Using a tablet with SolidWorks?

[wbuhler]

Has anyone ever used a tablet with SW?

From all the threads on the forum, it seems like most people are using trackballs and spaceballs. But to me it would just seem more natural to use a pen as an alternative input device in SW...

What do you guys think? Has anyone tried to use such a device?

Thanks,

Werner Buhler
Project Engineer
Ausco, Inc.

 

[Theophilus]

I have a Wacom tablet for drawing, but I don't use it with SW. This is mostly because I can move with less effort faster with my mouse (optical, fast settings). With a tablet, you would need to move across the whole length and width to get to menu items, so there would be a lot more movement involved. In this case, I've not found a tablet to be optimal for SW.


Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reality is no respecter of good intentions.

 

[Heckler]

I haven't used a tablet since the early 90's will using A-CAD, VersaCAD, and MicroStation. I think with Macros and other devices tablets are an outdated piece of office furniture.

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SW2005 SP 4.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NIVIDA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

"There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea" Bernard-Paul Heroux

 

[Theophilus]

Tablets cannot be fully discussed without understanding the purpose of the particular types.

My Wacom tablet allows me to literally draw in the computer--any line I like, in pencil, marker, pen, airbrush, etc.--in such a way as cannot be had using a mouse. There are also tablet PCs and even LCD monitors whose surface can be drawn upon directly. This is great for creating artwork. The rectangular background cells on my website were "drawn" digitally in Photoshop--the fills were created with airbrush strokes.

CAD tablets are completely different. These were useful when OS limitations and software interfaces did not have tool buttons all over the place. So pre-assigned areas on the tablet allowed tools to be selected without the use of momorized commands or extensive menu lists. I used one in the mid-1990's before switching to upgraded ACAD and eventually to SolidWorks. I would have absolutely no use for one of these types of tablets now.


Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reality is no respecter of good intentions.

 

[MadMango]

There is a user here that uses a Wacom tablet for every bit of software installed on his machine, including SW. He said it took a bit getting used to, but manages just fine. I've watched him work, and I am not sure if it is his skill with the tablet, SW or something else... but I find him to be slower on his tablet than with a traditional pointing device when using SW (compared to other users).

[green]"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."[/green]
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[smcadman]

I used a digitizer with a 16-button puck back in the AutoCAD days, but now in Solidworks I am using a Spaceball 5000 USB. Are you talking about using a pen and tablet to draw with? The puck at least had 16 buttons to program, but I don't think I would use a pen.

Flores

 

[mncad]

This is off subject a little, but... back in the early to mid 90's we had a Prohance trackball for use with ACAD. What a great thing that was. You held the trackball in your hands, it was about 4" X 6", the trackball was on the left side and it had 40 programmable buttons on the right side. Not only that but each button could be programmed 6 levels deep for 240 functions. Sounds like alot to memorize but I bet I had 200 functions I used all the time. What a cool thing it was. It only worked with WIN 3.2. Keep wishing I had that for Solidworks.

mncad

 

[wbuhler]

Thanks for the valuable input guys.

smcadman: Yes, I was talking about a pen tablet.

The pen tablet is probably not faster than a traditional pointing device, I agree, but it would guess that it relieves any stress on the hand. The problem is that after a few hours of SW, my hand start to hurt, nothing major, just uncomfortable. A well known phenomenom that I would like to reduce... Hence the search for another pointing device.

Werner

 

[wbuhler]

On a related subject, has anyone used a space pilot? How is it compared to a spaceball?

Werner

 

[PlasticFantastic]

I use a tablet exclusively for all my programs as well. Compared to a mouse it flies. If for any reason I have to use a mouse I feel as if someone applied brakes on my work I prefer it to using a Spaceball too (but that might be because I am stuck in my ways )

If you are feeling pain from using a mouse I would highly suggest investing in a 6X8 or 9X12 Intuos 2 tablet that can be found at

http://www.wacom.com

 

[Theophilus]

I first had an off-brand 9 x 12 tablet, but soon found it was too huge. I now have an Intuous 2 6 x 8 and find it's plenty large. Remember, you'll have to trek the entire width of the tablet with your hand to go from one side of the screen to the other (without making tablet adjustments), so bigger is not always better.


Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reality is no respecter of good intentions.