (seriously, retards my typing speed considerably), and causes more repetitive stress due to the equal/opposite forces slamming into the end of your fingers each time you press.

Set your keyboard aside, and pretend to type on the desk -- It HURTS after an hour or so. The mechanical keyboards & mice are truly far superior. My normal speed of 80wpm drops to 50wpm with the laser keyboard. Hint: I can touch type, but the laser can't notify me by touch where the damn keys are at...constant readjustments are required.

On the topic of pointer input...

Hello touch interface users: Welcome to the next round of: Rub your fingertips off (or alternatively: Really Expensive Writers Cramp).

Even if you put down a flexible mat in front of the EvoMouse to reduce finger impact strain, and grease it up to reduce the finger friction burns, you still have to deal with either "flying fingers" or "repetitive keyboard to pointer reach" -- No restful position.

Look where your pointer hand is even when you're reading: Resting on the mouse / trackball / keyboard, ready to scroll past this nonsense at the press of a button or roll of a wheel (Hint: remap Capslock to Ctrl and use ctrl + IJKL (CHTN on Dvorak) as arrow keys... no more arrow key reach stress). Touch users will be hovering their finger above the scroll region, or else will have to reach to scroll.

I prefer pen-tablets, mice, trackballs, keyboards... Why anyone thinks that an "insubstantial" interface is intuitive is beyond me -- we have nerves tuned for mechanical manipulation and touch feedback. Here's a brilliant Idea: Let's utilize our senses / nerves, not make them less important; Let's also stop labeling input methods that require even more motor skills than finger twitch, wrist move as "innovative".

The Wacom Intuos4 pen-tablet comes with a "wireless" mouse that doesn't take batteries -- NO, I said NO batteries, not "it's a rechargeable bullshit battery that you have to charge" -- I mean, It works just like the damn pen does, the tablet senses the mouse.

I just move the mouse aside and begin drawing with the pen to switch back and forth. No wires (except on the pad itself), and Bonus: Gimp recognizes the pen-tip, pen-eraser, and mouse all as separate pointers with their own tool selection auto activated when they are above the pad. Draw, flip pen to erase, grab mouse to arrange & composite.

I get both: The precision & natural feel of a pressure sensitive "touch" pen-tablet, and the restful comfort & familiarity of a mouse for every day point / click / scrollwheel.

Touch / Laser input be damned. You're right, it's neat for 5min -- Keep the box & re-gift them; These touch input devices are a toys, not real "work" devices (by this I mean that if you do most of your work by key/pointer input touch devices are horribly inefficient & inaccurate at best -- The touch devices would probably be fine for a manager or C*O who doesn't require comfortable

Start with getting him a tablet like the Bamboo Pen & Touch and let him go crazy on ArtRage. You'll definitely get your money's worth in saved paper, crayons, and stained walls. Or get him started on 3D modeling with Anim8or, an absurdly easy and free program to get into, and then later follow an introduction to real LEGOs with MLCad.

There are also kid's programming languages, which help prevent kids from seeing computers as "magic devices". Popular examples that use a visual drag-and-drop method are Alice and Scratch.

If you want to directly interact w/ your documents on-screen get an Axiotron ModBook:

http://www.axiotron.com/

or a Wacom Cintiq:

http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-12wx.php

William

90+ comments and no one has mentioned that the 'touch' part could mean they're making the iMac like Wacom's Cintiq? http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-12wx.php?gclid=CL7b1ebB0qMCFVjW5wod8DD0ug

where I can buy a USB pad currently to add multi-touch support for a Windows desktop. Thanks

From Wacom. I have one of these, and use it on a Windows system. I haven't plugged it into my Lucid system...yet.

Handwriting with a finger point? Why not spend the extra $30 and go with a wacom multiouch + pen digitizer, and be able to actually write and draw. Or if using fingers is all you really want, you can save $20 and just go with a Wacom multitouch board.

Handwriting with a finger point? Why not spend the extra $30 and go with a wacom multiouch + pen digitizer, and be able to actually write and draw. Or if using fingers is all you really want, you can save $20 and just go with a Wacom multitouch board.

