Motion Computing J3500 Tablet - Digital sketchbook

And now for something completely different.


My photoblog has been a little dry lately, for that I apologize. My photographic inspiration ebbs and flows and lately it's more ebb than flow. :)  For those faithful few who visit my website, I thank you for checking in regularly. This latest post may not be all glitz and glamor, but it should offer some helpful insight for people looking to invest in a Motion Computing J3500 Tablet PC.

When I was shopping for a digital sketchbook a little over a year ago, the Motion Computing J3500 was just coming onto the market. Reviews were sparse and typically from the perspective of a medical care worker or oil rig technician, and with good reason. The J3500 was designed primarily for mobile operations, military and industrial professions. It is ruggedized to military specification, features capacative multi-touch and desktop-grade CPUs. Now if you've found this post it's because you're looking for a product review. I'm not going to fill my blog with photos of the unit and all the associated accessories, you've probably drooled over them enough already. :)


My review will not question the durability of this product, whether I can pour my beer out on top of it or if it can withstand a class-4 tornado, naturally it can do all these things. This review will focus on the J3500 as a digital sketchbook, how well it performs in apps like Photoshop, ArtRage, Sketchbook Pro and the like. I'll discuss how it feels as a drawing platform and how comfortable it is to use.


Let's get started.

My wants:

My biggest "must-have" in a digital sketchbook was processing power. Nothing is more frustrating when digital painting than having your ink fall behind your brushstrokes in Photoshop. Waiting for lines to catch up with your pen when wildly sketching out a concept can really take you out of the zone and cause you to lose focus on where your illustration is going.

Wacom penabled technology was a given "must-have". This basically means that you get 512 levels of pressure sensitivity as you draw directly on the screen itself. You can use any Wacom Penabled compatible pen, even those with two buttons, another must-have for anyone with Intuos experience.

My last big "want" was a BRIGHT display. I wanted to be able to go to the park, sit under a tree and still be able to see my work as I draw. The J3500 did not disappoint in this regard.

Cost:

The J3500 is no budget piece of kit. If you're reading this review, you know what it costs and you're willing to spend a little extra on a capable tablet. When I was shopping for my J3500, there weren't many other Slate PC's on the market that catered to all my "wants". The J3500 has a good deal of expense simply due to the ruggedized state of the hardware. The year is now 2011 and there are a lot more tablets available on the market, so shop around and see if there's anything else out there that suits your needs without being ruggedized/expensive. If you're still interested in the J3500 as a digital sketchbook then read on!

Performance:

You'll have a choice between the intel Core i5 and i7 processors. I ordered the higher-performing i7 unit because I wanted to future-proof my tablet as much as possible. SSD Harddrive should be a given. I bought the 60gig configuration and it has suited my needs nicely. HDD Performance is fast and boot times are almost nil. At the time of ordering, I inquired as to whether I can get the j3500 without hdd (hoping I could buy my own at a nearby computer shop for cheaper) but this was not possible. Motion Computing installed Windows 7 along with all the drivers needed for the j3500's bells and whistles to operate properly.

The j3500 keeps up with my most demanding brushstrokes. High step-frequency brushes (even dual brushes) are no problem for the i7 processor. Complex plugins like VanDerLee's Halftone are pretty demanding on the processor, but the j3500 seems to do these operations with ease.  The j3500 is no slouch when it comes to basic speed performance. I can't speak in terms of 3D rendering/performance because I do most of that work on my workstation, but it's capable enough to do some basic recreational 3D gaming with conservative graphics settings enabled.

Display brightness it definitely a non-issue when it comes to the j3500. I generally keep the display brightness at 3/4 power in order to keep heat issues under control. When the sun hits the display I can max out the brightness setting and laugh in the face of that raging ball of fire in the sky. My screen is always perfectly visible in any condition.

As previously stated, heat is an issue with this tablet, but only when running the display at full brightness. At 3/4 brightness, heat is well controlled and vented through a grille on the top left corner of the unit. Since i'm right handed, I work with my j3500 display rotated 180. This means that the hardware buttons are accessible on the left side while I hold my pen in the right. This also means that at 180 degree rotation, the heat exhaust vent is on the bottom right of the unit, which basically cooks your crotch if you're actually using this device on your lap. Even at 3/4 brightness, the heat exiting the unit along with the weight of the device is enough that I rarely use the device freehand or resting on my lap.  If i want to work this way, I typically kill the brightness down to 1/4 power.

Because I was buying a fully-pimped version of this tablet, I also opted for the multi-touch feature. The multi-touch on the j3500 works as you'd expect. If you're comfortable working with an iphone, then the j3500 isn't much different. Although they advertise intelligent pen-recognition that disables the multi-touch when the wacom is detected, generally speaking I just keep the multi-touch feature of the unit disabled. The multi-touch is handy to have for extended periods of web browsing (windows7 has great touch compatability) but it's definitely not a must-have and would be a great feature to cut out if you're looking to save some coin.

Hardware:
The unit itself is sexy as hell. It feels like a solid slab of tech and functions like one too. This unit is not particularly light when compared to an ipad or Asus ep121 but the performance and ruggedization are two good reasons to have to lift a little bit more weight. In my experience, while it's nice to have the freedom to take this unit to life-drawing class or the local park, it's really being used 90% of the time at home on a solid surface so weight isn't a deal-breaker.


The buttons on the unit are completely customizable so you can have them perform whatever action you desire. Typically I have "Step-backwards" and "Alt" as my most used hardware buttons. Unfortunately, since the buttons are designed not to be pressed accidentally this also makes them a little harder to press intentionally. With a little practice you can get the hang of using these buttons without actually having to look at them, but the directional rocker-button is a little mushy and sometimes clicks in two directions at once. The pill shaped buttons below the directional button are great for customizing, unfortunately one of the buttons on my unit got suck down UNDER the main chassis of the unit, meaning the button didn't pop back up into original position. This button is now basically broken and I've disabled it from use. It's a pity the hardware buttons weren't better designed and it's a wonder how a fat-fingered oil worker or engineer could ever find these buttons useful in an industrial setting.


Using a keyboard with Photoshop offers a HUGE speed advantage, and given that the mobile keyboard that Motion Computing offers added more bulk than I wanted to deal with, I opted for a wireless bluetooth keyboard similar to this one. It fits great in my laptop bag, syncs perfectly with my j3500 and gets the job done faster than chicken-pecking with the on-screen keyboard that windows 7 provides.


The pen that comes with the j3500 is suitable for when you forgot your good pen at home. It's only got one button on it, so if you're interested in replicating the two-button functionality of the Intuos tablet you're used to, you'll want to get an "Axiotron Digitizer Pen". The Axiotron modbook pen can be found on ebay for about $40. This is pretty much a must-have for any Intuos user stepping up to a j3500... you'll feel right at home. :)


To sum up, here's a hit-list of my thoughts on the j3500.

- Great all around digital sketchbook with lots of processing power to keep up with your demanding brush strokes.

- Similarly priced but way more flexible than a Wacom Cintiq. Consider this unit as an alternative to a Cintiq.

- Crappy hardware buttons can be frustrating to use, but there are plenty to go around.

- Stock pen will need a replacement for seasoned Wacom users.

I hope this review helps out those who are considering this unit. There seems to be a lot of competition out there for tablets these days, but few of them are catering to the digital artist. A friend of mine has the aformentioned Asus EP121 and is quite pleased, but his brushes lag behind in Photoshop sometimes, so weigh your options carefully before you buy anything.

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to drop some questions in the comments section if you have any. Or write a little note if you found this review helpful. :)