A bit off topic, but can someone comment on how the stylus works? I assume the "pressure sensitivity" comes from a sensor in the pen, and is wirelessly relayed back to the device (bluetooth?). Is there something else that makes it more accurate than capacitive multi touch? Is it possible to put a pressure sensitive stilus on an iPad with bluetooth and app support, or do you need different hardware?
The MS Surface Pro
131–140 of 159 posts
Re: The MS Surface Pro
#132I'm just impressed that someone's finally found a practical way to do work on a tablet.
Lots of companies have people doing actual work on a tablet. Here are some examples (PepsiCo, CTV News, Ottowa Hospital, Ducati): http://www.apple.com/ipad/business/profiles/
Just remember work doesn't only have to entail Excel or Word stuff. Many custom-made apps help businesses be more effective.
Re: The MS Surface Pro
#133Microsoft shilling
If you were the least bit familiar with Penny Arcade, you'd know how ridiculous that sounds.
Re: The MS Surface Pro
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
>"I own an iPad and an iPad Mini. Neither has ever run so hot that it was uncomfortable to place on my lap." They are not running portal 2, league of legends or sketchbook either. Those are natural trade-offs where Apple sacrifices productivity and Microsoft sacrifices portability.
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/sketchbook-pro-for-ipad/id36... Nonetheless I certainly don't agree with raganwald. They seem to believe that there are two options of which one must win. In actuality there are thousands of options, and all of them can win in their niche. In this case it's a guy who sketches online comics. I appreciate their review and completely get where they're coming from, but the things that are…
Amusing disclosure: The Sketchbook Team Lead is a long-time friend of mine. Sketchbook was developed in Toronto by Alias software just a few blocks from where I worked at KL Group on JProbe "back in the day."
So I'm extremely familiar with the fact that it runs on iPads :-)
Re: The MS Surface Pro
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there anything that you are less than satisfied with about it? I was close to getting one, but when I heard the stylus was the S-Trig (significantly inferior to the Wacom for artistic purposes) I just got an iPad 4 to hold me over for a couple of years. It looked really awesome, but 1300 bucks is quite a bit of money for me.
Drawing on an iPad is dreadful....
It sure is, but It was 800 dollars less than a Duo 11. I figured it would have to be good enough until my ideal device is released. I mostly use it for reading programming books, so I still get a lot of use out of it.
Re: The MS Surface Pro
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apple's been incredibly anti-stylus in the past, if I recall correctly. Didn't Jobs say something along the lines of "if your tablet uses a stylus, you're doing it wrong" at the genesis of the iPad? Although we've seen that isn't necessarily the case, I can't see Apple eating their words in this case. Especially not with the success and visibility of Samsung's Note line.
Apple hasn't been anti-stylus, Jobs was. And the stylus he was referring to was the resistive Palm-type stylus, not a pressure-sensitive, digitized pen with side button(s). Jobs has also stated a belief in one thing, and then contradicted it later. Take the original iPhone screen size, for example.
> Apple hasn't been anti-stylus, Jobs was.
Also, I think he was against stylus UI. Somehow, I don't think he would be pro for the compromised capacitive stylus experience you get on the iPad.
Re: The MS Surface Pro
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
This use case has been around for at least several years, but it's a niche market. I'm not a professional, but to me drawing is what I consider a serious hobby, so a few years ago I bought an Asus EP121 Slate. Almost everyone likes to doodle from time to time, so I'm hoping that Microsoft's push for tablets with actual digitizers in them catches on. So far, the devices aren't exactly where I'd like them to be, but th…
> Drawing with a capacitive stylus is like cutting off the tips of your fingers and trying to type. Never tried but I can totally imagine :) From my experiences with iPads, I'd compare it to fingerpainting, but I guess your description is more .. vivid :) But I get from the article, and how the author seems pretty satisfied with it, that the Surface uses a different, better technology for t6hat?
Yea, the Surface uses the ideal solution, a Wacom digitizer.
Re: The MS Surface Pro
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, I had a tablet computer back before Apple redefined what tablet meant. It was a Fujitsu machine and OneNote with a wacom pen was definitely a really nice way to take notes in class. However, while I am excited by the machines that are coming out nowadays (surface pro, thinkpad helix to name a few) that will give me both the tablet and laptop experience, I'm dismayed that they're going the way of apple in terms…
The Thinkpad X230t has a removable battery, Wacom digitizer, and is just as serviceable as any other Thinkpad. I highly recommend it if you're in the market for that kind of device. They've only gotten better as more companies discover the power of tablet PCs.
X230t is a nice and powerful device - and it would be a great tablet if it was twice thinner and lighter; currently its weight makes me think thrice before taking it off the desk and using as an actual tablet.
Re: The MS Surface Pro
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Drawing with a capacitive stylus is like cutting off the tips of your fingers and trying to type. Never tried but I can totally imagine :) From my experiences with iPads, I'd compare it to fingerpainting, but I guess your description is more .. vivid :) But I get from the article, and how the author seems pretty satisfied with it, that the Surface uses a different, better technology for t6hat?
Yea, the Surface uses the ideal solution, a Wacom digitizer.
The Samsung Note series of phones and tablets also use the Wacom, as does the Atom-based Thinkpad Tablet 2.
I was considering the Note 10.1 and ThinkPad Tablet 2 for their pens and stumbled on this comparison last week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncegf0Em7m4
It does appear that the more horsepower your tablet has, the better suited it is to doing pen-based art. It's pretty clear in the video that a full-powered desktop CPU is better than the Atom and the mobile CPU for sketching.
Re: The MS Surface Pro
#140I am really surprised that I keep reading blog posts, this one included, that state the only option for an iPad stylus is the eraser head style capacitive pieces of crap. This entire post was about a tablet that runs uncomfortably warm, with buggy software, short battery life, tiny available user storage and an occasionally useful flip stand, but has a pressure sensitive stylus and it is the best. Oh yeah, and Micros…
I have one of the original Jots from their kickstarter project. Pressure sensitivity aside, it's just OK. The precision is way better than those crayon styluses, but it skips regularly (although I heard washing the tip with dishwashing soap helps). I've heard that Dagi's stylus, which is also a transparent-bullseye type of stylus, skips a lot less.
Here's a comparison of the two on a Galaxy: