Drawing tablet question

[Zixinus]

I have recently started to learn to draw and have considered a tablet pc. However, that is way outside my price range. So I decided on a simple tablet.

So I decided to go for the brand: Wacom. I have even found an official reseller who gives warranty and allows you to try the thing. I chose the Bamboo, because its cheap and would do the job.

However, today I have just noticed that other tablets are cheaper. I even tried a Genius-stlye one and mostly disliked it. But the price-size ratio is better.

I'm asking anyone with experience with lots of tablets, is whether is it worth going straight for Wacom or are there cheaper tablets with similar experience?

Oh, and I am also a bit indecisive between what size tablet should I buy. Would it be worthwhile to go for a A5 size Bamboo or it doesn't matter once you get used to the A6 size (size being useful surface)? Is it a question of personal preference?

[Jawawithagun]

I don't have experience with _lots_ of tablets, just with two tries of el cheapo ones before going for a medium-sized Bamboo and to my subjective judgement the Bamboo has got things right. Right responsiveness, right sensitivity and it works with my applications. With its predecessors I always had problems with them being sluggish or over-sensitive with no amounts of fiddling being able to reach a middle ground, and the surfaces always felt off.

As for the size - A6 is too small in my opinion. You can't get a good stroke going on it and the smaller work area makes handling a bit twitchy. On the other hand, the large tablets take up too much space on the desk and I'm more comfortable being able to reach the whole screen area with only movements from my wrist and a slight shifting of the forearm.

[salm]

I´m not sure about the quality of non Wacom tablets but from what i hear, they suck. I´ve had a Wacom Graphire (predecessor of Bamboo) for 6 or 7 years and am very happy with it. I´m still using the first pen point and the tablette falls down regurarily but it still works perfectly fine.
The Bamboo is probably totally sufficient for you. I think it lacks the ability to register if you tilt the pen but personally i never need that. The Intuos would probably be overkill.

The size is completely pereferential. Personally i use an A5. Never tried an A6 but I can tell you that A4 and A3 are way too large.

Otherwise i can just say that the Cintiqs are fucking awesome but only if you get them for free. They´re not
worth the 2000€.

[Zixinus]

I´m not sure about the quality of non Wacom tablets but from what i hear, they suck. I´ve had a Wacom Graphire (predecessor of Bamboo) for 6 or 7 years and am very happy with it. I´m still using the first pen point and the tablette falls down regurarily but it still works perfectly fine.
The Bamboo is probably totally sufficient for you. I think it lacks the ability to register if you tilt the pen but personally i never need that. The Intuos would probably be overkill.

Intuos are out of my budget (unless its the A6 version but then I would prefer the cheaper Bamboo, still don't understand what the Intuos can do that the Bamboo can't).

The size is completely pereferential. Personally i use an A5. Never tried an A6 but I can tell you that A4 and A3 are way too large.

It must fit into my laptop bag and it shouldn't be (much) bigger than my laptop.

Otherwise i can just say that the Cintiqs are fucking awesome but only if you get them for free. They´re not
worth the 2000€.

If I could afford the Cintiq, I would have brought a tablet pc. In fact, I would have ordered all the way from Murika a customized one from Lenovo.

[salm]

Intuos are out of my budget (unless its the A6 version but then I would prefer the cheaper Bamboo, still don't understand what the Intuos can do that the Bamboo can't).

The Intuos pen can be tilted and the computer will register that. Depending on you software your the stroke will be thicker if you tilt your pen more for example.

The Intuos pressure resolution is higher. It has 1024 preassure levels while the Bamboo only has 512. No idea if this is relevant. 512 is absolutely fine for sculpting and I hardly ever use it for painting.

With the Intuos you can use different types of pens, for example an airbrush, but you have to buy them sepparately.

[Zixinus]

The Intuos pressure resolution is higher. It has 1024 preassure levels while the Bamboo only has 512. No idea if this is relevant. 512 is absolutely fine for sculpting and I hardly ever use it for painting.

Actually, I looked that up and that's outdated. Bamboos now have 1024 levels while the Intuoses have double that.

Still ,the tilting feature sounds awfully useless. Is there anything other that may be useful in a Intous that's not found on a Bamboo (aside extra buttons).

With the Intuos you can use different types of pens, for example an airbrush, but you have to buy them sepparately.

I doubt that I would ever need one. I would be happy to learn just how to draw. But doesn't the Bamboo Fun also give you a couple extra pen ends?

[salm]

The Intuos pressure resolution is higher. It has 1024 preassure levels while the Bamboo only has 512. No idea if this is relevant. 512 is absolutely fine for sculpting and I hardly ever use it for painting.

Actually, I looked that up and that's outdated. Bamboos now have 1024 levels while the Intuoses have double that.

Still ,the tilting feature sounds awfully useless. Is there anything other that may be useful in a Intous that's not found on a Bamboo (aside extra buttons).

With the Intuos you can use different types of pens, for example an airbrush, but you have to buy them sepparately.

I doubt that I would ever need one. I would be happy to learn just how to draw. But doesn't the Bamboo Fun also give you a couple extra pen ends?

I don´t think an Intuos is that much more useful. I´ve used Intuoses several times at work and a friend but can´t say that it´s worth the higher price. Esspecially if you´re not going to use the extra pens. When I used it i usually turned of the tilting feature as it was rather annoying to me.

No idea about the Bamboo Fun. Looking at how i got the wrong resolution numbers it seems that my knowledge is somewhat outdated.

[Jawawithagun]

I doubt that I would ever need one. I would be happy to learn just how to draw. But doesn't the Bamboo Fun also give you a couple extra pen ends?

Not pen ends, pens themselves. Look them up on the Wacom site.

[Zixinus]

Well, we brought a Bamboo Special Edition Small. We tried the A5 variety, and while it was more comfortable, it wasn't so much that it would have been worth it. Especially considering that I would use it for a 8.9" screen netbook. The extra softwares were also handy because I haven't found the one that is most comfortable to me. The bag included was surprisingly a good touch, especially how it was designed.

So far, I'm glad with the thing. Can't wait to do more serious work on it, trying to copy and learning illustration. Not sure though that I saved as much space in the bag as I was hoping to save though.