Now available for $800: Sony VAIO Flip 11A, with Photoshop Elements

UPDATE: The Flip 11A is now available to order from the US Sony store. 

11-inch Form Factor Comes to VAIO® | Flip PC Line

PRESS RELEASE

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (CES booth #14200) – Jan. 6, 2014 – Sony today announced a new addition to its VAIO® | Flip PC lineup: the VAIO Fit 11A | Flip PC pre-installed with Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 12.

In addition, the VAIO | Flip PC 13-inch, 14-inch and 15-inch, VAIO Tap 11, VAIO Tap 21 and VAIO Duo 13 and VAIO Fit 14E and 15E models are updated with Windows 8.1 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 for Spring. The VAIO Pro 11 and 13, VAIO Tap 11 and VAIO Tap 21 models will include 802.11ac next generation wireless connectivity technology for Spring.

“Adobe is thrilled to provide Sony VAIO customers the ability to easily organize, edit and share their favorite photos,” said Lea Hickman, vice president, products, Creative Consumer Business, Adobe. “Photoshop Elements makes editing accessible to consumers with one-click or the swipe of a brush. With the addition of mobile albums in Photoshop Elements 12, coupled with the support for the new VAIO Active Pen, it’s easier than ever to view, edit and share photo memories while on the go.”

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VAIO | Flip PC Line

The unique design of VAIO | Flip PC maintains the full functionality of a conventional Windows 8.1 notebook PC with the ability to switch between laptop, tablet and viewer modes. Available now in an 11-inch compact model for everyday use, the VAIO Fit 11A | Flip PC is a no compromise laptop/tablet enabled by a unique hinge featuring an iconic one line design.

With the power of Sony, the VAIO Fit 11A | Flip PC fuses stunning picture quality TRILUMINOS™ Display for mobile and ClearAudio+, Sony’s unique technology for enjoying high-quality sound by bringing together expertise in digital signal processing technologies. The front-facing camera and 8-megapixel rear-facing camera is powered by Exmor RTM for PC and Exmor RSTM for PC image sensors developed by Sony.

At just 2.82 lbs., the amazingly thin and light VAIO Fit 11A | Flip PC is beautifully crafted in black, silver or pink aluminum and features a full pitch backlit keyboard, gesture enabled touch pad and palm rest for comfortable typing.

To power through the most demanding projects, VAIO Fit 11A | Flip PC model is equipped with latest Intel® Pentium® Processor featuring Quad Core and Solid State Drive.

In addition, the new 11-inch model comes bundled with the pressure sensitive VAIO Active Pen. Users will feel inspired with Adobe’s updated pen pressure sensitivity support for Photoshop and Illustrator®, allowing for an even more accurate and natural creative experience.*

Best environment for creative users

Sony VAIO is collaborating with Adobe to empower people’s creative vision and turn snapshots into something spectacular. By including a pre-installed version of Photoshop Elements 12 with support for the VAIO Active Pen, about a $100 value, now everyone can easily enhance and create with their photos. Photoshop Elements 12 offers powerful photo editing with three editing modes to accommodate every skill level, multiple output options, content aware technology, an easy to use photo organizer, and mobile albums so you can access your Photoshop Elements photos on your mobile device.

Pricing and Availability

VAIO Fit 14E/15E starts from $579 and is available mid-January; VAIO Flip 11 starts from $799, VAIO Flip 13 starts from $1129, VAIO Flip 14 starts from $799, VAIO Flip 15 starts from $899, all VAIO Flip | PC available from end of February; VAIO Tap 11 starts from $799, VAIO Tap 21 starts from $999, both available from mid-February; VAIO Pro 11 starts from $1149, VAIO Pro 13 starts from $1249, VAIO Duo 13 starts from $1399, all VAIO Pro and VAIO Duo available from early April at Sony retail stores (www.store.sony.com) and other authorized dealers nationwide.

