Graphics tablets - educated opinions needed

[Baktosh]

I've had a few tablets before, and I've borrowed some nicer tablets from my alma mater a few years ago and got to try them out.

Honestly, I found these [http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10841] to be decent tablets. They're not quite as great as, say, a Wacom, but the difference in the experience wasn't that significant, and they're dirt cheap.
I've been using one of these tablets for a year now, though I don't do too much digital art, its not failed me.

Honestly, I'd say that you should definitely pick one up. You can get one of those tablets for $30, and if you don't like it as much, the worst that's happened is that you have a backup, or could pawn if off on another student and recoup your loss.

I'll second this. I have the 10"x6.25" and it works pretty well, I haven't had any problems with it so far. It's pretty comparable to the Bamboo line feature wise. Easily good enough to use with Painter 12 after you adjust the pressure curve to match your style (It's what I use it for). I got it for less than $48 (I think I paid closer to $40).

Personally, I'd skip the Bamboo line. Especially if you're just looking for something to play with. The cheap knockoff tablets work similarly enough, and the Bamboo line doesn't support pen angle which is the primary reason I'd purchase the Wacom. I'd pickup the Monoprice tablet for now, then if you need more, pickup the Wacom Intuos line as it's their cheapest that supports pen angle.

 

[ThaBenMan]

Wacom is also releasing Inkling pretty soon I think, it will be something like 200 dollars and it looks pretty neat:

Whoa, that looks awesome. So you draw on a piece of paper like normal and that device picks it up and transfers it to digital? That would be perfect for me - I tried out a tablet and I'm not sure I can get used to the way the pen works, but I'd like the digital aspect. I'll have to keep an eye on the Inkling.

 

[Chemical Alia]

Wacom is the industry standard, for a good reason. Even with the Bamboo/old Graphire ones, the sensitivity is quite good and the pen movements feel accurate. They also now offer a nice variety of textured pen nibs, which can make the surface feel more natural. Tablets take some getting used to, since you're not looking at what you're drawing, but the screen. I've used everything from a Graphire (when I was doing digital art as a hobby in college for fine art) to the Intuos 4 to the Cintiq 21UX (which I use almost exclusively now, at work and at home), and I can confidently say that anything you can do with a fancy Cintiq, you can also do with the most inexpensive Bamboo.

 

[Fightgarr]

Go Wacom or don't bother. They have the best support for their products, with the highest standard. The Bamboo is great for starters, and you can always upgrade if you decide to get serious about digital art. Definitely don't go for a slate, they're way less functional than they seem, and don't go for anything like an iPad, which only has 2 levels of pressure (on and off) versus an actual tablet (The Wacom Bamboo now has 512 levels, for starters, the Intuos 4 I use has well over 2,000).

 

[Nazz3]

Wacom is also releasing Inkling pretty soon I think, it will be something like 200 dollars and it looks pretty neat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXbBA1DRE84

Whoa, that looks awesome. So you draw on a piece of paper like normal and that device picks it up and transfers it to digital? That would be perfect for me - I tried out a tablet and I'm not sure I can get used to the way the pen works, but I'd like the digital aspect. I'll have to keep an eye on the Inkling.

Yeah pretty much. It's better in the way that you don't have to constantly look at the screen but things like painting, coloring, using different brushes etc don't really work with it, which is why i'd personally stick with a regular tablet.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Thank you everyone for the advice. But now I have another question:
Do the tablets themselves display what you're currently drawing? You know, so you don't have to guess where you last lifted the stylus off the pad?

 

[StriderShinryu]

Thank you everyone for the advice. But now I have another question:
Do the tablets themselves display what you're currently drawing? You know, so you don't have to guess where you last lifted the stylus off the pad?

Maybe some fancy ones do, but the lower end Wacom's don't.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Thank you everyone for the advice. But now I have another question:
Do the tablets themselves display what you're currently drawing? You know, so you don't have to guess where you last lifted the stylus off the pad?

Maybe some fancy ones do, but the lower end Wacom's don't.

