Tablet Shopping

[Xaqaria]

I'm going to be buying a drawing tablet soon and I wanted to get the opinion of some people who might have one. I looked into the wacom products but I was wondering if there are any other good ones out there. I am trying to maximize my benefit/cost ratio. I want the biggest cheapest most responsive and most reliable tablet I can find. WHAT SAY YOU?!

[Dannon Oneironaut]

I got the WACOM nice one. Medium size. It just has the touch sensitivity you need to do art with. I forgot the name of the model, I am not good with that kind of stuff, but it is the latest nice one. It cost around $350 and you get what you pay for with tablets. It is so much better than using a mouse for sure. A cheaper tablet might not be much better than a mouse, you know?

[TamiDoll]

My cuz got me a Genius tablet awhile back. Nothing big or fancy. I think it costs under 100 AUD. It does the job and I still use it till this day.

[Xaqaria]

So when comparing the Genius f610 and the wacom intuos4, the difference is really in the pressure sensitivity. the f610 has a 1024 level and the intuos4 has a 2048. Price wise, the intuos4 is around 3 times as expensive, and is smaller. Does anyone know where I can find a good demo of what these pressure levels actually mean as far as capability is concerned? I would be willing to pay the price if twice the sensitivity is going to make a big difference in performance but since I've never used a tablet before I don't know if I really need the extra sensitivity; I have no clue what 1024 and 2048 actually look like when used to draw.

[TamiDoll]

Ahh, I haven't a clue when it comes to sensitivity levels. IMO, sensitivity pressure might help with elaborate drawings with loads of tonal contrast with line and colour. Like reproducing anything digitally to look like a detailed traditional piece. But I dun have any experience with that, so yeah. Otherwise, I'd just get the cheaper one.

[nina]

I think your best bet would be to go try out the tablets in the store and compare for yourself. You might be surprised at how much you like one over the other after actually trying a few out. I think you might be able to do this at Best Buy?

[Invader]

Hrm.. When I got the Intuos4 from the Apple store I hadn't been able to preview it, though there is of course a period over which you can return the product. If I had the opportunity now I'd probably have opted for a cheaper model, but only because I'm not using this one 24/7 and am still... practicing. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the Intuos. I think it's awesome. Just pricey, that's all, and also why I purchased the small size instead of medium.

[TamiDoll]

Ok I found the box my tablet was packed in lol. The Genius f610 has the same pressure sensitivity level as my current tablet (1024) huh, didn't know that lol. (I got my tablet as a gift so yeah, dunno its specs etc) But my tablet is alot smaller than the f610 6"x10". Mine's only 5.5" x4" and it's an older model (hence why I thought it wasn't that great compared to other tablets lol). Here's a drawing I sketched in 2007. Spoiler for ..: The tonal contrast with the lines seems pretty good IMO. Iono how much better a higher sensitivity pressure tablet would produce. So if you can, test it out like Aquanina suggested.

[Xaqaria]

I think that is what I'm going to do. Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.

[tommo]

Ok I found the box my tablet was packed in lol. The Genius f610 has the same pressure sensitivity level as my current tablet (1024) huh, didn't know that lol. (I got my tablet as a gift so yeah, dunno its specs etc) But my tablet is alot smaller than the f610 6"x10". Mine's only 5.5" x4" and it's an older model (hence why I thought it wasn't that great compared to other tablets lol). Here's a drawing I sketched in 2007. Spoiler for ..: The tonal contrast with the lines seems pretty good IMO. Iono how much better a higher sensitivity pressure tablet would produce. So if you can, test it out like Aquanina suggested. Uhhhh, Tami, WHERE THE FUCK IS YOUR ART THREAD!? Also, whatever you do, don't buy a Medion or Aiptek brand tablet. They are both the same tablet, with different 'shells'. They both suck balls. I would just go with a Wacom Intuos 3. I haven't looked in to it too deeply though but I think they're a reasonable price and they work beautifully. If the tablet is too big, it's worse IMO. You have to move your hand too much.

[Xaqaria]

I bought a tablet today. I got the small Bamboo pen. Its working great and the size is all I think I will ever need; at least until someone offers me a swanky graphic design job (which I don't really want too badly, it would have to be really swanky). It came with Corel Painter Essentials 4 and so far its a pretty decent program. I've mostly just been using the pencil tool so far so that I can get get used to drawing with it; here's what I've done so far:

[no-Name]

pretty slick, Xaq. sounds like the tablet's treating you well. post some more :D

[Xaqaria]

I can do stuff so quickly now. 15 minute landscape background. And it only took that long because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do when I started. I probably could have whipped this out in 7 or less.

[Taosaur]

This one: http://www.wacom.com/bamboo/bamboo_p...FRkcswodjElfEA ? Looks pretty sleek. These things have been on my do-want list for years, just not that close to the top.

[Xaqaria]

That's it. Its worth the price (as long as its at least moderately robust).

[Robot_Butler]

Awesome! Don't feel bad about the smaller size. A small sized tablet is good for most people, because it lets you draw more with your wrist and fingers. Unless you were trained to draw from the shoulder, like in Industiral Design or Architecture, you probably will be much more comfortable with the small one. I just bought one of those Bamboo pads for my mom, who used to be in Graphic Design, and she is loving it, too. Cool stuff so far. I can't wait to see where this goes.

[tommo]

Awesome! Don't feel bad about the smaller size. A small sized tablet is good for most people, because it lets you draw more with your wrist and fingers. Unless you were trained to draw from the shoulder, like in Industiral Design or Architecture, you probably will be much more comfortable with the small one. I agree with that. The Intuos 3 is almost the perfect size for me though. I have one the size of the bamboo one and it's just a little too small. I also have a massive one, 15 inches maybe. It's cheap and breaking now but it is way too big, have to move my hand too much. So I mostly just drag the photoshop screen down with the spacebar instead of moving my hand haha