Tablets? (for drawing) (1 Viewer)

[Seungsoo Hwang]

I've been thinking about getting a tablet for some artwork on my computer, but arn't really sure what to get. The 4x5 ones are the only ones that are really in my pricerange, although I suppose I could save up for a 6x8.. I've heard Wacom ones are the ones to go with? Does anyone have one, used one, or perhaps could direct me to a place to find out more about them (discussions.. ive probably seen all the "reviews").

thanks

 

[Kris McLaughlin]

I've been using a 4x5 wacom graphire tablet (in hideous imac-ish blueberry) for about 2 years now, and I don't think I could live without it. It's now very hard for me to work in any 2d graphics application using a conventional mouse.
The supplied mouse is not bad either, once the speed is tweaked using the supplied utility. Programmable button mapping is a nice feature (I have a scroll-wheel click acting as a double-left-click). I'm not sure why they advertise the mouse as cordless, either - sure, the mouse itself has no cord, but it has to be used on the tablet, which does have a cord...
Before getting the tablet, I used to have a problem with wrist soreness (as a university multimedia student, I use the computer A LOT), but switching alleviated the problem.
For CDN$140, it was well worth the price. I think the new Graphire2 tablet is even a little cheaper.

cheers,

 

[Seungsoo Hwang]

yea i am primarily looking at the graphire2 4x5.. the intuous 4x5 costs a hundred dollars more! have you done much drawing with it at all? Im a little worried that the 4x5 active space will be too cramped to get much done in that regard.

thx for the info.

 

[Kris McLaughlin]

I haven't done a whole lot of frehand drawing with the tablet, but I've never really had the feeling that it was too cramped. Maybe that's just because I've never used one of the larger ones.

 

[Andrew Chong]

If you are really serious about computer-based art, i.e. this is your profession or this is a serious hobby, it would be best to get the biggest you can afford.

On the other hand, a cartoonist friend of mine has been using a small 4x5 Wacom proficiently for months to produce work.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

If you buy something, stick with the Wacom tablets. I've had the 6" x 8" Intuos by Wacom, but at $349.00, it was complete overkill for my purposes. However, it was one fine tablet.
Instead, I located a 4" x 5" Graphire 2 at my local Circuit City store for $49.99. It was an "open box" item which was the reason for the great price.
I've also had a chance to "test drive" the Aiptek tablets that are sold at CompUSA. The first one, a 9x12 tablet wasn't even recognized by my computer due to some defect. I then tried the $69.00 Aiptek (5x7, I believe) and like many on-line reviews stated, the pen behaved in a very "hyper" manner and was hard to control at times.
Back to the Graphire 2. This is a nicely made tablet with a pretty good mouse that is included. The only thing lacking with the Graphire 2 is that the pen doesn't include replacement stylus' like the Intuos does. However, Wacom has a lifetime warranty which hopefully would cover pen replacements, if needed.
In summary, Wacom = Good . Aiptek = Bad :frowning:.