Freebie Fridays! Sort of – they’re just websites/youtube channels, but they’re free and they are useful.

I’ve spent countless hours researching PC Tablets in the hopes of finding something comparable to a Cintiq Companion, or, at the very least, comparable to my late ASUS EEE b121 Slate (or whatever its official name was, I simply knew it as the greatest piece of technology I’ve ever owned). Research has been hampered by the fact that just about all Tablet PC reviews merely regurgitate the spec sheet (here’s what a real review looks like), and few if any address touch input particulars. That’s why I find the following site useful enough to deserve a Freebie Friday post:

http://www.tabletsforartists.com/

Tabletsforartists.com goes into detail about the types of input technologies the reviewed tablets use. It does so from an artist’s perspective. It’s far from perfect; there’s no glossary and no at-a-glance indication of the types of input tech implementations. You have to read through it all and then do additional research to hunt down definitions of the tech terms used. Unfortunately, much as it is for the Cintiq Companion, it seems there simply is no alternative.

//edit, spoke too soon

Another good source of information I’ve just discovered is the MobileTechReview Youtube channel. They do a good job of elucidating pros and cons from an artist’s perspective.

Also, comparison smackdowns!

Tabletsforartists.com and MobileTechReview are my two first stops when shopping for art-centric tablets.

//update: 2020 These days, for me at least, the best tablet for an artist is pretty much a foregone conclusion. Anything from the Surface Pro line of Microsoft products is exceptional, owing in no small part to its copious RAM and good use thereof. Unfortunately, its price is also exceptional, and not it the good way.

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