Buying a tablet

[Georgelemmons]

I'm investigating buying a tablet for my sister, who's just starting some digital art. I've heard Wacom is good, and I'm thinking about the Bamboo Pen & Touch. A few questions for artists (since I'm not much of one): Is this tablet a decent choice for beginners? How useful is the multitouch? Should I consider a larger one if it will mostly be used for drawing and sketching?

 

Thanks for the help :smile:

[tripsis]

Hiya :)

 

I've moved this to The Gallery. Although tablets are a piece of technology, I think you will find more people with tablet experience here.

 

I've personally only ever used and owned two tablets. I owned the first one so long ago that I can't even remember what brand it was, and the second (which I still use) is Wacom. I wouldn't recommend anything other than Wacom just because I've had such a fantastic experience with their product and all the artists I see use Wacom.

 

I have a Wacom Intuos 4. However, these are very expensive and shouldn't really be bought for a beginner (mostly because of the price). Although I've never tried the Bamboo myself, it is the tablet that is most commonly recommended as a first tablet purchase.

 

As far as size is concerned, it does seem pretty small to me, but then again I have a much larger tablet so I'm naturally more comfortable with a larger size. I think it mostly depends on personal preference and monitor size. I've heard that you should try to at least somewhat link monitor size and tablet size. If you have a smaller monitor, a smaller tablet will suffice. If you have a really large monitor and a really small tablet it might feel a bit awkward.

[stevepole]

I got the bamboo craft and so far I've had a pretty good experience with it thus far. Only complaint would be the size just because I'd rather work with a large surface area then a small one, basically what Tripsis said but it works, I can't complain to much since I'm not very serious artist when it comes to digital painting and such and anything fancier then the bamboo would probably be a waste for me.

[Baldur]

Hi, you have probably made your choice by now but go with anything made by Wacom. It's pretty much the standard in the industry and even their lower end tablets are really great.

[Georgelemmons]

Hi pope <3:

 

And yes, I have. Thanks for the help.

[dsavi]

Hmm, wish I got here a bit earlier. As someone who has invested his hard-earned money in a Wacom Bamboo Fun Medium (Pen & Touch), I actually found the "Multi touch" to be a ripoff. :-( I was under the mislead impression that it was real (5+ touch detection) multi touch, but it only detects two fingers. Oh well, the pen is excellent and that's why you get it of course. I don't find Medium to be too restrictive on a 20" screen, it captures a lot of movement data and you can always zoom in.

[Georgelemmons]

Hmm, wish I got here a bit earlier. As someone who has invested his hard-earned money in a Wacom Bamboo Fun Medium (Pen & Touch), I actually found the "Multi touch" to be a ripoff. :-( I was under the mislead impression that it was real (5+ touch detection) multi touch, but it only detects two fingers. Oh well, the pen is excellent and that's why you get it of course. I don't find Medium to be too restrictive on a 20" screen, it captures a lot of movement data and you can always zoom in.

 

Good, because I just bought the Pen :smile: