Leaving behind my iPad Pro for a week-long trip to Autodesk University 2025 felt reckless. Apple’s tablet has long been my creative safety net, the ideal go-to for a distracting doodle, its power and speed more than capable of most tasks, and, of course, Procreate.
But for a return flight from London to Nashville, I packed light and carried only Lenovo’s Idea Tab (the Pro model is reduced at the moment). A previous near miss of losing my iPad Pro made me anxious. And not that I hate the idea of losing my Lenovo (wait, is that an REM song?), at a fraction of the price, my bank account said, 'take the Lenovo'. What I discovered is that for travel sketching and notes, I didn’t miss the iPad Pro at all… except when I really wanted that one app.