Ahh...surely that makes it really difficult to gauge where the pen will be on the screen when you put it down?

 

[darth.pixie]

I've been thinking of getting one too. When you can draw with a mouse almost like you could with a pen you know it's time to finally get a tablet

I've been thinking about the Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch tablet. It's something like 20 euros more than the Pen tablet but it has an eraser on the tip of the pen and it has more pressure levels, the Pen tablet has 512 and Pen & touch has 1024 I think, not sure if you can notice the difference really though. It also has some extra buttons on the sides while the pen tablet has none.

I own that one. It's pretty cool. Useful. Has fast response times. I love it and never had any issues with it.

Thank you everyone for the advice. But now I have another question:
Do the tablets themselves display what you're currently drawing? You know, so you don't have to guess where you last lifted the stylus off the pad?

They don't show it. You don't need to. You won't even be looking at your hand when you're drawing and you get used to it fast.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

I've been thinking of getting one too. When you can draw with a mouse almost like you could with a pen you know it's time to finally get a tablet

I've been thinking about the Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch tablet. It's something like 20 euros more than the Pen tablet but it has an eraser on the tip of the pen and it has more pressure levels, the Pen tablet has 512 and Pen & touch has 1024 I think, not sure if you can notice the difference really though. It also has some extra buttons on the sides while the pen tablet has none.

I own that one. It's pretty cool. Useful. Has fast response times. I love it and never had any issues with it.

Thank you everyone for the advice. But now I have another question:
Do the tablets themselves display what you're currently drawing? You know, so you don't have to guess where you last lifted the stylus off the pad?

They don't show it. You don't need to. You won't even be looking at your hand when you're drawing and you get used to it fast.

Ohh well that's good Here I was worried that I'd have no idea where my penstroke was going to start with no point of reference or something.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Thank you everyone for the advice. But now I have another question:
Do the tablets themselves display what you're currently drawing? You know, so you don't have to guess where you last lifted the stylus off the pad?

Maybe some fancy ones do, but the lower end Wacom's don't.

Ahh...surely that makes it really difficult to gauge where the pen will be on the screen when you put it down?

As someone else has already replied, it's not as difficult as it seems. My tablet is a smaller model so not only does it not show what I'm working on but it's nothing close to a 1 to 1 of my monitor, yet I've never had any issue. When you hover your "pen" over the tablet you'll see the mouse cursor moving on your monitor and it just works by feel. It's kind of hard to describe, but it just feels really natural. For me, it didn't even require any transition or learning period and I was using it just as intended the moment I plugged it in.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

As someone else has already replied, it's not as difficult as it seems. My tablet is a smaller model so not only does it not show what I'm working on but it's nothing close to a 1 to 1 of my monitor, yet I've never had any issue. When you hover your "pen" over the tablet you'll see the mouse cursor moving on your monitor and it just works by feel. It's kind of hard to describe, but it just feels really natural. For me, it didn't even require any transition or learning period and I was using it just as intended the moment I plugged it in.

Ah brilliant! That's good to know. I presume you use a Wacom too?

 

[StriderShinryu]

As someone else has already replied, it's not as difficult as it seems. My tablet is a smaller model so not only does it not show what I'm working on but it's nothing close to a 1 to 1 of my monitor, yet I've never had any issue. When you hover your "pen" over the tablet you'll see the mouse cursor moving on your monitor and it just works by feel. It's kind of hard to describe, but it just feels really natural. For me, it didn't even require any transition or learning period and I was using it just as intended the moment I plugged it in.

Ah brilliant! That's good to know. I presume you use a Wacom too?

Yep, I certainly do. It's one of the smaller and less expensive models. I've had it for years and I absolutely love it. I use it more for fun hobby stuff rather than anything professional, but it's probably one of the best purchases I can recall making.

 

[Ionait]

I swear by my tablet. http://www.amazon.com/Genius-MousePen-6-Inch-Graphic-Tablet/dp/B000LEI95I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315419008&sr=8-1

The surface area is pretty large, the pressure sensitivity range in the pen is great. It's got the programmable hot spot areas. And it's so cheap. Especially if you're just a hobbyist, Genius is the way to go!

