UPDATED: Keyboard hinders Lenovo's Thinkpad Helix 2

UPDATE: Lenovo has finally placed the Ultrabook Pro Keyboard on its website and the price is downright shocking. Yes, it's got a built-in battery that extends power for up to 12 hours, but for $399 more? No thanks Lenovo. Read it and weep. 

ORIGINAL POST: Just in time for your holiday shopping consideration, Lenovo has released the Wacom-penabled Thinkpad Helix 2, the first Intel Core M device I've had the chance to test.

The Helix 2 comes in two flavors: a $1049 5Y10 model with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB SSD and the $1499 5Y70 model with 8 GB and 256 GB storage. Both versions have an 11.6" FHD IPS LED display with a resolution of 1920x1080 and feature Intel HD Graphics 5300.

Although the last thing I need is another Windows tablet, I couldn't resist the temptation and decided to purchase the low end version to see how it compared with the Surface Pro 3 and other devices in the SurfaceProArtist labs.

The Helix 2 ships with the Ultrabook Keyboard, a cover that doubles as a stand but lacks a hinge mechanism. The typing experience on the keyboard is far superior to keyboard covers like the Surface Pro's, but the lack of a hinge, backlighting or Bluetooth severely limits the keyboard's functionality. The screen rests at only one angle that may be awkward to use in a cramped environment (see image above). And you have to be careful to dock and undock the screen just right to use the keyboard as a cover. You can't just fold and unfold it as you'd expect from any other keyboard.

An Ultrabook Pro Keyboard will be available early next year. Lenovo doesn't offer a way to purchase the tablet separately, which adds an unnecessary expense to an already pricey purchase.

REVIEW CONTINUES AFTER THE UNBOXING IMAGES BELOW

As unboxings go, the Lenovo Thinkpad Helix 2 unveiling is pretty unmemorable. The tablet ships in a plain cardboard box, with no attention paid to first impressions. Contents are very sparse: the tablet, keyboard, power adapter and cord. I almost threw away the packaging before discovering that the pen was packed loosely in the very bottom of the box.

The keyboard features a USB output (left). Also visible on the tablet is the power connector. 

The top of the tablet has a power switch (right) and an auto-rotation lock.

The right side of the tablet includes (from right to left) a micro HDMI output, covered USB and SD ports, the volume button and headphone jacks. The opening in the keyboard is the pen silo.

Although its screen is only 11.6-inches vs. the Surface Pro 3's 12.5 (above, bottom and below, right), the physical dimensions of the Helix 2 are nearly identical.

The screen size of the Helix 2 is significantly roomier than the Surface Pro 2 (above), and it's also thinner and lighter (below).

I was expecting another Lenovo stylus like the one included with the Thinkpad Yoga (above top), but I was pleased to find that the Helix 2 includes a full-sized pen comparable to the Surface Pro 2 pen (third from top). The barrel is a bit narrower than I prefer, but it's very adequate for most uses. It ships with one Wacom flex nib, such as is found on the Fujitsu T-5000.

The digitizer on my Helix 2 works exceptionally well. I can draw all the way to the edges, I have no problem accessing the corner menus or the close gadgets and the pen-cursor alignment is uniform throughout the screen. This is the first Wacom Windows tablet I've owned that has worked so well out of the box. My Helix 2 shipped with driver version 7.1.3-9 installed and I've decided not to update it until offered the option directly by Lenovo (if that ever happens). The latest driver on the Wacom US site is 7.2.0-10, but if it's not broken, why fix it?

Drawing on the tablet is a wonderful experience. Unlike my Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga, the Helix 2 screen does not have a screen protector, but the pen's Flex nib offers all the grip that I need. Of course, the Helix 2 is compatible with all Wacom Tablet PC pens and I tested mine with the Bamboo Stylus Feel, Fujitsu T-5000 and many others with equally excellent results.

Pressure response is outstanding. (Sorry N-Trig/Microsoft, but there is still a recognizable improvement moving from a 256-level device to 1024 or beyond.)

I've tested the Helix 2 with the desktop applications Clip Studio Paint, Photoshop CC 2014 and Sketchbook Pro 7 and the apps Fresh Paint and Sketchable. The lower-end 5Y10 processor never broke a sweat. A major advantage of the Core M (formerly known as Broadwell) generation of chips is that they allow fanless designs. My Helix 2 has never heated up even while running graphics intensive benchmarks and the silent operation is welcome too.

If you've been waiting for a Wacom-equipped successor to the Surface Pro 2, the Helix 2 comes very close to being that device. It certainly offers more of a true tablet form factor than the SP2. It's significantly thinner and lighter and doesn't throw off heat.

On the other hand, there's something cheap-feeling about the Lenovo. The back is smooth and cool to the touch, but there are a few unsightly stickers and an unidentifiable protuberance by the SD slot that can be uncomfortable to hold. The hardware controls like the volume button are too close to the body and shallow, making them very difficult to distinguish from the USB and SD port covers. There is a sharp edge all around the tablet where the front panel comes in contact with the rest of the body that is less than ideal. The docking holes at the bottom of the display are also uncomfortable to the grip.

The docking mechanism itself is somewhat finicky. You have to align the tablet "just so" for it to send power to the keyboard. It's also very easy for the screen to detach from the keyboard if you attempt to carry the Helix 2 while in the laptop mode.

Lenovo should offer a standalone version of the Helix 2 priced around $800 to compete more directly with the Surface Pro 3 i3 model. Although the 11.6-inch, 16:9 HD display is not as nice as the SP3's 12.5-inch, 3:2 high-res display, it's close enough that Wacom aficionados would want to carefully consider the Helix 2.

But for now, the Helix 2 is simply over-priced. My advice is to wait until the new year when the Ultrabook Pro Keyboard is available and run the price/performance comparison again.

Of course by then, the Surface Pro 4 may be in the offing...

ZBrush 4R7 released; UI still a challenge for tablet users

I'm pleased to report that Pixologic's latest update to its flagship software, ZBrush 4R7 released earlier this week runs on the Surface Pro 3.

I've been excited for this update since it was first announced last fall because it adds polygonal modeling capabilities to the 3d sculpting software. With this addition and improved rendering capability provided by a $200 Keyshot add-on, ZBrush may now be the only 3d tool required to complete many tasks.

I'm a thorough ZBrush noob and unfortunately the out-of-the-box experience on Windows tablets hasn't improved much. The non-standard interface is still ridiculously cramped along the top of the screen, with 23 very tiny dropdown menu labels nestled between the title bar and a tool shelf. The default color scheme is also difficult to read if the SP3 screen has been dimmed at all. Fortunately, the software offers many color combinations that help improve contrast. I set mine to Choco1 (see above) and this setting seems to be much easier on the eyes.

Another drawback of the software is its reliance on keyboard commands and modifiers. Even the best designed Artdock or custom toolbar will still compete for limited screen real estate.

Nevertheless, I'm committed to stop complaining and learn this darned software once and for all. I'd really like to get off the Autodesk subscription chain gang this year, now that Softimage has been retired and a combination of Modo and ZBrush might fill my limited needs.

Any advice experienced ZBrushers can offer to improve the experience on the Surface Pro 3 or other Windows tablets are always welcomed. Please leave a comment below.

More details about the new release, quoted from the Pixologic website:

ZBrush 4R7 is the final iteration within the ZBrush 4 series before we move to ZBrush 5.0. As with our previous point releases, it doesn't simply make a few minor changes but rather is packed with major additions. In fact, 4R7 is one of the most extensive releases since ZBrush 4 came out.

Signature features in ZBrush 4R7 include: ArrayMesh, NanoMesh and ZModeler with QMesh. All of these features are useful throughout the creative process, from initial creation of your model to beautifying your artwork. They allow you to stay within ZBrush for more of your workflow, doing things that were either impractical or even outright impossible to accomplish before now.

Beyond its feature set, the core of ZBrush is being reworked and 4R7 will be the first version of ZBrush that is released with optional 64-bit support.3 This will allow you to fully harness your machine’s computing power, not only allowing for higher polygon counts but also making it possible for you the artist to create more art in less time!

By purchasing or upgrading to ZBrush 4R7, you will add another set of tools to your arsenal, expanding your artistic freedom and creativity.

ZModeler

With ZBrush 4R7 comes the ZModeler brush. This smart polygonal modeling system is designed to simplify your creation process. Quickly and dynamically create new shapes, doing so more easily than ever before possible: fuse polygons, delete full blocks of geometry, connect parts with advanced paths, and repeat your actions with a single click!

With the ZModeler brush, ZBrush takes a quantum leap beyond the organics that it is already relied upon for. You can refine the shape of your model in real-time to revolutionize how you create hard surface models, architectural structures or highly detailed environments. The possibilities are endless.

Instances and Details
With the new NanoMesh and ArrayMesh features, you as the artist can bring more complexity and detail to your work while still maintaining a low polygon count. Both NanoMesh and ArrayMesh will allow for multiple instances of any object to be created and then adjusted in a matter of seconds.

Render with Complete Details
With ZBrush 4R7 the BPR Render system will now render all Surface Noise as displacement, deforming the mesh to match the attributes of any procedurally created noise. It is like having a displacement map without needing to actually create the map. See extremely detailed results at render time regardless of polygon count.

ZBrush to Keyshot

With the ZBrush to Keyshot Bridge1 you can seamlessly connect ZBrush with KeyShot 5 to produce hyper-realistic and high quality images. If you don't already own KeyShot 5 or if its price is simply out of your reach, a "special edition" KeyShot for ZBrush is also available2.

The KeyShot to ZBrush Bridge changes your Best Preview Render (BPR) button to instead send your models to KeyShot with a single click. All associated data transfers automatically, including materials, displaced geometries, procedural noise, PolyPaint or textures -- and of course the new NanoMesh and ArrayMesh. If ZBrush can display it, KeyShot can render it!

64-Bit Support
Push the boundaries of your imagination with the ZBrush 4R7 64-bit Preview Edition3. ZBrush can now tap all available computer memory and processing power for more details, even more complex models and faster operations.

ZRemesher 2.0
Retopologizing has never been as artist-friendly as with ZRemesher 2.0. With a single click, you can automatically produce organic or hard surface topology without spirals. If one-click topology isn't the right answer for every situation, you can intuitively take control of the re-topology process with curves to assist in determining polygon flow.

FBX Import/Export
To continue improving its integration with the artist's pipeline, ZBrush 4R7 introduces a new free plugin: FBX Import Export. This supports texture, normal and displacement maps, blendshapes, smoothing based on normals and much more!

As with past updates, ZBrush 4R7 doesn't stop at major features. It also includes numerous other additions which will improve your productivity and creativity. A few are:

• Replay Last can now be reapplied to any portion of the model.

• Background images applied with the Grid system can now be projected onto your model for a painted guide in your newest creations.

• Start any sculpt with the new polygonal Cube, Sphere and Cylinder primitives.

• Automatically center the TransPose line on any unmasked, partially visible or symmetrical piece of geometry with one click.

• Copy and Paste between Tools, SubTools and even Projects.

• And whole lot more!

Autodesk Sketchbook for Windows Tablet replaces Express

With no fanfare that I can detect anywhere, Autodesk has replaced its free Sketchbook Express app in the Windows Store with the new Autodesk Sketchbook for Windows Tablet app.

This new version is free to download and use just like Express, but the app can be upgraded with a Sketchbook Pro membership ($3/month or $25/year). 

With this release, Autodesk has now aligned the interfaces of its iOS, Android and Windows tablet offerings, known collectively as Sketchbook Mobile. The one Sketchbook Pro membership entitles you to unlock all the Pro features on all of your devices, regardless of platform. Curiously, the Sketchbook website has no mention of this new Windows Store version.

Here's the product description from Windows Store:

•Designed specifically for both pen and touch input on Windows tablets
•The entire screen is your canvas with a full screen workspace and unobtrusive user interface
•Open and Save layered PSD and TIFF files for easy interoperability with other applications, including SketchBook for desktop
•Control the finest details of your art with up to a 2500% zoom
•Choose from over 10 preset brushes, including pencils, pens, and markers that deliver a natural drawing experience
•Synthetic pressure-sensitivity
•Sign in with a free SketchBook account and unlock the Layer Editor, Symmetry Tools, and more
•Advanced Tools with a Pro membership
•Pro membership: Choose from a comprehensive brush library with pencils, pens, markers, and brushes, including new Synthetic and Smudge brushes
•Pro membership: Full layer controls, including rich layer blending modes; makes image manipulation easier than ever
•Pro membership: Other workflow improvements, including new ruler guides, flood fill, and much more
•Pro membership also unlocks complete access to SketchBook on Windows desktop, Mac, Android, and iOS, including all upgrades as long as your membership is active

Playing with the app briefly on the Surface Pro 3 and my desktop pc with a Monoprice 22" Smarttouch pen display, the experience is very nice. The app features a very minimal interface that is easy to hide, leaving a full screen blank canvas. If you use Sketchbook, this update is a no-brainer and you may find yourself needing to use the desktop program less often.

ONE IMPORTANT CAVEAT: With Windows 10 preview running on the Surface Pro 3, the app runs very poorly because of a bug in build 9926 that crippled hardware acceleration. Microsoft published a graphics driver update that fixes hardware acceleration for other apps, but now Sketchbook for Windows Tablet won't start on my device. I've sent a bug report to Autodesk, but I haven't seen the issue reported elsewhere.

(Massive) guest post: 8" Toshiba Encore 2 Write impressions

EDITOR'S NOTE: Finding the time to update this blog regularly has become increasingly difficult for me, so I am always happy to pass along the impressions of other knowledgeable Windows tablet pc users. Over the last couple of weeks, TabletPCReview forums user Precurve has published an amazingly detailed series of posts on the new 8-inch Toshiba Encore 2 Write, one of the first devices to feature Wacom's new Active ES pen technology. Because the thread is now many pages long, I got Precurve's permission to condense the majority of his observations into this very long post. I've cut all the questions and comments, but you can visit the thread (see the link below) if you'd like to read the entire conversation. Enjoy (and please don't hold my future reviews to this impossibly high bar). --Rick

Jan 21, 2015 - I took delivery of the 8" Encore 2 Write (with stylus) yesterday. I'm an experienced tabpc geek with a t904, Samsung Slate, and 21" Cintiq UX, & ipads. This thing gave me one of the best first experiences with a new piece of tech in a long time. I got it on a whim to have a super portable note and sketchpad. Really incredible for the price point. So far I've tried full versions of OneNote, Sketchbook Pro 6 and Powerpoint 2013 (I like it as a scrapbook/sketchboard) in addition to metro versions of FreshPaint, Sketchbook Express. Exceeding expectations. Wacom pen is nice.

Jan 21, 2015 - (RE: Hover Distance) I get a very crisp and reliable 0.2" (5mm) air gap on hovering (with cursor following tip), then it breaks connection immediately (eg: not intermittent)... 

This picture (right)  is taken in Manga Studio 5 with strokes from a 54 pixel Gpen done lightly to mid pressure in clockwise direction... Manga Studio allows you to adjust pen curves and I have mine set to require a bit of pressure to start the line.

Frankly this pen is as as clean as anything else I have and I have almost all the Wacom products including a Cintiq and 3 tablet PCs.

I'm happy to try other small tests for the curious, but I won't be installing Photoshop on this unit. I'm under a lot of deadline pressure right now and this is just a side show. So anything really complex might take me a while.

MS5 is really cool with small to medium canvas sizes. The processor starts to choke on really large brushes with gnarly textures moving fast. But for doodles and small renderings, it's very satisfying. The multitouch pan, zoom and rotate works great in MS5. Not so great in Sketchbook Pro6.

