Want to buy a new tablet, recommendations on where to find Wacoms for a better price?

Cloakedninja

TLDR; Im looking to buy a new tablet, and I want to know where you guys would go to buy a wacom tablet for a good price. Im also open to recommended alternatives to wacom if anyone has any.


The current tablet im using is a Genius G-Pen F610
http://geniusnet.com/wSite/ct?xItem=16834&ctNode=174

I want to get a larger tablet to suit my needs, I use a large Intuous 3 (i think 10x10) at school and I absolutely love it but its not really sold anywhere other than ebay. Is it just me or does Wacom products feel a little overpriced? I want to get my hands on an Intuous 4 or 5 but I feel like Im going to be putting out too much just to get a larger tablet. I was wondering if there are places I could go to get a better deal on wacom products, I mostly shop at newegg and amazon but there doesn't seem to be much of a price difference.

If anyone uses a brand other than Wacom, Im not too happy with my current tablet and im fairly comfortable with Wacoms but if there is a cheaper alternative that anyone would recommend I would definitely try it out.

Overlord

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10841

http://frenden.com/the-little-monoprice-graphics-tablet-that-could/

There you go.

EarthQuake

Picking up a used Wacom on eBay isn't a bad idea, Wacoms tend to last a long time so I wouldn't be worried about picking up a used one.

GrevSev

Its not just you. I got a small Bamboo CTH-470 for 100$ and i feel slightly ripped off.. but meh its to late to look back

Recommending this lil alternative. Got it for my friend and its pretty great. Its big and the surface feels better drawing or Zbrushing with his over mine.

Cloakedninja

@Overlord
@GrevSev

- Thanks! since you guys recommended the same tablet i'll definitely give that one a try, it looks like it would do the job. Is there anything you could tell me about the pen (pros, cons)? I haven't found anything about it so i could assume that its good, the main gripe about the tablet im currently using is the pen feels very rough when I draw (like the tip feels like im scratching the surface of the tablet, almost as if im going to rip into it at times but maybe I just put too much pressure :P)

GrevSev

Cons:
The pen takes 1 triple A battery (Lasts pretty long tho)
2 Pen buttons cant be programed to anything other than mouse functions
Tablet cord is Non detachable


Pros:
Comes with 2 Pens and 2 batteries
Nice sorta paper like Surface texture, I prefer It to my Bamboos.
comes with extra nibs and it takes a LOT for them to wear down.

9 months in and my friend is still on the same battery and nib

elizaxowens

EarthQuake wrote: »

Picking up a used Wacom on eBay isn't a bad idea, Wacoms tend to last a long time so I wouldn't be worried about picking up a used one.

Ebay is also my recommendation. Bought mine from there.

Dataday

CloakedNinja, what kind of art are you trying to do exactly?

I found that the UC-logic digitizer based tablets (monoprice/yiynova U) are limited in the type of input you can give.

The pens are spingy, which might make it feel nice at first, but it really messes with the kind of pressure you can get and how it looks on screen.

I recommend going wacom all the way. The feel of the pen is far superior, you can even get that spingy feel on the monoprice tablets with an alternate nib (which they provide for intuos).

Wacom is best for doing everything within cg, as opposed to the monoprice (which arguably works well enough for cross hatching and comic style illustration.) I wouldnt it use it for anything else...

For the cheaper route you can get any of the Bamboo series, or move on up to the intuos line. Both are well worth the money, think of it as an investment that will end up paying for itself.

Cloakedninja

Dataday wrote: »

CloakedNinja, what kind of art are you trying to do exactly?

I found that the UC-logic digitizer based tablets (monoprice/yiynova U) are limited in the type of input you can give.

The pens are spingy, which might make it feel nice at first, but it really messes with the kind of pressure you can get and how it looks on screen.

I recommend going wacom all the way. The feel of the pen is far superior, you can even get that spingy feel on the monoprice tablets with an alternate nib (which they provide for intuos).

Wacom is best for doing everything within cg, as opposed to the monoprice (which arguably works well enough for cross hatching and comic style illustration.) I wouldnt it use it for anything else...

For the cheaper route you can get any of the Bamboo series, or move on up to the intuos line. Both are well worth the money, think of it as an investment that will end up paying for itself.

I mostly use my tablet for illustrations and CG. I looked into the Bamboo series and I probably would just wait till I can invest in an Intuous. The 5.8x3.6 active area of the bamboo is a turnoff for me, I was considering the Bamboo Create for awhile but I might as well just save for an inutous at that point. I love the feel of the Wacom pens but their prices are just outrageous for me right now.