I think one of the main reasons Surface exists is to push out the Windows platform onto tablets. I think because of this you get a little more bang for buck. If you look at the power and price compared to other tablets/ultra book solutions its fairly competitive. Although it will always be slightly more expensive because of its size, portability etc... But once the ball gets rolling if Microsoft aren't making a ton of cash on the Surface I would anticipate them to slow down and let third parties take over.

I went and bought myself a 128gb Surface Pro today from the Microsoft Store. Since it is windows based, first thing I did out of the box was install AVG Anti Virus and then Malwarebytes Pro. Gotta keep the internet STDs at bay. hehe ;) Then I installed the new Wacom driver and adjusted a few settings. Installed Photoshop CS5 and began to paint. It is awesome! No lag, cursor is just as close as my cintiq to the nib and the pressure sensitivity works like a charm. I now have no excuse to not paint textures or sketch when not near a desktop pc. I can now sit outside and paint in the sun. Hooray! Haven't tried ZBrush yet, but I suspect it will be the same experience.

I going to keep an eye on this thread. So far there has been issues with the pressure sensitivity, so I have to request one of you who own surface pro (possibly: TelekineticFrog) to try Zbrush out (since you have the driver installed) and give a thorough review upon the pressure sensitivity.

Until then I will persuade in saving up for Lenovo Thinkpad X230t Convertible. Although, I am waiting on someone who uses Zbrush 4r5 to give a thorough review on that as well.

I have been looking everywhere to pre-order in the UK but can't find it anywhere... does anyone know where its even going to be sold? Really want to secure one before they run out in the early days.

I am super interested in diving in with a surface pro for digital painting, but I'm just waiting for PS/ZBrush to have strong touch controls so that I won't need a keyboard handy every time I want to edit my brush settings quickly or other common commands

Cont'd: While you are at that; Can you also tell us if the surface pro heats up and drains the entire battery if you use any sort of side panel mods.

Crabfu Review, Digital Art Tools (Pressure...

Originally Posted by Nitewalkr

Cont'd: While you are at that; Can you also tell us if the surface pro heats up and drains the entire battery if you use any sort of side panel mods.

Crabfu Review, Digital Art Tools (Pressure Sensitive + Draw on Screen) - YouTube

None at all. I have had a side panel installed not long after purchase. Runs cool , barely takes up any system resources....works flawlessly, though dont expect battery life to last more than 4 hours.

Whats cool is that it even was hooked up to both my large 20inch wsx and the smaller 13hd cintiqs as a primary computer. It ran pretty damn well considering the specs.


@telekeneticfrog, check out something called ClassicShell for windows 8. Its free and a must have.

Whats just as nice is that the power consumption for the computer is tiny. So when I dont need to use the power consuming beast of a desktop PC, the surface pro makes an easy substitute. The electricity bill gets lower, and thats not a bad thing.

Originally Posted by Dataday

None at all. I have had a side panel installed not long after purchase. Runs cool , barely takes up any system resources....works flawlessly, though dont expect battery life to last more than 4 hours.

I'll probably get a surface pro as my first tablet at the end of may when it is FINALLY released in Europe. So what exactly is a side panel mod? And what does it do/help with? :p

Hey Nitewalkr - sorry for being a bum and not responding to the other thread. About the Lenovo tablet for ZB -- my boyfriend uses ZB and 3DC on his X220T (i7, 8GB ram) and while both work well, 3DC is pretty demanding on the hardware and temperatures fly (sometimes 90Celcius). But Zbrush is totally fine, and without lag. You just need to have an external keyboard if your screen is folded back. Sculptris is nice too, but same issue with the temperature. My bf also says Blender sculpting works smoothly and without any temperature issue.

If you want, since you're in 'Sauga, you are welcomed to come to downtown TO, to the former Alias office (King/Sherbourne) one of these days and give my X230T a spin.

I've tried the surface pro in the store and while i didn't get to use any real apps on it, i didn't really like the non-tactile keyboard and saw it more as an upgraded ipad.

So far I've had no issues with pressure sensitivity on the Surface Pro. It has been reactive and nice like I expected of it. I have set up the stylus button to draw up a pop up menu with keyboard shortcuts that I custom made for Photoshop CS5. You can set them up via the wacom wintab driver app. It is easy, just takes a couple minutes and then you don't need to worry about a keyboard. I do have a Logitech K810 bluetooth keyboard I've paired up with it. Nice thing about the keyboard, keys feel nice, illuminated keys and you can pair up to 3 bluetooth devices to it and switch between them via a single key press. I use the mac version of the same keyboard with my ipads and macbook air. Zbrush and PS seem to run just fine on the Surface Pro and I've yet to really run into anything that I didn't like or something annoying. I'll keep updating with my thoughts the more I use it, so if I do run into anything I'll post it up here.

Originally Posted by XilenceX

I'll probably get a surface pro as my first tablet at the end of may when it is FINALLY released in Europe. So what exactly is a side panel mod? And what does it do/help with? :p

Its basically a touch menu system with short cuts and hotkeys that floats on the side of the screen, yet manages to get out of the way when you actually begin to draw/model/sculpt. Essentially it diminishes the need for a keyboard.

I'm really confused, the Surface Pro releases in 4 days (United Kingdom) and I can't find anywhere to actually pre-order/buy the dam thing! Whats going on?

There is one that shows up on amazon.co.uk for like a lil over 1,000. :/ Isn't thought the UK price supposed to be more like around 700 something. I'm talking in your currency not USD.

Originally Posted by IchII3D

I'm really confused, the Surface Pro releases in 4 days (United Kingdom) and I can't find anywhere to actually pre-order/buy the dam thing! Whats going on?

Are there any microsoft stores up there by any chance? Thats the best way. My gf and I had to wait in line for 45 min early in the morning to get one. They sold out fast.

I doubt its that bad anymore, but since its the release for you guys up there you might have to do the same depending on where its sold. Alternatively you can probably try to order one from the US of A.

Haven't seen any pre-orders for it yet, but I'd guess these sites will have it when it's available
Since Currys/PC World are listed, maybe try calling them?