Author Topic: iPad Pro VS. Surface Pro  (Read 4817 times)

Offline Leanda

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iPad Pro VS. Surface Pro
« on: August 27, 2016, 06:12:55 AM »
Have been saving my pennies and hope to be able to bag some new hardware very soon. Am really stuck between the pros and cons of the iPad Pro and the Surface Pro. I love what I've seen done with the Apple Pencil and Procreate, but my desktop computer is a dinosaur and needs drastic updating. I want to do a lot of digital work (logos/illustration etc), but am I better off getting the Surface Pro for all-round performace? How does the stylus compare to the Apple Pencil? Would love to hear your experiences with either! :)

Offline tintenfuchs

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Re: iPad Pro VS. Surface Pro
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2016, 03:24:16 PM »
I have tried both at friends' places (but I don't own either) and what struck me as very different was the feel of the stylus and pencil. With the Surface, I always felt that a thick piece of glass was between me and the drawing. With the iPad, it felt as if I was drawing directly on the canvas. For me, this makes all the difference since that makes it feel more natural.
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Offline Rednaxela

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Re: iPad Pro VS. Surface Pro
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2016, 04:09:35 PM »
You might like this blog, which has lots of samples of Spencerian done on an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil.

http://www.richimages.net
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Offline LindaR

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Re: iPad Pro VS. Surface Pro
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2016, 05:46:26 PM »
Technology is such a huge investment that you want to be sure you’re getting precisely what you need.  I’ve never tried the Surface Pro, but I’ve been using the iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, and Procreate app for two months and am completely in love with them.  The Apple Pencil and Procreate app seem to work together flawlessly, with zero lag (an issue which seems to be a common problem with many other styluses).  Pressure sensitivity works perfectly, allowing fine hairlines and wide swells.  Procreate brushes (essentially pen nibs) can be modified or created from scratch, so that you can write with precisely the effects you want.  I have a few favorite brushes for pointed pen, as well as some I’ve made for Italic and broad edge work, and they work very nicely.  (If you’d like me to send you a sample of writing, just PM me.)

Give some thought to what programs/apps you would be using (and whether they’re available for the device you’re considering), as well as the effectiveness of the stylus you would use. Those will be huge factors for your artwork; you don’t want to discover after the fact that what you want or need isn’t available for your particular device.  Can you go to an Apple Store to put the Pencil through its paces? (Sadly, if they don’t have Procreate loaded on their iPads, you won’t get a sense of what you can do, calligraphy-wise.). Can you try out a Surface Pro in a similar fashion?  That might be the best way for you to decide what will work best for you and your hand.  I would buy the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil again in a heartbeat -- but keep in mind that I’ve never tried the Surface Pro, so have no basis for comparison.

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Offline Jamie

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Re: iPad Pro VS. Surface Pro
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2016, 07:12:31 PM »
I did the same comparison not too long ago. Personally I actually liked the feel of the surface better, because it has a more textured feel (especially if you're using the stylus meant to give you a textured feel.) The apple pencil felt like it was gliding across the glass. Which if you want that, that's fine. I also liked the surface better because it gave you a broader freedom of software. Most software made for the iPad are not going to give you all the features of say the full version of illustrator that you could have on the surface pro.

I ended up going with neither, and bought the Wacom Companion instead. It's significantly more expensive, and heavier/bigger, but it's got more of the power of a laptop than either of the previous two. The digitizer in it is considered the best of the best, wacom produces the hardware that most professional digital artists work on.

But I wanted more for drawing than calligraphy, and I'd had wacom hardware in the past that I was replacing with this purchase, so that's a lot of why I went for that and not one of the other two. Likely one of those is better for digital calligraphy on the go, but I wanted to add in my whole experience. :)

Offline Leanda

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Re: iPad Pro VS. Surface Pro
« Reply #5 on: August 28, 2016, 01:23:47 PM »
Thank you all for your input! I guess it's off to the store to try them out :)

Offline Leanda

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Re: iPad Pro VS. Surface Pro
« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2016, 02:17:29 PM »
Technology is such a huge investment that you want to be sure you’re getting precisely what you need.  I’ve never tried the Surface Pro, but I’ve been using the iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, and Procreate app for two months and am completely in love with them.  The Apple Pencil and Procreate app seem to work together flawlessly, with zero lag (an issue which seems to be a common problem with many other styluses).  Pressure sensitivity works perfectly, allowing fine hairlines and wide swells.  Procreate brushes (essentially pen nibs) can be modified or created from scratch, so that you can write with precisely the effects you want.  I have a few favorite brushes for pointed pen, as well as some I’ve made for Italic and broad edge work, and they work very nicely.  (If you’d like me to send you a sample of writing, just PM me.)

Thanks Linda, I agree, such a huge financial investment needs a lot of thought. Thank you for your very helpful and comprehensive answer. What GB size did you opt for?

Offline LindaR

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Re: iPad Pro VS. Surface Pro
« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2016, 04:49:08 PM »
Leanda, I ended up buying the 128GB iPad Pro model in the 9.7" size. The bigger 12.9" version was a big temptation (more drawing space!). But many people say that the 12.9" size makes the iPad feel way too big, portability-wise.  So I opted to stay with the more familiar (and highly portable) standard size iPad.  This format hasn't seemed to be a huge hindrance, particularly since I can enlarge and reduce the Procreate drawing canvas at will.  So far, 128GB seems to be more than enough storage -- but as time goes on, I'll surely fill that up.  Procreate canvases can be easily saved (with all layers preserved) to Dropbox or other sites for remote storage, so finished pieces don't need to be saved right on the iPad; they can be archived elsewhere and brought back to the iPad as needed.  That will save storage space.

Also, on the issue of writing on glass and how that feels... well, it's a bit different from writing on paper, but that's it. Not bad, not good, just different. It didn't take me long at all to become accustomed to it.  I've read that some people have purchased matte iPad screen protectors to create a bit more friction, to more closely resemble writing on paper, and have been very pleased with that (the one that seems to be highly regarded is the iCarez Anti Glare Anti Fingerprint Matte Finish Screen Protector, available via Amazon and likely many other sources).

Good luck with your deliberations!  Let me know if you have any other questions.
Linda R.

Offline Leanda

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Re: iPad Pro VS. Surface Pro
« Reply #8 on: August 28, 2016, 05:47:26 PM »
Leanda, I ended up buying the 128GB iPad Pro model in the 9.7" size.

Ah, thanks again Linda!! Was also deliberating on the screen size too! :) I will have to go and try one out in store, but good to know about the layers and saving options. You've answered a lot of my questions :)

Offline Erica McPhee

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Re: iPad Pro VS. Surface Pro
« Reply #9 on: August 31, 2016, 12:02:06 PM »
I'm so glad you asked this as I am contemplating the same thing. After having yet another cheap Window based laptop have the hinge break within 6 months, I'm ready to give up on laptops. My husband bought me a MacBook Pro a couple of years ago and I just could not get used to it. But I just saw you can now get Word and Exel for the ipad!

I could be looking at the wrong thing but the Surface Book was like $3k and the ipad pro was under $1k. That's a huge difference! I'm not sure I am comparing equivalents though.

Keep us posted on what you decide!  ;D
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Offline Leanda

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Re: iPad Pro VS. Surface Pro
« Reply #10 on: August 31, 2016, 12:42:55 PM »
Will do Erica and do let me know if you make any progress on your purchase. :) The Surface Pro was a bit more expensive but not by that margin. Good luck!