The business of tablets for the Artist
For creative types looking for a tablet with a pressure sensitive pen, the Toshiba Excite Write is a mid-sized and mid-priced offering. Although Toshiba marketing and all of the reviews I've seen tend to pitch the product as a business tool that allows you to write as you would on paper and more accurately touch up images and presentations, let's be honest, you don't need pressure sensitivity to really do just that (accuracy alone is fine and if you bundled a Jot with your tablet, business folks would be just as happy). Toshiba should really have bit the bullet and full-on marketed it as an iPad and Cintiq alternative for artists.
The absolute closest competitor to the Excite Write is the Samsung Galaxy Note tablet, and with the release of the 2014 version of the Note, the two products are almost identical, both in capabilities and price. The choice of which of those two tablets to choose boils down to a decision between Samsung's customized Android Operating System vs. Toshiba's choice to go plain vanilla (a tactic that should allow customers to upgrade their OS more easily in future) and to pen preference. The Excite Write comes with a pen that feels just like a regular Wacom pen: nice and fat with an "eraser" that actually works on the screen. The Note's pen is a thin, stick-like stylus; personally, I had no isues using it but compared to the Toshiba unit, it feels almost like an afterthought. The reason for this is the only advantage the Note pen has over the Excite's: it can be stored within a slot on the side of the tablet.
So while there aren't really a lot of business (and by "business" I'm talking about traditional "business", not the business of art and design) reasons for paying a premium on a tablet in order to gain a pressure-sensitive pen, there are plenty of reasons to buy one if you're into design or illustration, even if it's just a hobby. The device everyone aspires to - the Wacom Cintiq Companions - are more feature-rich, have double the pressure levels (apparently, 2,048 makes a difference), and are larger (13"+), however they cost over $2,000 retail for the privilege. At that pricepoint, an Excite Write or a Galaxy Note are actually quite a bargain and arguably more portable for that on-the-go drawing. Let's just do a quick and dirty price comparison...
So now we have a Toshiba Excite Write, what can I expect?
The Excite Write ships in a plain brown cardboard box and none of the packaging is what you'd called either "exciting" or attractive. Considering how poorly packaged Toshiba laptops come, this is no slight on the Excite Write, it's par for the course, but your opening experience will not be full of the kind of "oohs" and "aahs" you get when opening a new iPad.
The tablet is well-built and attractive enough, with large corner radiuses, a slender grey bezel around the completely standard front glass and black frame. It weighs about a pound and a half, which is a tiny bit heavier than an iPad2, but is light enough not to fatigue your arms when you're holding it. The back is textured, which presumably gives you a bit more friction when you're holding it. The harmon kardon speakers are located on the bottom back of the tablet, logically not the best location for speakers, but they're true separated stereo speakers and in a protective sleeve or case the sound still projected well.
The Wacom-sourced TruPen a full a Wacom Feel IT compatible pen complete with toggle switches, eraser button on the end, and a pocket clip. It's a little light and as there is no slot or holder for the pen on the tablet, you'll probably misplace it at some point. Additionally, the nib does not appear to be removable as far as I can see. I'd recommend purchasing at least one additional pen as a backup. Wacom's Bamboo Stylus Feel pens are compatible with the Toshiba Excite Write, and would an make excellent secondary/replacement pen. There are two models available from Wacom, the Stylus Feel and the sexier Stylus Feel Carbon:
For creative types looking for a tablet with a pressure sensitive pen, the Toshiba Excite Write is a mid-sized and mid-priced offering. Although Toshiba marketing and all of the reviews I've seen tend to pitch the product as a business tool that allows you to write as you would on paper and more accurately touch up images and presentations, let's be honest, you don't need pressure sensitivity to really do just that (accuracy alone is fine and if you bundled a Jot with your tablet, business folks would be just as happy). Toshiba should really have bit the bullet and full-on marketed it as an iPad and Cintiq alternative for artists.