$349? I know we're a picky lot but this thing is way better than I expected for that price.

Jan 21, 2015 - I have noticed a few stray marks from sloppy palm rejection, nothing troubling or unusual though. But again, the totality of the experience is quite good so far. I usually try not to write reviews or declare judgments until I've had gear for a while, but my initial enthusiasm for this tablet is quite high. You are welcome to keep me honest!

PS. I'd never measured it before but my Fujitsu t904 hover distance is ~ 0.45" for those who are keeping score.

Jan 22, 2015 - Qualitative impression: The thing that seems to make styluses have the tic tic noise is the 1) hardness of the tip material, 2) looseness of the tip in the pen, and 3) hardness of glass or coating. Shown here is the Toshiba stylus (left) and two Fujitsu / Wacom pens (right), one with black fiber tip and one with white plastic tip (NOTE: These tabletPC pens don't work on the Toshiba - this is for comparison only). The black fiber tip is nearly silent, the white plastic tip is quite clicky. I don't like the sound or the feel of the white tips. The Toshiba tip is right in between - may be closer to the back tip in terms of both sound and feel. I like it. And as you can see, it is new but slightly fiberous/textured tip so my guess it is will get a little quieter with use (my black pen looks and feels like an old Sharpie marker). The tip is slightly looser but its not bugging me and I really hate that loose feel.

So in a perfectly quiet room the operator can hear some tic but I don't think it would bother anyone in an office, classroom, or home. 

Jan 23, 2015 - NOTE: 

• All tests done after 2 Starbucks coffees. Some jitter may be operator error!
• All tests done at 100% scaling (eg: no drawing large then zooming out to create an appearance of smooth)
• Speed of slow drag is noted as seconds from beginning to end.
• Images shown are full sized .png screen captures saved as .gif (Site wouldn't allow original .pngs for some reason). .gif format may be introducing some slight aliasing. IMO the actual aliasing is not at all objectionable for fine lines at 100%
• No cleanup up or retouch allowed
• Note drawing window size is indicated on most screen captures(total screen - Ui)
• My handwritten notes are approx 0.2" high.
• Full sized images may appear quite larger on a PC monitor than they are on the device itself. The real world Screen dimensions are 6.75" x 4.25". SO to get an accurate feel for the real world device make each image that dimension on your physical screen.
• Some strokes were done using a plastic straight edge or french curve to reduce user jitter and are noted separately from "Freehand"
• Tested in PPT with Microsoft Ink and Manga Studio 5
• Powerpoint has some "smoothing" built into the Microsoft ink
• MS5 has user controlled stroke smoothing which I turned off except where noted. A small pilot pen without smoothing is close to the worst case scenario is MS5.
• The Third Screen capture demonstrates MS5 with a single "virtual old Sharpie" pen with a larger pressure sensitive tip and a slight texture. All strokes done without adjusting pen settings other than color.

I hope that helps

PS: I do not have screen protector on the glass. I think a little texture over the glass would create some helpful drag. I'll try that next week perhaps. I don't think I could draw a lot smoother at that size with a physical pen on glass. IMO: There is very little jitter caused by the digitizer. I've seen worse on my Cintiq.

Jan. 25, 2015 - 1) A quick test of the pressure sensitivity of the new TruPen in Manga Studio.
- Test 1 uses a 500 pixel G pen on a 1920 x 1080 canvas done in a single stroke going from minimal thickness to full thickness and then back again. You have to blame some of that jitter on my shaky hand and the raw glass surface. I did this stroke very slowly. I have a matte screen protector coming this week - the screen needs more friction IMO.

- Test two is with a 1000 pixel G pen on a 4000 x 2800 pixel canvas. There are not very many cases where you would need to go from one pixel to 1000 pixel line in a single stroke but it serves the purpose of illustrating that the new Wacom pen does have fairly impressive sensitivity even on this little budget tablet. At full thickness the stroke line was dragging a bit behind the stylus. On the other hand I was very impressed with the fine line sensitivity and control of this very large brush. I pulled this stroke more quickly which helped the smoothness.

2) The other thing that I did on a whim was download and install the free version of Sketchup (Make) 2015. All the modeling tools and functionality seem to work fine on this budget processor with 2 GB of RAM. Basic modeling is actually very responsive. Then I went to the Sketchup warehouse and downloaded a 4.2 GB Chevelle model, turned on textures and shadows and then dragged and rotated the model around in various positions. It was a little bit draggy but it didn't break. And for my use, the idea of having simple Sketchup models that can be used as underlays to block out some layouts is very valuable. Obviously it doesn't make any sense to do serious modeling on this little tablet and I don't mean to imply its suitable for anything other than simple blocking. But I was surprised that it worked at all much less worked as well as it did.

Jan. 26, 2015 - Battery life is OK. Not spectacular IMO. I haven't done a formal test locking out variables like WiFi and power optimization. It seems to me if I leave bluetooth and WiFi on and do sketching and note taking and mixed file management it might be slightly more than 5 hours. That's also connected to a Skydrive/one drive with multiple apps open, I have done no tweaking yet to the brightness/battery config. All of that is "out of the box". I'd like to do a hypermile test to see what it will do with tweaks for long battery life but I have too many networked requirements for all the other evaluations and set up I'm trying.

Jan. 28, 2015 - The goal of this exploration was to evaluate the suitability of the Toshiba Encore Write 8 for PDF viewing and annotation.

SUMMARY:

This is a much longer answer to the basic questions that was asked. This digital annotation and note taking topic is of great interest to me and it has been for a long time. So, this gave me a chance to drill in a little bit with the my new Toshiba Encore 8. Real success of a mobile note/sketch pad for any one person is whether or not we are using the device on a daily basis for note taking in six months or a year. I'm sure we've all had plenty of occasions where we get excited for a month or two but then fall back to whatever we were doing before because it works better in the big picture. Significant improvements in the overall experience come from some combination of hardware + software + ecosystem. How that all works in the real world for someone is multivariate. So I'll provide my short answer on top and then a longer dialogue about my full impressions.

PDF / TEXT APPERANCE ON THE SCREEN

I don't have particularly great reading eyesight anymore. I wear glasses. I can spend long periods with the 8" Toshiba without eye fatigue or being distracted by the resolution. But I'm also a bit old school having used computers for years where 72dpi was the standard and you could literally see pixels. The Encore 8 and 10 are 168 and 145 Ppi (pixels per inch) respectively. You can’t really "see" pixels. But there is a crispness to something like ipad retina that you don't get with these low ppi screens.
Expectations: Met

ABILITY OF ENCORE TO HANDLE LARGE PDFs
I tested PDFs up to and over 100MB. The device handled these files well allowing fluid browsing, page flipping, zoom and pan.
Expectations: Exceeded

SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
Unsurprisingly, a lot depends on the software. The built in MS Reader and the Drawboard app worked great. Adobe Reader (free acrobat) chugged a bit. I don’t like Adobe Reader anyway. In MS Reader and Drawboard, once the files were loaded (I was loading from OneDrive cloud) things were very smooth.
On the largest files with lots of pages the preview index (thumbnails) took a while to load. May be 30 seconds for 80 pages.
Expectations: Exceeded

WHAT BREAKS?
I couldn't break it.
Expectations: Exceeded

OVERALL ANNOTATION EXPERIENCE
The Pen is great. The slickness of the raw glass can make tiny handwritten margin text a little shaky but certainly legible. I hope a matte screen protector will help that. But basically underlines, hand notes, text notes, highlights, all worked great. The ability to open a cloud pdf document, annotate it, save it back and then open it on other devices with annotations worked well. I quite like the Drawboard app for annotation.
Expectations: Exceeded. I ventured into this just to explore the Encore. I will certainly use the device for annotation on airplanes or even in "leanback" mode on the couch.
Expectations: Exceeded

------------------------------------------------
DETAILED EVALUATION Notes
------------------------------------------------

EVALUATOR BIASES
I have a bunch of tablet PC experience and iPad experience. I have had Macs too. I have used my iPad 3 with Goodreader for storing a library of PDFs and doing a small amount of annotation while traveling. I would say I am a casual user of the annotation functions while mobile. It is not essential to my workflow. Typically if I am doing research and consuming documents like PDFs I'm at a desktop environment with multiple monitors open and a desk scattered with paper printouts. But when traveling I do use both my iPad and my Fujitsu13" convertible for viewing and annotation. I'm not a annotation connoisseur and I had never used Drawboard before this test.

