Intuos3 pen nib question

[Mike D]

So, I finally picked up an Intuos3 and aside from how much I like it over my old Bamboo, the surface is aggravating me something fierce.

Curious what you all are using for nibs. I bought this one used with only one standard white nib, and no other nibs. The Wacom is in excellent condition, but with only the one nib to use and the glass like surface texture, painting/sketching is not as fun as I like it to be.

I've been looking around to see what the other nibs have to offer and what I want to pick up, and see that my choices are to either buy a full grip set accessory pack here http://www.amazon.com/INTUOS3-Grip-Pen-Accessory-Kit/dp/B00083Y85C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1266848725&sr=8-1 which comes with nibs I don't need (standard) as well as grip pen parts that I also don't need.

Or I can go to the Wacom site and buy individually felt and stroke, but no flex (for intuos3).

Also do the Intuos4 nibs work on the I3? Curious as the I4 has a few other options to look at and I was considering maybe buying those ones instead.

Opinions/thoughts appreciated

[Arshes Nei]

Intuos 4 nibs works on an intuos 3 pen. It's a different story if you're using other than grip pens.

[ikken]

you can buy separate felt/spring/white nibs and you can also get a new surface sheet that will give you paper alike feel
(rough coating will go away in a few months, though)

[Mike D]

Thanks Arshes Nei and Ikken.

Just ordered a 5 pack of stroke and a 5 pack of felt I3 variety. Figure might as well try these ones out and maybe order the flex one later to try out from the I4 section.

Was going to just order the I4 accessory pack, but that is on back-order on both Amazon and Wacom.

I think I have just a case of OCD when it comes to the surface. On my Bamboo I really didn't enjoy the texture feel to the surface and to ease this I cut off the overlay sheet from my old Graphire 2 and that felt pretty good honestly. Even with the standard nib it felt like drawing on paper almost.

I may look into another sheet to cover my surface, but if it's like the I4 and Bamboo I'll just probably pass though.

[Jaycey]

I had the grey coloured surface sheet on my intuos3 and bonded easily with it with the standard nib after a day or two, I think I needed time to adjust settings for pen pressure etc for that particular tablet before I found the right 'feel' on the tablet. I found the firmer I set the pen stroke the more it felt papery as I needed a little more pressure from the pen nib. The down side to this is that the more pressure you use the quicker the pen nib wears and becomes scratchy of course lol.

[The7Artist7]

Hey Mike - I'd really recommend looking into a smudge guard glove for using an intuos3. Really helps your hand move better and more uniformly around the tablet and reduces irritation from the tablet surface. I have an intuos4 now but still use the glove now and then.

http://www.smudgeguard.com/index.htm

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=657103&stc=1&d=1240840560

[Chipsterology]

Thanks for that SmudgeGuard link, saw this about a year ago, but didn't catch the name of the product.