back to article $3500 will get 13.3in Mac tablet in your mitts

Years ago, El Reg ran stories concerning rumoured Mac tablets. Apple, of course, never made one and eventually released the iPad instead. But in 2007, US Mac upgrade seller OWC offered to convert an iBook into a tablet for you. Five years on, another company is having a go, this time with a 13.3in MacBook Pro. If you really …

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  1. ToddRundgren
    Thumb Down

    Dumb, dumber and Apple buyers I guess?

    1. jai

      Dumb, dumber and Apple buyers ToddRundgren I guess?

      fixed it for you

      1. Greg J Preece

        Diss ye not the Todd! Anyone who can create the fabled motorcycle guitar is OK with me.

    2. Dave 126

      >Dumb, dumber and Apple buyers I guess?

      Its a niche product for people doing a specific job. It is basically an excellent portable Photoshop device. People (or more likely, their company) wouldn't buy it if it didn't save them time and money, and it will anyway be deducted from their tax bill. If you can point us towards an alternative device that does the same for cheaper, please do let us know.

      - Etched surface for paper-like feel

      - Low-sparkle, non-glare glass

      -Wacom® pen tablet digitizer

      - Pen pressure: 512 levels

      - Recognition rate: 133 points/second

      - Recognition resolution: 0.01mm

      1. Robert Sneddon

        There's the CintiQ 12WX from Wacom although it's transportable, not portable. Of course it's not limited to OS/X as it can hook into a PC as well to run a wider range of software such as 3D Studio, AutoCAD etc. The pen on the CintiQ 12WX reports 1024 pressure levels and recognition resolution is 0.005mm (both twice that of the digitizer fitted to the Apple) and it costs about $1000. Add in a MacBook Pro at $1200 and you've got a more flexible bundle (although not a unitary fondleslab) for two-thirds the price of the tablet plus another screen and a keyboard/trackpad.

        1. Dave 126

          Close, but no cigar

          ... the Modbook Pro can run Windows, too (like any Intel Mac, and Modbook will pre-install it for you as an option). Your bundle solution is certainly one to consider, but isn't a 'use it anywhere' package. Your suggestion is a viable alternative, and possibly better solution, for many situations, but not all. Its not only accountants who want to spend their time on trains productively.

          The software you mention, 3D Studio and AutoCAD, as well as much of the rest of the AutoDesk stable, are available in OSX-native versions. Your point does stand, though: most mechanical CAD software isn't available for OSX, and even in Windows via Bootcamp certain other packages might not like the graphics hardware (Intel HD 4000).

          http://usa.autodesk.com/products/mac-compatible-products

          Before AutoDesk bought Alias, their Wavefront Studio software had a digitiser-based component, the idea being that the designer would start with freehand sketches before further defining the design through curves and into 3D. Presumably, this feature still forms a part of the package.

      2. stu 4
        Thumb Down

        recognition resolution

        like the lcd wacom, what is the point ? I mean, I have a few wacom tablets - they are great. and the high resolution means you can draw very accurately.

        however, as this (like the lcd wacoms) is effectively glued to an extremely low (in comparison) screen the high resolution is utterly useless.

        never seen the point of these. I bought one back on 2004 (tablet with pressure sensitive wacom) and it was pants for the same reason.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        FAIL

        3 grand for a photoshop tablet.. L M F A O

        @ Dave 126

        Yeah OK. There are a heap of alternatives that surpass this in technological ability, why the hell would you want this as a "photoshop" editing tool. I live in photoshop, and I can tell you, fuck that...no way.... no thanks.... I can barely use my two 27" dells as acceptable resolution... Stitch 6-10 36mp images together as a panoramic image, see how you get on using it on that toy eh?

        As pointed out, Wacom have a better alternative screen, there are much cheaper and better devices around,...

        OH... and photoshop doesn't need a mac to run on thanks, so you don't need to mortgage your house to get this gimmick.