The absolute closest competitor to the Excite Write is the Samsung Galaxy Note tablet, and with the release of the 2014 version of the Note, the two products are almost identical, both in capabilities and price. The choice of which of those two tablets to choose boils down to a decision between Samsung's customized Android Operating System vs. Toshiba's choice to go plain vanilla (a tactic that should allow customers to upgrade their OS more easily in future) and to pen preference. The Excite Write comes with a pen that feels just like a regular Wacom pen: nice and fat with an "eraser" that actually works on the screen. The Note's pen is a thin, stick-like stylus; personally, I had no isues using it but compared to the Toshiba unit, it feels almost like an afterthought. The reason for this is the only advantage the Note pen has over the Excite's: it can be stored within a slot on the side of the tablet.
So while there aren't really a lot of business (and by "business" I'm talking about traditional "business", not the business of art and design) reasons for paying a premium on a tablet in order to gain a pressure-sensitive pen, there are plenty of reasons to buy one if you're into design or illustration, even if it's just a hobby. The device everyone aspires to - the Wacom Cintiq Companions - are more feature-rich, have double the pressure levels (apparently, 2,048 makes a difference), and are larger (13"+), however they cost over $2,000 retail for the privilege. At that pricepoint, an Excite Write or a Galaxy Note are actually quite a bargain and arguably more portable for that on-the-go drawing. Let's just do a quick and dirty price comparison...
So now we have a Toshiba Excite Write, what can I expect?
The Excite Write ships in a plain brown cardboard box and none of the packaging is what you'd called either "exciting" or attractive. Considering how poorly packaged Toshiba laptops come, this is no slight on the Excite Write, it's par for the course, but your opening experience will not be full of the kind of "oohs" and "aahs" you get when opening a new iPad.
The tablet is well-built and attractive enough, with large corner radiuses, a slender grey bezel around the completely standard front glass and black frame. It weighs about a pound and a half, which is a tiny bit heavier than an iPad2, but is light enough not to fatigue your arms when you're holding it. The back is textured, which presumably gives you a bit more friction when you're holding it. The harmon kardon speakers are located on the bottom back of the tablet, logically not the best location for speakers, but they're true separated stereo speakers and in a protective sleeve or case the sound still projected well.
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| Right hand harmon kardon speaker, note the textured surface. |
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| Back of the Excite Write Tablet |
The Wacom-sourced TruPen a full a Wacom Feel IT compatible pen complete with toggle switches, eraser button on the end, and a pocket clip. It's a little light and as there is no slot or holder for the pen on the tablet, you'll probably misplace it at some point. Additionally, the nib does not appear to be removable as far as I can see. I'd recommend purchasing at least one additional pen as a backup. Wacom's Bamboo Stylus Feel pens are compatible with the Toshiba Excite Write, and would an make excellent secondary/replacement pen. There are two models available from Wacom, the Stylus Feel and the sexier Stylus Feel Carbon:
Getting down to the drawing
The Excite Write comes with a few creative apps including time-killing Toon Boom cell animation, and some "business"-oriented pen input and note-taking apps. Your #1 choice is the ubiquitous and ever-dependable Alias Sketchbook Pro. There are several other available creative apps to note, including: Infinite Design, AtrFlow Studio, Infinite Painter, Sketcher Pro, Ink, WaterColorPencil, Zen Brush, and Fresco Lite. I'll review each of those apps separately.
Drawing with Sketchbook Pro, my first impressions were that the screen resolution is excellent but - as some other reviewers have pointed out - the colors are not as vibrant as they are on an iPad and on typical computer screens. I haven't run into any controls for modifying gamut, saturation, etc. but until I start running into major issues with comping not matching production, it's not something that I'm worried about just yet.
The Excite Write comes with a few creative apps including time-killing Toon Boom cell animation, and some "business"-oriented pen input and note-taking apps. Your #1 choice is the ubiquitous and ever-dependable Alias Sketchbook Pro. There are several other available creative apps to note, including: Infinite Design, AtrFlow Studio, Infinite Painter, Sketcher Pro, Ink, WaterColorPencil, Zen Brush, and Fresco Lite. I'll review each of those apps separately.
