Good Graphics Tablet?

[drawstuf99]

Anyone know of any high quality graphics tablets? I am wanting to purchase one sometime for use on my designs and just for personal use too. What kinds do you guys have?

[soundlight]

I don't own one, but my friend has a Wacom tablet and it works pretty well. The Wacom Graphire should do you just fine, but you should go for the intuos3 if you can afford it. What size are you looking for?

[ship]

Used to have a Kurda (sp?) it worked well at the time for a while and with an early computer initially once the bugs were worked out.

Doesn't work well nor ever did - in reality over the years of programs or new computers. Something about upgrades and working with AutoCadd in a early 1990's version of it playing nice with initially Generic Cadd, than even AutoCadd with a better computer. Only once did the upgrade hard to get work well, after that it was a waste of time to attempt to get it working. (Remember it's during the early days of tablets.)

Have not used one since, much less gotten back to Cadd unfortunately. That tablet is long since in the trash.

What I did learn between it and the school versions of different brands of tablets I was early on trained on was perhaps useful however in some base sense.

First, the larger the tablet the better. Your tablet both has your quick picks area and your drawing area so some extent of movability within the screen helps in ease of accuracy. That quick picks verses screen area is something very important to consider for your purchase in what seems large initially quickly gets smaller once the easier in drafting set asside area takes away from it. Given say only a 12x10" screen area, it gets hard to be very accurate to the 1/2" accuracy area easily. From my impression of earlier tablets, if showing a set on one's video screen, accuracy and ease of designing to it requires as large a playing area to do your accuracy as possible.

So for me it would be at least a 18" wide tablet as opposed to the 12" I had I believe which had 1/3 of it taken up by the quick picks.

After this, one needs both the stylist pen and the cross hairs mouse for option. At times you will need to sketch, at other times you might even need to trace.

I expect that my Kurda as a brand of the long past will work these days with most programs so as for brand, it would not be a problem. During the days while it worked, this was a very good brand of tablet and worked well. Today if still available, I might still buy it.

Tablet verses mouse or track ball, that's serious drafting. Going with such an option will be in drafting much the time savings, much less ease in doing so. If at some point I get back into drafting it's one of my first buys. Before this however would be as large a monitor as I can afford. Doesn't matter how accurate you can do by way of tablit if your monitor is only 19". Get a good huge and dpi monitor first, than a good and as large as possible tablet.

[FxDrew]

I use a Wacom 3 Tablet (4"x6") and it works rather nicely. Look around the net to get an academic discount on it. There are sites such as www.academicsuperstore.com or some listings on E-Bay for the Academic Discounted ones. Take advantage of being a student!! Several compaines have Student Discounts on Software and Hardware.