Best Budget Graphics Tab?

adam98150 · 5 Mar 2015 at 20:53

So looking to get into animation and as such I'm in need of a tablet! Been looking around and the stand out brand appears to be Wacom.

Looking to spend under a hundred and primarily I'll be doing 2D sketch work. So pressure sensitivity and accuracy is very important.

Here's what I've been looking at:

- Wacom Bamboo Ultra-thin Medium

- Huion H610 Pro

- Surface Pro 1 (active display, contains Wacom pressure technology)

Surface Pro is expensive, but comes with an active display so I can see what I'm doing! Just need a little guidance.

mid_gen · 6 Mar 2015 at 08:37

I've got a Surface Pro 1, and a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium. Can't go wrong with either option tbh.

I find the Surface very easy to pick up and start drawing with, it's very natural, and a lot cheaper than the Cintiq range! I'm a coder so haven't spent much time on the Intuos, although the other half is a designer and loves it.

cats_five · 6 Mar 2015 at 14:03

I brought a cheap tab, ended up selling it on a well-known auction site. Years ago I had a Wacom which was far nicer to use. I sold that on the same auction site as there were no longer drivers for it for up-to-date versions of Windows.

R B Customs · 6 Mar 2015 at 14:32

If you go the tablet route don't bother with anything except wacom. That being said, I've used a few bamboos, and while they are better than the competition, they're not up to wacom intuos scratch IMO.

I use intuos 5 at work, I have a 4 at home and use 3 from time to time at work. my preference is the slightly older intuos 4, which you should be able to pick up cheap. I prefer it for many reasons over the 5 that I use daily at work (I work in VFX and don't use a mouse at all so depend on these things!)

I prefer the 4 because:
-the side buttons are better / easier to find and press
-you can label the buttons (each has a small LCD)
-the lift off distance fro the pen is tiny - which is the number one reason for me. on the 5 the pen stays active a few cm above the surface which is no good!

I havent actually looked at prices, I just want you to know that the olde rintuos 4 is, in many ways better than the newer one that replaced it so if you can find one at a decent price - go for it!

medium is the sweet-pot for size. many people say it's personal preference, but honestly, I don't think it is - small tablets are too small, large ones will tire your arm - medium is my preference.

I had a cintiq 24 HD at work on trial and that was the way to go for drawing, so I can see where these days a surface may actually be preferable, but having not used one myself I can't comment - t doesn't quite give you the freedom of just using an input device on your chosen machine though.

Rick

db2431 · 6 Mar 2015 at 14:56

R B Customs said:
If you go the tablet route don't bother with anything except wacom. That being said, I've used a few bamboos, and while they are better than the competition, they're not up to wacom intuos scratch IMO.

I use intuos 5 at work, I have a 4 at home and use 3 from time to time at work. my preference is the slightly older intuos 4, which you should be able to pick up cheap. I prefer it for many reasons over the 5 that I use daily at work (I work in VFX and don't use a mouse at all so depend on these things!)

I prefer the 4 because:
-the side buttons are better / easier to find and press
-you can label the buttons (each has a small LCD)
-the lift off distance fro the pen is tiny - which is the number one reason for me. on the 5 the pen stays active a few cm above the surface which is no good!

I havent actually looked at prices, I just want you to know that the olde rintuos 4 is, in many ways better than the newer one that replaced it so if you can find one at a decent price - go for it!

medium is the sweet-pot for size. many people say it's personal preference, but honestly, I don't think it is - small tablets are too small, large ones will tire your arm - medium is my preference.

I had a cintiq 24 HD at work on trial and that was the way to go for drawing, so I can see where these days a surface may actually be preferable, but having not used one myself I can't comment - t doesn't quite give you the freedom of just using an input device on your chosen machine though.

Rick

This was true a couple of years ago, isn't true now, the Huion H610 Pro is easily a match for the intuos medium, and actually has larger active area, at a 3rd of the price and is the budget king atm.At this point you are paying for the name when you buy Wacom.

adam98150 · 6 Mar 2015 at 15:54

Great advice guys really appreciate it. Yeah there's lots of second-hand older generation Wacoms online. I just assumed the newer generation of tablets would be better. So that's good, they go for real cheap aswell.

The surface pro would probably be my ideal choice, it's just the price. Will get looking on a certain auction site and see what kind of deals I can snatch up.

And I've heard fantastic things about the Huion. They have great customer service and after watching a few vids on youtube it looks like it would be ideal for drawing. Have until April before deciding so will do further research. If I have any questions I'll be sure to post them up.

Thanks again.

Edit: Just found the Huion for 35 quid brand new. 65 on Amazon. May have to purchase at that price!

adam98150 · 8 Mar 2015 at 22:19

Thought I'd update. Bought the Surface Pro, managed to snap one up from ebay. Will be buying a Wacom Stylus to go along with it.

Can't wait!

Scotty123 · 8 Mar 2015 at 23:36

I saw this thread the other day and decided to do some research into graphics tablets. Had thought of getting one some time ago. This spurred me on and I ordered today. Should be a nice hobby!

adam98150 · 9 Mar 2015 at 10:37

Scotty123 said:
I saw this thread the other day and decided to do some research into graphics tablets. Had thought of getting one some time ago. This spurred me on and I ordered today. Should be a nice hobby!

Which one did you buy?

Scotty123 · 9 Mar 2015 at 11:19

I went for the Wacom Intous Pro medium special edition. The aluminium sleekness was too tempting!

adam98150 · 9 Mar 2015 at 19:46

Nice. Report back what you think of it mate. Might get a normal tab to go along with the desktop.

mid_gen · 9 Mar 2015 at 21:03

Can't go wrong with the Intuos Pro M, good size, plenty of options to set it up the way you want

Scotty123 · 9 Mar 2015 at 21:35

Yeah, medium seemed the best, not small or large. Middle of the road ha. It may arrive tomorrow.

mid_gen · 10 Mar 2015 at 06:51

3 months Creative Cloud you get with it doesn't hurt either, worth a few quid!

Scotty123 · 10 Mar 2015 at 08:17

I get free Autodesk stuff due to where I work. May see what they have on offer.

adam98150 · 13 Mar 2015 at 21:18

Some sketches done on the Surface Pro. This thing is insanely accurate. Well worth the money.

And scotty have a look at Manga Studio. Prefer that to the Autodesk stuff.

Scotty123 · 14 Mar 2015 at 02:00

I find GIMP lags! It's always behind my cursor by an inch or so as it draws. Did some googling but didn't help with what I tried.