Graphics tablet - suggestions

[Davide_sd]

Hi all,
i would like to buy a graphic tablet. My main use will be texture creation.
i have no experience with graphic tablet, so i need your suggestions =)
what is the best size that fit my necessity? (obviusly bigger is better, but price may be a problem).
often i heard about wacom; are there any other producers?
would you recommend me to buy an used item? i mean: if i take an used phone i may find battery problems, display scratches and so on... with an used tablet, what problems may i encounter?

thanks in advance!!!

[Meurig]

I've had two tablets up to now, one was cheap and by some no-name brand and the other is a Wacom Intuos 3.


Go for the wacom It's more expensive but as is so often the case with electronics, there's a reason for that.

The Intuos 4 is out now as well which I use at work, and is nicer still. You might be able to get a decent Wacom on ebay for a better price than you'd get a new one though, worth a look.

[tangster]

Worth waiting until the Wacom Intuos 5 releases, then scouring ebay for a cheap 2nd hand Wacom Intuos 4.

[Starbase1]

Wacoms are a lot less expensive than they used to be, one other cheaper models may be less than you expect...

[Rigel]

I recently bought the Wacom Bamboo Capture for $112 including tax. I wrote a review about it in the Cafe here.

It is a wonderful tablet. Although it's only a 6" active area, you do get great precision from it. If you're the type of artist who draws with your whole arm, rather than from the wrist, then yes, you'd be more comfortable with a 12" tablet.

I received a used tablet for my first one. Although the surface was marked up a bit from the obviously great amount of use it had received, it nonetheless worked just fine! So a used one is a safe bet in terms of the surface. As with all things electronic, you may get a used one only to have it fail two weeks later. Or it may work for another ten years. You never know.

And if you really want to do digital drawings while staying on paper, Wacom has a new electronic pen that lets you draw on any piece of paper you want to and the pen records the work to save to your hard drive. Those are probably quite expensive though.

I use my tablet for drawing and working on textures, I use it to model and do scene set ups in Lightwave, I use it for photo/image editing and if I'm already doing something with the tablet, I even use it to operate my entire computer system. Especially since this new tablet also has a touch surface and I can do things like scroll my web pages with my fingers on the tablet. So they are not just for artwork! Heck, if I could type on that tablet, I could get rid of my keyboard and mouse.

[tangster]

Originally Posted by Rigel

And if you really want to do digital drawings while staying on paper, Wacom has a new electronic pen that lets you draw on any piece of paper you want to and the pen records the work to save to your hard drive. Those are probably quite expensive though.

Bought, tried, sold it on.

While it's fairly accurate and precise(and of course, actual paper!) it still doesn't match up to a scanner. Bit too expensive for the functionality offered, it's a really very niche product.

[BillS]

Originally Posted by Davide_sd

1) What is the best size that fit my necessity? (obviusly bigger is better, but price may be a problem).

2) Often i heard about wacom; are there any other producers?

3) Would you recommend me to buy an used item? i mean: if i take an used phone i may find battery problems, display scratches and so on... with an used tablet, what problems may i encounter?

1) A lot of that will depend on you. As mentioned, it depends on how you draw. I know two amazing artist. One can NOT draw on a tablet over 6x8. He , like me, draws with his wrist so prefers the smaller tablets. The other can not draw on anything smaller than than a 9x12 since he came from oil painting and uses his whole arm to draw and paint.

One other thing to keep in mind is that there are a good many artists out there that can NOT use a wacom. They find it to disconnected from what they are doing. What I mean is that they can draw a line straight down. But since the tablet is on a bit of an angle on the desk the line is on an angle. In their head though the screen is straight up and down. Its that difference that infuriates them. With time you get over it and adjust but some people just find it to much. You may want to find a place where you can try it out... just to be on the safe side.

2) I'm sure that there are... but wacom is the only one that I've heard of...so take the knock offs for what they are.

3) I know of a bunch of people that have bought used tablets (wacom) and none of them have had any trouble that I know of. I wouldn't go to old if you could help it. The "3" series can be had for a good price and nibs and replacement parts are still readily available.

[Davide_sd]

thanks guys for all these replys! i'll go for a used one. =)

[FS3D]

Has anyone used a Cintiq? I imagine a pen display would aid with hand-eye coordination a great deal, especially as I'm one of those that has trouble with hand-eye coordination with a tablet and separated display.

[inVoxel]

Originally Posted by FS3D

Has anyone used a Cintiq? I imagine a pen display would aid with hand-eye coordination a great deal, especially as I'm one of those that has trouble with hand-eye coordination with a tablet and separated display.

I'm also interested in buying a tablet to support my workflow. what i read about the Cintiqs is that they are either too outdated (Cintiq 12) or too big/heavy, power consumpting and overpriced (21 HX and 24 HD). Another point of criticism is the breakout cable which tends to break. Some users are complaining about numerous faulty pixels and a bad support.
On the other Hand, owners of the devices are very happy with the natural way they are able to work, what mainly excites me. But a proper size (let's say 24") costs as much as a 6-core workstation. Anyway ... i want one!