Award Winning Best in Class Service and Support

Users can simply press the ASSIST button to launch VAIO Care software to  effortlessly install new software and drivers, quickly identify and troubleshoot issues, create restore and recovery media, and connect with a Sony expert via phone, chat or online. Sony will even repair select PCs in person with limited warranty Onsite/In-Home Service. Sony was awarded as the Tech Support Showdown Winner 2 years in a row by Laptop Magazine.

Guest post: how to disable touch and use a phone for keyboard shortcuts

The following post was submitted by reader Jason Rushton (@thesonofj on Twitter). Greatly appreciate the contribution, Jason!

I realize these tips might be unique to just me, but maybe there are others that would benefit too?

Disable touch input

Sometimes when drawing on the Surface Pro, more often than not I'll touch the screen with the side of my hand, accidentally dragging the canvas, or causing inadvertent brush strokes before I've made a mark with my pen.  This can be a nuisance.  I've found I like doing artwork with the capacitive touch disabled, but still having the stylus be fully functional.

To do this I found the specific device that can be disabled in the Device Manager.  However, it can be a pain to manually go into the Device Manager and disable this every time I want to draw.  So I've created a batch (.bat) file to disable this, which I just leave on my desktop.

Here is the code I put into the batch file:

--------------------

@echo off

echo Disabling touch input...

devcon disable "@HID\VID_03EB&PID_8209&MI_00*"

echo.

echo Press a key to re-enable the touch device.

pause

devcon enable "@HID\VID_03EB&PID_8209&MI_00*"

--------------------

What this will do is disable the touch device upon the file first being ran, but it leaves the batch file window open with a prompt to press a key to re-enable the device.  And like it indicates, once a key is pressed, the touch device will be re-enabled (and if I don't have my keyboard attached, I use the on-screen keyboard to do a key press).

I've attached a screenshot showing how this looks in the Device Manager when the batch file is running (note: it's not required to open the Device Manager to run the file).

And one other thing to note is that I'm not sure if the device ID that I disable ("@HID\VID_03EB&PID_8209&MI_00*") is specific to my Surface Pro, or to just the first-gen Surface Pros, or if it works with all models.

Power-Grid

The second tip compliments the first tip, but can still be used independent of the first tip.  Yesterday I saw a review for a mobile app called Power-Grid (http://power-grid.roccat.org/en/Home/), which lets you create a virtual remote on your phone, with customizable buttons to control your PC.  I started making a remote that will simulate certain hot-keys that I use often in Photoshop (e.g. resizing the brush, rotating canvas, eyedropper tool, etc.)  This lets me hold my phone in one hand, or I can set it on the desk next to the Surface Pro, and quickly use hot-keys on my phone as I'm drawing.

EDITOR'S NOTE: You don't have to create your own control grid for Photoshop. Once you register on the Roccat site, there is a free Photoshop CS6 grid available in the Store. You'll eventually want to customize it with your own inputs, but it's a great launching point and works with PS CC.

* * *

I hope these tips make sense.  If you want me to elaborate on anything, let me know.  And like I mentioned earlier, this may something that is unique to my workflow and may not work for the majority of others, but maybe there are a few out there who may benefit.

Thanks again for the work you put into surfaceproartist.com.  The information you provide has been great.

Sony VAIO Flip 15A video review; pen video too

UPDATE February 1: MobileTechReview has published a companion to the video below focusing specifically on the Flip and pen applications.

ORIGINAL POST

Despite some of their limitations (weight, fan noise, N-Trig), I'm a big fan of the Sony Flip series and think the 15A in particular is a very good value ($1299 with active pen).

In case you my previous write-ups haven't convinced you, my favorite video reviewer Lisa Gade of MobileTechReview has just posted an excellent and lengthy look at the convertible. Enjoy!

Lisa Gade reviews the Sony Vaio Flip 15, a 15.5" Windows 8 convertible Ultrabook. This is the largest Flip model and it's a thin and light mainstream laptop that works well as a main PC.

