Thinking about getting a tablet...suggestions? D:

[pleasethinkofme]

I'm new to the whole digital-colouring thing and was hoping to get a tablet in the near future, since coloring with a mouse is insanely difficult. What are some names of really good, yet not too expensive tablets?? :/

[tuna_sushi]

I recommend wacom bamboo™ 'connect'
It's about... $79.00 (USD)
I'm using wacom bamboo™, but I'm using 'pen&touch'
wacom's site

I just found out 'connect' is cheaper! :O

[Pugfarts]

I've got a Wacom Bamboo Fun. Bamboo is nice because they aren't too expensive, but still very functional. Also portability and durability are good. I don't recommend the paper-like-texture surfaced ones though. All they really do is wear down your stylus tips faster.

[Weakjounin]

I suggest you getting a cheap one. Seriously, there's not point getting an expensive one.
I remember back when I was younger and more stupid and arrogant (14) I demanded a cintiq 21ux (the old one) and got it. My art didn't improve drastically and I coudn't really create masterpieces with it. Now (16) I'm just using a bamboo pen and touch I borrowed from a friend, and it's great.
so get a cheap one, once you get used to it, it'll feel like drawing on paper. Except not as much..... but still pretty good.

[LateWhiteRabbit]

I suggest you getting a cheap one. Seriously, there's not point getting an expensive one.
I remember back when I was younger and more stupid and arrogant (14) I demanded a cintiq 21ux (the old one) and got it. My art didn't improve drastically and I coudn't really create masterpieces with it. Now (16) I'm just using a bamboo pen and touch I borrowed from a friend, and it's great.
so get a cheap one, once you get used to it, it'll feel like drawing on paper. Except not as much..... but still pretty good.

Well, something in the middle is perhaps better. Yes, if you are just starting to do digital art, buying a Cintiq is kind of stupid. It's like deciding you want to be a racer and walking out of your driver's test to go buy a Formula 1 rocket car. Too much power, too much money, too much to learn all at once.

Whatever tablet you decide on, it should be Wacom brand. They make great tablets that last for an insane amount of years and have good support. Bamboo's work okay, but you'll find rather quickly if you do a lot of digital art that they miss one specific feature that'll you'll wish you had sprung for every time you start a new piece of art - namely, tilt-sensitivty - they don't have it. This means you'll miss all those subtle things you can do with a real pencil or brush, like laying the pen on its side for wider brushes, or twisting it for calligraphic loops. This means you'll have to FAKE all those line width changes through drawn out techniques, instead of just instantly being able to put them down.

You won't miss that feature at first, but trust me, a year from now when you're better, you'll slap your forehead you didn't put down the extra money to go one more step up.

I'd go for an Intuos - size doesn't matter. Don't be fooled into spending a lot of money for a big one, 4x6 small one will do just fine for you, and it feels MUCH more like drawing on paper than a Bamboo does. The Intuos will cost you about twice what a Bamboo does - a Bamboo costs about $100, the Intuos 3 or 4 in small size costs about $200 - but it is a great, long term investment that will last you many years. All picking a Bamboo first did for me was cost me an extra $100 bucks when I turned around and bought an Intuos a couple of years later.

I've been using tablets for a long time: I started with a Bamboo, but was frustrated constantly by its limitations (though it is still 100 times better than drawing with a mouse). I got to use a Cintiq a lot at the art school I attended an at my studio job. It was cool and definitely awesome, but I almost found it was TOO much power, and maybe its just me, but I hated rubbing my hand all over the screen to draw with it. Even wearing special gloves I still disliked even the IDEA of smudging the screen. I use a medium sized Intuos 4 tablet right now, and I love it. (I lucked out and got it cheap by buying it from my old studio when they were upgrading equipment.)

[Deji]

I've read that, if you're just dedicating a couple of hours a day max to drawing/coloring, you may want to get a Bamboo, and if going to get "serious" about your art (as in usually drawing many hours a day every day), you'd better get an Intuos. And in the case you're planning to spend more hours drawing than what you spend sleeping, you should get a Cintiq.
According to that, I should get a Cintiq; I just wish t wouldn't cost 4-5 times what I make a month "Orz.

I've tried a number of tablets (though I haven't had the chance to try a Cintiq), and my favorite so far has been the Wacom Intuos 4 Medium. Not so much for the tilt feature, as I only use SAI (I can't even get near Photoshop for drawing and coloring now, it feels laggy and bleh >_< ), but for the added buttons and ring on the side and because of the pressure sensitivity. Also it was so pretty ;_;
Now I use a Wacom Bamboo Fun and it's pretty nice. It's not as fancy as the Intuos, but it gets the job done.
I also used a Genius WizardPen foe a few years and it also got the job done, though I can say I like the Bamboo better, so if you can afford it, I'd say go for it (:

[LVUER]

Agree with the others. Go with Wacom, you can't go wrong with that. And for beginner, you really should pick Bamboo Fun (or Pen&Touch, which ever you prefer). It's cheap (about $150?) and good enough for professional. I recommend Bamboo Fun Medium size since Bamboo Fun Small is ... well... too small (for drawing).

