But CS2 on an Intel Mac? That means emulation mode (no SIMD), huge performance penalty regardless of hardware. Contradiction.

Today class, we learn about the dangers of assuming you know the other person. Me no primarily CS2 user.

Me: OS X admin, Windows Admin. (turns around, yep, there’s my Active Directory class cert), and part – time Linux Admin, running XP/Vista/Ubuntu in virtual Machines on my MacBook.

You’re also trying to turn this into a Tablet vs Mac issue. That’s not the case, but it’s the only way you can come out anything ahead, and you know what, I’ll bet that CS2 in Rosetta, (which is NOT emulation, try actually reading some valid data on it instead of what the other fanboys tell you), on my Macbook is STILL faster than on your X41. So even in a translation environment, I’ve got a faster CS2 Machine. However, that’s not the point. You can’t point at any tablet PC that is a better overall fit as a portable for a designer than a fast laptop. You can’t do it by limiting your search solely to Macs, and you sure can’t do it with Wintel OEMs.

Oh, and by the way, Rosetta does support Altivec, the PPC vector architecture. So you’re wrong three times: 1) Not emulation. 2) Not called SIMD on PPC. 3) Rosetta supports Altivec.

Did I say it was aimed at graphics pros? No. Did I describe in detail common situations where many people could find them useful? Yes. But no, they’re only useful in vertical markets. More like “le choke.” And please… don’t tell me you type out notes while giving presentations. (And yes, you can certainly display what you’re writing with a tablet–hook up a projector… I think someone else here mentioned how useful that can be, already. I thought you said you’ve been around them a lot?)

Again, a narrow vertical market is simply not an intelligent investment for Apple, especially since none of those vertical markets are part of their core markets. Actually, I DO type notes when i give presos. See, on a Mac, PowerPoint and Keynote both have advanced presenter tools that allow me to do this. The slides are displayed on the projector, the speaker tools, including notes that I can edit while talking are displayed on my laptop. With PowerPoint 2004, I can easily jump between entire sections of my preso if I think the audience will benefit, and all the audience sees is the slides.

And… for the last time… $1,084… let me get my calculator… oh wait, that’s not $400 more than a $1,200 Dell. But please, continue to use that non-fact ad nauseam.

Oh please, hypocritical much? You care to compare EVERY laptop out there with similar specs to the X41? you’d have to look, since other than tablets, no one’s running old crap like that, but I can, and have found sub 1000 laptops with equal or better specs than the X41. You haven’t been really right on a single tech point yet. I still love the “No fast laptops under three pounds” statement. That’s a gem it is. Try Google, it saves you from these little problems.

As you said, even if it had great performance, you wouldn’t buy one anyways–even though it simply gives you the *FLEXIBILITY of BOTH a keyboard and tablet* (which you already use), so what’s the point??? I’m sure if your MBP had a tablet built-in, you’d never use it, right? Yeah, right.

You’re right. My workflow would not benefit in the slightest from a tablet, so why should I buy one. If I got one for free when I next upgrade my laptop, would i use it? Occasionally, but only in things like Photoshop. Sure as hell not for note-taking, I find the inability to multitask that longhand forces upon me to be far too limiting. My fingers know how to type, why would I want to give that up?

You’re just getting whiny because when you have to actually just support the tablet functions, the best you can currently do is to say “Vertical Markets (which have them in abundance already and are most Tablet sales), quick notes while standing, and way underpowered graphics machines.” The funny thing about that last one is that most designers I know, (and I know a few on the mac and windows sides) don’t want to draw on the screen, because they don’t want their hand getting in the way of what they work on. The like having the tablet out of the line of sight, and two uncluttered monitors to work on.

So really, the idea the designers are going to jump on tablets, (come the day when they aren’t underpowerd), doesn’t really have a lot of backing other than Tablet Fanboys.

“Snerk. Right. You’re now talking about Adobe and *Rosetta* and trying to make a *software* problem which Adobe has already given a general date for it’s solving, (Q1 2007), and has already released software that isn’t hampered by Rosetta, (Acrobat 8).”

And you’re accuse me of dodging? I’ll distill this:

You (composite of your statements): performance is of primary importance to me and cannot consider a poorly-performing system

You: CS2 user, Intel Mac user

But CS2 on an Intel Mac? That means emulation mode (no SIMD), huge performance penalty regardless of hardware. Contradiction.

Did I say it was aimed at graphics pros? No. Did I describe in detail common situations where many people could find them useful? Yes. But no, they’re only useful in vertical markets. More like “le choke.” And please… don’t tell me you type out notes while giving presentations. (And yes, you can certainly display what you’re writing with a tablet–hook up a projector… I think someone else here mentioned how useful that can be, already. I thought you said you’ve been around them a lot?)

And… for the last time… $1,084… let me get my calculator… oh wait, that’s not $400 more than a $1,200 Dell. But please, continue to use that non-fact ad nauseam.

As you said, even if it had great performance, you wouldn’t buy one anyways–even though it simply gives you the *FLEXIBILITY of BOTH a keyboard and tablet* (which you already use), so what’s the point??? I’m sure if your MBP had a tablet built-in, you’d never use it, right? Yeah, right.