Aspire R13 stylus issue, drawing lines are wobbly

So I just got the R13 the other day and I thought it was great for me to use as an artist because of its sleek design. So my Active pen arrived yesterday and to my surprise, I was very disappointed. I use Photoshop and PaintTool SAI as my tools. First I noticed that SAI didn't seem to have any pen pressure to it, no big deal, this happens the first time you have a new PC or drawing tablet on that program, so I left it alone and it would fix itself overtime. But when I went to Photoshop, it was more surprising. When I try to draw, the lines look very wobbly, even if I draw at a moderate or normal speed. I tried drawing normally but it was too much, I couldn't take it seriously. Trying another program like Autodesk, it still does the same. I've compared my drawing to my old tablet, a Samsing ATIV Smart PC, and I'm sure I don't have Parkinson's. The lines on my old tab were smooth while my new is just so wobbly.

It would make me conclude that this would be a driver issue as I've seen it before, since SAI isn't responsive to (that would be a big sign). I've tried reinstalling some drivers but to no avail. I noticed that there's no pen or digitizer driver in the support page. Seeing that the pen technology is from Synaptics, the touchpad is the only driver showing up. I've seen another thread about a similar issue, saying to go to Synaptic's website to download its own driver, but it wouldn't install because the driver they have there was from 2013 and my current driver is late-2014.

Any artists out there who recently aquired an R13? I'm really just disappointed. This powerhouse of a 2-in-1 is really so awesome and I don't want to return it but I might have to at some point.

Accepted answers

All comments

maximemoreillon

Hello,

I tried slowly drawing straight lines on my R13 using the pen and a piece of cardboard as a ruler and here's the result:

http://i.imgur.com/WpaHDLQ.png

There is indeed some wobbling but since I don't use or plan to use the laptop for artistic purposes, it doesn't bother me that much.

How does it compare to yours?

onionwolf

This is how I would normally draw:

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=CEE34EA722E2F42D!1888&authkey=!AM5v4nrlRAUnlbU&v=3&ithint=photo%2cjpg

Seems that there's some sort of issue going on here for all devices and I simply cannot tolerate it. I may need to return this unless someone else has a better solution. The pen itself is a little too stiff as well so I may just have to return it all anyway.

I still noticed that there's no third party HID controller for the pen aside from the Microsoft one under Device Manager, unless it's the Synaptics one (it doesn't do anything even if I uninstall or disable it). So I'm at a total loss here.

petehost

Try Bamboo Paper.

You are absolutely right. I have this device since December. I really love the foldable screen. The keyboard is not great, but manageable (sad)... but the battery life and its weight is well worth it. I downloaded Alias Sketchbook pro too. Both Sketchbook and OneNote have the same issues as you mention. Nearly wanted to give up on this after trying for so long. My stylus pen died on me after the first week, but the service team was great, and my new stylus pen came within a week, right to my home. I downloaded Bamboo Paper today, and I got really encouraged. The drawing for the first time is SOOOO GOOD. Flawless, feels almost like what you can draw on paper. My confidence has been restored.

It's really a pity.... why ACER and Microsoft hasn't gotten this right, but the Bamboo Paper is superbly REFINE.

One real big disppointment though - the battery life of the pen is hopeless. I had to change mine twice within 3 days. I don't know why they claim the battery life is 180 hours I resorted to removing my battery after each use. Do not know how long can that plastic threading last on this pen.

onionwolf

Forgive my terrible awesome handwriting:

[edited - removed non-functional link]

You're totally right on this one! Wacom seems to just stabilize it all except for some jitters and I would do anything to get this quality in all my art programs (except Flash since they stabilize too). So I'm not sure if this is still a driver issue, a specific program issue, or what. I did call Acer customer service and told me that the R13 itself is not at fault and told me to do a factory reset, which didn't help.

