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Help buying a pen tablet

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fohfoh:

--- Quote from: iindigo on February 05, 2010, 03:07:00 AM ---If it isn't a Wacom tablet, you don't want it. Wacom is the only tablet producer that has fully pressure-sensitive tablets that make use of wireless, batteryless pens. Why? You can thank the US patent system.

Anyway, I've had a couple Wacom tablets through the years. I started out with the entry-level model of the time, a small-medium tablet known as the Graphire2. It was nice, but its drawing area was small and its pressure sensitivity wasn't the greatest. After a year and a half or two years of that, I got a temporary job as a graphics designer for a company and thus had a surplus of cash, allowing me to upgrade. I bought an Intuos3 9x12 tablet and have been using it ever since (about four or five years).

The tablet has held up extremely well. Despite my abuse, both the tablet and the pen work as well as the day I bought them and I can't imagine doing any serious graphics work without it.

So yeah, the smaller tablet will work and is definitely better than just a mouse, but if your brother is going into this with any degree of seriousness, tell him to get something bigger. He won't regret it.


--- End quote ---


--- Quote from: Viseroid on February 05, 2010, 01:46:41 AM ---My brother wants to buy a pen tablet so he can draw stuff on his computer. I have little to no knowledge of these things and was wondering if you could toss me a few good brands or entry level models. How much should he spend? After a quick inspection it seems they are priced at about 200 USD and above.
Thanks!

--- End quote ---

Based on what you said, I still stand by my statement.

If you're going to just screw around, there's really no point in a Wacom. The small ones are too small to do anything serious. You want usually the... 7 or 8 inch one + before it's worth the Wacom. Otherwise, for the price you're paying, buy a bamboo. Bamboo has a good price point for someone who just wants to toy around. For the price you pay (probably 80 bucks... you'd have to check) it's equivalent to about 75% of the price of a wacom about 2-3 sizes higher.

Seriously. IMO, even if you're just toying around... THERE IS NO POINT IN BUYING A 3-5" pen tablet of ANY brand. Get a decent sized one. If you want to cheap out, go Bamboo. Go high end, Wacom. But don't buy a small pen tablet.

Also, I really doubt you can really "abuse" any of these things. Smash it with a fist, drop 40lbs of textbooks on it... EVERY brand should be able to do this without much problem.

By the way, I tested both before when I was in HK. Wacom is damn nice. No doubt about it. But when it's twice the price of the Bamboo one (when the bamboo one was on sale), that niceness really isn't justified for the price point. Also, Bamboo is a damn good alternative. Both are decent, one is cheaper.

Sort of like an AMD vs Intel. Both will do what you want it to do. One is a "budget version" but it will still do everything you want it to do.

shabutie:
*Looks at the bottom of my tablet and scratches head*


Bamboo is made by Wacom ^_^


Anyways, I stand by my recommendation posted above.

fohfoh:

--- Quote from: shabutie on February 05, 2010, 04:56:58 AM ---*Looks at the bottom of my tablet and scratches head*


Bamboo is made by Wacom ^_^


Anyways, I stand by my recommendation posted above.

--- End quote ---

Which is why I stuck with recommending those two brands.

Viseroid:
Thanks again for the advice. My brother has always wanted one and will definitely use it for years if he gets one. Under that premise I figured a medium (~8"x5") should be fine.

Narrowed my recommendations to two:

Intuous 4 Medium-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823100052&cm_re=pen_tablet-_-23-100-052-_-Product

Bamboo Fun-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823100059&cm_re=pen_tablet-_-23-100-059-_-Product

Any thoughts?

fohfoh:
Depends how long he'll use it and level. If just for fun here and there, I say bamboo. Why waste an extra 150 if you're going to just let it collect a lot of dust? If he's going hardcore and going to get into some deeper stuff later on... go wacom.

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