Making up me mind

[KayCustomz]

Is a wacom tablet really worth buying? to use in photoshop and Painter? This computer freak I know said its worthless to buy, but then again he isn't and artist and doesn't use those programs

[Coma]

YES.....

[sandman]

Hi Kay,

For someone who doesn't use graphics applications such as Painter and Photoshop, the a graphics tablet would probably not be worth the cost. I would consider a good size tablet almost an essential with Painter especially. The ability of the stylus to respond to both tilt and pressure (particularly on the Wacom Intuos tablets) is a joy to use. The larger Intuos 2 tablets are not cheap though, but after you have used a stylus and tablet you won't want to go back to using a mouse again (at least not for digital drawing and painting).

For safe measure though, I still have an ordinary mouse connected to my Mac as well. This can be useful in rare cases where your tablet trips out (often caused by sudden power spikes in the mains supply, or the tablet being too close to the monitor.

David

[KayCustomz]

I;'ll think i'll invest

[Bathgate66]

me 2.

i have the option of buying a graphire or a graphire 2. graphire is obviously cheaper...is there a difference between the two?

[KayCustomz]

new question!! whats a good tablet for $150?

[sandman]

Here are some links for graphic tablets info. so that you can compare prices and specifications;

About.com (http://graphicssoft.about.com/sitesearch.htm?terms=graphic%20tablets&SUName=graphicssoft&TopNode=3042&type=1)
Wacom.com (http://www.wacom.com/productinfo/differences.cfm)
Aiptek.com (http://www.aiptek.com/index2.php)
Calcomp (http://www.gtcocalcomp.com/solutiongraphicsandcadtablets.htm)

I think that most people here would probably recommend a medium to large size Wacom Intuos 2 (which also supports stylus tilt). The Wacom Graphire or Aiptek perhaps if you are working to a tight budget. The latter two will still be much more preferable to drawing and painting with a mouse.

David

[KayCustomz]

since you guys said its better to get bigger, then I won't be able to buy one :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( $$$$$$$$$$:electric: :electric: :electric: :electric: :electric: :electric: :electric: :electric:

[sandman]

Originally posted by KayCustomz
since you guys said its better to get bigger, then I won't be able to buy one :(

Wacom do have a few discounted reconditioned tablets; Click here (http://wacomdirect.wacom.com:80/wacomdirect/reftablet.asp?), but they are still pretty expensive. If you feel you can put up with the mouse while you are still learning the ropes with Painter, then perhaps you could save up for a mid size Intuos 2. You should still be able to get use and pleasure out of the Graphire 2 or Aiptek though, so don't write them off completely :)

Update;
The Aiptek Hyperpen 12000u has a 12 x 9 drawing area and retails around $149.99. It's not a Wacom, but it may be good enough for what you want. I also found a revue; Click here" (http://products.consumerguide.com/cp/electronics/review/index.cfm/id/23746). If you are interested in the tablet, it would be a good idea to e-mail the manufacturer first, to ensure it works with the latest versions of Painter and Photoshop.

David

[KayCustomz]

As I was just thinking, if I was going to buy something that expensive, then I should look around at them tablet pcs? they good?

[sandman]

Originally posted by KayCustomz
As I was just thinking, if I was going to buy something that expensive, then I should look around at them tablet pcs? they good?

I know very little about tablet PC's, maybe someone else on the forum can chip in. Some things to consider would be screen size, viewing angle, processor speed/ Ram availability, hard drive size, resolution and pressure sensitivity levels. I would also imagine that the prices would be in the order of double that of a good size Wacom (maybe more for larger models). A search on Google would yield the information you seek.

David

[KayCustomz]

I was researching and the best tablet out I think is a toshiba 1.3GHz, 512 ram and 40 gb and blah blah I'll think about it more and might invest! you are a lot of help sandman

[MindCandyMan]

You sure that tablet pc is pressure sensitive though?...tilt is really important as well...which I assume it wouldn't have