Hey guys, I'm wondering if I should get a tablet, but I'm not sure which one to get. I can't spend a lot of money on it. I'd say $140 max, I could expand the budget a bit if it makes a lot of difference.
I plan to use it for general doodling and sketching, concept drawing and texturing.
Any ideas?
Replies
Don't get anything below A5. While they're cheaper, they're too sensitive when drawing (mapping that small drawing area to your whole screen).
Don't go for a cheap knock-off brand, buy a Wacom.
When it comes to tablets, you pretty much get what you pay for. If you want a really good one that you'll use often, you want to spend a little extra. That being said, I've heard some good things about the Bamboo series, which I think is around your priceclass.
it depends on if you draw with your wrist or your arm.
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=75014
I picked up a postage stamp sized one just to try it out, if it didn't work I was going to give to my daughter (shes 3). I think it was $60 and it was great I could see myself using a larger version.
The thing I liked about it the most, was that all the button crap they like to stick on the left side, wasn't there on the bamboo. Being left handed I HATED falling into the touch strip/button area when I reached for tools on the intous3 and lower. I bought a intous4 just to finally get around that issue (it only took what 15 years for them to wake up?). Previously I had tried out one of the first releases of Bamboo, it was a total pile of garbage so I didn't even think to buy one instead of the intous4, had I tried out the newer releases I would of bought one.
Agreed. I got an A6 graphire about 5 years ago at college. In my jobs since i've had a few larger tablets but I found I have to reduce the active area. It did take me a while to get used to using a tablet though. I used to cramp up a bit with excessive use (over 4 hours) and I had to have the tablet at a perfect angle. Now its like second nature and the position of the tablet doesnt effect me.
So I suppose tablet size will depend on how you draw and also which size tablet you start out with and get used to.
I'm currently shopping for the Intuos 4 small as I want to use the tilt function and its about time I upgraded.
I've seen it on Amazon for about £150. Anyone know where I might get it cheaper?
EDIT: forgot to say.
If you're looking for a cheap "none" Wacom. Stay away from Trust and Medion. They are very poor in my experience. Pensketch aren't too bad really. A good starter tablet. But, If you can afford a Wacom...get wacom. Theres no point messing about with other brands. They just dont come close. I've heard good stuff about the new bamboo. I would probably get one if I didnt want to the tilt function.
Is multi-touch important?
Although I find it useful on the new Tablet PC's Although the screen did get a lil mixed up between touch and pen at times.
For all the good people talk about WACOM, I should point out that Wacom has some poor support. The drivers often stop working, there's weird glitches, and you lack some fine control.
I think the genius tablet recently got good reviews from a few good sources.
so make what you want out of this statement!
it costs around 120 Euros
i can only recommend it, has a few flaws here and there, but meh, better than spending hundreds of bucks and it works fine for me...
im using the bamboo pen, because the intuos3 i had had these buttons i accidentally pressed all the time which has driven me nuts
now im happy.
the only flaw i found with wacom products is, that if too much wlan action is going on in one room, it acts a bit strange
Just wanted to say thanks for this bit of info! I've had this problem for years and for the life of me never knew what caused it. Normally I just closed photoshop and reopened it to fix, but now that you mention it that makes perfect sense. Should save me some small headaches in the future.
Cheers.
Me too, thanks alot! Thats the one thing I hated about using my wacom.
I bought this tablet so I can learn the digital arts until I get my hands on cintiq.
Thanks PolyBros (and PolySis's?)
But since it is recommended by the pros that are already in the 3d/2d art I would pick intuos 4 instead.
Reason being.I have Bamboo first Gen and I had a hard time working without pen-pressure sensitivity. Not sure about the second gen.
Better check out your local Future Shop and experiment with their display models of the tablets.
I personally don't own an Inutos 4, but really I can't imagine it to be that much of a problem. Nibs are easy to come by, and you can even make your own nibs by sanding down a small strip of metal from a nail, clothes hanger, or toothpick - something of the sort, as there's actually no technology involved at all in the pen nib - it's all the tablet surface.
Hell, I've never even changed the nib on my Intuos 3, and still have spares for that.
sensetivity is not noticably different from intuos3 and its adjustable
The bamboo is roughly about 130$ here while the Intuous4 is roughly about 230$.
I will probably end up with a bamboo pen and touch (because im a college student and moneys hard to come by of course) and I will let you guys know how i like it
Thanks for your help!