555-Shaggy

Looking at getting one, but no idea about them. Any info would be useful.

Manufacturers? Size? Price? etc etc...

TIA.

bob269

A friend of mine recommended me the Wacom Intuos, prices vary depending on the size you go for. I never actually got around to buying one so i'll watch this thread for any other recommends for when i finally do

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

the best ones are made by wacom or intuos as they are now known

You can pay up to £300 and more for the really large ones A3+, but a decent A4 one with pen, holder and mouse should only set you back around £90 ish

spectrum48k

Yeah, I've been looking at getting one as well.
Let me know how you get on.

555-Shaggy

Can you tell me what and where then, cos the Wacom A4's are well above double that...

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

there are 2 in the range I think, which why I was quoting the cheaper one.
let me see if I can find out where

555-Shaggy

Cheers, much appreciated.

bob269

pricewise i think the jump from A5 to A4 is quite high. My mate's getting by with the A5 and has produced some impressive photoshops, personally i think i'd save up the extra and get an A4

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

my mistake, i was looking at the A6's..whoops
yes A4 are way pricier

555-Shaggy

Bu99er, I was getting my hopes up then about a nice A4 one. Thinking about A5 sized.

Nobody any experiance of them then for work or anything? There must be some graphic designers or something similar on here somewhere..

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Sorry about the misinformation

We sell quite a few of these to our clients.In fact one client has over 35 of them (the A3 size) and they are a PITA when we have to do work on the macs. But to the designers they are the best thing since sliced bread

For us normal guys, a keybaord and mouse feels perfect, but to designers who use photoshop, indesign, quark, illustrator, paint etc, basically any graphic packages that require a better control over brush movement and pressure then they are without equal.
The range of accessories are staggering as well, but for a starter I would save for an A4, learn the basic skills and then expand.
All software/drivers for these tablets have software that shows you how to use the devices as well as tutorials. And of course there are loads of websites (apart from wacoms) that do online tutorials.

I am sure some graphic pros will be along shortly

555-Shaggy

Anyone else?

Nog

Ditto ditto ditto.

I own a Wacom Intuos 2 A4 regular (i.e.: landscape). Very impressed.

Advice:

I bought an A4, as my previous A6 was too small. However, the border of the A4 tablet makes the physical size of the entire unit really quite large. Therefore, I'd advise going for an A5 Intuos 3.

The Intuos mouse is very solid, and all the buttons can be programmed to do whatever you like. I particularly like the inset buttons, which I use for double-clicks (i.e.: press the big left button for single click, or the inset one for double click).

The pen is very good, except the buttons are fiddly. Very rarely need the pen buttons though. If you use Photoshop, it can be set to recognise the pen, making brush strokes react to how hard you press the tip down, and the tilt of the pen.

Anyway, enough babbling. Buy buy buy.

AllanB

Yes know a fair bit about this as they come in to see me team every few weeks and we sell more of them than anyone else in the UK.

There are several models in the range starting with products like the bamboo and then up the range to the Intous 3 range. As you go up the range the levels of pressure sensetivity increase and the pens allow a greater range of customisation. Forget the Cintiq unless you are loaded which is a combined tablet and screen putting it simply.

The take a little getting used to but once you do you can quite easilly forget using a mouse or normal day to day stuff and its by far a more natural way to draw.

You can obviously look on ebay for second hand ones.

I've got a small Graphire I might sell soon if you're interested think its the A5 version


AllanB

555-Shaggy

Cheers Allan.

Are there any others apart from Wacom that are any good? If you sell them, who do you work for? Got any bargains on offer? Looking at prices, I think I'm going to have to go for an A5 sized anyway.