I don't know enough to comment on the substance of what you said, but I do know from shopping for Christmas gifts for artistic family members that Wacom makes at least one tablet that does not require a stylus. The Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch is one example. But then, when I was looking for that link, I came across the Cintiq line. It's got the pen tablet and display in one - now just add the computer and make it pen-and-touch like the Bamboo and you're set.

I don't know enough to comment on the substance of what you said, but I do know from shopping for Christmas gifts for artistic family members that Wacom makes at least one tablet that does not require a stylus. The Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch is one example. But then, when I was looking for that link, I came across the Cintiq line. It's got the pen tablet and display in one - now just add the computer and make it pen-and-touch like the Bamboo and you're set.

Yeah, all told, worldwide, there were more iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads sold than Android phones. However, when you compare oranges and oranges.... Apple skews the numbers by including the non-phone variants in with the phones.

But how about this: Apple iPad Catching Up On Android In OS Market? If true then iPhone OS is ahead of Android, iPads use the same OS.

iPhone is still selling better, but that's probably got something to do with being in the market longer.

Being the New Hot Thing[TM] Androids should be selling fast.

Give it another year and see what the picture looks like, especially with all the cheap tablets coming out. Who needs a Kindle or Nook when you can get an Android tablet for less than $200?

If Android tablets are anything like iPads, ie running a crippled OS, then I don't care. When Apple announced the iPad I was hoping for a tablet more like the Modbook Pro, with the LCD of MacBooks/MacBook Pros being replaced by a tablet. Axiotron replaces the LCDs with a Wacom Penabled® digitizer. Any software that runs on Macs will run on it too.

Falcon

Doing a Modbook themselves wouldn't gain Apple anything.

Ah but I think they would, otherwise they'd never have done the iPad. The iPad is just an overblown iPhone that can't make phone calls or a crippled MacBook, if Apple were to release a tablet like the Modbook Pro, with a compleat implementation of OS X they could sell for more than a MacBook Pro. When I first heard of the iPad I, and many other photographers, were hoping for a laptop with a built-in tablet. With one we could take it with us to a photoset for a day of shooting and be able to use a pin for some editing. Here's a poster on photo.net wanting a way to go through a photo session while between different places to pick and choose keepers and throwout don't keeps. Now I won't suggest the driver doing it but a second person can. As the article Apple iPad: For Photographers? says the iPad is designed for the consumer, but if Apple were to release a tablet for photographers many would want to get one.

Sure those photographers who want one bad enough can buy the Modbook Pro, but then they wouldn't get the support Apple offers. I'm typing this on a MacBook Pro I bought almost 3 years ago. Every tyme I had a problem with it, 3 tymes, I was able to put it in my backpack and go to an Apple store to have it looked at. The first tyme was the day after I got it, I had ordered software utility with it but I could not boot with the disk when I tried when I got it. So I slipped it into my backpack and drove to an Apple store the following day. There I found out the software version was an old one whereas the MBP was a new one. Another tyme I had to reinstall OS X and the other tyme the graphics system had to be replaced. Each tyme I was able to go to Apple and have it looked at that day. I wouldn't be able to do that with a Modbook.

Apple made the right choice for Apple.

With many Apple users being graphics artists and photographers Apple would sell more tablets if it were not an overblown iPhone or a crippled MacBook. Here's more of what photographers say about the iPad both positive and negative. There are good ideas or points made on both sides, one good one being taking the iPad to a meeting and being able to show photographs, but related to that is the bad of the lack of much mass storage.

Falcon

Yes: http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-21ux.php

They're a bit expensive, but wacom does have drawing screens with pressure sensitivity, and have for a while now.

The Wacom tablet is not a display device, just an input device. Having a similar level of pressure sensitivity as a Wacom tablet but on the actual display device would be a huge improvement.

What, like a Wacom Cintiq?

even with that, it's still got very limited disk space (why no rotational drive option?), and the limited iphone style OS (why not full mac OS).

I'd rather have something that can hold at least a 250GB hdd and full MacOS/Windows.

Actually, with those, and give it at least a 14" screen, and they would switch me away from Toshiba.

Apple already makes such a device! It's called a "Macbook Pro".

Except a MacBook Pro also requires a Wacom tablet. Now if Apple made a 17" MBP with a built-in tablet like Wacom's Cintiq I'd try to find a way to buy it. Even more if it were 21" instead.

