Posts tagged digital art

tSo, with Christmas around the corner, I’d like to spread word about this magnificent device here called the Motion Computing LE1700. What is it, exactly? Well, it’s a computer, obviously, but what makes it unique is its screen works just like a Wacom. Yup, this thing is its very own Cintiq, only it’s a computer itself — so no hassling around with hooking it up to another computer.

How good is it?

Put shortly; GOOD. very impressive for how old this thing is. It was originally released in 2007 running Win XP, but can be upgraded to Win 7 like mine. It runs beautifully considering its age, and it does well with Photoshop, SAI and especially Sketchbook Pro. I’ve been using this thing for nearly a year and it has yet to let me down.

That said, lets take a look at the specs (or you can go here to fill yourself in, but I’ll go ahead and point out the things an artist would want to know).

Yes, the stylus has pressure sensitivity — 256 points to be exact. That’s a little below the standard Wacom, but it’s hard to see the difference in my opinion. Currently, my LE1700 boasts a 30GB HDD and 2GB of RAM, though it can be upgraded to greater heights. The screen resolution is pretty damn spiffy, too (1400x1050). You can also find them with a special “View Anywhere” screen, though that jacks the price up pretty high. It depends on where you get this baby and who refurbished it. I got mine from a refurbishing company called U.S. Micro on Ebay for around $459.99. They seem pretty legit.

The downside to these pieces of hardware is their shitty battery lives. You’ll at most get an hour if you’re lucky. It sort of defeats the purpose of it being portable, but you can attach a battery extension. It also gets very hot, but with how cold it is now, it works well as a lap-heater.

Keep in mind that these are discontinued, so you’ll most likely have to settle for a used one, but don’t let that deter you. These things are a gift from God to artists everywhere. They are your personal, compact, intuitive and beautiful computerized sketchbooks, and you’ll always want to keep drawing with them.

Check out the crap I’ve made with it here if you wish, or go write this baby down on your Christmas wishlist. Good luck, and keep striving!

(Oh, and I might as well add; if you want to know something about this, just ask me a question. I know a shitton about this thing.)