I ordered one....
...but not that one...lol.
I did order the cheapest there is. The Bamboo. Just the Bamboo. Not the one, not the fun. And the smallest one. (A6)
If I find that I will use it as much as I think, then I will invest in the Intuos A4 model. I know the one I ordered is very small, but I beleive I will use it mainly for small graphics to use as stamps or textures. Basically I just wanted to test how well the pressure sensitive option applies to my needs. A few more days...can't wait.
I've been lurking quite a lot recently since I don't have time to map right now, and I'm starting to get really tempted to buy a tablet. The problem is that I don't have much money to spend and that they are pretty expensive.
Within my price range, I found two tablets that looked good.
Wacom Bamboo One
Genius G-Pen F610
The Wacom is cheaper and from a reputated brand, but the Genius is almost twice the size. What do you advise I get? If you have other suggestions, my budget is about 70€ maximum (around 70$ the way things are taxed here).
I use Vista 64 bit and XP, on a 22" screen. I want it for Photoshop and drawing (my sister draws a lot so she might want to borrow it).
To be honest, size is not so important for mapping I have found. I have the medium Bamboo and just got the small one for my wife and playing around with it, it's not that much difference even though it's half as large active area.
My Finished Maps
Works in Progress(or abandoned tests)
My Tutorials:
Explanation of Layer Masks in GIMP
How to create ISO Mountains in GIMP/PS using the Smudge tool
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Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
I have an A6 and would actively avoid going any larger. I can get extremely fine control with it as is and I can take it anywhere. If I were to spend the extra money I'd go up in quality (number of pressure levels, extra features and so on) rather than up in size. I had an A4 Nisis, and it was a nightmare. I'm more than happy with my A6 Wacom graphire.
I work zoomed in (200 or 400) for real detail work anyway, so not sure how a bigger tablet would give more precision, just a larger working area.
The resolution of even the small tablets is much higher than screen resolutions.
-Rob A>
My tutorials: Using GIMP to Create an Artistic Regional Map ~ All My Tutorials
My GIMP Scripts: Rotating Brush ~ Gradient from Image ~ Mosaic Tile Helper ~ Random Density Map ~ Subterranean Map Prettier ~ Tapered Stroke Path ~ Random Rotate Floating Layer ~ Batch Image to Pattern ~ Better Seamless Tiles ~ Tile Shuffle ~ Scale Pattern ~ Grid of Guides ~ Fractalize path ~ Label Points
My Maps: Finished Maps ~ Challenge Entries ~ My Portfolio: www.cartocopia.com
Well, I heard that it was better on big screens to have big tablets because otherwise you lose precision, that makes sense to me but I never used a tablet either...
I use a widescreen monitor and have had no problems so far, but if it's a concern go for the A5.
True, I hadn't thought that I'd zoom in anyways, besides the Wacom seems much more sturdy and has function buttons that seem more useful. Well, I have two weeks until I have the money and another two weeks before I can buy it, so I have all my time to think about it
Thanks for the input.
I had an Intuos 9x12 tablet, 'til my cat knocked over a can of Mt. Dew all over it. I'm thinking about replacing it finally with a 4x5 Bamboo Fun. Much cheaper and good enough.
For serious: I don't see how anyone needs more than 256 levels of pressure sensitivity. No matter how 'professional' they may be, I don't think anyone can tell the difference.
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