Defective Windows drivers cripple Monoprice's Interactive Pen Display

It’s been almost two months since I first received my 19-inch Monoprice Interactive Pen Display and reported how very disappointed I was in the $389 tablet monitor.

I’ve been meaning to post this follow up review ever since, but I’ve kept checking the Monoprice and Huion sites weekly hoping for signs of a new set of Windows drivers that could vastly improve this device. Unfortunately, the only driver download available from Monoprice dates back to October and the product manager with whom I’ve corresponded hasn’t been able to confirm whether any updates are even in the pipeline.

The Monoprice’s drivers appear to be rebadged Huion drivers for its GT-190 tablet display. I am not 100% certain that the drivers are identical, but except for logos, the drivers’ control panels are exactly the same.  The Huion archive was updated in December, so I am currently running that driver version. However, except for the English language product manual, the other files in the .zip are dated 2012 and earlier.

Neither the Monoprice nor Huion archives contain Windows 8.x-specific drivers, so it doesn’t appear that any software development is occurring on the Windows side. And boy, does the Monoprice Interactive Pen Display need it!

As I wrote in my unboxing, this tablet monitor makes a very good first impression given its low price. Packaging is professional, industrial design is very nice, build quality is excellent and the rubberized stylus has a nice size and feel.

Unfortunately, it all goes downhill from there.

Cable connections are in the lower back of the monitor and face downward. You’ll have to hold the display upside down to attach either the included VGA or optional DVI cable as well as the USB cable for pen input. You’ll also need to be careful about how the cables are threaded out of the back as they tend to interfere with the monitor’s stand.

Software installation is painful.

Monoprice could save Windows users hours of frustration by publishing a bright red warning label with the following instructions contained on page 4 of the manual: “Important! Do not plug the monitor into your PC until after you have installed the driver software.”

They should also highlight this critical bit of information from page 6: (Following driver installation) “Unplug all other monitor connections from your PC.”

And last, but not least, from page 8: (After setting the display resolution), plug in the included USB cable. “Windows will then finalize the installation of the monitor and its driver.”

Suffice it to say I didn’t follow these directions and it caused a lot of wasted time and hair pulling.

So to summarize: the pen display won’t work in multi-monitor mode in Windows. Install the drivers first. Unplug your current monitor and plug in the Monoprice. Start up your system and set the resolution. 1440 x 900 is maximum, but don’t be surprised if your video card doesn’t support those dimensions (a couple of the machines I tested didn’t but the display worked ok in a lower res). Lastly, connect the USB cable from the display to your pc. The pen drivers should install automatically. I don’t recall if it’s required, but to be safe you’ll want to reboot your pc after the pen driver installation.

Your pen will also need charging out of the box, so be prepared to plug it in to another USB port via the supplied (but too short) cable. Charging will take an hour, but thankfully I’ve only had to do it once over the two months I’ve owned the device.

By default, the pen drivers will display an icon in your system tray. Left clicking on the icon will load up the control panel. You can also access the control panel directly under Control Panel\Tablet Setting.

Don’t be surprised if your system doesn’t seem to respond to your pen’s taps. Using the Monoprice drivers, default clicking sensitivity was set too low. No matter how hard I pounded with the pen, I couldn’t get clicks to register. (You’ll want to keep a mouse handy in case this happens to you). Changing the click pressure setting in the control panel corrected this issue. With the Huion driver I’m currently using I didn’t experience the problem, though I still had to set click sensitivity all the way to Heavy in order to get maximum range of pressure.

Once you’ve got it set correctly, pressure sensitivity on the pen display is amazing. I don’t know if anyone has the hand control to draw at a specific pressure level every time, but my ham fists are able to get a great range as illustrated below.

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The control panel's calibration purports to offer three calibration options from 4 points to 25 points. DO NOT TOUCH THIS!!! Once you attempt to calibrate your display, your pen will only work on one half of your screen and touch targets will be off by several inches.

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Twenty-five point calibration sounds great, but you'd better untick that Calibration box is you want to be able to use the pen display at all!

