I have talked to quite a few people today about the Acer Tablet PC’s, including Acer Technical support. I will say first that I love the Tablet PC format, it has really changed the way I work. That having been said I think I probably picked the wrong model. This kind of shit just happens when you are a new technology whore like I am.
The truth is that the touchpad not working was actually the second problem I had with my brand new Tablet PC. The other problem I had is that sometimes the screen just goes green. I started having to save my work constantly for fear that any minute the screen would decide it was done displaying my shit. A quick scan of some Tablet PC forums shows that this is an extremely common problem with the Acer. I figured I would just ride it out and hope a patch would be released soon or something.
Then there is the latch on the Acer. Some people have had theirs replaced two or three times already. I could tell immediately upon first opening the PC that the latch was a pile of crap. My solution to this problem was to simply never use the latch. The result is my latch is still attached but it’s kind of stupid that I am forced to not use in it in order to keep it that way.
Then the touchpad went out on me and I got really frustrated. It was sort of like the straw that broke the camels back I suppose. I called Acer and they want ME to pay to have it shipped to them so they can take a look at it. We are talking about a machine that is barely three months old. Ass-bandits.
It’s too late for me now, I am stuck with this thing and I will have to make the best of it. If you are in the market for a Tablet PC, I highly recommend steering clear of the Acer models. They are great tools and I think every artist should at least try one out. Don’t be like me though, do your homework before you buy one.
Speaking of doing your homework before buying a PC, it’s time for me to get a new Desktop. My machine is currently a little over three years old and its sad little Athlon 1000 MHz processor and 512 MB of RAM just aren’t cutting it anymore. I have been doing a lot of work lately at insane sizes and resolutions for posters and stuff and I can hear the poor thing whimper every time I load up Photoshop. Saving a 36 x 24 inch graphic with multiple layers at 300dpi takes forever. I actually went and made a sandwich during one save on the CTS poster. What I want is a PC that is built for graphics and I honestly don’t really know what that is. I do however know that there are a lot of artists out there that read PA and I am hoping to get some advice. I am also seriously considering going Mac since artists seem to love them. Of course I am even more clueless when it comes to those. So hook me up, what do you think I should get and why?
-Gabe out
