thanks for the tips on the auto hotkey thing im gonna have to play with that on my tablet tonight.
Can some one tell me is it possible to get a good tablet pc under 500 euro’s - 650 dollars.
I have been looking for it for a long time now to run zbrush 3.5 or 4 on it.
Thnkz.
My pleasure. It’s an amazingly helpful program. I use it for everything from opening specific programs and selecting specific fields with a single shortcut, to formatting whole emails and auto-wrapping parentheses, brackets, etc. It’s incredibly flexible and powerful, and you can even use it to create your own GUIs, which I would probably do for Zbrush if I didn’t have such good face buttons.
Well, you can definitely get a Tablet PC good enough to run Zbrush 3.5 or 4 for under $650 usd. I got mine for $400ish over a year ago, and crumbaker mentioned he got one for $135… Luckily Zbrush will run well with integrated graphics so many tablets are an option, you just want to make sure to get one with pressure sensitivity, i.e. one that is wacom penabled.
ok thnkz for the comments so the hp TC4400 with intel dual core T5600
(1,83 ghz) 1,5 gb ddr2 can run zbrush 4 smootly you think i can get one for 380$ all the other tablets are so expensive and do not ship to the netherlands.
On wacom url it says that the tc4400 is Wacom Penable.
Yes, I think it probably would work just as well as in my video, since I have a similar processor, except that you would definitely want to upgrade the ram to 3 or 4gb in order to get higher subdivision levels.
My problem is that I want to run other 3d apps. I spent a couple of hours in Harrod’s today, playing with a HP smartTouch tm2. I LOVE it! It’s small and light (didn’t think I’d like a 12" but it was fine). It’s nicely specced (3 GB RAM, 500 GB HD, 512 MB ATI Radeon card) and not too bad on cost. 2 problems, the i3/i5/i7 versions are only available in the States AND it has no tablet buttons! So you have to click alt/ctrl/shift keys on the virtual keyboard. Not as effective as use actual hotkeys.
Has anyone here tried a modbook? What was that like?
I wonder if you could bring in a thumbdrive with a trial version of modo or something and see how well it ran, since that seems to have a decent video card. I really don’t understand why they would get rid of all tablet buttons, it seems crazy to me. Of course there are various less-convenient ways to get around it, like programming a usb numpad, wiimote, etc. and you can get programs that let you program a gui on the iphone and interact with your tablet, so that could be an option theoretically as well.
I wonder on tablets that have multi-touch and finger/pen input if you could make an onscreen gui with control/alt/space etc and be able to hold them with your fingers while drawing with the pen…
I bet it was expensive O_o. That was one that I wish I could have afforded to try out. Nice pressure levels, bigger screen, ok video card. Just a pity it’s not a convertible and has no tablet buttons.
DrkDrv - Yes, the guys at Harrod’s said I can bring my on software in to test it on the touchsmart tm2. I just have not had the time to do it.
There was one really good thing that came out of that visit. I learned about this web site http://www.notebookcheck.net
It has tons of processors listed in order of benchmark. It’s quite an eye opener. Seems my 5yr old laptop has a faster processor than many of the newer mainstream machines. And it’s #139!! The U5400 that comes in many of the hp TouchSmart tm2’s is #210 in the list… The top of the line configuration with the i5 430UM is #190.
You’re probably thinking it’s not really fair to compare a tablet pc to a desktop replacement laptop, but some of the tablets out there have extremely powerful processors in them. Even some of the old ones!
I was shocked to find how large the benchmark range was for i3/i5/i7’s is. I assumed :o the entire line would be faster than all the other intel chips. Instead, they pepper the list. Starting from high and going quite low.
Lately i’ve been scouring the net, looking for a tablet pc that is 1. Wacom Penabled, 2. has a powerful CPU, 3. has an nVidia graphics card, and 4. a webcam for skyping family. I can usually find 3 out of 4 only usually. I have missed a couple of incredible deals on ebay.
Recently I gave into the dark side and bought a beast of a laptop (i7 720QM - #19 in the notebookcheck.net benchmark list!) for a competitive price on eBay. The dream is still alive though. I am keeping my eye out for a super cheap tablet. Now that I have the big brute I can relax my tablet spec requirements a bit.
I tried demo of the zbrush several years ago on my acer Tablet, also wacom penabled…
several points why I do not use it:
- there is an annoying lag, as you can also see in this video
- can not rest my drawing hand properly (you should have table cutted so the screen area is in the lavel with table) and you back is in bad position
- You always cover half of your screen with your hand… (so draw a line, move hand to check what you have done, draw… )
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that lag is from the screen mostly, it’s also there on your desktop you just don’t notice it since you can’t use your pen on the screen, especially if you have an ips panel. Cintiq is the same way and it uses the same technology as intuos tablets.
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just have to be creative with the way you sit your tablet down, i **** the back of mine on something so it’s at an angle and doesn’t hurt my back.
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Just tilt your hand. I think being able to draw on the screen negates any issues really.
poda: [color=Black]Good info on that notebook check site. It is interesting to see how good some of the tablet processors are. Too bad they don’t normally have video cards to match.
Well I’ve been scouring eBay for good tablet PC deals. I should have re-read this thread. I ended buying the same one MDGeist has! D’oh!
I don’t have a Wiimote. I wonder if it’s possible to configure buttons on the remote that comes with the PC?