I verified this problem on four different machines, including one running Windows 7.

Fortunately (using a mouse) it’s easy to ignore the calibration by going back in to the control panel and un-ticking the calibration box.

I’ve already bemoaned the atrocious viewing angles of the Interactive Pen Display during my unboxing. The only decent angle is nearly upright at about 80 degrees. If you’re not comfortable working at that angle, I’d advise forgetting about the Monoprice. I like to rest my hand on the drawing surface and generally work with no more than a 10 or 20 degree incline so it’s been pretty painful to acclimate to this new approach.

Color reproduction is hideous. A tiny move of the head will result in wildly different colors. Adjusting the display gamma with my video card software improved color display a bit, but I wouldn’t advice doing much color work without testing on another monitor.

My unit also has two small areas with dirt under the glass. They could be easily mistaken for dead pixels, but if I look at them from the side, it's apparent that they appear to be specs of dust floating between the digitizer layer and the display.

OS X users can use the Interactive Pen Display in multi-monitor mode so the low resolution and display issues are easier to ignore. But since you can’t even mirror your display on Windows, the pen display must be your main monitor.

I’ve actually been using it this way for the past month, setting aside a gorgeous 23-inch high res Dell display that I normally use on my desktop. I lived with 19-inch TTF monitors in the past and you eventually get accustomed to the display’s limitations. Nevertheless it’s kind of ridiculous to have to adapt one’s entire workspace and work habits to accommodate a piece of low end hardware.

After reading this you may ask why I didn’t return the Monoprice for a refund within the 30-day grace period. I certainly should have, but I keep hoping that some future driver update will correct the most egregious Windows issues. And, at the very least, my daughter will have a low-end Cintiq pretender to use with her MacBook Pro when she’s out of school in the spring.

If you’re on a tight budget, the Interactive Pen Display is still worth considering, especially for Mac artists. Despite its limitations, it certainly beats drawing on an Intuos tablet that could cost the same or more.

For Windows artists, the pen display is a much harder sell. Now that the price of the original Surface Pro has dropped to $599, I’d definitely recommend it over the Monoprice.

But if money is tight and you haven’t taken a plunge on a Windows tablet or convertible, or if you absolutely must have a larger workspace, the Interactive Pen Display is worth considering. But please make sure you go in with eyes wide open and expectations in check.

The device has been in short supply since it was released in early December. The Monoprice site currently says it’s back-ordered until April. So perhaps the manufacturers have gone back to the drawing board and are ironing out some of the hardware issues. But until they publish new drivers, the Interactive Pen Display will satisfy only the most forgiving of Windows artists.

Sketchable brings a bit of the iPad to Windows store...and RT too

Before I was hoarding Windows 8 tablets and convertibles, I was an insatiable iOS art app collector: always on the lookout for the application that would unlock the iPad's creative possibilities.

I know this is a silly pursuit because truly talented artists have been able to produce masterpieces on their iPads from day one. But those of us who never mastered finger painting like to convince ourselves that we would be better artists "if only" the hardware and software we used had feature x or y.  And though I'd never used a Cintiq, I also knew that there had to be a better tablet drawing experience than the fat Q-tip feel of most of the iPad's early pens.

If you were paying attention to this space back in 2011, you may also remember reading about Microsoft's Courier project, which was a wholly unique take on the tablet form factor that was unceremoniously killed before getting to market. When some of the creatives behind the Courier resurfaced in early 2012 as iOS developer Fifty Three,  their first product Paper for the iPad was accompanied by gushing press reviews. Seriously, just take a moment to contemplate the following quote from The Verge:

...the humanistic sensibilities that made the Courier so attractive are very much present in this app, unbound from the chains at Microsoft.

Ugh. Anyhow, I purchased Paper and found it to offer one of the more pleasant brush engines available on the iPad, though it was hindered by a strange sketchbook metaphor. Overall the app felt better suited to notetaking or doodling than serious drawing and I quickly set it aside (along with the iPad and a dozen or so other iOS art tools when the Surface Pro was finally released). 