The handheld mobile reader/notebook experience is good on the iPad from the multi touch tablet standpoint. Obviously the stylus situation leaves a lot to be desired on the current iPad. I have about 25 both passive and active capacitive styluses for my iPads and none of them are great for note taking. I also do some art. I think precision handwriting is way harder than tablet art.

By the way, I'm dictating all of this text into an iPad 3 in OneNote (which then syncs with my windows devices) while doing the annotation testing on the Encore. Dictation may explain the length of this doc. Speech recognition for me seems much more natural with a tablet then either virtual typing or scripting with a stylus. The built in speech recognition in iOS keyboard I have found to be very reliable as long as you're connected to a network. The built-in dictation in Windows 8 is just barely okay and I have not installed Dragon on this new Encore tablet and I am not sure that I will.

TEXT
Obviously the text on a retina screen is going to be substantially sharper than on the Toshiba encore. The retina is beautiful while the Encore is acceptable. I appreciate the tradeoff of lower price processor, efficiency, heat, battery life, etc. of Toshiba's choice to put in a lower resolution screen. Low cost screens will get better every year. But keep in mind that we've become spoiled fast with the last couple years of high rez screens. Retina is nice but it didn’t change my life. If it changed yours and you are super sensitive to screen resolution then you should be cautious of the Encores. But they are better than iPad1's PPi and way better than what most of us were using 5-6 years ago.

Windows 8 has a built-in PDF viewer, I already had full version of OneNote on the machine, I downloaded a copy of Adobe Reader XI (free Acrobat reader), and I also downloaded Drawboard PDF which seems to be the most popular PDF reader for the Windows 8/modern interface.

Let me quickly eliminate OneNote from this discussion. As best as I can tell, reviewing PDFs in OneNote requires that the PDF be essentially printed into the OneNote format which means it is very difficult to get the annotations back out in a proper PDF annotation later. I tried it and it all works OK on this Encore but I think it merits a separate conversation since it is not really staying in the PDF format and there are other idiosyncrasies.

I set aside a few PDFs from my archive that represent different formats and file sizes:

1) 2.8 MB file (text heavy): ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2014
https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ss14/ERS1406.pdf

2) 29.2 MB file (mixed text graphics) : Manga S5 intro book
http://manga.smithmicro.com/documentation/MangaStudio5.0.3StartupGuide.pdf
(I used an older version but it's essentially the same file)

3) 107.5 MB file (a graphic heavy PPT/Keynote printed to PDF) The future of gaming from PSFK
http://www.slideshare.net/PSFK/future-of-gaming

I played around in my spare time over a series of a few days In real world conditions often with multiple apps running . I used the Encore 8 with pretty much straight out-of-the-box settings. I left Wi-Fi on, and I didn't do anything extraordinary to try to give it extra operating overhead

Reader: Default Windows App.
http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/reader/8a4ae377-a4ab-4260-9b80-f9382360e291
The built-in default application, Reader, worked beautifully at viewing all of the files. Even the large PDF on the future of gaming, which is mostly graphics, flowed nicely and I could flick my finger so that it scrolled for five or six pages and the device would catch up and render the graphics. If you pinch the screen, the document goes into light table mode so that you get little thumbnails of all the pages. Again the Encore had no problem keeping up with even the large file.

Adobe Reader XI
http://www.adobe.com/products/reader.html
All of the docs loaded into reader but that's about where the fun ends. I have trouble with Reader even on my full-size i7 computer. Highlights and written note annotations work but not great, hand scribed annotations are glitchy and unreliable. This is not the fault of the Encore 8. I have the same issues on every computer I've tried the new versions of Reader or Acrobat. It might be user error, but either way it's consistent.

Drawboard PDF
http://www.drawboard.com/
Drawboard is a metro/modern app. I have never use this piece of software before. I set it up to access files from my one Drive account so that I could also experiment with sharing the PDFs with other devices.
Drawboard was able to open all of the files, even the large gaming report and was able to scroll through all of the pages with reasonable ease. Drawboard has a white table mode with small page thumbnails. It took 20 seconds or so for the device to generate the thumbnails the first time, but after that the pages were cached and anytime I returned it to the index it redrew quickly.
Multitouch zoom and pan work very smoothly on all files..
All annotation features work as advertised regardless of the file size.

I was able to save the annotated PDFs back into my one drive where I could open and view them including the invitations on both my laptop and iPad. Presumably you could do the same thing with any cloud Drive service but I did not drive with any others.

CONCLUSION.
I've had this little tablet just a week but I've pushed it pretty hard. The device never crashed during PDF testing.

The 8 inch screen is small for some eyes and the text is not as sharp as on a retina screen. But certainly this device is very functional for reading and annotating PDFs. Multitouch zoom and pan is smooth enough that you can zoom into the margin to make handwritten notes at a reasonable scale and then zoom back out . Any small glitches that I saw I can't attribute to the Toshiba device itself. It seems more likely that there are glitches in the stack of applications cloud services and even the OS itself and when you stream all of these together you can get some small lags and hiccups especially with auto syncing.

Based on my notion that effective note writing and annotation is personal and depends on a lot of factors I can say that for me, this Toshiba Encore is a VERY suitable platform for on-the-go PDF reading and annotation. If I didn’t have other large tablets I would prefer the 10" for consuming PDFs. But this 8" form is very nice. For whoever may be reading this, I can't say if the whole thing will work for you. But it's not because the hardware is lacking. The hardware, especially for the price, is excellent. Here are caveats:

The devices cost $349 and $399 respectively. That's damn affordable for a lot of capability. But it's not going outperform a Surface, iPad or top of the line Samsung. It's not going to be the coolest bit of tech jewelry people have ever seen (though if they are Wacom enthusiasts you will get attention). Get your expectations in line. Mine were exceeded. But I've had my tech heartbroken more than a few times so I have very realistic expectations.

You better be pretty familiar with the windows 8 interface and ecosystem. If you are not, then just that learning curve is going to cause some frustration compared to android or iOS. Windows 8.1 is a much more complex and capable environment. If you already use Windows 8 and understand the difference between modern and desktop then this may be easy for you.

In my opinion the mobile OS tablets all suffer from some common issues. iOS, Android and windows modern/metro have a clunky interfaces for file management. This can become a real speed bump in your workflow especially if you're trying to collaborate with others in a multi computer multi OS kind of environment. Obviously there are workarounds but they all take additional learning and time to make them second nature. Drawboard surprised me to the upside here. Syncing through Microsoft OneDrive made the whole thing work really well for automagically sharing to other devices. Trying to do PDF reading and annotation on a small screen in Adobe Reader or Acrobat in the desktop environment would make me crazy, on ANY hardware.

If you're already a diehard iPad person, you might just wait for the rumored iPad pro comes and see if it includes an OS integrated stylus. If Apple does that it will be a beautiful thing. If they don't, Microsoft is going to start eroding the iPad market for anyone that needs a stylus. This new Wacom pen is very promising for the Windows platform.

The Wacom stylus certainly makes a big difference for hand notes and hand annotation. It doesn't make much of a difference for finger drag highlighting. But if you are looking for reasonably priced digital note and doodle pad that can run some desktop software then Encore is a good candidate.

I did this evaluation out of curiosity and to better understand the limits of the device. I feel confident now about using Drawboard with the PDF annotation tools where I need a small format tablet. My last comment about the Encore in general - If I lost this device tomorrow I would order another one immediately.

