Looking for a good Graphics Tablet for Drawing and Animation.

[manshiny]

My partner is looking for a good tablet for drawing and animation.
We know absolutely nothing about these tablets, and would love some info on what to get.

We'll be running on Windows 8 64bit.
We're looking for something around 6x8 or 12x9. Size is dependable, it's more quality and features we're looking for.
We don't want to go too high in budget, this is more for casual/semi professional use.

We'll be ordering from either Amazon or somewhere local (We live in Hong Kong so most items are in stock).

EDIT: We are looking for an active display.

Feel free to ask other questions.
Thanks.

 

[esco_sid]

http/www.tomshardware.com/news/lenovo-thinkpad-8-tablet,25559.html

 

[MagicPants]

The first thing to figure out is if you want one where you draw on an active screen or not. Obviously the ones that aren't also displays are a lot cheaper. Though even the ones with displays won't give you the immediacy of paper (and they lose accuracy near their borders).

If you've never used one before, you might want to get a cheapo from monoprice(or a similar brand) just to see how they feel. If you feel you want something better get a tablet from wacom.

You might also consider getting a Samsung galaxy note 10. It uses wacom pen technology (called an s-pen), that while not as good as wacom's own tablets, is better than a standard touch screen which detects pens the same way they detect finger presses.

 

[manshiny]

The first thing to figure out is if you want one where you draw on an active screen or not. Obviously the ones that aren't also displays are a lot cheaper. Though even the ones with displays won't give you the immediacy of paper (and they lose accuracy near their borders).

If you've never used one before, you might want to get a cheapo from monoprice(or a similar brand) just to see how they feel. If you feel you want something better get a tablet from wacom.

You might also consider getting a Samsung galaxy note 10. It uses wacom pen technology (called an s-pen), that while not as good as wacom's own tablets, is better than a standard touch screen which detects pens the same way they detect finger presses.

Don't wanna sound like a dummy, but when you say "active screen", is that like a second display that you can draw on?
Does Samsung Note have that kind of feature?

I checked out Wacom. They are really pricey and they don't appear to have active displays which my partner realizes she'd prefer as she has terrible hand-eye coordination lol.

 

[popatim]

checkout the surface pro 2. Its far from cheap but might have everything you're looking for.
http/www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/products/surface-pro-2

 

[MagicPants]

Don't wanna sound like a dummy, but when you say "active screen", is that like a second display that you can draw on?

Exactly right, an active screen works like a second monitor you can draw on. You can draw on an ipad or most other touch devices, and some people get quite good at it, but the stylus is more like a big felt tip marker than a ball point pen.

Even with the wacoms, the drawing isn't great because the screen is still separated from the tip of the pen by about 1/8" of glass. Monoprice sells an active screen tablet for about $400US, it's a tn panel so viewing angles aren't great, but it might fit in your budget.

After looking at the surface pro review it does use the same s-pen tech as the Samsung galaxy note (the galaxy tab doesn't). So either of those might work as well. The issue with using the Samsung, or another android device, is that they don't have full photoshop out for them (but the software they do have is dirt cheap).

 

[popatim]

Surface pro and pro 2 both use wacom pressure sensitivity technology and both run the full PC version of Windows 8 (ie this is not rt or android) and yes they can run the full photoshop gamut.

Edit - I found a review of the surface pro's drawing tablet ability
http/www.penny-arcade.com/2013/02/22/the-ms-surface-pro

 

[manshiny]

So the surface pro is essentially a PC in tablet form and can be used for design and art?
Will look into it. I think we want to keep our budget within below 200. We still need to grab a bunch of other stuff, and the decision to get a tablet for design is recent so it's surprising to see the price.

What other options are there when it comes to design on computers? And are the cheaper Wacom graphic tablets any good? We might invest in a cheaper one and then get a better one later.

 

[manshiny]

Lol, why did you revive a thread that is 9 months old...
Anyway, I bought myself a Wacom Bamboo. It was 'second hand', but the guy had literally used it once, everything was still pretty much packaged perfect.

 

[ferndog]

cintiq touch 13hd. but they are pricey. monoprice 19 is also great according to other reviews and is about half the price. I will be getting a cintiq touch 24hd but had to save up for a year