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Summary
Hi, I have a budget of around 2000 USD, but was looking to only spend 1000 at most on a tablet or 2-in-1 drawing laptop with EMR wacom, and then the rest at a later date on a wacom for my desktop office set up (for zbrush etc). My original pick was an iPad Pro but despite the amazing drawing experience turned it back due to the cost (799+100+accessories ~ 1000 for a non full OS! and only one usb c port, not even a jack). I tried the Surface Pro 6 (my old portable is a SP3) but it seems to retain much of the issues microsoft always has, jitter etc, also way above my wanted spend amount for the quality of creation. Now I’m trying a Notebook Pro 9, but mine has a few dead pixels on it and the S pen is only adjustable by the drawing apps it seems, so I will be returning it unfortunately.
Do you know of any PC drawing tablets in the 1000 price range (give or take a little) that are-
-powerful enough to handle zbrush/fair sum of photoshop layers/brush size
-don’t run absurdly hot/crash (don’t care if it’s loud)
-Wacom EMR with 4k pressure & tilt possibly with pen settings
-Decent display for viewing/arting
-actually portable
The best options all seem to be atleast 2k in cost (zbook x2 G4, MSP 13 16gb) and really at that price the MSP is the only one that seems viable as It can be used as a Cintiq, but unfortunately it seems outdated (I expect a 2 version soon) and all I hear are horror stories about individuals experiences and issues. I’m ready at this point to bite the bullet and just deal with the iPad Pro as a hassle free, although limited, solution.
Hi, yes, I suggest you check out these Lenovos. The Yoga 720 and 730 have models like that, and some of the Thinkpads and laptops as well (they don’t put all the ones with the pens under the 2-in-1 category on the site). The 730 has up to 16GB as well as an option with a 4K screen. (They do have more sizes than are easily findable on the site if you do a search for them, such as smaller sizes such as 12″ and 13″). The digitizers are Wacom ES, not EMR and the pens do not have tilt. The Active Pen 2 has 4096 levels and the 1 has 2048, it makes little difference when using it. If a listing is unclear, you should confirm with Lenovo, if you order one, which pen it takes–either should work but only the ones that take the 2 will get the maximum levels.
Zbrush can run OK on most reasonably configured laptops.
There are not many current models that have Wacom EMR. Older ThinkPad Yogas and Surface Pros had it and some lesser known ones but nowadays to get tilt, you need a Cintiq Mobile Studio Pro, newer Surface, or iPad Pro. I don’t think there is anything around $1,000 that has every spec you mention; the Mobile Studio Pro has all those, but is over the price range. The sticking point is really the EMR. If you haven’t tried Wacom ES, it’s really not that bad. If you have more questions let me know.
I do have a home set up, I just don’t currently have a place to put it, so it’s not really possible for me to set up with a Cintiq or something nice. I’m eyeing the Zbook X2 G4 with 16 GB and 8th gen for around 2000 USD as an all around workstation replacement, but as with all these laptops I’m more afraid of lackluster build quality leading to issues within a years time. As with some of these companies too they have terrible support & repair times. Like for Lenovo I’ve been looking them up (the Miix 720) and it just seems like there’s alot of complaints of terrible support times, and things breaking/being unresponsive quite quickly.
At this point, if the Zbook doesn’t turn out as an all in one solution I’m probably just going to grab an iPad Pro and do 3d and other work from home. It’s a shame the surface laptops are so underwhelming as a drawing experience. The pen has a lot of quality, but the jitter just absolutely puts me off keeping it.
As a followup question, do you know of the differences between Clip studio Paint on the different iPad gens (10.5 vs 11) or compared to Windows OS? Are there some missing features or layer limits like with procreate? Any lag you’ve heard of or noticed? This is my main casual application, and would probably sum up most my use, especially after being able to set up my desktop.
Hi,
The Wacom Mobile Studio Pro is an all-in-one, not something you have to attach to a computer, so I think it would provide what you want, and the cheapest ones (i5, 13″) are around $1500, some are on sale now, the i7s cost a bit more and there are some optional features.
Guess I’m a ThinkPad fan, used a Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga for years for art and just ordered another one, because I like the Wacom pens. I had the in-home support and also ordered it for the new one for $25 per year. The repair person comes to your home and I never waited long at all. I did call it 2 or 3 times in several years for various issues, which they fixed. The only ongoing problem I had with it, which I didn’t call them about, is that the sound would stop working at times. But I know some Lenovos have been buggy and there have been complaints.
With Clip Studio Paint on the iPad Pro, I don’t think there is a layer limitation like with Procreate. I think the only real difference is that the iPad version is by subscription. You can check out its iOS app reviews to see issues others had. I don’t notice a lag. I do prefer a larger screen with it than the iPad provides, because there are so many panels and options but of course you can customize, I just gravitate toward simpler UIs for mobile. I don’t have an answer about the app on different iPad generations.
OK I did not quite register what you said about the MSP til just now. Yes, hopefully there will be another one. The iPad Pro really is pretty hassle-free; I wish my pen charge lasted longer, but it can be recharged quickly.