URGENT - which WACOM for beginners

[rayyzer]

Hi all

I'm new to the realm of digital painting and I'm in the market for my first wacom tablet. Thing is, I'm getting conflicting messages as to which tablet to purchase. Should I purchase the A5 wide Intuos3 or go for the A4 intuos3? Someone told me the A5 would be sufficient for my purposes but then I was told that I should get the A4 Intuos3 instead.

I would appreciate any advice from other helpful forum users as to which tablet I should buy, pros & cons etc.

Your help and advice is much appreciated.

Thanks and kind regards
Ray

[Leukeh]

In my opinion... when it comes to Wacom tablets, bigger is certainly not better. Having used both A4 and A5, I recommend the A5. A4 seems to be too big, especially when drawing longish lines. It's much easier to draw accurately on the A5. Then again, that could be just me...

[Maidith]

Agree with Leukee - bigger ain't better. In fact, bigger can become really uncomfortable; a thing I notice when drawing with my giant Aiptek tablet.

A5 will do fine.

[rayyzer]

Leukeh & Maidith

You guys rock! Thanks for the advice. I'll definately go for the A5 wide Wacom Intuos3. I really appreciate ya'll for taking time out to respond to my query.

Have a fabulous day and look out for my artwork soon. LOL

Regards
Ray

[Penabled]

I'm not sure I would agree with Luekeh about there being a size that's too big....but I do have an A5 sized tablet myself and find it adequate for most things I do. I say adequate because there are times when I would like to have a larger active area...for some lines that need to be zoomed in a lot for detail but I want to cover a broad area.

I understand that the decision possibly depends on money as much as anything else....and I believe that you would do just fine with the A5....but if money truly is not a concern when making the purchase, I recommend you buy the larger tablet.

[rayyzer]

Thanks for the heads up PenAbled. I just don't want to by an A5 only having to upgrade to an A4 tablet later on. I live in South Africa and these Wacoms are flippin expensive! But as a novice digital artist...would the A5 suffice or should I just bite the bullet and buy the A4 tablet?

Still confused
Ray

[Penabled]

Well....as I said, there have been times I really wished I had a larger area to work with but it has not been so much of a hinderance that I could not adjust to it. Honestly...as I am using one myself I can say the A5 will suffice, I was suggesting the larger one only if the 60% (or more) increase in cost would not be an issue. Obviously it is...as it is with me. I do actually know some people that have bought things like cars with cash and therefore I am used to giving advice about products I am familiar with based on quality rather than price. Especially if a budget limit isn't indicated. ;)

Just remember to download the drivers from the website...especially if your computer is a newer one (Windows XP or Vista). Though the tablet will come with a driver disk, the one on the website is certain to be a newer version (especially in the case of Vista).

[rayyzer]

Thanks again for the advice Penabled. Think the A5 tablet will do for now. I'll make sure to download the updated drivers.

Many thanks
Ray

[StompinTom]

you can always buy the bigger tablet and just set it to use a portion of the area. ive got the 9x12 Intuos3 tablet and most times i set it to use only about a 6x8 area in the middle of the tablet, expanding when i need it.

[rayyzer]

Makes sense StompinTom...gives you more freedom I suppose knowing that u can go bigger if necessary.