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In Fifty Three's Paper for iPad, projects are organized as sketchbooks that each begin with ten blank pages.

The brush engine in Paper is one of the finest on the iPad, though it is limited by the lack of pressure sensitivity. The app is free, but each tool is a separate in-app purchase, so the final price is actually about $17. 

When I was contacted by co-developer Ryan Harris of Silicon Benders to tell me about his recently released Windows 8 app Sketchable, I had to do a double take.

Sketchable is a virtual clone of Paper. The programs are so similar I had to ask Harris whether he or his developer brother were former employees of Fifty Three or Microsoft. (They aren't.) The brothers Harris are based in Northern Florida and enlisted the aid of industry veteran John Deery (co-founder of Painter) and artist Don Seegmiller during their 18-month development process.

Just like Paper, Sketchable uses a sketchbook metaphor. Each sketchbook defaults to ten pages, but you can easily add or delete pages as necessary. And also just like Paper, Sketchable is a free app, but each tool requires a separate in-app purchase. Although this model isn't ideal, it's hard to quibble since the all-in cost is only $11.99.

Where Sketchable stands out vs. Paper is beneath its simplistic surface. Nearly every feature is customizable. There are 13 standard sketchbook cover options (though curiously I wasn't able to add my own with the camera icon). Each tool (eraser, brush, airbrush, pencil, marker, pen, inking nib and chalk) comes with four presets which can be overwritten and expanded to eight. Double tapping on any tool brings up a long menu of options for stroke background, shape, diameter, roundness, feather, angle, spacing, scatter, stroke opacity, concentration, accumulation and more. There are also 18 standard paper textures, each with its own set of customization options.

Sketchable is clearly a pretty amazing application. But many potential users may be turned off by its similarity to Paper. My advice to the developers would be to branch out in a new direction stylistically so they won't be mistaken for mere copycats. All this effort shouldn't risk being dismissed at first glance.   

A version for Windows RT was just released, making Sketchable one of the few "serious" art apps available for the Surface RT and Surface 2. However, in my experience, the coarse digitizer on the Surface RT made it very difficult to produce desirable results with any of the capacitive stylii I own, including the higher end Adonit Jot Pro or Wacom Bamboo. Most of my strokes had some degree of jitter and the RT often missed strokes. Users of the Surface 2 will have to tell me whether that device's digitizer fares any better.

The program runs extremely well on both the Surface Pro 1 and 2. It's great to see a pressure sensitive Windows Store app and I hope other developers follow suit. I didn't have a chance to test Sketchable on either of my N-Trig convertibles yet, but I assume they'll work correctly. I'll update this post if I find out otherwise.

Although I wish more of the power features were exposed in charms, the program is still extremely touch/tablet friendly and should definitely be considered by any Windows tablet user.

Each Sketchable project begins as a 10-page sketchbook. The are 18 default cover options currently available. The camera icon on my version is ghosted, but I assume the ability to customize covers is in the works.

Once inside a sketchbook, the UI is very simple. Settings and camera/picture load options are on the top right and tools, paper texture and color palette is on the bottom. The free version ships with only the eraser and brush. All other tools (including the color picker!) are sold seperately in-app. Total cost is $11.99

Double tapping on a tool brings up one of the presets. Most tools come with four presets but these can be modified or expanded by the user. Selecting the brush icons allows you to change the stroke interactively. The lock prevents further changes to the preset.

The info button brings up a long list of customization options. Shown above are just a few of the settings for the brush Diameter. Unfortunately because they're shown in this windowed format, going through all the settings requires a lot of scrolling. I also didn't like the value sliders. It's very difficult to dial in a precise number. Hopefully in future revisions, the developers can move some of these settings to Charms.

There are 18 standard paper textures, each with its own set of customization options.

Even the color picker is sold separately.

