Wacom announces Cintiq Companions

[WillAdams]

Heretofore, the Cintiq was a graphics tablet w/ integrated LCD --- Wacom has now squeezed in a full-fledged computer (your choice of Windows 8 or Android) and battery:

http://cintiqcompanion.wacom.com/en/

Looks like the dream device for someone wanting a larger screen (it's 13.3") --- no word on daylight viewability yet.

[crich70]

Interesting. I imagine it will be a sought for tool for anyone into graphic media.

[WillAdams]

Sought after --- not sure how well it will sell at the current new price --- the Windows version in particular has a tough row to hoe against the Microsoft Surface Pro.

The Android version looks to have more competition than I was expecting (didn't realize there were so many 13.3" Android tablets).

[Kumabjorn]

Very expensive and quite hefty. But if your business is graphic design, I'm sure nothing beats it.

[Bhoritz]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

Sought after --- not sure how well it will sell at the current new price --- the Windows version in particular has a tough row to hoe against the Microsoft Surface Pro.

Whilst they could look the same (a big tablet), they are quite different. The Wacom is mostly a drawing tablet which can use a pen with 2048 level of pressure from a company which is specialised in drawing tablets. The Surface Pro would seem quite ham fisted compared to it (for graphical use).
This new one is basically their old cintiq tablet but with a computer included.

[WillAdams]

The Surface uses the same digitizer as most Tablet PCs, the same technology as the old ArtZ tablets, so has hardware support for ~240 levels of pressure, and has finally gotten driver support:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/10/43...river-download

Like anything, it's a trade-off, but it's not as clear-cut on the pressure angle as it is for screen size, weight and battery life.

[Dulin's Books]

Surface supports 1024 levels of pressure and does not have the tilt recognition of the pro pen. the battery life will be less on the Companion because of its i7 and higher resolution but it has more storage and higher ram.

i think the choice really come to price and portability here. The Companion(im not talking about the android one) seems like if you can afford it and you only want to occassionally tote it around and use it unplugged would be great. if your near a plug even better.

the Surface pro is for the more budget conscious who intends to carry it all the time and use it mostly unplugged.

Its a shame that development took so long for the Companion. if Wacom had launched the Companion with Haswell and the HD5000 graphics it would have been a much easier choice

[Dulin's Books]

hmm id like to see if the pro pen drivers would work on the surface. having that pen to use on the surface pro would be nice.

[SeaKing]

Neat idea.

For me it would only be an expensive toy though. I have enough of those already.

[WillAdams]

As I noted the MS Surface Pro uses the same digitizer technology as a Tablet PC or ArtZ an Intuos stylus won't work.

[RZetlin]

Here is a comparison with the Cintiq Companion Hybrid vs. other tablets:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHyIDeHjw_8

Overall the Cintiq Companion Hybrid is heavier than the standard Android tablet (About 4 pounds).

[HappyMartin]

Could be fun but not sure how useful for me. Not big enough to edit high res images without using lots of zooms and panning. Colour will be useless for accurate oil our correcting.

Images are heavy on ram and processor power. Can't see this thing driving a 300 MB file in photoshop.

Perhaps as a sketch pad it would find some use

[Jessica Lares]

Sketchbook Ink exports up to 101.8 megapixels (11650x8738 pixels) and it's vector based. It says differently on the specs sheet, but it says otherwise inside the app on my iPad.

[Namekuseijin]

I've got a basic Bamboo tablet from a time when tablets were just that: graphical tablets for artists.

much, much better than drawing on glass with your finger -- its surface feels like real paper. plus it's got real pressure and tilt sensitivity.

never understood why they didn't try e-ink. possibly because of refresh rates...

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

Could be fun but not sure how useful for me. Not big enough to edit high res images without using lots of zooms and panning. Colour will be useless for accurate oil our correcting.

Images are heavy on ram and processor power. Can't see this thing driving a 300 MB file in photoshop.

Perhaps as a sketch pad it would find some use

The Cintiq has been a mainstay for high end graphics professionals and artists for probably a decade or more, in particular for use with Photoshop and large images - this is a hybrid and designed for solo use in addition to working with Mac/PC computers and also can be accurately colour calibrated as well as allowing instantly selected zoom levels for a selected portion of an image...