SCREEN CAPTURES
All screens shown at full pixel resolution 1280 x 800, unretouched.
Some .jpg compression of the captures required for posting may be causing fuzziness.
Actual screen dimensions are 6.75" x 4.25" and the image may appear larger than actual size on your screen.

Jan 29, 2015 - Purpose: Evaluate the upper limits of canvas size and layer count in MS5

>>> CAVEATS & WARNINGS

I am trying some edge case things to give people in the forum a sense of what the Encore 2 Write is capable of and where are its limits and breaking points.Just because one *can* do the things I'm showing here does not mean you *should*. I am not recommending this device for anything beyond a companion tablet for professional artistic workflow in this evaluation. This Encore is not going to replace a primary computer. If anyone is looking at these tests and thinking that I'm implying you could do hi resolution paintings all day for a living on it, you are mistaken. In my opinion, This tablet should not be expected to serve as a primary machine or attempt to be used for critical path and graphically demanding, processor intensive, professional work. This is a spectacular little device for the kinds of sketches, color comps, notes, and concept work that goes on behind-the-scenes of professional creative work. I am surprised and delighted at how far this encore can stretch but this is not a production machine. I hope I speak the obvious, but I'm never sure who's scanning through these forums and thinks they hear some enthusiast reviewer is recommending $350 8 inch Atom tablet is going to solve all of their needs. Expect too much of not just this product but the whole product category (low cost pen tablets) and you will be disappointed! I'm assuming my audience for these reviews are fairly technically sophisticated and informed computer & tabletpc users.

>>> TOOLBAR CREATOR v2.2

Please note that at the top of my screen captures is a small black toolbar with very teeny writing. This is a toolbar Ui that I am experimenting with using @lblb 's excellent Toolbar Creator (http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/threads/toolbar-creator-v-2-2-beta-available-for-download.63014/). I'm experimenting with a minimal configuration of my own creation that uses a 30 pixel high strip of very small buttons that are always on regardless of the application. This one is tuned for Manga studio. This 30 pixel high strip allows for the toolbar to remain in the header of the application. The toolbar lets you switch to other application specific toolbars, though the load can take 20 seconds or so if you switch. There are many different toolbar kits that are discussed on these forums. This sort of self-programmable toolbar is VERY useful, even essential, on pen tablets for applications like MS5 or Photoshop that rely on a lot of keyboard commands for fast workflow. Essential key combinations can be scripted into any button. Given MS5s customizable command bar I don’t actually need all the buttons shown here. The essential ones would be TAB (that hides all palettes) and the brush size slider (dragging the stylus left or right on this button rapidly changes brush size)

It is the precision of a stylus on a small device like this Toshiba that allows for such a tiny strip of buttons to actually be usable. IMO programs like MS5 or Photoshop are massively frustrating to use in a pure tablet environment without a toolbar of some kind to manage a few essential keyboard shortcuts.

For Toolbar Creator fans: I'm right handed. I've been increasingly finding that I like my buttons (and app ui) on the right side of the screen if I'm interacting with Ui by pen and not touch. That way I can hold the Encore in my left and I don't have to reach across the page to do a selection, blocking my view of the brush size preview) The TAB key and the little brush slider at the top right are really useable even at 30 pix on this little device.

>>> MANGA STUDIO PAINT STRESS TEST

Pictured here is a screen capture of my MS5 stress test in its completed state. Forgive the crudity of the diagram. I didn’t plan it out, I just started painting crap. The objective wasn't a nice painting it was to performance test the Encore.

This is a 4000 X 3000 pixel canvas with 11 layers. Layers are mostly bitmap with one vector layer and one 3D layer. Two of the Bitmap layers have live channel operations (multiply and screen). In its final form it is a 49.5 Mb file.

The background was put down in multiple gradient layers and Encore was able to fill these gradients with little delay.

Chrome pipe was blocked in a single stroke with a 500 px Gpen from back (small) to front (fat). I erased out edges to clean it up, locked pixel transparency then painted in a chrome effect and some reflections with a 50 to 200 pixel oil paint brush.

Soft Air brush was used for overall shading and some detail varying size from 100 to 500 pixels on a separate layer (multiply)

3d chair and 3d soccer ball were added, rotated, and moved into place. These objects loaded fairly quickly and while they are rotatable and resizable in space, they are laggy and you can tell that the machine is having a bit of trouble with swapping the 3D controls and managing the refresh. It doesn’t glitch it just lags - a lot. I don’t expect to use much of the 3D in Manga on this machine. But in a pinch it will work with patience. Frankly I'm surprised it works at all in this large file.

On the background layer I loaded a repeating tree stamp brush and painted a forest effect. Touch of lag but acceptable.

I added a vector layer and a 100 pixel red vector "rough ink" stroke was added to the bottom of the page. It lagged a touch (not even a second) but felt very controlled. I washed the "simplify vector" tool over the vector stroke and it took about 4 seconds for the machine to calculate the task. Vector editing was tested and worked fine.

Colors of the rainbow were added in a new layer with separate colored strokes using a 160 pixel watercolor brush. Touch of lag, no problem. I performed a 200 pixel Gaussian blur of the rainbow on the entire layer. This took 10 - 15 seconds to calc. Layer type was set to "screen"

Using a blur tool I softened the back of the chrome tube and its edges with a variety of brush sizes ranging from 100 to 20 pixels. I was zooming and panning and rotating to do this. It's starting to get laggy but still manageable.

So far so good. Let's see how the current file load affects brushes now. I selected a Barbed wire paint brush and with a single fast stroke went from back to front creating a coil. No significant lag. I then erased the wire behind the pipe.

Call-out notes and call out shadows were added in separate layers. The file did not crash at any point. Multitouch pan and zoom still works acceptably though not quite as fluently as with a smaller file. Large brushes of 300 pixel are now very laggy but we will still accurately follow a slow draw.

Just to put a little frosting on this demo cake, the whole time I was doing the Manga painting I had OneNote open in the background with several notebooks open, connected to OneDrive, Wi-Fi on the whole time. In the screen capture below I have task switched over to OneNote done a few things and then brought up the task manager. You can see Manga Studio's memory footprint in the list of open applications. Even though I had this large file open in MS5 it did not degrade the performance or usability of OneNote.

>>> So…Where does Manga Studio "Break" on the Encore 2 8"

The short answer is, "I don't know". It never really broke. It chugged at larger file sizes. On one test I had a 1920 x 1080 canvas with 6 layers and I loaded one of the larger MS5 library articulating human Figures. These are fairly complex poseable 3d .obj models. This one is about a 15Mb file with textures. The screen blacked out when I dropped in on the canvas. I thought I'd finally crashed it. After about 40 seconds the screen refreshed and the model was loaded, moveable and poseable - although REALLY chuggy. I create a paint layer on top of the 3d layer and a 50 pixel brush showed no noticeable lag.

>>> CONCLUSION

In my experience So far, the Encore 2 is quite happy with canvases of 1600 X 1200 or 1920 X 1080 and 5 to 10 layers. At these canvas sizes brushes of 50 or 100 pixels, regardless of the pen or brush type, seem to be able to keep up with the stroke just fine. Larger brush sizes of up to 500 pixels have lag but with just a little bit of patience they are usable brushes. As I've shown in one of my other posts (http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/thr...wt8-b-encore-2-write.63815/page-4#post-425121), brushes of up to 1000 pixels require a very slow and deliberate stroke but the paint still registers to the path with full pressure sensitivity. If you scrub the screen as fast as you can with wild strokes using a very large brush you will break the stroke tracking. But I have still not seen that kind of behavior crash the application or the machine.

