Help Finding Laptop/tablet for Art and School

[YellowMenace]

So I need an on-the-go computer/tablet for notes and drawing, I'm not a fan of stand alone graphics tablets, and carrying one device is so much easier when sketching and note taking on the go.

I'm currently using an i5 x220 tablet and it's decent, but it's heavy as can be as a tablet, gets really hot (around 90c w/ fresh thermal paste), 3.5 hour battery life on power saver (can't actually easily do work when enabled), chugs in basic Photoshop and larger clip studio tasks, and the motherboard has had some issues and I'm ready to retire the thing.
With a budget of around $450-$500 (trying to come as low under that as possible), I'm trying to find something with a 1080p or better display, Wacom digitizer (n-trig digitizers, like on the surface pro 3 and dell tablets, have a fair number of issues like odd pressure curves, non-smooth wobbly lines, etc), and is able to run Photoshop CC nicely.

Right now I'm looking at the Surface Pro 2 (around $250 on eBay) or a thinkpad helix (prices vary), they're reasonably priced and use Wacom digitizers, but the size and lack of repairability of the SP2 and the performance of the helix concern me.

 

Anyone know of any better devices with built-in digitizers that meet these criteria without being TOO cheap?

 

The Cube i7 is also out of the equation since it's a non-serviceable tablet with almost no company support, so if something happens, there's not a lot that can be done.

 

TL:DR
With a budget of $450-$500, what are some good Wacom pen enabled devices that has a minimum of a 1080p display and can easily run Photoshop and programs alike?

(I'm also willing to buy older used or refurbished devices if the price is good)

[YellowMenace]

bump?

[YellowMenace]

Nothing? 

[Dackzy]

I think your best bet is to see if you can find a SP3 i5 8gb ram model, you won't really get anything better at such a small budget. Just remember that it wont be that good for PS, since it is a ULV CPU.

 

The problem here is that you want/need a touch screen with pen support, but still decent CPU power, which isn't really going to happen.  A W530 would be a beast of a laptop on a budget, since it has a true quad core i7 and a quadro GPU, but it doesn't have pen support or any form of touch screen, but you could get a Wacom Digitizer that connects via USB to the PC (maybe a Wacom Intuos).

[YellowMenace]

14 hours ago, Dackzy said:

I think your best bet is to see if you can find a SP3 i5 8gb ram model, you won't really get anything better at such a small budget. Just remember that it wont be that good for PS, since it is a ULV CPU.

 

The problem here is that you want/need a touch screen with pen support, but still decent CPU power, which isn't really going to happen.  A W530 would be a beast of a laptop on a budget, since it has a true quad core i7 and a quadro GPU, but it doesn't have pen support or any form of touch screen, but you could get a Wacom Digitizer that connects via USB to the PC (maybe a Wacom Intuos).

I can tell you more than likely didn't read the OP

I specifically requested a NOT N-trig device, as for drawing, they have issues that wacom devices don't, (line jitter, pressure curve odd-ness, etc) I've tried one out in-store and even with windows 10 and latest drivers, all of those issues are still there.

"I'm not a fan of graphics tablets...", I've use stand alone tablet for photoshop on my desktop for a long while, but the coordination with it and the display being detached is something that, after 5+ years, I still haven't entirely gotten used to, it's fine for edits in PS, but when it comes to drawing, I can't do that.

 

And when it comes to price, as stated in my post, things like the SP2 with a i5 4200U can run it fine (better than a 2520m on low power mode) and still be within budget.

I just want to know what devices to consider that I probably haven't seen yet, as when you look up these things, you'll only find a lot of iPad pro, Surface, and wacom devices costing upwards of $800, with the occasional Intel Atom budget device thrown in.

[Dackzy]

4 hours ago, Yellow Screaming Madness said:

SNIP

oh I read it, but it is your only options, you have such a low budget that you need to compromise. Running PS on a dual core is so bad and slow, hence the stand alone tablet recommendation wit a powerful quad core laptop.

 

I have only heard people that said that the SP3 was better for drawing and just better in every way.

 

I am guessing that this is only for a hobby and not actual work, because if it was work, then your workplace should pay for it and then the budget would be much larger.

[YellowMenace]

1 hour ago, Dackzy said:

oh I read it, but it is your only options, you have such a low budget that you need to compromise. Running PS on a dual core is so bad and slow, hence the stand alone tablet recommendation wit a powerful quad core laptop.

 

I have only heard people that said that the SP3 was better for drawing and just better in every way.

 

I am guessing that this is only for a hobby and not actual work, because if it was work, then your workplace should pay for it and then the budget would be much larger.

Hobby and school, I think it was obvious as the it states "for school".

