IÂ’ve really been looking into a pen based way for me to draw and do art things on a computer so I was wondering what the serious people use or what would be better. A Wacom tablet (Intuos 3) or a tablet pc (Toshiba R15) a Cintiq is out of the question for both price and practicality reasons.
I tried the Toshiba and several other tablet PCs and they seem pretty good for drawing and almost seemed like they did exactly what I wanted but is that going to be the perfect solution to what I obviously want to do? I have also tried a Graphire tablet and it was kind of awkward but far better than a mouse at graphic stuff. Does anyone has advice for which would be better? I almost bought a used Fujitsu but the lack of internal optical drives threw me off.
If a tablet PC is better I need some reasons for why a tablet is better and more practical than a normal notebook. I know itÂ’s more practical from the portable use idea but I canÂ’t seem to come up with worded reasons.
I could go buy an Intuos immediately but a tablet pc would require some convincing or I would need $200 more so that I could buy it myself.
anyone have a graphics tablet or tablet PC?

anyone have either device that can make a comment or give a tip of any kind? i would like to make a purchase decision asap.

you might find more useful opinions at an art-oriented website like deviantart or something. IMO I think a graphics tablet would be a better decision, its far less expensive, and much easier to upgrade.

I would definitely go with a Graphire tablet unless you actually have a practical use for the rest of the functionality of a tablet pc. Those things might be able to pull of some of the tricks of a Graphire... but the truth is they're not designed to perform as an artist's tool, but rather as a corporate executive's tool. Depending on what you're doing with it, you might be able to do the same work on either device... but considering the price and everything else, I would go with the standard drawing tablet.

While I agree the tablet PC would be like writing or drawing onto a digital piece of plasma coated paper, there anrent many other advantages to it - if you drop its going to be just as spectacular as dropping a desktop replacement Sony Vaio notebook (for example ). The drawing tablets however, while somewhat more difficult to do (as you have to draw while watching a screen) is a far cheaper option. My friend from College has one and it appear that after a certain ammount of time...he simply coordinates is movments - a simple matter of teaching your brain to look where the "pencil" is not.

I say graphics tablet.

I have a Wacom tablet and it's excellent. I agree with the above posts that unless you want the mobility of the tablet (drawing pictures of trees in the park for example) it doesn't make sense to get the tablet pc. They're typically underpowered and you'll pay a premium for them.

Since even the "cheap" tablet PC's go for $1000, I'd say give the Wacom a shot first. At the very least, if you don't like it, you can always turn around and sell it without losing as much money (they don't depreciate quite like PC's do!).

A tablet PC does seem like the most natural way to sketch on a computer. I'd have to believe that would be an increasingly popular choice among graphic artists as prices drop and the technology improves...

i guess i'll give a wacom tablet a shot. if i dont like it i can always return it. from the graphics design people i have talked with it needs practice.
either way i will need a laptop for college so we'll see if i still go for a tablet PC
thanks for your input i'll probably pick one up today or tomorrow