    3. Dave 126

      >Dumb, dumber and Apple buyers I guess?

      Flippin' hilarious! The real ToddRundgren, guitarist and producer, is an Apple user, and even created his own Apple-based digital painting system:

      http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2004/mar/18/onlinesupplement/print

  2. JDX Gold badge

    Why mbp?

    Wouldn't an Air-based one be nicer?

    1. Piro Silver badge

      Re: Why mbp?

      In the immortal words of Jeremy Clarkson...

      Powerrrr

  3. The FunkeyGibbon
    Paris Hilton

    If you have the money, why not?

    I guess there are worse things to spend your money on. However looking at that, it has stylus and didn't somebody once say "If you see a stylus, they blew it?" ;-)

    Paris because if you have that much money...

    1. Dave 126

      Re: If you have the money, why not?

      Jobs was talking about a UI for a general mass market consumer device... selecting telephone contacts, tapping out a an email etc. This is a tool for digital artists.

      Various trades have their own input devices, from CAD jockeys' SpaceNavigators, to musicians and MIDI keyboards, video editors with their shuttle wheels, to those guys in Nevada who use a XBOX controller to pilot drones. Digital artists might use a pen digitiser. Anyone who has been to the cinema in the last decade might note that the sector has a bob or two.

  4. Valerion

    >And the grand total: $3499 (£2172), which is $1199 for the 2.5GHz, 4GB MacBook Pro and $973 for parts and assembly

    DOES_NOT_COMPUTE

    1. melt

      It looks like a fairly involved build. How much is your time worth?

      1. Tom 38
        WTF?

        @melt

        $3499 (£2172), which is $1199 for the 2.5GHz, 4GB MacBook Pro and $973 for parts and assembly

        3499 != 1199 + 973

        2172 == 1199 + 973

        $2172 = £1348

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Someone's mixed their $ and £. They've got a bright future as accountant for the Chinese cinema industry.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How many Raspberry Pis do you reckon could be chained together in that case?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      How long do we have to wait for support for the DSI port to be switched on in the firmware blob? Sadly no ℼ enhanced tablet can exist until that happens.

  6. Mondo the Magnificent
    Happy

    Expensive....

    ...but "if" I had the need and could afford it, I'd take one of these over a Windows 8 type tablet / touch screen device any day...

  7. Miek
    Linux

    Looks legit

  8. Matt_payne666

    a friend of mine just sold his original modbook... it was a lovely bit of kit and it does have its uses... its a niche product indeed, but because of that it has its place - and he sold his for more than he bought it 3 years back...

    just a shame the thing was a bugger to use outside of design software... if you thought win7 was a bitch with a touch screen... try OSX10.6!! (I wonder if the new 10.8? is any better with a stylus??)

  9. andreas koch
    Joke

    Very cool device with one drawback

    While, if you want to fork out this amount of money, it is a wonderful piece of kit*, it has the drawback that it's missing an Apple logo.

    So no one will know just how hip you are. A proper iPad will have a higher status.

    *some people might even need it: Artists that can't work indoors for lack of "inspirational vibes" and such, for example.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    But why... you may as well just have an 'Air' or an 'iPad' or wait and the next generation of laptops will probably be touch screen anyway.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      There's a difference between 'touchscreen' and 'pen digitizer stuck over an LCD' and it's several orders of magnitude.

    2. Dave 126

      >the next generation of laptops will probably be touch screen anyway.

      Yeah, they are capacitive multi-touch screens for using with your fingers, this Modbook is an accurate digitiser system. They are different things.

      >But why... you may as well just have an 'Air' or an 'iPad'

      You can't get full-blown Photoshop on an iPad.

  11. Robredz
    FAIL

    Why Bother?

    Well I suppose a fabboi with more money thath sense may want one, but otherwise beyond the pose value, it's a crock of shit

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You're joking ?

    Anyone who is prepared to have 3500$ billed to their CC without any inkling on what they're getting or when they will get it deserves anything they finally do get...or not.

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