[tkenyon]

I'm getting really excited about this program and wonder if it's just me or is there much better options. I really like the idea of doing my thumbs in a program like this, whether they are for logos, ads, websites, whatever. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ready to drop paper, but I'm a big fan of paperless solutions.
The drawing table in my office recently has been turned into a comping/printer table. Damn those big color inkjets. Anyway maybe I'm desperate to reconnect sooner than later to a free creative process, or my little sketchbook is a joke, but I'm going to get me one of those new G5 tablets (I wish) and a program like Sketchbook Pro.
Has anyone used an app like that in graphic design for thumbs?

[WillAdams]

Yes, and I find it so invaluable for the time it saves me over scanning sketchbooks and other bits of paper that I've not purchased a traditional clamshell laptop since my ThinkPad 755C, but since then have had an NCR-3125, a Newton MessagePad, a Fujitsu Point 510 and a Fujitsu Stylistic 2300.
Here're some of the programs which I use and find invaluable:

[*]ArtRage, http://www.ambientdesign.com

[*]Expression, http://www.creaturehouse.com

[*]Fauve Matisse in Grey (look for the filename matisseg.zip on various Windows archive sites)

[*]FutureWave SmartSketch --- unfortunately this program can't be had any longer which is a real shame. Macromedia bought FutureWave for their Flash technology and later sold of SmartSketch to Broderbund after incorporating some, but not all of the features in Freehand

[*]and FreeHand, simply because it has a nice UI on a desktop and is compatible w/ Altsys Virtuoso on my NeXT Cube.

[/list]
I'm still baffled by why Apple doesn't do a pen slate, or at least a convertible. It plays to their strengths (UI, battery life, market of people which includes more people who draw / create), and unlike Microsoft which has to charge more for Windows XP Tablet PC edition 'cause they're licensing their HWR from an outside company (wonder if they tried to buy Paragraph or no), Apple bundles InkWell (ne Rosetta, the print recognizer from Apple's Newton) with all copies of Mac OS X.
William

[charlieartist]

You may also want to look at Painter--has a good natural-media simuation.
I use an Intous tablet, but if someone really wants the on-screen thing, Wacom also makes the Cintiq. A bit pricey, but you get a pressure-sensitive screen, albeit not portable.