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The iPad Pro was advertised as the 'Ultimate PC replacement'. It's not. It's great if you just need to do some word processing and Facebook surfing. But what if you're a graphic designer? Video editor?
Well I think I've found the solution in the Wacom Cintiq Companion 2.
http://www.wacom.com/en-us/products/pen-displays/cintiq-companion-2
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0:00
The iPad Pro was pushed as the ultimate computer replacement, but it's not, unless all you
0:06
do is some word processing and surfing Facebook. If you need to do a lot of design work or use professional apps such as Photoshop, this
0:12
is a bit of a hassle to do on the iPad. And you're limited
0:16
You can't run full Adobe apps yet, and the alternative apps just aren't anywhere near
0:20
as powerful. But I think I've found the solution. This is the Wacom Cintiq Companion 2
0:26
It's a 13 inch tablet with a 1440p display, runs Windows 10 and can be configured to your liking
0:32
Storage starts at 64GB, going up to a respectable 512GB, with processors ranging from the Intel
0:37
i3 to i7. So there's plenty of options to suit your needs and budget
0:41
The one I have here is the 128GB i5 variant, and I've been testing this out for the best
0:46
part of a month, which means I've had plenty of time to get to know this tablet
0:50
So Wacom are usually known for their graphics tablets like this one, and they've been expanding
0:54
over the past few years, throwing in screens to graphic tablets themselves, and most recently
0:58
building complete computers so you can have everything you need in one device
1:03
You can still hook this up to your Mac or PC purely as a graphics tablet though, and
1:06
use it as an extension of your main setup. Wacom provide this handy hybrid cable, with one end connecting to the tablet, with the
1:12
other end branching out to give you the option of HDMI or USB
1:16
But with a tablet this powerful, it seems like a bit of a waste
1:20
The best way to use the Companion 2 is to use it as a standalone device
1:24
It took me a few days to get used to this running on Windows 10, just because I haven't
1:28
really touched Windows since XP. Although I have read online that you can turn this into a hackintosh of sorts, which I couldn't
1:34
really try out seeing as this is a review unit. But once I did start getting used to Windows, I began to really enjoy using the tablet
1:41
and I actually forgot I was using Microsoft software. Being able to run Photoshop, Premiere and After Effects on the tablet this smoothly
1:47
just blew me out of the water. I did run into some issues with Premiere whilst trying to edit this video from the
1:52
tablet, but I guess that was down to running the project from an external hard drive, so
1:56
when I copied everything over to the tablet itself, it ran a lot smoother
2:00
Of course, running apps like Premiere just using a stylus and your fingers isn't ideal
2:04
But thanks to the amount of ports on the Companion 2, connecting keyboards and mice isn't a problem
2:09
On the right hand side, there's 3 USB 3.0 ports, an SD and Micro SD card reader, mini
2:14
display port and a headphone jack. On the left, you've got the orient lock switch, the power button and volume buttons
2:20
Moving on to the top, you can see we've got 6 customisable shortcut buttons, a rocker
2:24
ring and the centre windows key. This might look like a lot of buttons if you've never used a graphics tablet before, but having
2:30
all of these here enables you to set them up to do tasks like undo in Photoshop, which
2:34
is super useful when you're using the stylus on its own. Speaking of the stylus, sorry, the Pro Pen, it's nicely built and it's really comfortable
2:41
to hold. Plus, it features some more shortcuts and modifiers to make your life easier
2:46
And it's also pressure sensitive, which is pretty much as standard with Wacom pens
2:50
I did notice that there is a fraction of lag when using the pen, thanks to being spoilt
2:54
with the Apple Pencil, which I find much more accurate. And I did have to calibrate it a couple of times here and there, but it's still great
3:00
to use. The tablet is also pretty great for gaming, thanks to those Intel processors
3:05
And there's not one, but two cameras. There's a 2 megapixel camera on the front for all your Skype calls and an 8 megapixel
3:11
camera on the back if you need to take images whilst out and about
3:14
The only downside with this tablet, and I do mean only downside, is the battery
3:19
I'm getting around 2-3 hours, so if you decide to pick one of these up, make sure to stay
3:24
near to an outlet. Overall, this tablet could truly replace your PC
3:28
Before it arrived, I thought I was going to be using this alongside my Macbook, but I found myself using the Companion 2 as a standalone, even just for watching YouTube videos and
3:36
browsing the web. If you're in the market for a new tablet that you can do work on, or even a new laptop
3:41
the Wacom Cintiq Companion 2 is one you should definitely consider. If you can put up with Windows
3:46
Well, that's it for this video, but if you'd like to find out more about the Companion
3:50
2, I'll make sure to leave some links down in the description below. Also, if you enjoyed this video, go ahead and hit that like button as it really does
3:57
help me out, and don't forget to hit subscribe so you don't miss a single video from Cult
4:01
of Mac. I'll catch you in the next one
#Photographic & Digital Arts
#Laptops & Notebooks
#Consumer Electronics
#Multimedia Software