In need of an artist's opinion: Samsung Galxy Note 10.1 and Nvidia Shield with Dabbler

[Krusifixion]

I tried posting this on Tom's Guide, but after 2 days I got three reads, so here I am.

Flat out: I need a new tablet and I want to get one that is good for artwork, so I could use some guidance on that decision. Not flat out: I've been drawing for years, and I've been getting into computerized graphics work just recently. I found these two tablets for the same price, the Samsung being refurbished with a generous return policy. Now, I only need to choose one of the two. I also found the Asus VivoTab Note and the Toshiba Encore 2, but I'm not ready to jump on Windows 8 unless I can see some clear benefits (Could either of those run something like Illustrator or Photoshop?).

I know that, straight up, the Samsung is better. But there are some very appealing things on the Nvidia that go beyond art (powerful speakers, a nice aesthetic, lighter, more portability, Gamestream and GRID, Android Lollipop, etc.). Also, how is Dabbler on the Nvidia? Is it worth it? A friend of mine told me that the app was very good and offered a very natural feel, especially when using watercolors and oil paint, and I was wondering if any other apps give the same experience.

So, in essence, I suppose this is rather a question of whether or not I will have a noticeably different experience using the Nvidia versus the Samsung. Should I sacrafice the Shield's features for things such as a Wacom digitizer layer and bigger screen as part of a premium art tablet? Or is the Note really that much more premium than the Shield? Please, if you have experience with either of these tablets (or even the other two mentioned above), leave your comments and ideas. Thank you in advance.

 

[digitaldoc]

The Shield was designed for one thing- a great gaming experience. I would not go for it if you really want a tablet for art.

The Samsung tablet is a reasonable choice. It has a bright screen, with accurate colors. I am personally not a big fan of refurb electronics, but that is just my opinion.

As the owner of a Windows tablet with a quad core Bay Trail CPU, I would not count on it to have the processing power to run full Photoshop or Illustrator. If you want to go this route, look for a Surface Pro 3 tablet, which has a faster CPU. The 2 tablets you mentioned use the lower power Bay Trail CPU that is heavily optimized for low power consumption at the expense of processing power.

 

[Krusifixion]

Congratz, You get the solution because no one else is answering.

But seriously, it's good advice and thank you for it. Too bad the Windows tablets can't run those programs. But now I'm kinda interested in a surface. I guess I'll just save up for a bit and see what comes my way.