Tablet Advice

kedinik

I'm getting a tablet for my girlfriend this Christmas, but I know next to nothing about them; I have no idea how to judge a good tablet from a bad one, so I would really appreciate some advice from a few people in the know.

I'd definitely like to get a durable and user-friendly one for her, and I want to keep the price range less than $500.

If there's anything else that I can tell you to help you make a recommendation just let me know.

edit: Sorry, a pen tablet, not a full fledged tablet pc. Wacom is a brand of pen tablets, right?

rts

A wacom tablet, a tablet pc or some other kind of tablet?

Wassermelone

Wacom. Wacom. Wacom. There is no other tablet worth getting. I'm not saying this just because I like them (I do) but... there really is flat out no other tablet brand worth getting. Wacom has cornered the industry and no one cares because they are fantastic.

http://www.wacom.com/intuos/medium.php

The_Glad_Hatter

general consensus: Wacom will make her happy, all the rest will probably make her cry.
like wassermelone said. they have monopoly and nobody cares. They are awesome and kinda worth their buck too....

and then it's just a matter of matching your budget and her needs to a wacom model (i believe wacom has a tool for that on their site).

bamboo= fan, solid and cheaper
intuos= if she's thinking of using it a fucking lot or professionally.

tablet size: huge can be bulky and you'll end up using it less. A3 active area is too big in many situations .
i like A4 active area, many prefer smaller.

The_Glad_Hatter

oh, and 500 dollar should get you an intuos 4 with A4 active area, which is fancier and bigger than what many accomplished artists use. (that being said, the intuos 4 series is a whole bag of fun, great detail.)

rts

If she plans on moving around much I probably wouldn't go for anything larger than a 6x8. Anything bigger than that isn't very portable. I have had a 4x5, a 6x8, a 9x12...the bluetooth 4x6 I think it was and right now I am typing this on a cintiq. By far the best value for quality portability and all that jazz was the 6x8 intuos.

MagicToaster

I have a 6 x 4 Bamboo fun, it's pretty good and portable.

Belruel

i really love the hell out of my intuos3 6x8. it is the perfect size for me to use on my lap, and to take with me, as it fits a lot of laptop sleeves really well. i bought one for it on sale for a few dollars and it makes taking it places so much better.

i have seen things about the intuos4 that look so damn sexy, i'd advise getting her an intuos4, 6x8 if she is serious about digital art. if it is more of a fun thing, or she isn't really sure about the whole tablet thing, try a bamboo, it is a really good piece of equipment too.

Agentflit

Yeah, go wacom.

If you're not averse to buying used, I'd recommend eBay. Wacom tablets have a low failure rate and if you buy from a person with a decent reputation there should be no problem. I bought an Intuos 1 for $170 since I find the benefits of the newer models negligible (increased sensitivity, extra sliders and buttons, different texture surface). If you have a huge screen, the higher resolution of the newer intuos models (3 & 4) would shine.

But, regardless of whether you buy new or used, know that the biggest difference between the Bamboo model (cheaper) and the Intuos model (expensive) is tilt sensitivity. The bamboo can't detect when you tilt the pen, and the intuos can (even the old ones). This is a big deal if you use the tablet for painting/drawing, maybe not so much otherwise.

And yeah, anything bigger than 6x8 is just awkward. (Sorry that I use so many parentheses).

kedinik

That's a pretty resounding consensus.

She does a fair amount of graphic design work and plans to do even more of it in the near future; the Intuos line looks perfect.

Thank you all!