What Wacom?

[Kalfireth]

Having established that a Wacom pad would help with my coloring and so forth... the latest question simply has to be "which one?". Price is an issue although not at the cost of functionality... and primarily I'll be using it with Photoshop. What past experience / advice does anyone have?

[Koganei]

Most people have the very affordable Wacom Graphire2 Tablet.

I know Hawk has it. I have it too, if you're not looking for professional work with it or anything, I'd say it's the best quality/price ratio you'll have.

[ananth]

The Graphire3's are out, actually ... I'm very satisfied with mine. One of the best features has nothing to do with the interface at all ... they just added a clip for you to dock your pen in when you're not using it. Saves you from searching a messy desk for one.

I'm currently using a 4x6, and I'm very happy with it. It was affordable, and really gets the job done. I colored Finals: Week Two with it, if having an example helps.

-ananth

[Catharsis]

wacom's website also has a nifty little survey where you tell it what you're going to do with the tablet and it tells you which one you ought to purchase.  I'm looking at an Intuos2 because I'm going to be doing something slightly different with it than these guys do with theirs.

[spacer]

mines a graphire 1, it does the job fine.. (albiet a little small)

[Chris P]

wacom's website also has a nifty little survey where you tell it what you're going to do with the tablet and it tells you which one you ought to purchase.  I'm looking at an Intuos2 because I'm going to be doing something slightly different with it than these guys do with theirs.

What like? Add wheels and use i as a skateboard, string it and play guitar?

[lcnxw]

i'd like a tablet, but i have to wait till i can draw, or need to draw before i buy one.

ahh, damn my bad artist skills.

[Kalfireth]

Thanks for the advice! From the looks of things I'll go for the basic Wacom Graphire 3, which seems to be everything I need. Could someone post a link to the part of the Wacom site that tells you what tablet might be best for you? Thanks

[Nadreck]

http://www.wacom.com/tabletwizard/index.cfm

Back when I had cash, I splurged and bought a Wacom Intuos2 12x12.  It is FREAKISHLY LARGE, and I would not advise getting one to MOST (not all) people.  Of all their tablets, I'd say the 6x8 is the best balance between size/features and cost.

That said, the Graphires are also quite decent, and you can always upgrade later once you know how much you are using it and can better justify the extra control.  

[Catharsis]

wacom's website also has a nifty little survey where you tell it what you're going to do with the tablet and it tells you which one you ought to purchase.  I'm looking at an Intuos2 because I'm going to be doing something slightly different with it than these guys do with theirs.

What like? Add wheels and use i as a skateboard, string it and play guitar?

Not exactly.  No, I just create graphics for a different purpose, mostly print.  And renderings of architectural drawings are a little bit different than graphic artwork.

[lcnxw]

what software comes installed on them? i've never used one so im curious. and does it use it's own OS or does it run windows?

[Cronax]

There's a difference between a tablet and what you mean. There's pocketPC (which runs its own OS which is usually some form of windows), there's these things that work like a crossover of a monitor and a tablet and go into your monitor exit(those run whatever OS you are running). and there's a tablet which usually plugs into your USB port, which kinda replaces the normal mouse and adds features like pressure sensitivity and the likes. Functionality depends on your OS, they're usually meant for use with a mac or with Windows, but functionality under Linux is radically improving.

To summarize my little lecture:
You have your terminology messed up.

[Frith]

I hope this doesnt seem like a stupid question...

Myself I am no artist, but I do love groovy little gadgets, and tablets and such like fit well into this category. But try as I might, I just can't imagine how you would use it. Do you look at the screen while drawing on the desk? That sounds very awkward to me. I see there are graphics tablets out there that have a display built in, but at about $7000 a go, I seriously doubt any artist could afford one. (Unless the artists in your areas make heaps more than the ones I have met).

This brings me nicely to my second (and last) question. At $7000, a graphics tablet is almost twice the price of a tablet PC. Presumably they must have pretty similar hardware (with the PC having the boring extra stuff - you know CPU, HDD, CD, etc) , so what is the key difference between them?

Frith

PS Then there are also the near ubiquitous PDAs...

[lcnxw]

you are right, i have no idea what im talking about, which is why i asked.

perhaps you could tell me where i might find some information about the OS on these 'tablet' things?

[Splee]

Do you look at the screen while drawing on the desk? That sounds very awkward to me.

It's not how you envision it.  I thought that it'd take a lot of practise to get it right, but I was sketchin away in no time at all (although badly coz I'm not that good ).  It's almost like looking at paper.  Think about it, all your hand needs is the reference point on the paper...  when do you actually look at your hand as you sketch?  It's more like looking at the paper and the shape of the lines you're drawing in general.

Well, that's my 2 cents any way.