I was wondering if anyone could inform me about the pros/cons of using a Tablet/Touchscreen PC for drawing/etc compared to using a drawing tablet.

I haven't made my choice yet on what I'll get so I was wondering if one had any specific advantages over the other.

I was wondering if anyone could inform me about the pros/cons of using a Tablet/Touchscreen PC for drawing/etc compared to using a drawing tablet.

I haven't made my choice yet on what I'll get so I was wondering if one had any specific advantages over the other.

I would say yes, but some are better than others. The one I've been eyeing is the Asus EP121 EEE slate. It is a powerful, lightweight, wacom enabled tablet with an AMAZING screen. I would buy one today if I had the extra money to throw around.

edit: you might get better answers in the art section though.

CONS:
Lower Resolution
Do you have pressure sensitivity? A 250$ Wacom Bamboo has 1024 levels.

As someone's who's never used either device before, could you elaborate on what that means and the significance of it?

[quote name='Slateboard' timestamp='1304700255' post='4807400']
[quote name='Daaark' timestamp='1304699674' post='4807392']
CONS:
Lower Resolution
Do you have pressure sensitivity? A 250$ Wacom Bamboo has 1024 levels.

As someone's who's never used either device before, could you elaborate on what that means and the significance of it?
[/quote]

The strengths of using a tablet come from having a high resolution to draw on, and having pressure sensitivity. The harder I press the pen into the tablet (at tablet that is a bit rougher to feel more like paper, instead of a sliding lcd screen), the different effects I can get. How you use pressure is up to you. It can be opacity, or line width, brush size, color jitter, whatever.

I probably wouldn't want to do anything serious on a low resolution tablet screen. And I probably wouldn't want to draw on that hard surface anyways.
[/quote]

So it's a case of better simulating writing on various materials? Also, the no-slide thing.

CONS:
Do you have pressure sensitivity? A 250$ Wacom Bamboo has 1024 levels.

The Wacom Bamboo Pen is only $50 new and is a reasonable beginner's drawing tablet, with 9-bit (512 level) sensitivity. The higher level tablets have 10-bit or more levels of sensitivity but you won't need it unless you are a serious artist.

[color=#1C2837][size=2]So it's a case of better simulating writing on various materials[/quote]

The quality has everything to do with the technology used.


For any reasonable quality art you will need an electromagnetic pen-based system.

Most touchscreen laptops are not appropriate for drawing. Many use a resistive touch screen which is generally horrible for anything but single touches. A few use capacitive screens, which are okay for dragging but still not good for art.

You can electromagnetic digitizers in laptops but they are generally either poor quality or rather expensive.

[quote name='Daaark' timestamp='1304699674' post='4807392']
CONS:
Do you have pressure sensitivity? A 250$ Wacom Bamboo has 1024 levels.

The Wacom Bamboo Pen is only $50 new and is a reasonable beginner's drawing tablet, with 9-bit (512 level) sensitivity. The higher level tablets have 10-bit or more levels of sensitivity but you won't need it unless you are a serious artist.

For any reasonable quality art you will need an electromagnetic pen-based system.

Most touchscreen laptops are not appropriate for drawing. Many use a resistive touch screen which is generally horrible for anything but single touches. A few use capacitive screens, which are okay for dragging but still not good for art.

You can electromagnetic digitizers in laptops but they are generally either poor quality or rather expensive.
[/quote]

Is it possible to tell what has what beforehand? Or is it a case of trial and error where I won't know what screen type it is until I buy it?

[quote name='Slateboard' timestamp='1304701221' post='4807408']
[quote name='frob' timestamp='1304701064' post='4807406']
[quote name='Daaark' timestamp='1304699674' post='4807392']
CONS:
Do you have pressure sensitivity? A 250$ Wacom Bamboo has 1024 levels.

The Wacom Bamboo Pen is only $50 new and is a reasonable beginner's drawing tablet, with 9-bit (512 level) sensitivity. The higher level tablets have 10-bit or more levels of sensitivity but you won't need it unless you are a serious artist.

For any reasonable quality art you will need an electromagnetic pen-based system.

Most touchscreen laptops are not appropriate for drawing. Many use a resistive touch screen which is generally horrible for anything but single touches. A few use capacitive screens, which are okay for dragging but still not good for art.

You can electromagnetic digitizers in laptops but they are generally either poor quality or rather expensive.
[/quote]

Is it possible to tell what has what beforehand? Or is it a case of trial and error where I won't know what screen type it is until I buy it?
[/quote]


An entry level Wacom Bambo is also only 50$. The one I have is large and shaped 16:10 like my screen. Makes for a nice 1:1 mapping. The pens for IPAD look horrible. The nib is as big as my pinky FFS.

http://wacom.com/en/.../BambooPen.aspx <-- CHEAP!


[/quote]

Looks good. What would you recommend to an experienced artist who is looking to start drawing digitally? I've got a pair of friends who could use the info.