Screen Graphic Tablet or Multimedia Tablet

Aedjingo

New Member
Hi everyone :)

I am a industrial design student and I sell illustrations in my spare time. Even though it's not my professional specialty, I love drawing and I would like to step up my current material.
I have a laptop (3 and a half years old) and a Wacom Pen&Touch tablet. My laptop is getting old and is starting to get really slow :rolleyes:, especially with Adobe softwares. I use it to make 3d models (Rhino+Keyshot), InDesign compositions, Photoshop and Illustrator illustrations and some video editing in premiere.
I wanted to buy a screen tablet to work on my illustrations, but they require to be linked to the laptop which does not solve the "really slow" issue (really slow is : 20 min to turn it on and open Photoshop). I can't travel easily with it either and can't use it on its own.
But it's cheaper compared to the quality I can get !
So I figured I would buy a tablet like an iPad Pro or a Samsung galaxy Tab S4, but they are really expensive and I am afraid that the quality won't follow (as well as a lack of softwares I suppose).
I don't want to spend more than 500€ on it.
What do you think the best choice would be ? :unsure:

Thank you in advance, sorry for my English I am not a native speaker.
 
I needed to replace my MacBook Pro a while back so I was considering getting a tablet to replace it.

I ended up getting another MacBook purely because I needed to hit the ground running and use After Effects but this is what I was considering the best option.

I was going to go for the iPad 2018 (onwards) 128GB as they support the Apple Pencil and a lot cheaper than the Pro model and don't miss out on many of it's features unless you need four speakers and a few other things.

I was going to convert from Illustrator over to Affinity as you can run the full version on the iPad and it only costs £15.
It looks brilliant on the iPad and is fully set up to work with gestures and such.
Also you can add Procreate for around £10.

Adobe are also supposed to be releasing a full version of Illustrator for the iPad as I believe.

I think I worked out that I could get the iPad 2018 + Apple Pencil + Logitech case/keyboard for not too much more than £500.

To be honest, The only think that stops me dumping the MacBook and moving over full time is that I use After Effects.
 
Thank you for your answer, that's really interesting !

I always fear to buy "old" versions of products, because sometimes they are getting slow faster with the updates, but it is mostly the case for Androids I believe...
I didn't know the iPad (not Pro) could handle drawing softwares such as procreate, that's really good news.
To be honest I don't know what is exactly different between the Pro and not Pro version, I'm going to make some research.

Thank you :)
 
I had a good look and I think the Pro's screen may be bigger, a better processor, it has four speakers instead of two but not that much besides the price.
When I say "2018 iPad" I meant that the Apple Pencil is supported from then onwards on the iPad.
Before that model it isn't.

I know a lot of people that have switched to iPad from their MacBooks and have been very happy but I guess a lot depends on what you do.

The big deal for me was that they run the full version of Affinity Designer which actually looks a lot better on the iPad as you can use LOADS of gestures to speed up your workflow.

Do a search for "iPad v iPad Pro" to get a better idea but also check out "Affinity Designer on iPad" too.
 
I was given a Wacom Cintiq which cost about £1300 by a company I was working for some time back and I didn't get on with it at all and it just lived in a cupboard until I gave it back.
I had a go on the iPad with Procreate and I was blown away how good it was.
 
From my research, the processor seems a bit weaker on the iPad compared to iPad pros, but I don't know if the way I'll be using it needs a lot of power.

I compared it to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4, as I don't have any other Apple products and it would be easier to stick with Android for me, but it seems that it really lacks good softwares and has quite an important lag while drawing. The price is more interesting though, for a really recent product...

I also think a graphic tablet is not the solution, I am not working from home, it seems impossible to travel with those.

Thank you for the great advice !
 
From my research, the processor seems a bit weaker on the iPad compared to iPad pros, but I don't know if the way I'll be using it needs a lot of power.
If you're that worried you can get the iPad Air, it has the same a12 processor as the current iPad Pros....


Personally I'd be going surface pro but then I'm more CAD orientated and majority of my software is windows only.

Wacom and many other companies do a similar tablet pc with stylus support too, iirc some wacom can also work as a display when attached to a pc. You also have 2in1 laptops with stylus support from the likes of lenovo.


I personally wouldn't pick android for this, as much as I prefer it as an os over iOS.
 
Yes, the Pro does have a better processor as well as some other improvements over the iPad but the iPad would fit your budget as the Pro wouldn't.
There are also a few more things it has like wireless charging for the Apple Pencil.

The processor did concern me on both models as I do a lot of isometric illustration and these can include making very detailed city maps that cam make my MacBook start to wheeze.

As I said, a lot depends on the kind of work you are doing but as Levi says, there are Android options for you to explore.
 
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