Opinions on Wacom Tablets

[Jake Gilla]

Hey folks I'm thinking about grabbing a Wacom tablet for mostly casual drawing, pixel art, and to get my hand off the mouse for a few hours a day. Basically, in my price range I can get one of the new Bamboo tablets either the small 5.8 x 3.6 inch or larger 8.5 x 5.3 inch, or a used Intuos3.

How well do these things hold up used? Is the 5.8" x 3.6" enough room to even be useful? Anyone have any experience with the consumer level Bamboo stuff?

[Froyok]

I have two wacom, a Bamboo (248 mm x 176 mm x 8,5 mm) and a Intuos3 (A3 -> 488x305 mm ). They are indestructible!

Both were used tablet that I have purchased on the wacom shop, they are like new (I guess that my A3 is new, and she have already two years and she still looks like new) !

Mainly, take the format that you like, avoid the intuos4 (which are less good than the intuos3, especially for the durability).

The Bamboos are not bad, they are very well done, and the one I use with my laptop is enough to paint, texture et sculpt.

[Bunglo]

avoid the intuos4 (which are less good than the intuos3, especially for the durability).

I use an intuos4 and love it. Radial menus and hotkey setup are great and the mouse it comes with doesn't suck. Picking an intuos3 or 4 comes down to personal preference really.

[Froyok]

I use an intuos4 and love it. Radial menus and hotkey setup are great and the mouse it comes with doesn't suck. Picking an intuos3 or 4 comes down to personal preference really.

Well, I was talking specially about the plastic they use. In my school they have both intuos3 and intuso4, the intuos3 are older but the 4 version are more bad than the 3 after some years.

I guess if you take care of your gear it's ok.

[Bunglo]

I box mine up every time I'm not using it. Had it for a little over a year now I think, still like new.

@Jake, picking up something like the bamboo is probably fine for what your want to use it for. If you ever want to sculpt or do some serious texture work, getting a used (or new) intuos3/4 would be my recommendation.

[Chunks]

I got mine (intuos 3 12x8) about 4 years ago w/ a student discount... I would recommend buying used. It has held up pretty well, I use it at work, but only for PS. Just make sure you get a size that is proportionate to your monitor. I have a 4:3 at work and a 16:10 at home, on the 16:10 it is a bitch because the x-y axis doesn't correspond exactly.

[Thurnip]

btw, did u guys saw this stuff?

looks amazing! i really wanna test it. is too good to be truth. I'm skeptical about the quality of this.

[Chimeray]

A5 was all the size I needed (Intuos 3). Can't comment on different tablets but the size at least, was definitely enough for texturing and the like. Perhaps not for concept art, dunno... I don't do that stuff.

[Evert]

btw, did u guys saw this stuff?

looks amazing! i really wanna test it. is too good to be truth. I'm skeptical about the quality of this.

Aye very cool! Hope it's not too sketchy when it comes to quality

[Jake Gilla]

Got the Pen and Touch (refurbed) last night. Seems pretty solid, though the touch is a little finicky though, but that's not what I bought it for.

Unfortunately, none of the applications I use make full use of it.

[justindepp2]

Flat level also can be more natural pen strokes and pressure sensitivity for Wacom Tablets. For example, when you are in the application, such as Adobe Photoshop graphics, can be applied to different levels of pressure pen, which will make the PEN line thicker or darker. Such small features, with tablet value for money.