Oh! Have to note: I only use GIMP and Manga Studio EX 4, so I can only vouch for this tablet's compatibility with those programs. There are some weird reviews about photoshop?

 

[Piflik]

Personally I would always recommend Wacom. I had an Intuos3 and now use an Intuos4 and never regretted it. They just work.

 

[teisjm]

If you want a digitizer worth a lot, go for the wacom intuos series, they're expensive, but the most used tablet by professionals.
Wacoms bamboo series was described to me and my classmates by the seller (and our teachers) as "consumer electronics" they're perfectly fine as a hobby tool, but if you need to use it for professional work, getting an intuos, or soemthing of that quality would be reccomended.
If you wanna get really fancy, wacoms cintiq series offers a quality nearly as good as intuos, but with a screen added right at the tablet, so you basicly draw on the screen.
I haven't tried a cintiq myself, but heres what i'm told.
my classmate says it's really nice, and he's also used to workign with intuos series
My drwaing teacher sortof swapped back and forth between the two, using the one most appropriate for whatever he was drawing.

To my knowledge, most tablet pc's doesn't offer anywhere near the same quality as a wacom board, and are more expensive, due to beeing pc's as well.

Things to keep in mind:
-iPad and other tablets/tablet-pc's like it, are shit for drawing comnpared to an actial digitizer, if they don't have multiple levels of preassure sensitivity, and are specificly made for it.
-I never use the erasor end of my wacom pen, i just press E in photoshop, and the tip of the pen works as erasor, but that might just be personal prefference.
-Get a proper drawing program, spending money on a digitizer, and using MSpaint sucks, Gimp is legally free, and can do most of what photoshop can do, Plastic Animation Paper [http://plasticanimationpaper.dk/] is free as well, while more aimed at 2d animation.
-The tablet will not make you a better artist, it's just a tool, pen and pencil is the cheapest easiest way to improve (and my preffered method of drawing) but beeing able to draw in photoshop or another art program is a big plus, especially if you're not keen on ink-drawing and coloring (zomg ruined the picture i've spend 10 hours on, by fucking the lines/colors up with somethign permanent :S)

Source: personal experience, and statements from teachers, classmates, staff and peopel from the industry visiting our 3d digital arts school, truemax.com where I just started my 3'rd semester.

 

[DasDestroyer]

I can't really say I'm much of an expert, but I used to have a Genius EasyPen i405 and it served me well. It recently broke and I am planning on getting a Genius MousePen M508, which is about 79$.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Dude, just get your bog standard Wacom Tablet. Pull out your tablet, start drawing, bish bash bosh, jobs a good'n. You can go for these expensive alternatives that'll do things better, but you don't need to go for top of the line for what you're doing.

Do what you're planning on doing and buy that tablet, it'll do you fine for now. If the time comes that you need something better then invest in it.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Yep, I certainly do. It's one of the smaller and less expensive models. I've had it for years and I absolutely love it. I use it more for fun hobby stuff rather than anything professional, but it's probably one of the best purchases I can recall making.

That is precisely what I want one for. Sounds like I'll definitely be at least getting what I pay for with a Wacom. Thanks man, you've been a massive help

Personally I would always recommend Wacom. I had an Intuos3 and now use an Intuos4 and never regretted it. They just work.

As much as I love electronics, I could really do with more stuff that just works.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Dude, just get your bog standard Wacom Tablet. Pull out your tablet, start drawing, bish bash bosh, jobs a good'n. You can go for these expensive alternatives that'll do things better, but you don't need to go for top of the line for what you're doing.

Do what you're planning on doing and buy that tablet, it'll do you fine for now. If the time comes that you need something better then invest in it.

I dunno why, but having it explained to me in such a comfortably British way makes me trust you more.
In any case, sounds good to me mate. Looks like a little Wacom will be fine for hobbying. Cheers.