Graphics Tablet

cotton31 · 20 Dec 2011 at 10:58

I'm after a decent, but cheapish graphics tablet. Are Wacom still the best?

It's for someone who's never used one before, so a beginner tablet if you like.

I'm a bit in the dark here, so any advice would be appreciated

Thanks,

Limenote · 20 Dec 2011 at 11:02

wacom bamboo I hear is a great starter, (I use an old school volito still)

cotton31 · 20 Dec 2011 at 14:11

Is the Pen & Touch version any good? I see that they've just released (October) a revamped version - is this any different than the previous model?

Limenote · 20 Dec 2011 at 15:54

not sure on the specifics mate, have a look at some reviews. What I will say though is buy wacom and go as big as you can afford.

cotton31 · 20 Dec 2011 at 17:14

Cheers mate, thanks for the advice!

AHarvey · 20 Dec 2011 at 23:28

I've the wacom bamboo pen and touch (the silver one) and tbh, I don't use the touch function at all.

I'd save some cash and just get the basic pen version first, then, if you get to grips with it and decide that you really want a bigger one you can upgrade

cotton31 · 21 Dec 2011 at 08:23

I'd seen that they just do a Pen version - I can't imagine the touch function being used as it will be purely for drawing rather than as an input device.

I might go for the Pen version then!

Craig R · 29 Dec 2011 at 16:23

I've got a Wacom Cintiq, but it's far from cheap.

Just finished this earlier today which was made with it:

cats_five · 29 Dec 2011 at 16:37

Saw several of the large Cintiqs when I had a visit to the Edinburgh airport control tower. Unfortunately they would have noticed me hiding one under my coat...

TheBigCheese · 3 Jan 2012 at 12:04

Limenote said:
not sure on the specifics mate, have a look at some reviews. What I will say though is buy wacom and go as big as you can afford.

I don't think you can generalise like that.

Myself and my partner use them for our photography work rather than drawing and I've found the larger size to be too big.

We first bought the Intuos 4 large to use between us. When we needed an extra one I downsized and always use the Intuos 4 wireless, which is the medium size.

I find it far better as I don't need to make big arm movements while I'm working.

However my and my partner work differently...I sit straight over the desk leaning over the medium and she lounges back in her chair with the large tablet tucked across her legs with it leaning on the desk at an angle (the same way you may hold a sketch pad) so the OP needs to consider their working environment and how they will use it.

The Intuos range are very very good but the pen nibs wear down very quickly and aren't cheap to replace. That's about the only fault I have with them.

Limenote · 3 Jan 2012 at 15:20

TheBigCheese said:
I don't think you can generalise like that.

If that's the case you can customize the working area and zones of the tablet within the software, better to have that option if you can afford it in my opinion.

TheBigCheese · 3 Jan 2012 at 16:13

That's true but the OP did specify cheapish, it's just good to know that a smaller tablet won't necessarily be worse to use than a bigger tablet.

shifty_uk · 3 Jan 2012 at 16:15

Larger is definitely not better and it's a widely held opinion. A4 would be the biggest I'd opt for. A5 suffices.

Limenote · 3 Jan 2012 at 17:50

I think dropping the extra on an a5 is a better decision then buying entry level a6 if you can afford it. I recommend you don't spent thousands on a huge one though (apparently needs clarification)

Skillmister · 3 Jan 2012 at 18:48

Buy wacom, buy once.

I'm saving for an intuos a4 myself, but my current graphire a5 is suitable for most tasks.