graphics tablet, what to buy? [solved]

Roman_Gruber · Last edited by Roman_Gruber on Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:17 pm; edited 1 time in total

Hi I use gentoo-sources, 2.6.19 and amd64.

I want to buy a graphics tablet and don*t know what to take.

Wacom Graphire4 Classic XL Silver, USB (CTE-640/S-CL); costs: Austria: 157,47 + shipping

or

Wacom Intuos3 A5 & Mouse, USB (PTZ-630G) Austria: 294,83
with mouse, which i don*t need because I have bought two weeks ago a razer copperhead laser mouse.

or

Aiptek HyperPen 6000U, USB (100004); Austria: 26,59

So why shouldn*t I buy Aiptek because it costs only 27? Where*s the difference? Has anyone any experience with any of this tablets?

Basically I want to draw in openoffice-draw and gimp.
I am a student and I want to put the drawings of the blackboard into my computer. Therefore I think I can use such a tablet.

Thanks for reading and please post your opinion.

FGA · Apprentice Joined: 07 Apr 2004 Posts: 179

Buy a Wacom, whatever you want, but a Wacom. Very well supported and high quality. I'm waiting for a wacom volito2 A6 to arrive, only 49 euro.

no_hope · Guru Joined: 23 Jun 2003 Posts: 482

Now, I don't own a tablet, so I'm no expert. However, I've been agonizing about buying one for some time now.

If you just want to make rough sketches of the blackboard, the most obvious difference between those is size and build quality.

Unless you are into design work other specs like resolution and accuracy probably won't matter for you that much.

If you are an art student though, you'll definitely want the more expensive Wacoms. Just my two cents.

Roman_Gruber · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:59 pm Post subject:

I want to make technical timing diagrams. How the pulses act to each other.

Also some sinus, cosinus wave drawings.

Does any of these tablets show in real time on the tablet what you have drawn or do you have to look at the monitor and draw with your hand. This seems a little more difficult as my brother told me.

I also think that WACOM is better but I don*t own any of these hardware.

When does the new WACOM hardware arrive?

timeBandit · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:51 pm Post subject:

I haven't heard good things about Aiptek tablets. Granted, I haven't heard much at all about Aiptek, but what little I have heard, has related to difficulty getting them to work properly in Linux.

As already said, Wacom tablets are top-tier products and very well supported in Linux. I have an Intuos2 6x9 and love it.

Other minor points: the mouse that comes with some Wacom models isn't a mouse, per se. It's actually called a cursor and is a tablet tool just like the stylus. Although it can serve as a high-precision mouse, it's most useful in programs like The GIMP that allow you to map different tools to different devices. You can assign it a dedicated function and not have to switch tools on the core pointer (mouse) or stylus.

Tablets do not include any kind of display to allow you to look at the tablet and see what you are drawing. For that, you need a Tablet PC (a notebook whose display incorporates tablet hardware, usu. Wacom) or a Wacom Cintiq display, which is the same concept but a full-sized monitor (and costs ~â¬1.900). For a cheaper but cumbersome option, Wacom offers a stylus that doubles as an actual pen, so you can draw on paper laid over the tablet. Not too useful IMHO if you're at all prone to mistakes. :wink:

Drawing on the tablet while watching the screen becomes quite natural with a little practice. If you expect to do a lot of freehand drawing, avoid the smallest tablets if you can afford it. The smaller difference in the scales of motion (between your hand and the result) with a larger tablet makes it easier for the brain to adapt to this technique.
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Roman_Gruber · Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:11 am Post subject:

Hay anyone achieved to use a wacom tablet in gimp with the different pressure steps (usually 512 or 1024)?

I think i buy: Wacom Graphire4 Classic XL Silver, USB (CTE-640/S-CL); costs: Austria: 157,47 + shipping
becaue it has 208,8 x 150,8 mm working space which is nearly a5: 148,51 x 209,97 mm

So you can paint with different pressure sensitivity in gimp. Is this possible now with gentoo and gimp?

I have found on amazoon.de
Es ist also genug Platz da um auch einen dicken Papierstapel daraufzulegen, wenn man z.B. etwas abzeichnen will.
It means: I can put a sheet of paper between the tablet and the pen. Then I can draw with the pen on the paper an the tablet recognizes it. This is useful, e.g. when I want to draw a comic from a comic-paper to get it into the computer. Does this feature really works?

timeBandit · Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 2:50 pm Post subject:

Roman_Gruber · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:16 pm Post subject:

thank you very much timeBandit.

I will order it and maybe i open the thread again, when I have questions about drivers or the software.

Thanks.