Also I cancelled the return request because I wouldn't wanna return it anymore and I'm sure there's a fix to it. It would also lead to me that the pen itself maybe at fault. I heard that the Dell active stylus is also cross compatible (seeing that it's also has Synaptics tech in it), I would probably give it a go and give updates as I go. Being and early adopter sure does have its benefits, for people later on if they want to. I want other artists to know that some devices can be for them if they're looking for a Cintiq Companion alernative (Of course there is!).

But back to the pen, I did hear some nasty stuff about it and I did experience some hicks. Sometimes the pen would just disable itself for no reason as if the battery died and would just spring back to life. The pen tip is a turn off because it feels like metal. I would fear scratching the Gorilla glass 3 on it coz I can hear louder-than-usual tapping sounds as I draw or write. If this is a driver issue I hope it gets fixed soon, if we make a lot of noise or something. If it's a pen issue, Id just switch it with a third party or other brand.

Let's see how this will go.

onionwolf

UPDATE

So I actually plugged in my Wacom Bamboo tablet to the R13 and it yielded some interesting results.

Photoshop

digitizer test3 photoshop.jpg

PaintTool SAI

digitizer test3 SAI.jpg

So what's interesting is that my Bamboo worked very well, as it should, on both programs. Pressure was working, no wobbling lines whatsoever. Comparing it to Acer's active pen, it's something different. I noticed that after installing the Wacom driver, the Acer pen started to lag on SAI for some reason (as if waiting for a Flick command which I already disabled).

VERDICT: Faulty pen driver.

It seems that the Acer pen is merely detected as a pointing device (such as your everyday mouse) rather than a pen input, as indicated in SAI. The faulty driver may cause the pen to "wobble" when drawing diagonal lines. There's another thing going on. There is no pen digitizer driver for the R13 on Acer's support page. That is the one and ONLY fix. It raises a lot of questions for me as an artist. The unit was partially intended for artists like me, but an artist like me cannot even overlook this issue at all if it fvcks up on two popular art programs.

But still, I'm at a loss here. If there really is no fix to this I will have to return this unit hands down. I'm very disappointed in both Microsoft and Acer for messing up so badly in this but it's still a fairly new device in the market. If the fix is coming in soon, I'll be a loyal customer.

digitizer test3 photoshop.jpg

digitizer test3 SAI.jpg

onionwolf

UPDATE #2

So I was able to talk to @AcerAmerica on Twitter and a representative got a hold on me on the phone. Here's what he told me:

"The R13 is not designed to do that."

We've been on the phone for about 15 minutes, trying to explain the situation. First he told me that it was a software issue, not a hardware issue, that my art programs may cause the digitizer errors (wiggly-wobbly lines). The other thing he told me that it was not designed to be drawn on and that I would have to use an external drawing device to have better results.

Seriously? A device commercialized to be drawn on screen is not designed to be drawn on screen for artists. How pleasant! The selling point of these devices for artists is the pen pressure. Of course artists would be considering it! I have lost the trust of these companies. This has been a waste of time and thank you for giving my hopes up. I hope never to buy a single product from you ever again.

Final Verdict: This should not be used for digital artists.

petehost

Their support team working on the stylus issue is obviously unaware how well bamboo paper works on their OWN stylus with their OWN ACER device.... Sign...

Wonder if their team reads this thread

osbk84

anyone tried dell active stylus??? I heard that it was improved a lot, so I think it should work better for R13 than the original pen

Blayn-Acer

Onionwolf,

Thank you for your feedback. I was able to duplicate your findings and have reported this to our engineering team.

GabbieGreen1111

Hi @acer-blayn I have 2 Acer Aspires. Recently one wont charge now and my first one's charger port became loose and wouldnt hold a charge. My computer repair guy said it needs a new battery. The other one also has a loose charger port. It worked for awhile until it got too loose and now wont start at all. What can i do to charge as a short term immediate fix. Also what can i do to fix the 2nd computers problem? Thank you.

Quick Links

Top Members

Weekly

Puraw 265

Jack22 160

RenanVilela 95

Diya1811 90

GAMING6698 75

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™