[Naeem]

Well, I might get a mac laptop just for the sole purpose of smooth digital painting.
Anyone here use them?
I just have one concern/question. I know the Powerbook is much better then an iBook but the Powerbooks are much more expensive too. If I bought a cheaper iBook, would that have a great impact on what I want to use the Mac for? Or would it make a minute difference, if any at all?

Thanks in advance guys

-Annis
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[balistic]

I have to say man, if you're getting a portable machine for painting, you should at least try a convertible tablet PC before you go for a Mac. With a tablet you get a Wacom built right into the screen. Same nibs and everything.

I use mine to sketch in waiting rooms, and on airplanes . . . it's much harder to do that kind of thing with a regular laptop tethered to a Graphire.

Toshiba, IBM, and Fujitsu all make great convertible tablets for $1200-1800.

Go to Best Buy and try one if you can. They usually come with Alias Sketchbook so you can see how it feels to paint on it. You might not like it, but I really dig mine.
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[Naeem]

thanks balistic.
well, those things are a bit expensive and so i hadn't even thought of getting one yet.
But when Best Buy opens tomorrow, I'll check it out for sure.
Once again, thanks
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[Misc]

wow, I didn't think that tablet pc's were any good for drawing... found these links on the subject and now I just have to get one!!!

http://jrhull.typepad.com/seward_street/2005/01/tablet_pc_life_.html
http://jrhull.typepad.com/seward_street/2004/11/why_every_anima.html

[DaveyJJ]

Hmm, I just sold my 1.5GHz Powerbook with 768MB of RAM because it was too slow to work quickly with ... depending on the program of course ... and tethered myself to a new 17" iMac instead (my 26th Mac since 1986).

On that laptop, Studio Artist 3.0 ran very slowly, Painter IX was fine until you hit some of the more complex brushes or made your brushes too large then it ran sluggishly, Photoshop was the best of the bunch in terms of speed but in any case the cheapest 1.9GHz G5 iMac runs circles around the laptop. The only progams that ran really well for sketching/painting on my laptop were Alias Sketchbook and ArtRage. But ... if you're working primarily with Photoshop and boost the RAM up to 1GB or more, then the laptop will serve you well.

Can you wait until after MacWorld in San Francisco starting January 9th? Given my long history with Macs and knowledgeable friends, I'd say we're going to see the arrival of a dual-core Yonah-based laptop there that will significantly improve the PB's performance ... way, way significantly. If you can wait until then, I would.
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DaveyJJ <-- WidgetMonkey

[Naeem]

Misc> yeah they're awesome. A bit expensive though
DaveyJJ> thanks for the info! and yes, I can wait . I just want to get one before I go off to college which is in the fall of next year. Let me know the details when you get 'em . I appreciate it; thanks.
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[DaveyJJ]

annisahmad ... it's great you can wait until late summer then if need be. You may even be able to get Universal Binary version of at least Painter IX by then (I doubt the Adobe Suite) that will take full advantage of the Intel processors I think are coming. And by then there will be a larger number of Intel-based Macs to choose from (PB and iBooks ... if they don't merge the lines ... iMacs and minis as well ... and maybe a tablet Mac for us artist-types????).

The 30-40% speed boost that the dual core laptops will have over the current G4 laptops will more than make up for any speed hit from the emulation (if a program needs to use Rosetta) if the programs aren't yet made for the Intel chips.
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DaveyJJ <-- WidgetMonkey

[Jabberwocky]

I had the same issue as you when I went to buy my new laptop. I talked to a few friends, one being a mac tech. She told me in the long run I would be happier with a powerbook.

I ended up getting a Powerbook and love it. It is nice and small easy to lug around. Think it actually weighs less than my text books (great for college students). I would suggest if you are getting it and plan on doing graphics to get something bigger than the 12 inch... what I got, but when I do graphics I plug it into a flatscreen I have. Other than that I love it and have no regrets getting it... except I have to buy all new software going from Win to Mac.

Don't forget if you buy from Mac and are a student/teacher you can get a discount.

Plus the built in airport card in all laptops is awsome cause I can get wireless internet almost everywhere on campus and the local coffee shop.
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