Drawing with Sketchbook Pro, my first impressions were that the screen resolution is excellent but - as some other reviewers have pointed out - the colors are not as vibrant as they are on an iPad and on typical computer screens. I haven't run into any controls for modifying gamut, saturation, etc. but until I start running into major issues with comping not matching production, it's not something that I'm worried about just yet.
Performance
in Sketchbook Pro is definitely acceptable, feeling much like drawing on a Cintiq or a bamboo tablet on a PC. I noticed occasional lags that I've come to realize came when I was installing or updating apps in the background. It's best to make sure no other apps are running when you're concentrating on drawing performance. Otherwise, drawing is excellent, precise, and real-time. In doing my typical large and fast figure-8 tests, there was a tiny bit of follow-through, similar to a Bamboo tablet, but sampling was excellent, with no polygonalization of large, fast curves. Fast fine-line cross-hatching was definitely real-time, even with stroke smoothing on (although I think it drew less lines in that mode) and stippling felt like the real thing. The combination of high resolution, speed, and stylus provides very precise control.
It's a commendable drawing tool, 100% more realistic and satisfying to use than an iPad for the same purpose.
One of the neat features of the Android Wacom Cintiq tablet is the ability to use the device as a touch-sensitive computer screen by plugging it into your computer. This allows you to essentially use Photoshop with your Cintiq. Although none of the non-Wacom tablets have this feature, there are Andoird apps that allow you to view and control your PC on your tablet and one of those is included for free on the Toshiba Excite Write (Splashtop Streamer). Setup was a snap and it even worked with my high-res PC display. If you upgrade the product, the service works even if you're halfway across the planet. Unfortunately, it's not a perfect tool for sketching or drawing, as WiFi doesn't seem to allow you to communicate enough information to make smooth arcs or large figures and pressure sensitivity doesn't communicate at all. However, it's still quite usable and you will be able to use Photoshop and Illustrator, etc. with some precision and satisfaction. With the WiFi being the gatekeeper, you can feel free to run Splashtop at the highest resolution as you will not notice any performance improvement by reducing it.
Accessories
The Excite Write's main rear-mounted 8-megapixel camera takes acceptable images in a pinch while the perfunctory 1.2-megapizel front camera is useful only for video chats. Behind a plastic flap on the left hand side of the tablet reside microSD, mini-HDMI and micro-USB ports.
I was able to purchase a "Universal" sized tablet sleeve for the Galaxy Note for a decent price that fits great except for the notch for the camera, which is cut for the Galaxy Note at the center edge of the sleeve. The Kensington company sells a universal sleeve that also includes a removable blutooth keyboard (and here's where you notice that Android accessories are typically cheaper than accessories for the iPad):
So to sum up my review of the Toshiba Excite Write:
Pros:
- excellent precise drawing tool
- pen is substantial, with eraser on end
- sharp hi-res screen
- lots of useful ports
- reasonable price and performance compared to high-end solutions
Cons:
- uninspired packaging
- occasional lag while updating or multitasking
- screen colors are slightly unsaturated
- speakers face... the back... why?
- no dock for pen, could easily be lost
Hardware details:
Toshiba Excite Write, is a 10" tablet currently retailing for about $600. It's Toshiba's top-of-the-line tablet with the following notable features:
- Wacom TruPen stylus with 1,024 degrees of pressure sensitivity;
- Ultra high definition 2,560 x 1,600 display;
- Tegra 4 processor;
- 2GB of RAM;
- 32GB of built-in storage;
- and Harman Kardon speakers.
The Excite Write's includes a rear 8-megapixel camera with LED flash and a front-mounted 1.2-megapixel camera suitable for web cam use. MicroSD, mini-HDMI and micro-USB ports are housed beneath a plastic flap.
The tablet is 0.4-inch (10.1mm) thick and weighs 1.48-pound weight (671.3 grams).