Falcon

Doesn't really matter the iPad is an iKaboom, it just wont work. All the sales, marketing and forum hype (could apple trolls be considered maggots) are not gonna get that platform moving.

At consumer electronic shows about 30 tablets are expected. MS showed one by HP. So if tablets fail it's not just Apple that loses. I'd love one myself, but not Apple's current iPad, the screen is too small for me. I've been thinking of getting a Wacom Bamboo for now.

Sticking an i in something doesn't make it more saleable, the tablet has always had the one big problem, drop factor, it is to large to be effectively hand held, a keyboard is the quickest input device and the tablet has always been this only for pose platform.

Almost all portable devices have that problem. Years ago I brought my laptop with me when I went somewhere and after I got out of the car I slipped on ice. When I got in I took my laptop out and though it only dropped about 2 feet the LCD was cracked. Hoping but not expecting it to be covered I called tech support but they said they didn't cover cracked LCDs. The person suggested I call my car insurance and when I asked how much it would cost to repair the person just said between $200 and $1200, nothing more precise. $1200? That's half what I paid for it.

And I only had it 3 months.

For now I guess a Bamboo will have to do.

Falcon

see the big screen size, and expect to browse the web just like they do on their laptop.

Big screen? While I like the price, to me the screen is too small. I'd rather keep my 17" MBP and get a 12" Cintiq 12WX.

And they're going to be disappointed...

I am now, not at Apple or Adobe but at web developers. Too often I come across a webpage that tells me I need to update my Flash player to the latest version. I have 10,0,42,34 which is the latest version.

Falcon

10 hours runtime on a charge.

No spinning hard drive or fans, and only 64gig memory max.

There would seem to be a lot of room in a device this big to pack in lots of battery. But no.

Ten hours is pretty respectable, I'd rather more storage. Then again with a larger display and tablet, I'd love to get one 17" or bigger, more storage and battery can be put into it. One with something like the Wacom Cintiq 21UX would be kickass bad.

Falcon

Tablet+screen has some serious disadvantages. You draw in one place, image appears elsewhere.
With a good touchscreen capable of providing precision comparable to decent Wacoms, this can become a dream tool for an artist.

Have you taken a look at the Wacom Cintiq?

Not cheap, but with this as a proof of concept, competition should follow and drive down prices.

http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-21ux.php

Already done.

Just very noncheap. Given Apple's enthusiasm for "finger-friendly" but only modestly precise touchscreens, I would be surprised if their hypothetical tablet is an improvement in this regard.

Already done.

Just very noncheap. Given Apple's enthusiasm for "finger-friendly" but only modestly precise touchscreens, I would be surprised if their hypothetical tablet is an improvement in this regard.

Have you watched a new user try to figure out one of the new apple trackpads? There is so little feedback that they have a hard time even understanding that there is a button available... and its seriously too bad if they meet up with a highly customized desktop supporting multiple gestures. I've noted that even experienced users need to take some time to figure out a peers configuration (concerning which corners do what).... but can you imagine what will happen as the gestures themselves become more and more customizable and as applications add their own gestures to the mix?

First Apple makes the, reasonable I think, assumption that the person logged in is the one currently at the computer. The guest account (or a new one) is meant for other users and it has a very simple and consistent setup. When you go to configure the gestures they are explained in the preference panel. No doubt gestures will become more configurable but it won't be through Apple but through third party software. It would be out of character for Apple to do anything but offer a basic set of gestures and lock its use down tightly.

The feedback issue is subjective I think. Most gadgets these days are going "touch" and people who have handled something like an iphone would have little difficulty adjusting but I can see how it would be a problem for some.

Magic Mouse -- it doesn't behave the same as a trackpad. In effect having pushed back on movable "mice keyboards" they've also neglected to build a moveable "mice trackpad".

That was never the point. The Magic Mouse is an evolution of the Mighty Mouse, not a trackpad. If it were a trackpad there's be no point in making it movable and you'd end up with something like the Bamboo which looks interesting but is a niche product like trackballs. If you meant moveable as in "wireless" you can get such a thing now by using an app like Touchpad Pro for iphone BTW.