[VinceDN]

Okay, after a year of postponing and pondering I think I've finally banked enough cash to buy me a decent digital drawing tablet. I haven't decided yet on brand or type, so I'm asking it here for advice from people who have experience with these things. I'll be having need of it excessively in running op to my end-year project (which involves a lot of digital work), so I believe it's time to take a pick.

I've already tried out the "blackscreens", and I find them awfull. Trying to draw under me while looking at the result on my own screen (in front of me) is a rather agonizing process, so I think I prefer tablets who have a display in them, so you can work directly from there.

I'm looking for something along these lines:
- A decent portable drawing tablet with display
- Around +-A4 working space, meaning A4 being the size of the part I can draw on. I've seen plenty of my fellow students here be tricked by advertisers into buying an 'A4' tablet, full of useless buttons and borders and with a working space about the format of a post-it.
- No specific preferences on pressure reading, because I'm not really sure how this works. Is it really nessecary to have a tablet with good pressure reading?
- A realistic price range. I know these things are rather expensive, so 'im thinking about alternatives: sharing the cost with a friend, buying secondhand, etc. So, if anyone is selling one of these, feel free to contact me

That's about it. Any help and advice would be welcome. Happy holidays!

[h2rra]

What you are looking for is not just a tablet but a tablet PC

Try searching for various reviews. I remember seeing some tablet PC-s reviewed by artists.

[Returner]

http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/index.php all the reviews and discussion you will ever need.

Dont forget to go to a store to get the "feel" for them. Otherwise you might end up scanning your sketches. The wacom tablet take some time getting used to. But after a while you'll likely catch yourself "wacom drawing" with a normal pen and paper. (then you can draw the dollar bills you have saved, and post it here!)

[VinceDN]

[Affected]

I'm not aware of any other display tablets than the Wacom Cintiqs. They have a 12" model and a 21" one. At Wacom.com they have a store of their own, they have showcase units on discount from time to time. You WILL be paying through the nose anyway, so unless you have a lot of loose cash you don't know what to do with, I'd recommend giving the regular, displayless tablets a chance. Most people feel uncomfortable with not looking where your hand is at first, but I haven't heard of anyone not being able to get used to it after a while.

[h2rra]

Yes, I second Affected. The only other option is cintiq and I don't think it's very portable and it is not exactly cheap.

Check out intuous3 A5, A5wide and A4, you can do amazing stuff with them, they are portable and cheap compared to tablet pc-s and cintiqs. Intuous3 is an excellent tablet and I bet you would get used to it if you threw your mouse away for a week.

[bld]

The Wacom Intuos are great. They are very sensitve and even the smallest model is responsive enough to do very high quality work easily with practice.

The stylus tips seem to have a good lifetime too.
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[neff]

http://forums.sijun.com/viewtopic.php?t=42121
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[SubJodge]

I'm a student and i have an Intuos3 A4 tablet, i couldn't ask for more!
(apart from a cintiq maybe!) But, like Affected said, don't be put off by not looking at where you're drawing.

[CarlE]

If you're going for the real stuff go for Wacom.
I have the Intuos3 A4 tablet and it's pure magic
It takes some time before you master the whole paint-beside-you-and-see-it-on-your-screen thing. If money isn't a problem then go for a Cintiq.

[canvasdezign]

I think this site might be useful for you http://www.allgraphicdesign.com/graphicsblog/2008/12/22/which-graphics-tablet-or-digital-graphics-pen-display-should-graphic-designers-buy/.
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