I'm pondering...

[napoleonherself]

Getting a graphics tablet for my birthday. Specifically this one. It's the cheapest of the in-stock tablets available from Amazon. Cheaper to get a refurbished one but... well... my eMachine is refurbished, let's just say that I don't like that term. Or there's eBay, though I think managing to snag a good one that I can use that hasn't been bid up too high would be ruther difficult. Or I could bop on down to Office Depot or Fry's and look there.

Still. I am pondering getting a graphics tablet. Would have to forfeit two months' worth of the money that mommy gives me for keeping her grocery bills down (long story), and it'd be my one and only birthday present, but still. Hrm.

Anyone have any experience with these things, know how hard any included software packages are on one's system, have any advice? Anything?

Comments

[madplanet.livejournal.com]

Ooo! Ooo! I got one of those for holidays last year. 'cept I got this one. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005U240/qid=1016237520/br=1-3/ref=br_lf_e_3/104-3520076-9383101) It's lots of fun. Runs smooth, and I've never had a problem with it at all. I didn't install the program that came with it, since I have PSP (anyone else want it? I have a link...). Guess I'm not much help, hmm?

[napoleonherself.livejournal.com]

Oooh, runnage with PSP is good. I uses me PSP lots. And it's a legal version, even! Wonders will never cease.

Arr

[jen-aside.livejournal.com]

You know... I was going to suggest Harmony Computers (http://www.harmonycomputers.com/), but it looks like their prices have gone up... was $60 for the Graphire... of course, I got the 6x8--space = GOOD ^^ (although expensivish--yikes)

Re: Arr

[napoleonherself.livejournal.com]

Space does indeed = good. Wish tablets weren't so damned expensive, or else I'd be considering something other than the very smallest size!

and advice

[jen-aside.livejournal.com]

I always forget the "part two"... :P

Mine came with Painter Classic--it's a good program, the Painter series, because it more accurately simulates real media (paint, chalk)... takes a little getting used to drawing on the tablet, but it's very nice for touch-up work. Of course, I personally have more trouble than not trying to draw from scratch, digitally, and if it's hard enough on 6x8, I can't imagine doing it on a smaller one <:P

but it's something to learn with, I guess.

Re: and advice

[napoleonherself.livejournal.com]

*points and laughs at you for forgetting the part two... errr... hi*

[czircon.livejournal.com]

I have one of those, though not in an interesting color, and I love it. The only drawback (no pun intended) is that the 4x5 drawing area is a little cramped, so I usually need to draw things larger than I'm used to and then shrink them down if I want detail. I haven't installed any of the bundled software (except the configuration stuff, which is good and gives you a lot of control over the features of the tablet), but it works well with Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop (the two of them seem to handle it slightly differently in terms of pressure sensitivity, but that's a matter of preference) and is fairly painless as a replacement for a mouse. It's even rumored to work with the GIMP, but I can't confirm this until I get USB working in Linux. Anyway, I recommend it.