New Adobe Illustrator CC improves Surface Pro, Windows tablet support

Adobe yesterday released version 17.1 of Adobe Illustrator CC and it's a big deal for Surface Pro and Windows 8 tablet users.

The software no longer requires legacy Wintab drivers to be installed to recognize pen pressure. And it can also recognize multitouch gestures for panning and zooming. In my brief testing, touch response isn't as fluid as on software like Manga Studio or Clip Studio Paint. Zoom is particularly jumpy. I couldn't get it to recognize canvas rotation.

Additionally, Illustrator CC now supports Windows 7 and 8 HiDPI displays, so you can say goodbye to microscopic menu text and icons.

Curiously, Adobe also released Photoshop CC 14.2 yesterday, but it does not include  either pen pressure or HiDPI support. You'll still need to install the Wacom feel IT drivers and our previously published DPI hack.

Here, directly from the Adobe site, is a list of the major changes in this release: 

• Live Corners
• All-new Pencil tool
• Path Segment Reshape
• Typekit integration
• Windows 8 tablet pen pressure/Windows 7 & 8 HiDPI support
• Custom Tools panels
• Settings import/export to a folder
• Perspective drawing enhancements
• Responsive SVG export
• Touch Type tool
• Images in brushes
• Multiple-file place
• CSS extraction
• Area and point type conversion
• Auto corners for pattern brushes
• On-art Free Transform

To find out more about the other new features in the latest Adobe Illustrator CC release visit: http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/features.html

Thanks to reader Luis Camacho for the heads up!

In this screenshot, Windows 8 scale is set to 100% (small).

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The Window pulldown menu at 200% scale

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The Window pulldown menu at 150% scale

Sony N-Trig devices now pen pressure sensitive in 32-bit Photoshop

UPDATE March 20, 2014: N-Trig today published 64-bit version of its Wintab driver. See this post for details.

* * *

ORIGINAL POST

Sony and N-Trig have taken a major step closer to Wacom-equipped competitors with the release of a hotfix for VAIO devices with active digitizers.

The "Pen Pressure Update Software" installs a driver named N-Trig Wintab x32 that enables pressure sensitivity in 32-bit versions of Adobe Photoshop. I've confirmed that the update works with Adobe Photoshop CC on my Sony VAIO Flip 15A. Other users on the Sony Community site have reported success with 32-bit versions of Photoshop ranging all the way back to CS2.

Available for download from Sony's eSupport site here, the update is dated September 26, 2013, but curiously Sony does not link to it as part of machine-specific updates. In fact, the link to the list of Applicable Products on the download page is broken. I can't fathom why the manufacturer would keep this a secret, because users of Duos, Flips and other N-Trig enabled VAIOs have all reported success with the software.

Installing the software requires a reboot and doesn't create a Control Panel entry. The only indication that the software has installed correctly is in the Programs and Features control panel, which will list the driver.

Although limited to only 256 levels of pressure, the results in 32-bit Photoshop CC are still impressive.

Without a control panel to adjust the pressure curve, it takes a bit of concentration to achieve the lightest strokes.

I haven't tested the driver with other Wintab applications, but 32-bit versions of programs like Corel Painter should also benefit from the update.

UPDATE January 10: From my limited testing with SAI 1.2 Beta 5 and ZBrush 4R6, it appears only Photoshop recognizes this driver.

UPDATE January 16: The latest version of Adobe Illustrator CC released yesterday now supports Microsoft's Ink API. I tested the 64-bit version (17.1) on the Sony VAIO Flip 15A. See this post for more details:  http://surfaceproartist.com/blog/2014/1/16/new-adobe-illustrator-cc-improves-surface-pro-windows-tablet-support

Demanding professional users will likely miss additional levels of pressure and the lack of 64-bit support is disappointing, but for hobbyists or doodlers, this update puts the Sony VAIO Flip 15A towards the top of our list of Windows 8 convertibles. It's hard not to fall in love with its ample 15.5 inch display which makes even the unscaled Photoshop UI accessible to touch.  For more details on the Flip, see our earlier post here.

