Sprout Pro G2 - highly recommended and amazing

[EmmaFrost1]

There's a lot of moaning on this forum about the Sprout, which while no doubt some is fair (for example, clearly it would be a good idea if some of the HP Sprout team replied to queries on here now and then - hello HP, where are you?) it completely throws out of balance the reality of what is an incredible, utterly inspirational product - a true creative dream machine. At least the G2 is - can't speak for the original generation of Sprouts.

For every dissatisfied user on here, I can only assume there are a dozen others quietly getting on with enjoying their computers. People tend to only post reviews or questions when they're unhappy about stuff, which is why I thought I'd share my thoughts about what is I think the most exciting, inspiration computer released in the past decade. 

I got my Sprout Pro G2 refurbished for a bargain price a few months back, and make no mistake, there is nothing else remotely like it on the market, even at three times the price I paid for it. In essence, it's a hugely powerful i7 All-In-One with a fast %12gb SSD that just happens to include two high-quality HD multi touch screens, a projector and a professional lightfield 3d scanner.

What these specs don't tell you is the possibilities they offer. They don't tell you, for example, that you can put a piece a photograph on the touch mat, "draw" on it with the active pen and lift the paper to find your drawing projected on the touch mat. They don't tel you the joy of scanning objects and playing with the scanned images with your fingers.  They don't express the mind-blowing experience of moving 3d objects with your fingers on the touch mat. They don't express the joy of creating artworks using the professional active pen on a canvas that's surely at leats A3 in size. My son makes music with Bitwig, using the touch mat as a mixing desk. Honestly, I genuinely discover new things this can do almost daily, half a year after buying it.

I love it to bits, my kids love it to bits.  I've genuinely never been this excited about a computer product before. It's the perfect family computer. One thing: I highly recommend you buy the 3d turntable thing that goes with this if you can - they don't make them anymore I don't think, but I got my from a dealer in the US via eBay. Without it, the 3d scanning is merely fun but not useful for professional use. With it, it competes with dedicated DAVID scanning systems the cost loads more. But you don't have to have it - it just makes things even better.

Don't get me wrong, it's not without its quirks. But those quirks are only there because it attempts so much more than any other computer system I can think of. Where it disappoints, there is almost always a work around. Where it succeeds, it knocks it out of the park.

It's phenomenal. So if you're sitting on a fence about getting one while you still can, honestly, just do it. Even if you just use it as a dual touchscreen computer with active pen input, there's nothing else out there that competes.

I don't work for HP I promise - if I did, I dare say I might have done a better job marketing this thing then they did. It's such an incredible waste it hasn't enjoyed the success it deserves. 

[SteveInNY]

Hi, my name is Steve. I’m about to get a refurbished HP Sprout Pro G2. Do you know if it will be OK to upgrade to the latest version of Windows 10 which is the May 2019 Update, version “1903”? I’m concerned that the updates might affect the HP Sprout functionality. Do you update your Sprout with the latest updates to Windows 10? Thanks so much for any information from your experience that you can provide 🙂

Steve 

[Krisser]

My sprout g2 has been updated to the latest Windows 10 Pro with no issues.

[SteveInNY]

Thanks so much for your response 😊

Steve

[SteveInNY]

Hi, do you know where I can purchase new nibs (tips) for the HP Active Pen that comes with the HP Sprout Pro G2?

Thanks for any information you can provide.

Steve