As I pointed out in other forum posts, and I'll reinforce here, this little tablet has exceeded my expectations and delighted me given my expectations of it as a low-cost, lightweight, atom processor tablet. I am not trying to do mission-critical work with it. I see it as a very personal mobile sketchpad and note taking device. Paired with Manga Studio and with the small tweaks like a toolbar this little device comes the closest to a portable full color paint kit/sketchpad as anything I've ever had my hands on. Obviously other tools and apps like Sketchbook Pro work great too.

Your mileage may vary.

* FYI: Review dictated into iPad OneNote in parallel to painting on Encore.

Jan. 29, 2015 - MICRO SD
I don't have a cover. I'm trying to avoid that, though the device does need some grip tape or something stuck to the bottom. But, in a standard folding case the microSD should be on the outside. In portrait position it would be on the upper half of the right edge

Toshiba Apps
Generally the OEM apps from everyone but Apple, Sony, and Microsoft are second rate and I tend to ignore or uninstall those kinds of things. The Toshiba Apps aren't much of an exception. I didn't intend to evaluate these because I always consider this stuff "throw away" except for the vendors I mentioned so these don;t figure into my eval. Though its curious to see how much Toshiba touts this stuff in the marketing.

TRU RECORDER
Toshiba's audio recorder App is called Tru Recorder. 3/10.
It claims to distinguish voices in the recording and color codes individual speakers in the playback display. That feature is not working for me.
The quality of the audio is poor. Very "aliased" and compressed sounding. I don't know if its the Array microphones, or the audio codec, or something else.
My Samsung s4 and iPad both have far superior audio and audio apps.

TruNotes 6/10 - for what it is
This is a very simple note taking app. Its got some some nice features but its not a pro tool.
If you have OneNote desktop I can't imagine why you would use this instead. As a simple app, One Note/metro is better. As a pro tool, desktop OneNote is an order of magnitude more sophisticated. There's no reason to get this device for professional or serious student notes and not have full OneNote. The ecosystem of Onenote including cloud drive and interoperability with all platforms is very mature. If you have a new iphone, android or ipad download the free version of OneNote. Dictate into OneNote using the built in speech recognition of android or iOS keypad. Save it to a synced folder and you can view it near instantaneously on a PC. Take handwritten notes or doodles on this little Encore and view them on your full sized desktop in seconds. This is what we have been promised for along time and its starting to work really well with Microsofts release of the free ONeNote Apps.

TruCapture
Toshiba's camera app 5/10
It works. The camera isn't anywhere near as crisp as Samsung S4, iPhone or iPad.
The camera App itself doesn't do much. You can start it up from the lock screen by swiping down.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Whew! I told you this was massive coverage! I did omit a few of Precurve's smaller posts and you can imagine there are many other responses and questions posted by other readers of the thread. Check it out in full here: http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/threads/active-digitizer-on-toshiba-encore-2-wt8-b-encore-2-write.63815/

---

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Review: New Monoprice pen display puts multi-touch within reach

When Windows 8 first appeared, I fantasized about owning an iMac-like all-in-one with a touch sensitive display but I soon learned that multi-touch support on a big screen generally meant giving up an active digitizer or pen pressure.

In the last year or so, I’ve acquired several large-screen drawing displays that get the pen pressure right, but I continue to miss the ability to directly pan, zoom or rotate my work with my free hand as I draw.

Wacom’s line of touch capable Cintiqs are prohibitively expensive but at least they prove that pen and multi-touch are possible in a display over 15-inches.

2015 will see the release of a new Wacom Cintiq, the 27-inch QHD Touch, which will retail for a whopping $2799 and Microsoft may release a smaller and more reasonably priced display powered by PixelSense. But that’s still idle speculation and also likely to be a premium product.

The contents of the Monoprice 22" HD SmartTouch Drawing Display include a DVI cable, pen, pen charger, spare nibs, nib extractor, Windows 7 drivers, VESA stand, power supply, power cord and USB cable. A small cleaning cloth, manual and matte screen protector are also included.

Enter Monoprice, the low-cost parts supplier, with its second generation of pen displays, announced late last year. In 2013-14, the company released the lowest priced 19-inch pen display on the market, which was marred by a TFT panel with especially shallow viewing angles.

The new 22-inch models promise improved viewing angles for $598 and 10-point multi-touch support for $799. That’s $1700 less than the Cintiq 22HD Touch, so my curiosity was immediately piqued. Could this really be a Cintiq killer?

To cut to the chase: No.

The 22” HD SmartTouch Drawing Display will need a lot of improvement before it can compete with Wacom or any of the other low-cost products from Huion, Yiynova and UC Logic. (For the duration of this review, I’ll refer to the display as “Smart-Touch,” because that’s what it’s called on the Monoprice site. On the box and manual, it’s referred to more generically as a 22” HD Multi-Touch Drawing Display.)

Whatever its name, this display might still be worth a look for some of you. 

The case of the Monoprice display is very similarly shaped to the Huion GT-220 and Bosto 22U mini, but unlike the aluminum finish of those two models, the SmartTouch is shiny black plastic. Unfortunately, this design similarity repeats some of the issues I had with the GT-220: awkward access to the buttons located along the lower right edge and a shallow lower screen bezel that makes it difficult to draw along the bottom of the screen unless the display is perched at the edge of your desk.

The case might also lead you to think that the devices share the same internals, but according to Monoprice, this digitizer technology is new and is neither supplied by Huion nor UC Logic. That makes sense because none of those companies offers a touch-capable pen display. And neither offers a device with only 1,024 levels of pressure. 

The supplied disk contains Windows 7 drivers, so I didn’t install them to see if the manufacturer is identified therein.

To run the SmartTouch display on Windows 8.x or 10, just plug in the DVI, VGA or HDMI cable and attach the USB cable, which transmits pen and touch data. To calibrate, use Windows’ standard pen and touch control panel.

My pen’s calibration was perfect out of the box and running through the calibration process actually made it worse, so I deleted the calibration data. 

I couldn’t get the touch calibration to work because the display appears to have a dead spot right at the very top and left edge. Not matter how often I pressed the targets there, I couldn’t get the software to recognize my taps. Some of my taps along the File menu and toolbars of various applications are also being ignored, but I assume this is an isolated issue and I’ll try to get a replacement unit from Monoprice. (My display was also missing the four screws that mount the VESA stand. I had to borrow the four that attached to last year’s model.)

The gray circles appear whenever the display is touched. In this instance, the circles were displayed as the monitor received phantom input due to a loose USB connection.

A loose USB connector on the display was responsible for a scary period when my pc appeared to go crazy. After moving the display forward or changing its angle, a cascade of phantom touches radiated up and down the left edge of the device, causing programs to launch or close, browser tabs to open, close or resize. Yanking the cable and reseating it correctly got everything back under control. 

The location of the display's connectors awkwardly point downward toward the bottom of the case.

The VESA stand requires separate assembly. The four screws needed to install the stand were missing from my package. I had to borrow the screws from Monoprice's other pen display released last year. Due to the placement of the connectors, the cables often will tangle with the stand.

The cable clearance is another issue of this case design. It’s very easy for the cables to become entangled with the legs of the VESA stand and the USB cable has to bend right at the connector base, risking a cable crimp.  

Because the display is driver-less, this means that Wintab software will not recognize pen pressure. This might be remedied in the future (no word on whether driver releases are planned), but if you are looking to run an older version of Photoshop, Krita or ZBrush, you’re out of luck for now. 

The image quality itself isn’t great. I’d assumed that the Monoprice was an IPS display similar to the Huion GT-220, but it appears to be a higher quality TFT. I may be wrong, but the device specs on the box and on the Monoprice site do not list the display type. Viewing angles are supposed to be 170-degrees horizontal and 160-degrees vertical, but subtle color and brightness shifts are difficult to avoid entirely. At my preferred drawing angle, colors at the top of the screen are noticeably darker and color banding is evident throughout.

The Monoprice pen (center) is about the same length as the Surface Pro 3 pen, but much narrower than the pen shipped with the Huion GT-220.

