Digital ink/tablet pc: worth the effort?

[Darwin]

Digital ink/tablet pc: worth the effort?

João's been following me around all day with a broom and dustpan cleaning up my messes 

Thanks, João 

[J-Mac]

Cleaned up one of mine, too.

Now that is a true, dedicated Moderator!

Jim

[mikiem]

"I think the pen, as a sole method of input, would be tiring."

FWIW, I've used tablets (not a tablet PC) for I guess about a little over a decade now, and just like different mice and trackballs, it becomes 2nd nature -- really miss it if you don't have it sort of thing.

Analyzing the why is a bit more difficult, if not impossible... It has to do with the tactile sense &/or sensory feedback you get from using a tablet. And I think it has to do with the way we're wired IMHO -- parents will know what I mean from watching the way their kids use their hands to explore almost from birth. Long story short, it's a more intuitive, natural way to work, not just for drawing images but things like audio envelopes.

[Darwin]

I have a Wacom Bamboo Fun - with both mouse and pen - and recommend that if you're at all tempted you pick one of these up to test the waters. I have to confess that I have yet to really use the pen - and I've owned the thing for about two months - but the build quality, price and feature set are hard to beat. I have the little one (4x6 or so...) and have TRIED using the pen as my exclusive pointing device and I can see that if I gave it enough time it would become second nature, as mikiem notes.

[mikiem]

Years ago [giving away my age here], you had one pointing device, the pen was wired to the tablet & that was hooked up to one of the serial ports. Back then you had little choice but to live with the thing, so you got acclimated REAL quick. 

For the most fun with a tablet if you have family members that aren't tech oriented, show them your Wacom with Vista's handwriting recognition app. Practically speaking, I could very well see my mom using that to write notes and emails. Myself, I've found it absolutely necessary for things like photo touchup -- there's something about a brush stroke that you just can't do with a mouse. For anyone looking to try one on the cheap, geeks.com seems to have a bunch of tablet specials lately, and if you live near an Aldi Foods, keep you eyes open as every once in a while they have their Medion branded version of the Aiptek 12 incher for ~ $40. These aren't Wacoms, but they'll let you get your feet wet for just a little cash.

[J-Mac]

@mikiem:  I agree completely regarding the "feel" you get from the tactile feedback from the pen!  A whole new feeling in place of the mouse, to which we have become so accustomed.  Though I could not use the pen comfortably as yet for all purposes for which I now use the mouse.  That would take a lot if use to get comfortable.

@Darwin: I agree with you also about how much fun it is to use a Wacom Bamboo Fun!  As I posted once before, though: I love the tablet and pen with apps like Art Rage 2, but I still have a certain amount of difficulty using it to write notes on a smaller window, like in Evernote.

Jim

[steeladept]

It's a shame that there isn't a "lending program" for such items - we could really benefit from something like that!

-J-Mac (February 02, 2008, 03:45 AM)

Actually, under certain circumstances, there are programs like that.  HP, for example, has a demo program where customers (Enterprise level anyway) can request demos and actually use them for up to 6 weeks I believe.  We use it at work frequently to create images and test systems before we decide what we will buy for an upgrade path.  In fact, my last flat panel monitor and laptop were both demos that the company decided not to purchase, but allowed us to purchase independently at their cost for the demo.  It wasn't at much of a discount since it was still essentially new, but it allowed us to try before we buy.  I don't know of anything like this on the consumer side, but if you have a business and buy computers regularly for it directly from a supplier like HP or Dell, it is worth an inquiry.

[dlagesse1992]

I'm on my tablet right now =].

My school required everyone in my class to get a tablet PC for school. Mine is a bit heavier, 14" ~7 pounds, but with a sweet graphics card and more power than th smaller ones. I've gotten used to it, and use the tablet function occasionally.

It really depends on what you do with it. On the go, it's great, way better than a trackpad (I use a mouse, but some don't). It is great for taking notes, a lot better for showing relationships between items. Tablet support in OS's is good. Mine came with XP tablet edition, pretty good. I'm actually using Linux now (Ubuntu), but I still got it working fine. Make sure it is a Wacom.

Tablets are really useful in some areas. In other, the added cost isn't worth it. For smaller computers, I think a tablet is great, an easy way to use the computer. On a desktop replacement, not so much.

Overall, if you can afford the extra money, go for it.