Mobile Workstation Related Questions

[ZenShredder]

So recently I've been giving more consideration on purchasing a mobile workstation for drawing/painting in Photoshop. The problem I have is deciding on what I should do given certain circumstances that what most digital artists want in a device doesn't exactly exist, so it seems that I must compromise one way or another if I want something sooner. With that in mind, I have a few questions:

1. For Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash specifically, is it necessary and recommended to have a dedicated card to run them efficiently? It is to my understanding that Photoshop uses a dedicated card to boost its performance through the advanced settings, however it states that this is mainly for warping and meshing things, something I do not do much. This leads me to believe that most of the work falls on the processor in this case, so I guess what I'm asking is if my suspicions are correct? Illustrator I know for sure requires a good CPU because it's all vector based, and I know nothing of Flash(it's mainly for my girlfriend who is an animator) so that's why this question is probably the most important.

2. After looking at the Acer R7 laptop which has a decent processor, an N-Trig digitizer built in, I decided to seriously consider this as an option. However, there is no dedicated card, or at least a listed model on their website stating this, but there are people on other forums who have stated there does exist a model with a discrete Nvidia card inside. Can anyone confirm this? Also, can anyone confirm whether or not the N-Trig digitizer has pressure sensitivity, how many levels and whether there are drivers for it to work properly in Photoshop?

3. If the worst I fear from the last two questions has come to light, what would you recommend I aim for? Is there a product that exists with a Wacom digitizer, a decent processor AND a dedicated video card?? One can only dream I suppose, but if there is such a device then PLEASE do not be shy with that information. I know Wacom makes a Cintiq Companion with an i7 2 core/4 logical core processor, but it has no dedicated card, just the integrated HD 4000 series Intel graphics. I also know that Fujitsu makes a laptop with a Wacom digitizer inside that's cheaper than the Cintiq, as well as the Surface Pro 2 from Microsoft, but if a dedicated card is seriously recommended, then I'd rather wait for a device that has all of the above features.


Thanks in advance!

 

[dingo07]

how much time do u plan on using this device away from home, or a desk? why do u want a mobile solution?

if it's just because you want to doodle on the go, get a macbook pro or air

 

[ZenShredder]

how much time do u plan on using this device away from home, or a desk? why do u want a mobile solution?

if it's just because you want to doodle on the go, get a macbook pro or air

HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST I PURCHASE A MAC >=(

Kidding! In all seriousness though I do hate Macs a lot, if I want OSX I'll go build a Hackintosh. As for why I want a mobile workstation, I want something that I can take to work with me and not just "doodle" but actually draw, paint, create graphics, etc. I am a digital artist, I work through mostly Photoshop and Illustrator so I need them to be as incredibly efficient as possible. I also need a digitizer on screen, something that Apple can't even provide to begin with. I could spend $3k on a Modbook Pro, but that's a waste of money and I don't have that kind of money to throw around anyways. I need something no more than $1700, has a Wacom digitizer, a decent i5 or i7 processor AND a dedicated card(unless Photoshop is okay to run without a dedicated card in high DPI documents), you see where the problems lie now? No such device really exists, so compromises have to be made. That being said, I could always get a Companion Hybrid with a Nvidia Tegra chip in it and use an external drive for storage, but honestly I'd rather have a Windows 8 system with an SSD. Wacom just announced a second line of their Cintiq Companions so I might wait to see the actual specs on the new devices and make a decision then, but for the time being what I've looked at so far only seems to be an abysmal compromise to what I need in a machine. If more people were able to verify the Surface Pro 3 is adequate enough for working away from a desktop then I'd just buy one right now, but I don't see too many confident posts about it.

 

[dingo07]

yeah, you're kind of in a pickle because of the amount of cash you can spend - I think your Only option is to look at the Wacom product line - they are the best at what you need it for.

no, help, I know... but you already know what you need 😉

 

[ZenShredder]

yeah, you're kind of in a pickle because of the amount of cash you can spend - I think your Only option is to look at the Wacom product line - they are the best at what you need it for.

no, help, I know... but you already know what you need 😉

Yeah I think you're right. My only concern was the RAM and graphics in these things, but they're designed for professionals so I don't think that it's going to be horrific. Plus a lot of people seem to like them, there are a few nay-sayers but there always are with these kinds of things.