To charge the pen, it is holstered into the charger, which can be attached to any USB port.

The supplied pen is rechargeable and ships with three replacement nibs. The barrel is about the same length as the Surface Pro 3 pen, but slightly thinner. I much prefer the thicker flared stylus that ships with the Huion.

The display’s glass feels like it is coated with a plastic finish but it still tends to squeak when the nib comes in contact with it. A supplied matte finish screen protector makes for a quieter and much improved drawing experience. Unfortunately, I suck at applying screen protectors and I now have a lot of unsightly air bubbles caught between the screen and the surface protector.

Like the N-Trig digitizer on the Surface Pro 3 and most other “active pen” technologies, drawing clean deliberate strokes is not always easy on this display. The thinner the brush size and slower the stroke, the more noticeable jitter and wobble will become as you draw diagonally.

Slowly drawn diagonal lines require stabilization to be useful. This image from Clip Studio Paint shows the results for 0 - 45% stabilization. Pressure range is very good.

In Clip Studio Paint 1.3.8, I was able to reduce jitter starting at about 15% stabilization and I eliminated it altogether at 45%. Unfortunately, this solution isn’t available in most other software, especially note-taking applications. So unless you’re absolutely sure your software offers some compensation for jitter, you will probably be unhappy with your results.

Even in Clip Studio Paint, having to think about line accuracy and adding pen stabilization will probably slow you down as you ink.

Where you might find your work accelerated is when you add multi-touch gestures to your technique. No more leaving your drawing to find hard-to-reach scroll bars: just pan, rotate and pinch and zoom to your heart’s content.

Because of its size and 1080p resolution, some interfaces that are difficult to use with touch tablets are very manageable on the SmartTouch. I ran Adobe Illustrator CC 2014 with DPI scaling on and all the toolbox buttons were easy to tap. Ironically, switching to that software’s new touch workspace, the icons didn’t scale and now appear smaller than the desktop version. I don’t know why the touch UI isn’t scaling, but that may be a bug or an incorrect setting on my setup.

As with all pen tablets, palm rejection is triggered when the pen is close enough for the cursor to appear on-screen. This hover distance is quite good (perhaps ½-inch), but also depends on the angle at which you hold your pen. I will often rest my palm on the screen first. If the pen is tilted away, the cursor may not activate and my palm contact will cause an inadvertent event like a screen pan. This momentary glitch is more aggravating on some applications than others, but it’s not a deal breaker and the muscle memory can be developed to minimize its occurrence.

The Windows Store app Sketchable from Silicon Benders worked very well, as did Sketchbook Pro. As long as the software in question supports Windows’ INK API or RealTimeStylus, compatibility shouldn’t be an issue.

Lack of Wintab support and poor diagonal line fidelity make the 22” HD SmartTouch Drawing Display a non-starter for professional users, but for casual or hobbyist artists, it’s worth considering. 

Assuming the digitizer and screen of the non-touch display is the same, I would advise potential buyers to steer clear unless they’re certain their software supports pen stabilization. For nearly everyone, I believe the Huion GT-220 is a better choice, especially now that it’s available for $799 or $100 more for a slightly updated version.

I may need to exchange this unit to rectify the dead touch zones, but I’ll probably end up keeping the replacement because I really like the Windows 8.x multi-touch experience on my Surface Pros and many other tablets, and I miss not having it on my desktop.

CES 2015: Monoprice's SmartTouch Pen Display Monitor Now Shipping

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Here's the snippet of Monoprice's CES 2015 press release announcing new products, including the 22-inch HD SmartTouch Interactive Pen Drawing Display, which went on sale this morning for $799. This is higher than had previously been announced, but significantly less than Wacom's Cintiq 24HD which retails for $3000 and has been the only multi-touch capable pen display on the market.] 

PRESS RELEASE

LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwired - January 06, 2015) - Monoprice, an e-commerce leader that offers exceptional quality consumer electronics and tech gear at prices much lower than those of their competitors, today announced the release of a new suite of innovative tech solutions at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Featuring the latest advancements in hardware design and technology integration, Monoprice continues to disrupt the status quo by delivering premium products at affordable price points. 

"We pride ourselves on keeping our finger on the pulse of technology trends and continuously introducing the most sought-after consumer electronics at fair prices," said Bernard Luthi, President of Monoprice. "CES is the perfect launchpad for all of our latest innovations, including key items in the rapidly advancing home security and display technology categories."

Monoprice's lineup of products launching at CES include:

22-inch HD Multi-touch Pen Interactive Display ($760): Compatible with Windows 8.1 and Mac operating systems, the 22-inch display combines a pressure-sensitive pen with cutting-edge multi-touch capabilities to create the ultimate viewing experience for those in the design industry. The pen provides creative control with more than 2,048 levels of pressure, while the display boasts a 1920x1080p full HD resolution. Additional product highlights include:

• Hybrid EMR Input Technology, allowing for faster pen tracking
• 2,048 LPI (tracking resolution)
• Adjustable stand with tilt adjustment with position locking
• 45-degree input tilt range
• 10 point multi-touch
• Five millisecond response time

[EDITOR'S NOTE: The price quoted above is inaccurate. The monitor is currently selling for $799.06. The press release also states that the monitor will deliver 2,048 levels of pressure, but the website states that the device offers 1,024 levels of pressure. The names in the box image and release also don't exactly match the name on the site. Apologies for any confusion. 

Monoprice also released a new non-touch version of the monitor, the 22in HD Interactive Pen Drawing Display, which retails for $598. This model looks very similar to the Huion GT-220, which is now selling for $799 on Amazon. 

The features of the the 22in HD Interactive Pen Drawing Display which are highlighted on the site are:

• 22-inch class LED backlit IPS capacitive panel with extended viewing angles (170° horizontal, 160° vertical)
• Capacitive panel with pen stylus input
• 1920 x 1080p native resolution
• Windows 8.1 compatible
• Compatible with Mac OS X 10.7-10.10
• Three fixed color temperature settings (6500K, 7500K, 9300K)
• Screen protector preinstalled at the factory
• Rechargeable pen stylus
• VESA mount compatible (75 x 75)
• Angle adjustable stand, from 10-85° from horizontal

In an email exchange with Monoprice late last year, I was told that neither monitor is a Huion or UC Logic device but features new technology commissioned by Monoprice. That would explain the 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity vs. the 2,048 in the Huion.]

CES 2015: Wacom's new 'Active ES' powers Toshiba's Encore 2 Write tablets

PRESS RELEASE

TOKYO and LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Wacom Co., Ltd, announced that Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. and Toshiba Europe GmbH have adopted "Active ES" pen technology, Wacom's unique capacitive pen solution, for their new Windows 8.1 tablets, the Encore 2 Write (exhibited at CES in the Central Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Booth #11028). 

Wacom leads the industry with its EMR® (Electro-Magnetic Resonance) digital pen sensor solution, and reached 100 million units of component production (cumulative) in April 2014. Wacom has now extended its technology portfolio by adding the "Active ES" pen solution to address broadening needs for pens in mobile products.

The Active ES pen solution handles high performance pen and multi-finger touch inputs simultaneously with a single sensor and a single ASIC controller. It realizes a natural and intuitive writing experience with high speed, precision and pressure sensitivity. By supplying both Active ES and EMR pen solutions, Wacom continues to accelerate digital pen use on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, and lead the way toward the era of digital stationery.

"Toshiba's Encore 2 Write tablets and TruPen stylus proves that Wacom's Active ES solution delivers a best-in-class writing and drawing experience, with accuracy and speed never seen before on tablets," said Masahiko Yamada, president and CEO of Wacom. "Our Active ES pen supports writing, drawing and editing in intricate details with pressure sensitivity, as well as flexibility in design and configuration for OEM partners."

Toshiba's new tablets running Windows 8.1 Update with Bing are ideal travel companions, delivering a powerful Intel® Atom™ performance to help users get the most out of their day.  The "TruPen" stylus brings high precision control to your work -- taking notes in meetings or lectures without sacrificing the writing feel of pen on paper, regardless of speed.