Thanks to Google+ follower +IvorThomas for the heads up about this update.

Asus VivoTab Note 8 with Wacom stylus only $299

PRESS RELEASE

2014/01/06

The VivoTab Note 8 is powered by the latest Intel® Atom™ Z3740 processor for a perfect balance between multitasking performance and outstanding energy efficiency

Las Vegas, NV (January 6th, 2014) - ASUS today announced the VivoTab Note 8, a Windows 8.1 tablet featuring a professional Wacom® digitizer stylus, making it the best pen-based tablet for productivity or creativity. Designed for professionals and students alike the VivoTab Note 8 is bundled with Microsoft® Office Home and Student, which includes Microsoft Word™, Excel™, PowerPoint™ and OneNote™. VivoTab Note 8’s lightweight and the ability to use it one-handed make it an ideal mobile productivity tool. With slim bezels, a high-definition IPS display and an elegant design it deserves pride of place in any business or educational environment. 

Powerful Quad-Core Processor
The VivoTab Note 8 is powered by the latest Intel® Atom™ Z3740 processor for a perfect balance between multitasking performance and outstanding energy efficiency. With up to 8 hours battery life, VivoTab Note 8 can last for a working day. And with 2GB of memory, up to 64GB of solid-state storage plus the ability to use up to 64GB microSD cards, there is all the storage space you need for your apps and files. Accessing your data on the move is simple, too, thanks to a free year of unlimited ASUS WebStorage.

Precise input with Wacom technology
Designed for one-handed user with ultra-slim bezels, the VivoTab Note 8 is ideal for highly mobile consumers. Its professional digitizer pen sits neatly in its holder along the bottom edge of the tablet, so it is always on hand when you need it. Based on premium Wacom technology, the digitizer stylus affords the best possible accuracy, speed, and responsiveness. This, combined with over 1,000 levels of pressure sensitivity, provides an extremely natural writing or drawing experience, meaning you really can leave your sketchpad or notebook at home: the VivoTab Note 8 is all you need!

Serious About Audio
Developed by the team of experts in the ASUS Golden Ear team, SonicMaster audio technology uses a tailored mix of hardware and software to enhance sound quality to a level far above what you might expect from such a small device. Its rear-facing stereo speakers with large resonance chambers give rich, rounded bass, and sophisticated audio processing tools boost the frequency range to make music, movies and games sound fantastic.

SPECIFICATIONS*
VivoTab Note 8
Windows 8.1
8-inch HD (1280 x 800) IPS display
Intel Atom Z3740 processor
Integrated Professional Wacom Digitizer Stylus with EMR Technology
2GB LPDDR3 memory
5MP rear camera and HD front-facing camera
802.11 ABGN, Bluetooth 4.0+HS, Miracast
Up to 64GB internal storage, up to 64GB microSD card slot and bundled unlimited ASUS WebStorage (1 year)
Micro USB
15.5Whr battery
220.9 x 133.8 x 10.95mm
380g

Sony update benefits Acer Aspire R7-572 users too

UPDATE March 20, 2014: N-Trig today released 64-bit version of its Wintab driver. See this post for details.

* * *

ORIGINAL POST

The Sony pen pressure software update I posted about earlier today will also benefit users of Acer's Aspire R7-572, which also features an N-Trig digitizer.

I guessed correctly that behind Sony's cryptically named SOAOTH-P0092513-1082.EXE is an N-Trig supplied driver that doesn't discriminate by manufacturer.

Using Universal Extractor 1.6.1 from LegRoom, I opened up the executable and found it contains a much friendlier installer named WinTab_Setup_x32.exe.

I ran the extracted installer on my Acer, rebooted and (voila!) pressure sensitivity is available in 32-bit Photoshop CC.

Don't you love it when stuff just works?

If you have another N-Trig equipped device, give the installer a try and let me know in the comments section below if it works for you!