For about the last year or so, I have been seriously considering a tablet as an option not for simple web surfing and games but as somewhat of a real workhorse for art, writing, music etc.
Of course, for one to qualify, it would need to be running more than a dumbed down operating system made for handling simple photo touch-apps. It would need to be fully compatible with software I use on my desktop, and be able to run it half decently in the process.
It would also need to:
- be light
- have good battery life
- have good connectivity options (USB, HDMI, preferably both 3G & WiFi)
- preferably handle newer 3D technologies
- have decent sound
- preferably handle pen pressure like a Wacom tablet does
The Asus EP121 - 10 hour battery, my ass!
I guess my eyes were opened by the appearance of some contenders such as the ASUS EP121, which is currently the most powerful Windows (in other words, non-ARM processor based) tablet, though I ultimately passed on that model due to terrible battery (seriously, what’s the point of having a tablet you need to recharge every 2 hours or keep plugged in??) as well as the fact that it was slightly large and cumbersome, and rather expensive to boot.
Over the next weeks I scoured the available competition, my interest briefly piqued by Motion Computing’s CL900, which sported industrial grade construction and gorilla glass, good battery life and pressure sensitivity in applications. Once again, I was turned off by a combination of things. Price, availability, and performance reviews were not exactly reassuring.
Recently I learned about Acer’s w500 series of Windows 7 tablets. Something immediately grabbed my attention and that was AMD’s C series dual core processors the C-50 and C-60, which while still on the lower range of performance, were definitely a step above the Atom. After checking all other specs inside and out, I concluded that this is the best tablet available to any artist, producer or developer today who needs a full Windows environment. 2 weeks ago (early Dec 2011) I finally took the plunge and ordered one, after seeing that they were actually in many shops in my country but out of stock for a month! The moment they were back in stock, I pounced – and unbelievably, all 20 shops OTHER than the one I placed my order from were completely out of stock again by the time I actually went to order. And as soon as I hit SEND (half paniced!) and the page refreshed, I realized that I had got the very last unit in the whole country… Wow.
The Acer Iconia w501p
That’s Christmas for ya. But it shows you that people are starting to realize at least a little bit the potential of a Windows tablet. I say a little, because I myself thought I had a pretty good idea and still find myself being blown away by the possibilities now opened up to me. I will cover the Acer w501p in detail for artistic & musical applications over the coming weeks and hope to inspire you with what can be done with not only this model and its sister the w500, but future tablets of this type as they improve.
For the near future, I do believe that nothing is going to surpass the w501p feature vs dollar, it’s that impressive. One thing I was completely surprised by was that the built in Radeon graphics actually run the Unreal Development Kit! Not with the greatest speed, mind you, but it runs well enough for some of what I need to do in it. Astounding for a tablet.
It has a capacitive digitizer rather than a Wacom style active one, so while there are other options if art is absolutely your number one concern, and I will talk about some of these – the w500 & w501p are the ticket if you also foresee yourself doing game or 3D development, music production or even minor video work! It is that capable and artists can still be perfectly satisfied with this via some methods I will be covering. I will soon review how the Wacom Bamboo Stylus for iPad works with the w500/501 when I get it in the next few days, though I don’t expect it to add pressure sensitivity, at least some apps are capable of producing pressure sensitivity-like effects using similar pens.
Finally, for fellow owners of this fine tablet, I have accumulated a lot of data on how to optimize Windows, drivers and so forth, and iron out all the bugs, and I’ll be posting on those things here as well!
Stay tuned, and if you’re a creative professional (or enthusiast) keen on tablet use, please put this blog in your bookmarks – I am pretty sure you won’t find a similar resource too easily 
