I currently have a Wacom Graphire4 pen tablet and I'm looking into getting a new one.
My choices are the Intuos4 small, medium, or wireless.
I like portability, but I'm not sure if having larger tablet space would be better.
Any suggestions (preferably based on personal experience)?
Replies
As for portability, it's not very. It can fit into a backpack, sure, but it's not something you'd pull out on the bus while commuting, if that's what you mean.
Oh, and don't go with wireless. It's just one more thing to worry about breaking and there's no way of knowing just what kind of lag you might run into. Besides, the cable that came with the Intuos I got is plenty long.
The only downside with the intuos4 is that it eats pen-tips like mad.... but at least it feels better to "draw" on than the intuos3. Intuos3 is like dragging your pen on glass
Swizzle/Wahlgren are right in that the cable doesn't limit you at all, there's really no point in upping to the wireless, an you have to charge it, etc.
However...
I received an intuos 4 (wired) as a gift and within 3 months of light use (I'm quite gentile when it comes to gadgets and tech) the tablet was no longer being recognized via USB. I switched the cord to the other USB port and it worked again. So I assumed my usb port must have been broken, it wasn't a big deal since there is another. So I used the other port and was more careful about unplugging and replugging the cord, and wrapping it, etc.
Within another few months, this other port broke.
Google showed I wasn't the only one with the problem, and that Wacom would fix the problem if your tablet is under warranty, but won't pay for the shipping.
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=178834
http://community.wacom.com/forums/illustration/hardware-software/thread/326
Having received the item as a gift, I had no receipt for my purchase, and despite the intuo4 only having been manufactured for about 7 months by the time mine broke, Wacom wouldn't honor the 1-year warranty without a receipt or invoice.
Having no options, I had the electrical engineer at my work pop the thing open to see if he could solder the ports back on, but it wasn't a matter of a simple soldering job, as the copper on the board itself had broken off with the contacts, not just the solder holding the port on.
So alas, I was left without a mobile tablet (I still love wacom and my cintiq) but I must recommend the wireless version, or warn you to treat the intuos 4 (and it's fragile usb ports) as if it were made entirely from egg shells.
Thanks for all your help, guys.
I see you've already made your choice, but I thought I'd chime in for anyone else watching this thread, trying to make a decision.
The only complaint I really have about my tablet is that Wacom's drivers are becoming increasingly unreliable, and I still have to reinstall them periodically under Win. Which wipes all of your settings, annoyingly enough.
Jakelear: Thanks for the warning on the usb ports. I'm very careful with my tools anyway, but I'll be sure to take extra care around the ports.