# TABLETS - for an arty virgin.



## steelbeard (Mar 1, 2008)

Steelbeard's gone broke his left paw a couple of days ago so has been playing with paintshop today.
However I've realised that a mouse is not very good for drawing (see my avatar) so are looking to buy a tablet.
It needs to be a reasonable size, work with paintshop pro, be USB, have a good repeatable quality but not cost a fortune, be readily available on ebay etc.

Any suggestions my furry companions?


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## Dyluck (Mar 1, 2008)

The Wacom Graphire is a lovely, cost efficient tablet with a multitude of uses. I have one of the older models of these myself, and I loev it to pieces.

Now, if you had two thousand US dollars to throw around, I'd say get a Wacom Cintiq.


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## greg-the-fox (Mar 1, 2008)

I have a small bamboo fun and I like it a lot. Good value


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## sateva9822 (Mar 1, 2008)

A friend in my town has a Banboo fun it works pretty much just as well as my 400$ wacom tablet.


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## steelbeard (Mar 1, 2008)

Thanks there all.

Looks like Wacom have the beans then.
Very easy to get hold of and well priced in the US, but not so easy or affordable here in the UK it seems.

Any other decent manufacturers out there?


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## foxystallion (Mar 2, 2008)

I love my WACOM 4"x6" Intuous 3 which cost about $200 18 months ago.   The small Bamboo is about the same size, costs half as much, and actually has higher resolution.  Moore's Law triumphs again!  WACOM makes reliable drivers.  I'd suggest caution with other brands.  I know one artist who has gone through three non-WACOM tablets in the past two years and swears that she didn't abuse them. I know of a couple more artists that have had lots of driver problems with non-WACOM tablets.  I'm not saying that there isn't a worthy competitor out there, but I don't know of one.  When I updated my Mac's OS, my tablet started misbehaving.  I simply downloaded the latest driver from WACOM, and have lived happily forever after.  You need to deal with a company that will put adequate money into continually updating drivers.  Not all competitors do.  I suggest that you order a Bamboo by mail order from the US. Due to the depreciation of the dollar, it will still be cheap in Pounds or Euros, even after you pay insured shipping and VAT.


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## NinjaWolf (Mar 2, 2008)

greg-the-fox said:
			
		

> I have a small bamboo fun and I like it a lot. Good value


another with a bamboo ^^
I have a bamboo one and work goods, I recommend to you


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## Blueballs (Mar 26, 2008)

If you are having trouble finding tablets in the UK, the department store John Lewis is known to stock graphics tablets. I got my Bamboo from there for Â£39. Sometimes they have Graphires, too, which I have heard good things about.
They might order some if they are out of stock. Assuming you have access to the store. My Bamboo is awesome, I cannot recommend them enough.


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## Phantomgraph (Mar 31, 2008)

Yep go with a Wacom. I use a friends graphire 3 - the darn this is old, works flawlessly even on Linux!


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## Sepht (Apr 3, 2008)

ive been using this wacom intuos3 6x8 for some time now. you need to replace the nibs every once and a while because they eventually grind down from all the friction. i keep cardstock taped to the surface so it doesnt get any more scratches than it already has. the cable is all wonky now and i put duct tape all over it to keep it from dropping connection. other than the shabby look it still works like a charm heh


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