And I'm not opposed to buying used or refurbished, or just generally older devices, hence the budget. And, again, older and refurbished devices can get had for easily within the budget, I just want to know what else there is. I KNOW for a fact that there isn't just a surface pro 3 and that's it, nothing else has ever been made that falls within that price bracket, as I've seen quite a few and have listed a few already.

 

And a 3rd and 4th gen i3 can handle photoshop alright. I've been able to use photoshop on my brother's toshiba with an older i3 and it runs decently enough, i can't remember which i3 it is, but it's 3rd gen or newer. Photoshop was doable on a i5 2520m when not having to lower performance, say, if plugged in to its charger. Just when in a normal, non-power saver mode, my x220 tablet could only get about 2 hours of battery life with light use.

Editing and rendering a 3'x5' 300dpi sign wasn't that bad on them, but he older, 2nd gen i5 is just too power inefficient for me to practically use it as an on-the-go device.

 

The SP3 is out of the question due to n-trig and a history of having faulty wifi.

A quick google search shows that the line jitter issue (as well as many others) still persists on the SP3 

And drawing lines slow is kinda necessary for inking, detail in CAD work, careful freehand editing, etc.

[Dackzy]

2 hours ago, Yellow Screaming Madness said:

SNIP

 

Oh didn't see the school thing.

Your i5 2520m is actually a bit better than a 4200u when it comes to pure CPU horsepower.

 

Also please don't get that model 64gb of storage and only 4gb of ram, that's not enough, you really want 8gb of ram and a 128gb of SSD. I also work with CAD and I would hate only having 4gb of ram, the 4gb of ram would be used so fast.

 

There is the Samsung Tab Pro S, not sure what kind of pen tech that uses and it only has a Core m. This one is again used.

[YellowMenace]

5 hours ago, Dackzy said:

Oh didn't see the school thing.

Your i5 2520m is actually a bit better than a 4200u when it comes to pure CPU horsepower.

 

Also please don't get that model 64gb of storage and only 4gb of ram, that's not enough, you really want 8gb of ram and a 128gb of SSD. I also work with CAD and I would hate only having 4gb of ram, the 4gb of ram would be used so fast.

 

There is the Samsung Tab Pro S, not sure what kind of pen tech that uses and it only has a Core m. This one is again used.

Woops, I copied the wrong links :v (this one too) I meant to copy the link for the 128gb version.

The major issue I seem to be having is graphics acceleration in PS with the 2520m, because that, along with tinkering with integrated graphics settings, seem to be what's choking the system the most. Also, when having a resource monitor open, the cpu sits at around half, maybe a little bit more most of the time when not applying settings.

And yea, about ram, 4gb is definitely not enough, I had to upgrade my x220t from 4 to 6, then to 8, when using things like PS, rhino, zbrush, inventor, etc.

[Dackzy]

6 minutes ago, Yellow Screaming Madness said:

Woops, I copied the wrong links :v (this one too) I meant to copy the link for the 128gb version.

The major issue I seem to be having is graphics acceleration in PS with the 2520m, because that, along with tinkering with integrated graphics settings, seem to be what's choking the system the most. Also, when having a resource monitor open, the cpu sits at around half, maybe a little bit more most of the time when not applying settings.

And yea, about ram, 4gb is definitely not enough, I had to upgrade my x220t from 4 to 6, then to 8, when using things like PS, rhino, zbrush, inventor, etc.

 

hmm both of them should only have 128gb, it looks like you need to find a 256gb version to get 8 GB of ram. (I just looked it up)

[YellowMenace]

On 2/18/2017 at 0:46 PM, Dackzy said:

hmm both of them should only have 128gb, it looks like you need to find a 256gb version to get 8 GB of ram. (I just looked it up)

Judging by your profile picture, I have the sneaking suspicion you may be a lenovo man.

How would a Thinkpad Yoga S1 with a core i7 4500U with 8gb of RAM do?

You can get good ones on ebay for about $400.
You know if there's any issues with the thinkpad yoga S1 to be aware of/ why not to get?

[Dackzy]

1 hour ago, Yellow Screaming Madness said:

Judging by your profile picture, I have the sneaking suspicion you may be a lenovo man.

How would a Thinkpad Yoga S1 with a core i7 4500U with 8gb of RAM do?

You can get good ones on ebay for about $400.
You know if there's any issues with the thinkpad yoga S1 to be aware of/ why not to get?

 

I actually just like the slogan...

The Yoga S1 is a good laptop, the only drawbacks I can remember on top of my head is the lack of ports compared to other laptops and bad speakers. Other than that it is a really solid laptop with great build quality.