hi all, i'm a first year design student and am looking to purchase some form of a tablet. However i can't decide whether i should get the wacom intuos(and what size of one would be good when on a budget) or a tablet notebook. I realize there is a considerable price difference between the two, but it would be very convenient to have a notebook that doubles as a sketchbook. I tried drawing on an P.O.S. gateway tablet and was suprised at how well it worked for only being a grand. However i did have to press down fairly hard on the screen with the pen while drawing. What would you guys suggest, the most i could possibly spend on the laptop would be around $1500, i've read a few reviews on cnet, etc but figured it best to ask others in the field so... Wacom intuos(what size?) or tablet notebook?
thanks so much for your time reading all that and any input you can give me, much appreciated!
I have a Toshiba R25 as my personal sketch tablet and am relatievly happy with it. I use a cintiq 18" at work, so I compramised a little and picked up my tablet for about $1150 after rebate. The tablet has good features except for the graphics card, battery life (didn't care since it's plugged in constantly) and the wireless didn't get rated too well, but I use the wireless in my house and it works fine for me. I don't do any cad work with my tablet so the graphics work fine for sketching and other work like photoshop.
I don't need to press very hard on my tablet. I'd be too afriad I'd damage it anyway. You should be able to adjust that in the software settings.
I have used the intuos tablets, but couldn't get over looking at the screen and drawing on the tablet, though many designers have used this successfully. I would say it's going to be easier to transition if you can sketch right on screen.
I bought my tablet in Aug of '06, so there are probably more options out there, but I think I got a good deal and have been happy with it. I would say, just be sure to research each option well and you'll be happy with what you get.
