REQ: Wacom Graphire 3 recommendation

On Thu, 07 Oct 2004 20:35:53 GMT, astroboy2520
wrote:

hello all,

i need to replace my old tablet, which is the made-for-kids kbgear pablo. i recently purchased the aiptek hyperpen, and after only a couple of days, it crapped out on me, so i’m returning it for a refund. this takes me to my question: i’m sure most of you are using a wacom tablet. i have read good reviews for it, although there is an issue with the price. both of the previous tablet i bought was 6 x 8, which gives me plenty of room to draw. but i have seen people use the 4 x 5 one, and was wondering if the small size is feasible for using to draw with. is there a big problem with a big stroke? any commends are welcome, since i would like to know all the pros and cons before i actually throw down money.

Basically, Wacom is the only one worth having. The price gets you good build quality. Of courser, Wacom know this which is why they charge what they do. However, you can often get a much better deal by going to the Wacom site for wherever you live and seeing if they have what you want as a used version. Most of the time the used versions have only been used by Wacom themselves at computer shows. I did this and got an Intuos2 A4 at 75% of the new list price. And it’s great 🙂

And yes, A5 is good. However, if you are a Painter user like me, you;’d be better off with A4.

—

Hecate – The Real One

veni, vidi, reliqui

In article , astroboy2520
@sbcglobal.net says…

hello all,

i need to replace my old tablet, which is the made-for-kids kbgear pablo. i recently purchased the aiptek hyperpen, and after only a couple of days, it crapped out on me, so i’m returning it for a refund. this takes me to my question: i’m sure most of you are using a wacom tablet. i have read good reviews for it, although there is an issue with the price. both of the previous tablet i bought was 6 x 8, which gives me plenty of room to draw. but i have seen people use the 4 x 5 one, and was wondering if the small size is feasible for using to draw with. is there a big problem with a big stroke? any commends are welcome, since i would like to know all the pros and cons before i actually throw down money.

james

Hecate is correct on Wacom and directing you to the Wacom "refurb" store. The only problem that I have with smaller tablets, is in critical PS/Painter work. It just does not fit my method of working, so I buy as big as my desktop will tolerate and always feel more comfortable. However, I do NOT work with it in my lap, so size, so long as it fits the desktop, is better for me. Remember, these are MY personal opinions, and your working methods may vary greatly.

Hunt

astroboy2520 wrote:

hello all,

i need to replace my old tablet, which is the made-for-kids kbgear pablo. i recently purchased the aiptek hyperpen, and after only a couple of days, it crapped out on me, so i’m returning it for a refund. this takes me to my question: i’m sure most of you are using a wacom tablet. i have read good reviews for it, although there is an issue with the price. both of the previous tablet i bought was 6 x 8, which gives me plenty of room to draw. but i have seen people use the 4 x 5 one, and was wondering if the small size is feasible for using to draw with. is there a big problem with a big stroke? any commends are welcome, since i would like to know all the pros and cons before i actually throw down money.

james

My first tablet was a 12×12 (Wacom — 1992) — you’d think that was a great tablet to work on — NOT… it basically needed its own table to be placed on. I had to hold it in my lap while I worked — I had to work further away from the screen — drawing usually required larger arm movement — more like sketching on an easel. It was "alright" in a pinch, but I ended up using a mouse more.

4×5 is plenty — you’re not working so much on a graphics tablet surface, but on a document in screen space — all tablets map to screen space, so the bigger the tablet, the more your arm has to move to move from one side to the other. The smaller tablet usually means that you’re working only from the wrist and not the whole arm. The level of detail is always determined by the level of zoom the image is in as you work upon it, and even the 4×5 graphire tablets have plenty of lines/inch resolution to handle as much detail as you’ll ever likely need. Furthermore, you’re usually looking at the screen and not at the graphics tablet (unless you use the tracing feature, which I never have) so your hand-eye coordination is a consideration and a smaller tablet makes this much easier to deal with. In my experience, I find smaller hand motions are more accurate than larger ones.

The older Pen-partner had 1/2 the resolution as the newer Graphire tablets, which in turn have half the resolution as Intuos tablets… The Pen-partner had more than enough resolution for the work I do. I do prefer the extra pressure sensitivity of the graphire over the penpartner, but don’t feel I need the level of "expression" available in the intuos.

Your decision will rely heavily on the kind of work you do. My experience with graphics tablets is with photo-retouching, photo-illustration [montage], and "web" graphics (banners and such) — a lot of detail work. I spend a lot of time "in close" with the work. I have two computers side by side (notebooks) with two graphics tablets, a wireless keyboard and mouse — I also have to consider my "desk" space. The 4×5 is about the same size as a mousepad [and considering I buy the pen/mouse combos, the tablets act as mousepads (I have one connected to each computer.)]

Bottom line: I don’t think you can do any better work with a graphics tablet larger than 4×5 (most of the professional graphic artists I know are using 4x5s.) Of course, if you’re used to working in a larger medium, and that’s what you like…

2 cents worth…

Fox
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