[Auro-Cyanide]

I got a Intous 3 right off the bat, cost me $630AU, and it's the best thing I have ever bought. Like others have said, if you are serious about getting into digital art, Intuos is probably a good idea. If it is more of a casual thing, bamboo will probably save you money. Also remember that a tablet won't magically make your art better, it will actually probably make it worse for a while. So you kind of have to perserve and get used to it before starting to think you have wasted money ^_^

[JustAnotherMe]

I have a Graphirre4 which was hidden somewhere in the garage. While I was thinking to buy a cintiq (which would cost me a much much effort) I remembered that I have somekind of tablet long in the past. And believe me: it works. (Though I'm still wondering what it would be like to use an intuos. I can't just dump my graphirre because it's from my mom)

[OtomeWeekend]

Well, I use bamboo comic(i think is only available in japan) now but when I just started in digi-art, I used Genius easy pen(blah blah, forgot the rest). To be honest, as long as you are used in doing your stuff, any tablet doesn't matter.

[LateWhiteRabbit]

I got a Intous 3 right off the bat, cost me $630AU, and it's the best thing I have ever bought. Like others have said, if you are serious about getting into digital art, Intuos is probably a good idea. If it is more of a casual thing, bamboo will probably save you money. Also remember that a tablet won't magically make your art better, it will actually probably make it worse for a while. So you kind of have to perserve and get used to it before starting to think you have wasted money ^_^

GAH! I just converted $630 Aussie dollars into American dollars and found out for all practical purposes they are identical in value! I spent $200 on my Intuos 4, and my studio I bought it from got it for $350. What and why are tablets costing that much in the land down under?

And you bring up a point well worth mentioning - the tablets aren't magical, you have to practice with them and they are just a tool.

[Auro-Cyanide]

I got a Intous 3 right off the bat, cost me $630AU, and it's the best thing I have ever bought. Like others have said, if you are serious about getting into digital art, Intuos is probably a good idea. If it is more of a casual thing, bamboo will probably save you money. Also remember that a tablet won't magically make your art better, it will actually probably make it worse for a while. So you kind of have to perserve and get used to it before starting to think you have wasted money ^_^

GAH! I just converted $630 Aussie dollars into American dollars and found out for all practical purposes they are identical in value! I spent $200 on my Intuos 4, and my studio I bought it from got it for $350. What and why are tablets costing that much in the land down under?

And you bring up a point well worth mentioning - the tablets aren't magical, you have to practice with them and they are just a tool.

Because EVERYTHING is more expensive down here. We also pay between $3.80 and $4.00 for a cup of coffee and they are much, much smaller than the American variety :/ Granted our minimum wage is higher as well, but still, everything is too expensive >_< I'm going on a shopping spree if I have time while I'm in Malaysia!

[LateWhiteRabbit]

Because EVERYTHING is more expensive down here. We also pay between $3.80 and $4.00 for a cup of coffee and they are much, much smaller than the American variety :/ Granted our minimum wage is higher as well, but still, everything is too expensive >_< I'm going on a shopping spree if I have time while I'm in Malaysia!

That's awful. I mean, you guys already live where everything is poisonous, deadly, or wants to kill you. Forcing you to pay more for stuff on top of that? Pfft. At least here in the United States when people live around alligators and giant imported snakes they get senior citizen discounts on everything. (Sorry, Florida joke.)

[Junker-Kun]

To be honest, as long as you are used in doing your stuff, any tablet doesn't matter.

I second that. I used a Genius G-Pen tablet before and was quite satisfied with it. At least untill pen broke and I had to buy Wacom Bamboo since there was no shops that was selling pens for Genius. The only differences I could feel is pressure sensor and sensitive are quite better on Bamboo. It cost me about 9000Rub though (about $300)...

[LVUER]

Hmmm. I wonder about that... Some people said it's only different a little bit between Bamboo and other cheaper brand... but most of the time, it's those small things that makes everything entirely different.

Anyway, my friend toss around his bamboo pen a lot (I never do that though...) and the pen is pretty durable. His is Graphire 2 tablet and it's still in working condition even now. And he's a pro illustrator.

If I could somehow manage to acquire some money or contract by making art (making games or comic), I will definitely buy one of those Wacom Cintiq 21UX. DEFINITELY!!!