How much to tablets run for?

[discented]

Hi i am an extreme newbie, been browsing trhe boards for a couple days and saw something about tablets.... Well how much do these cost, i'm sure you could spend thousands, bu like i said, i am a newbie who just wants to learn, yet also let it be a good one, not some cheap drawing tablet that will break or doesnt work well, thanks a lot for the help.

[jrr]

i think i'm going to sell my 4x5 for about 100 bucks it's a usb intous.

[gekitsu]

the main line to follow is wacom. buy a wacom, don't buy anything else.
they may be more expensive than other brands but there IS a reason for them covering 99.9% of all professionals working with tablets (figure drawn from my own assumption... although i think 100% would be more realistically ;)).

they start with the graphire line, that is made for casual users. it fueatures an active area that is quite small (visit the wacom site for exact information), has enough pressure sensitivity to let you work good and is of overall good quality, given its price tag.

the intuos line is made for professionals and therefore, is more expensive and has better tech features.
its got double the pressure levels than the graphire (1024 instead of 512) and also is tilt sensitive (if you plan on using painter, this makes a huge difference). they come in different sizes, too.
i think the smallest one is 4x5 inches, they also have 6x8 and 9x12.


if you are not sure if you want to spend a lot of time on digital painting, just go for the graphire, you can upgrade later or just discard the whole thing.
if you know you want to do that extensively, there is no excuse for not buying an intuos.
i started out buying an intuos 6x8 and it served me well.
i spent like five times the amount of money than my friends did on their tablets (they got them from a local discounter: tablets between bananas, frozen fastfood and cheap t-shirts o_O) but it totally paid off:
i can use all the brushes in painter to their full extent. for me, there is a difference at which angle i hold the stylus (i can vary the angle of the brush tip by varying the angle at which i hold the stylus, as well as control the spray cone of airbrushes etc...). my tablet works everytime and does not switch off pressure sensitivity inmidst a working session.
and my tablet is larger :)

for photoshop, i think you don't need tilt sensitivity all that much, but having it never hurts. you don't know what they include in the next versions.

[discented]

thanks,
for the review that is, i will look into them, i use photoshop 7 so that will be the program i use.

[DragonGX]

Do all Intuos tablets haev tilt sensitivity? I bought a graphire2 to start with, but I think that I would work better with a tilt sensitive tablet.. if I could go back i probablky would haev gotten an Intuos2..

[jrr]

i never really used the tilt feature, i'm not much of a painter guy.
dis here's my website jrtistic.com (http://www.jrtistic.com) most of the work done here, about 90 was done using my 4x5 intous. worked fine.

[JoshuaTheJames]

www.pcnation.com

has the intuos2 4x5 for about 180 that is with shipping included...

-Joshua

[buffaloe]

i got mine on eBay for about 100 bucks... It's a 12 x 12 Intuos (one of the older ones) and it works great! So i'd suggest buying a nice used Wacom ;)

[JoshuaTheJames]

only buy a used one if you like arthritis...

the old pens are death compaired to the new ones...

http://www.solutionsinc.co.uk/prodpics/INP_WAC_014.jpg

http://www.solutionsinc.co.uk/prodpics/INP_WAC_015.jpg

-Joshua

[buffaloe]

really? I haven't used one of the new ones so I can't really compare them.... how are the newer pens different? That's one thing I was looking at when I was going to buy a tablet... I was trying to figure out why the Intuos 2 cost so much more than the regular Intuos, and that pen seemed to be the major difference. must be a nice pen! :)

[DragonGX]

Well if you buy a used Intuos2, you can buy new pens for it..

[buffaloe]

ahh, I've got the old Intuos (no 2) Can you buy new pens for that?

[!Deaf!Dumb!Blind!]

i started off wit a $60 tablet, i think it's called the Jam Pad, but that was like trying to engrave the drawings.... pressure sensitivity kicked it after about 50psi's worth of pressure....

Then i got an Intuos2, which was about $740, so..... i may have been ripped off but it certainly doesn't feel like it...

If you've got an older version of painter or photoshop, like before 4, then don't even bother with an expensive tablet, it'll be pointless, as the new features wouldn't work with the software. I was really pissed when i bought the tablet and found out the tilt sensing and the pentoolz stuff didn't work with photoshop 4.

If you've got the money, Wacom is the best.

size wise, figure out whether you're more comfortable sketching on broad pieces of paper or if you prefer drawing on 8.5x11's.the bigger they are the more expensive they are, but they're worth the while.

I like the big 6x9, i believe it is... can't remember the number i got. it's big enough to set on my lap like a sketchbook, so that helps ease up on the cramping, i've found.

If you buy multiple pens, it'll save the settings for each pen, like the brush types in painter and the sensitivity settings.

[Nielzsche]

I'm gonna buy an A5 Intuos 2 this summer... I was shocked by the price of it though.. For a Wacom you definitely pay for the name.. a pity.. (it's e.435)

I have an Acecad A3 tablet, but without pen =(

[DragonGX]

Yeah, I dont like how small my wacom is.. I think it would wokr better for me if it were alot bigger..

At CompUSA they havea 12x12 Aiptek for $150, but I dont know if an aiptek is worth it or not..

[Lightlytoasted]

is it worth getting a larger one?

[Pucky]

i bought an aiptek 9x12 for about $145 shipped from amazon.com. it's my first tablet and i like it and i think its good to learn with. but it DOES lack the tilt feature of the intuous2 which does make a HUGE difference in painter. if money is an issue than i say to go for the aiptek. but if possible, save up for a wacom.

[cucaracha]

If you want to improve your skills and get really into drawing, you'll have to buy an Intuos2.
All other tablets are nice to doodle around or test them, and some are possibly nice, but they never reach an Intuos2.

A tablet is not like any other medium, normally you don't get good ones for less money. It's still a very expensive medium. Since I'm not a professional, I bought a Intuos2 A6 - it's small, but the features are necessary.

I picked up a cheap one from eBay before, it was total crap compared to Wacom tablets.

cu

[Blind]

I get goosebumps looking at this tablet. It's a 6×8". I have the old serial version (and a 4×5"), but I want this one so bad. IMO, it's the perfect size Wacom. Click the image to go to the page...

http://www.wacom.com/productinfo/images/intuos2_plat_6x8lg.jpg (http://www.wacom.com/productinfo/6x8.cfm)

[Lightlytoasted]

do the new pens work with the old Wacom Intuos (without the 2) or is it worth getting the new intuos 2 tablet, what are the benifits of the intuos 2

[incognito]

I just have a question, do you need good photoshop skills do draw with the wacom, or just know how to click pencil?

[cucaracha]

I think it's the same like with traditional media.
You know, you can't produce good images with oil when you don't know how the oil color works.

You should understand the different tools to know how they work with the tablet. So it's not very much, don't even peek at those filters ;)

cu