New Tablet on Cyber Monday -- recommendations?

Alex_J

I've been working with the smallest Wacom Intuous and I am perfectly happy with it. Only reason I want to upgrade is to get a tablet with more programmable buttons on the right hand side, basically so I can assign my hotkeys in zbrush and maya and forego the mouse altogether. I am getting a lot of hand pain with my right hand and I don't see it going away as I am rock climbing on my non-3d days. So my hands just need to not be fucking with a mouse. 

I've read that the surface of the wacom intuos pro's is very rough and chews up nibs? I don't like shady business like that... is this true? I haven't seen anybody here complain about it. 

And what of the alternatives, like Huion? I usually avoid off-brand things and just go for the best. I hate dealing with sub-par software. But if somebody uses it daily and can recommend, I'd probably be willing to try if its cheaper.

Taylor Brown

i have an XP Pen Artist 15.6 Pen Display and it's pretty legit. Haven't had any software issues. All the off-brand (read: Chinese) tablets are basically the exact same hardware and often times even the same shells, just with different company names. I'd recommend going more by reviews pertaining to quality control and customer support. That's why I went with XP-Pen in the end, they seemed somewhat decent at both.

good source for off-brand tablet reviews - https://www.parkablogs.com/

Alex_J

Yeah, I think I have ruled out Huion. All the reviews are either by beginners/first timers or somebody saying customer service doesn't answer the phone. So I'm not seeing any professional/daily user endoreements. I'll give a look at XP.

Eric Chadwick

We have a Monoprice 22" display tablet at work as a test, and it's been OK, just OK. The hardware is alright, but the drivers are not great. Seems it's a rebranded Huion, and some have said you can use the Huion drivers. But the price is certainly attractive.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=108&cp_id=10841&cs_id=1084101&p_id=21825&seq=1&format=2

Zack Maxwell

BIGTIMEMASTER said:

Yeah, I think I have ruled out Huion. All the reviews are either by beginners/first timers or somebody saying customer service doesn't answer the phone. So I'm not seeing any professional/daily user endoreements. I'll give a look at XP.

The Huion drivers don't properly support any 3D apps, and most non-Wacoms I've heard have similarly terrible driver issues.
If you just need more buttons, I recommend getting a Wacom Express Key Remote instead of a new tablet.

Alex_J

Damn, that looks like it may work perfectly for what I need, but it's not compatible with the basic Intuos. Only the Pro models and up. 

Zack Maxwell

BIGTIMEMASTER said:

Damn, that looks like it may work perfectly for what I need, but it's not compatible with the basic Intuos. Only the Pro models and up. 

The remote? Technically it doesn't need a Wacom at all. You could literally just use it with a mouse as long as you have the drivers installed.
Although now that I think about it, I'm not certain how well the stylus would actually interact with it. I know that the Huion I used to have couldn't interact with the onscreen controls it can make, even though the mouse could.
I'm convinced that was a problem on Huion's end though, since the stylus actually had trouble interacting with a LOT of things. Though I doubt you'd want to risk it.
Alternatively, a lot of people make good use of the Razer Orbweaver as well, if you have space for it. That was what I used as well before I got a Remote.
It doesn't have any onscreen controls, which are the only thing that might cause problems with the Remote anyway. But for a similar price, it has many more physical buttons.

Alex_J

Just going off the manufacturers compatibility list, they don't  list the Intuos model I am using currently. But I get what you mean -- the thing is, right now with the wacom software I have, I can have a profile set per application. Having to go through and change things each  time I switch applications is a big slowdown, especially if I'm going fast between maya and zbrush. 

so this device could definitely work, but only if it it will respect the software I've got now. I guess I'll write to wacom and find out for sure, because that would be the easiest option. I am perfectly happy with my current tablet, I really just need a few more keys to make it work for all of my applications.

Alex_J

Actually, amazon reviews answered that question. 

Looks like this will be the cheapest and simplest solution, so I'll give it a shot before shelling out for a new tablet altogether. Thanks @Zack Maxwell, I didn't even know something like this existed.

Alex_J

I ended up getting a small size Intuous Pro, refurbished older version. Was only $10 more than the express remote at $120. 

I'd definitely recommend it. You wouldn't know it's not a new model, and it has a 2 year warranty anyway.

Model PTH-451 has the smooth surface, no issue with nibs wearing down, control is a lot tighter than with the bamboo, express keys are a little harder to push than I'd like, but customization is really easy and whatever options you could imagine are possible. Small size is perfectly suitable for me, I don't think extra space of a medium wouldn't do anything for me personally. 

So if you're looking for good tablet with nice software support but not too expensive, check out refurbished models on amazon.