If you are an artist or a designer you have been told or you might want a graphics tablet to do digital art, photo touch or just to prepare dummy works. We are not talking about those fancy iPad and Galaxy tabs. Well, these mobile tablets can also be used to sketch and doodle but they are not developed as far as specific graphics tablet are.
Graphics tablet comes in vast variety. This might confuse any first time buyer and land into crappy tablet. Therefore a study is must before buying any tablet.
Wacom is the huge name for the graphics tablet as Xerox is for photocopying. In this article we are talking about other Wacom tablets as well as tablets from other companies. This is only basic introduction which covers important features like dimension, hardware features and sensitivity. I have also mentioned costs of some models. Links are provided of their specific site so you can go into details. Lets roll.
1. Wacom Bamboo Series
There are 4 variations in this series. But Bamboo Fun only has all the features and is perfect for amateur and intermediate digital artists. The size of tablet is – 337 x 223 x 8.5(mm) which is bigger than other in Bamboo Series. It has multi-touch facility. Has four customizable buttons on the side which is somewhat helpful. Pen pressure level is 1,024 which has an eraser too and it’s really good as I also use this model. The amazing stuff about all Wacom tablet is that their pen is battery free and cordless. Cost ranges between $80 to $200.
2. Wacom Intuos4
The Intuos4 pen gives 2,048 levels of pen tip and eraser pressure sensitivity, tilt sensitivity and features a programmable DuoSwitch and soft grip. It also comes with a cordless, programmable 5-button optical scroll mouse. The tablet features a 4-way touch ring, 8 ExpressKeys, and comes with a pen stand. The largest size on this series is “X-Large” which is 623 x 462 x 28 mm and is huge. You will get 12”x18” of active pen area to draw. But the tablet size does not determine its best and mostly digital artist don’t even use all those areas. The perfect series according to size, money and feature will be “Large” and “Medium”. Intuos also has a wireless model so that you don’t have to worry about cables. Intuos is suitable for intermediate and professional artists. Cost ranges between $230 to $790.
3. Wacom Cintiq
It is the king of all graphic tablets. Every artist wishes this to be in their workplace. This amazing gadget comes in two sizes 12 and 21 inches. The 12 inch is handy and portable and enormous 21 inch has a stand that also helps to rotate the display. Of course this gadget does not come cheap.
The 21 inch has 2-button Grip Pen, 16 ExpressKeys and 2 Touch Strips, 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity, and a 1600×1200 resolution LCD with DVI or VGA video input. It costs around $1999.
The 12 inch features a 2-button Grip Pen, 8 ExpressKeys and 2 Touch Strips, 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity, and a 12.1″ TFT wide-screen LCD having 1280×800 resolution with DVI or VGA video input. It costs around $999.
4. Genius PenSketch 9×12
Genius has quite a range of tablets after Wacom. 9×12 model is one of the largest and better tablet among other Genius products. The working area is 9”x12” and comes with cordless mouse. The pen must be juiced with a battery and has 1024 level pressure sensitivity. This can be a starter or intermediate tablet and I had one before I got myself Bamboo. Pen comes with a stand and tablet has customizable hot spot but no physical buttons. No fixed cost but approximately costs around $180.
5.Genius G-pen M712x
This tablet is new in the product line of Genius tablets. The working size is bit smaller than PenSketch which is 12”x7” but comes with a fancy add-on, couple of rolling pads just like in Intuos4. Every other specification is same as in PenSketch. It seems like the Genius just gave it a makeover on their old version inspired from Intuos4. Costs around $140
6. UC-Logic Hot Key Series (HA60)
This company solely manufactures graphic tablets and it’s amazing that all the product lines are similar to the Wacom. Only you can say that it’s the little brother of Wacom. The HA60 series is one of their latest and best. It comes with only 10”x6.25” of drawing space with 8 customizable hot keys and 16 functional keys. Other specs are same like it has 1024 level pressure sensitivity.
7. UC-Logic TM19W01
I didn’t know that this company has a 19” tablet monitor. But it has nothing to be compared with Cintiq. All the specs are same to Logic Hot Key HA60 only with a monitor.
Costs are not available.
8. Aiptek Venus
Some people have not even heard of this company. Well, this company has model venus BTV-0805 which is an ugly clone of Intuos4. But not going with the appearance, the technology inside it is going to challenge even Wacom. This model has 4000lpi resolution with 2048 Pressure levels, which lacks in Bamboo and in Genius series. Working area is moderate 8×5 but here comes the blow. The pen is Battery-Free, wow, even Genius lacks that. If you look at the product it has similar appearance like Intuos4 , the location of 8 programmable keys and rolling pad. Cost starts for $60.