The TruPen is also ergonomically designed, making it comfortable to hold over long periods of time. Thanks to its pressure-sensitive tip, users are always in complete control of every line they write or draw. Furthermore, each model's elegant design features a special slot for attaching the pen to the tablet, so it's always handy for jotting down ideas or developing to-do lists.

By promoting the adoption of feel™ technologies in a variety of mobile devices, Wacom partners with industry leaders in making the world a more creative place.

CES 2015: Wacom announces Cintiq Companion 2

EDITOR'S NOTE: At long last!

PRESS RELEASE

New Cintiq Companion 2 is a powerful tablet for creative professionals seeking the best pen-on-screen experience and the freedom to create anywhere. Connects to Mac or PC while at home or work for unmatched flexibility!

TOKYO and VANCOUVER, Jan. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at CES, Wacom introduces the Cintiq Companion 2, a powerful touchscreen tablet for professional creators of digital content who demand the very best pen-on-screen experience. It offers unparalleled freedom and flexibility, allowing users to explore and make their creative mark anywhere. The new mobile solution from Wacom works either as a fully fledged Windows® 8 tablet with all the creative input capabilities of a Cintiq or, when the need arises, will connect, via Cintiq Connect™, to the home or office Mac or PC and function as a primary or secondary Cintiq display with the renowned pen performance creative pros have depended on for years.

With 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity and tilt recognition, the Cintiq Companion 2's Pro Pen performs like a traditional brush, pen or marker when used in combination with creative software applications from such companies as Adobe®, Autodesk®, Corel®, Smith Micro®, Pixologic® and many more. The pen and high-resolution screen (2560 x 1440) interact to provide a realistic pen-on-paper feel with limited glare that allows artists and designers to quickly produce detailed and accurate material without ever having to worry about art supplies.

Comfort and efficiency are important elements for any creative professional and the Cintiq Companion 2 is specifically designed to let users work faster and in a more relaxed and natural manner. The footprint, adjustable stand and sleek design allow users to work comfortably in a variety of environments including studios, client sites, planes, trains and wherever else creativity has a home. By incorporating the Pro Pen, multi-touch, 6 ExpressKeys™, Rocker Ring, Radial Menu and Cloud Services all onto the Companion 2, professionals are given a way to work that has virtually no limits. It's the choices to be able to set an ExpressKey to a particular shortcut or use multi-touch to manipulate an image that define the creative tablet's efficiency, intuitiveness and flexibility. Additionally, a digital workflow allows for immediate feedback from colleagues or clients and this type of collaboration can improve production significantly.   

Pricing and Availability The Cintiq Companion 2 supports creativity by offering everything necessary for productive art and design work whether in the studio or on the go. The Cintiq Companion 2 will be available at the Wacom eStore in several configurations this February – Value (64GB SSD, $1299.99 USD), Standard (128GB SSD, $1599.99 USD) and Premium (256GB SSD, $1999.99 USD). The Enhanced (512GB SSD, $2499.99 USD) and Enterprise (customizable, $2699.99 USD) versions are expected to begin shipping this coming spring.

CES 2015: Toshiba introduces Encore 2 Write Tablets

PRESS RELEASE

The First Consumer Tablets to Feature Feel Technologies by Wacom, Encore 2 Write Tablets Deliver Best-in-class Writing Experience, 10- and 8-inch Screen Size Options, Great Battery Life and Premium Tablet Features at Mainstream Prices

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-– Toshiba’s Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced its Encore™ 2 Write tablets featuring a pressure-sensitive pen and an ultra-responsive screen for more paper-like precision. These progressive devices are the first Windows 8.1 tablets to feature latest-generation feel™ pen technologies by Wacom®, enabling new productivity possibilities for everyday users, while delivering well-balanced performance in a thin and light form factor with great battery life. Available in 8-inch and 10.1-inch diagonal screen sizes1, Encore 2 Write tablets are available for a starting price of $349.99 MSRP2.

“Whether you’re a compulsive scribbler, sketch artist or simply prefer handwriting notes in meetings, this tablet features technologies that make writing on screen feel more natural than ever. And because it’s a Windows tablet, it’s compatible with your favorite Office programs and apps, so you can get going right out of the box,” said Philip Osako, senior director of product marketing, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division.

Toshiba’s exclusive TruPen™, included with Encore 2 Write tablets, is a “pro-grade” pen with a fine tip and 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity, enabling sharp strokes while minimizing lag for greater precision and accuracy. In hand, it virtually feels as natural as writing on paper.

“This is a very important milestone for Wacom, too, since the Encore 2 Write tablets are the first products adopting Wacom’s Active Electrostatics pen technology (branded feel™),” said Hidetoshi Kamoto, Head of the Component Business Unit at Wacom Co, Ltd. “By working with leading partners like Toshiba for more natural and intuitive user experiences on mobile devices, we are aiming to make the world a more creative place.”

Encore 2 Write tablets include a one-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365 Personal3, featuring full-versions of the latest Office applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook. Work online or offline and keep files in sync across devices with unlimited storage through OneDrive.

Also included with the tablet is Toshiba’s exclusive suite of Tru apps designed for the way you work. Included apps are:

TruNote™

Toshiba’s powerful yet easy-to-use note-taking app lets users effortlessly take lecture or meeting notes, make markups on photos and graphics, draw, doodle, paint and more. Featuring an all-new user interface that works with Microsoft Office, TruNote makes it easy to switch pen colors and textures, import images and photos, and organize notebooks. The app’s search functionality intuitively finds handwritten characters in any note4, and any text, drawing or image can be easily selected and exported into Word, PowerPoint or Excel. In addition, left-handed users will love the app as it features a mode that switches the menus from the left to the right side of the screen.

TruCapture™

Use the tablet’s built-in high resolution 8MP camera to capture notes from textbooks, blackboards, whiteboards and chalkboards and automatically straighten, sharpen and brighten the text for greater readability, which can then be imported into TruNote. It also features character recognition to quickly and easily extract information from printed text.

TruRecorder™

The next generation of audio archiving, Toshiba’s powerful TruRecorder app makes it easier than ever to record meetings, lectures and conversation and revisit them later. TruRecorder can parse the audio of a multi-party conversation, differentiating each speaker’s unique voice, and make it available for selective playback, providing an icon for each speaker.

Optimized for Productivity

Powered by the quad-core Intel® Atom™ processor and 2GB of RAM5, Encore 2 Write tablets provide all the performance and speed necessary for getting work done all day as well as fast start-up, browsing and multitasking in Windows 8.1. The tablets offer up to an 11-hour battery life6 for general usage and up to 8 hours of video playback. Stereo speakers plus Dolby® Digital Plus audio provide an immersive audio experience, while 802.11n dual band Wi-Fi® offers speedy streaming and smooth browsing. Encore 2 Write tablets additionally make it easy to enjoy content on compatible HDTVs with a built-in Micro HDMI® port (available on the 10”) and wireless display support right out of the box.

“Toshiba’s new Encore 2 Write with TruPen technology and Microsoft OneNote provide users with a new level of digital productivity,” said Peter Han, VP of Worldwide OEM Marketing, Microsoft Corp. “And the ability to sync their OneNote data in the cloud enhances their connected experience across devices.”

The tablets also feature 64GB of storage7, a full array of tablet sensors, including GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope and e-compass, a micro USB 2.0 port for powering the devices plus easy syncing and sharing with smartphones as well as a microSD™ card slot that supports up to 128GB cards to expand the storage capabilities.

Pricing and Availability

The Encore 2 Write tablets will be available for purchase starting on January 11, 2015 at select retailers, including Microsoft Stores and on toshiba.com/us. The 10.1-inch Encore 2 Write is priced at $399.99 MSRP and the 8-inch model is priced at $349.99 MSRP.

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