Hi there,
comgratulations to your new portable computer. I guess u will have a lot of fun with it 
Probably u wont have as much problems with it as i do since it it a hardware issue i struggle with. If u want to to use zbrush primaleraly with it for a portable solution i think it will be geat, also for basic thingd in maya etc. . It would be great if u write your impressions about this machine and tell me how much u spent on ebay for it.
Gl & hf
MDGeist
Hey MDGeist et al,
I’ve only been playing with it for a few hours but I am already jazzed! If I figure out a way to access the Ctrl, Alt, Shift and Spacebar while in tablet mode I will be over the moon! Not sure I’m ready for a Wiimote. I tried the virtual keyboard. While it works, it really impedes the workflow terribly. I really couldn’t do much that way. So I decided to try using it in laptop mode. I found drawing on the screen that way to be a bit awkward at first but quickly warmed to it. I payed £260 for mine. Windows Vista Home Premium, 2GB RAM, 220GB HD (not including recovery partition). Good condition with a Targus carrying case/bag included. I’ve seen them go for more, I’ve seen them go for less. Seems to be around the going rate for medium range tablets on ebay right now. Some of the newer tablets are going for much more. I settled on this one because it had a faster processor than my previous laptop (many tablets don’t), an nVidia card (many tablets don’t) and a webcam (again - many tablets don’t). All of those are important to me. As you know, it’s very light, despite having a DVD drive and it doesn’t run too hot. At some point I would like to put 64bit Win7 on it. The biggest disappointment aside from the buttons, is the screen. In laptop mode it’s great. Bright and clear. In tablet mode the sweet spot it’s nearly impossible to get a clear view if you’re holding it comfortably in your arm. Resting on my lap it’s not bad and I’m guessing 2 out of the 4 screen orientations will be fine in hand as well.
After my failed first tablet effort crashed ZBrush during a save attempt. I did this in laptop mode.
I think I will try another on my train ride to work in the morning. For now it’s waaaaaaayyyyyyy past my bedtime. So I will say good night!
BTW what are Gl & hf? Good luck & have fun? Thanks.
Hi,
same reasons for me to buy this machine and i also bought it on ebay (a year for ago 500€). Win 7 64 bit runs really good and i really dont understand why HP sells a 64 bit processor with a 32 bit operating system on it. Not able to use the Qlb is really a pain in the ass. I dont think its a good idea to sculpt too much in laptop mode…maybe its only my personal impression but it seems that the screen wears out if u do that. Using a external usb keyboard, a Wiimote or a programmable Controller is kind of curious in the first case but u get used to it very fast. If u find out how to get the qlb working plz tell me since i spent days trying and i kind of gave up on these. A generell issue with tablet screens seems that they are not non-reflecting which makes it hard to use them in train on daylight. U are right gl & hf is good luck and have fun. The tx2000 has some bad habits but the relation between price and the hardware is really good i think. I guess u already did this but u want to make sure that the onboard graphic are set to 128 mb in the bios. If u switch to win 7 and also get problems with wisptis.exe, the best solution i found so far is to make a 0kb wisptis.exe take over the rights from the original wisptis.exe rename it and use the empty file. That kind of enables u to switch more easily between using zbrush and also have the tablet features in windows. Nice first modell btw
Hey MDGeist, thanks for the info. It’s helpful. I still don’t know what Qlb or wisptis.exe are.
I didn’t understand your comment about wearing out the screen by drawing on it in laptop mode. Why would that be worse than in tablet mode?
As for the controls, someone on ebay sent me [this](http://blog.danluong.com/2008/04/24/customizing- the-tx1000tx2000-quickplay-buttons/) but I have not had time to try it. If that doesn’t work I will consider using a Wiimote. It would be great if I could use the little remote control that comes with the tx2000.
Hey Poda,
im glad that it is helpful for you. Wisptis.exe is Windows Ink Services Platform Tablet Input Subsystem. It is possible that this process eats all your cpu when u use win 7 and zbrush, in my case it does 
. Its kind of tricky because on vista and win 7 even as administrator u have by default no rights to change or delete it because the rights belong to the trustedinstaller (im on my desktop pc with xp so cant check if thats the right name). Sry if u dont understand what i mean with wear out excuse my poor english. I mean with that if u are in laptop mode u see the bond between the keyboard and the screen. That is the weak point… if u paint in tablet mode the screen is located right on top of the keyboard and everything is fine since the force u use with the pen to the screen is shared with the whole underlying structure. When u paint in tablet mode on the other hand all the force goes in a leverage effect to the connection piece of keyboard and screen. I dont think that its made for this and it gets stretched, weared out after some time doing that. Hope u get what i mean… Thx for the link it would be great to get this stupid qlb to work.
hehe ive been using my trusty lenovo till i ruined it from overwork and then i went andd got me another lenovo
i ve been making models for videogames and other purposes on it for about 3 years now, and hellyeah all i can say is i highly reccomend it, it really has the power, punch in enough ram and ull be having a blast
dunno about other tablet pcs ive been using lenovo for 5 years now so i can only recommend that but others are probably good too
Lenovo owns this thread since it’s thanks to Drkdrv posting vid of his that kicked this whole party off! Thanks again BTW… Changed my life!
x60 was on my list but lack of graphics acceleration and webcam made me reconsider. Webcam could of course be compensated for but I wanted as few customization needs as possible. Though right now, I could really go for some programmable bezel buttons.
MDGeist - Nothing wrong with your English. I read you load and clear.