Which brand, model and size do most of you highly recommend getting in Graphic Tablets? I really want to buy one but dont know which is the best to get. I've been looking at the Wacom Intuos2 tablets. Would appreciate any feed back.

Many thanks,
TropicalRain

Can't go wrong with an intuos tablet. I find that the 4x5 small size is perfect, that is what I use at work, at home I have a 6x8 and it's too big I actually prefer the small one. The pen is confortable and very responsive, you won't regret it, you'll wonder how you lived without it.

I have an 6x8 Intuos, and I love love love it.

Ok so do any of you use it for creating hair on poser models and clothing? Do you find its easier if you had a bigger tablet?

I have a 9 x 12 and for the most part only use a tiny corner of it, approx 4x5. You can map the area you work in. I have no trouble creating hair or painting in this smaller area. I needed this size for DTP, drafting etc but for graphics only work a smaller size would have been my choice. This monster takes up sooooooo much desk space.. Bigger is not always better.

I could recommend Graphire 2. It is so much cheaper and still high quality, if you are not a professional. It is propably the best thing I've ever buyed. I have no experiences with the intuos series though.

I use GraphireII for painting hair and cloth and that's about all I needed it for. Works great!

...and you can't tell the difference. Honestly. The Intuos is the tablet I use at work on an NT machine, and the Graphire at home on my G4 Mac. The driver for the I is the same as the one for the G. Save your money and buy the Graphire. The Intuos is meant to be purchased by art directors with money to burn. And it doesn't come with the thumbwheel 2-button mouse, either.

I use a Wacom Pen Partner, I'm not sure if it was intended for art but I find it works great. There was a problem that it couldn't map to large resolution screens (mines set at 1600x1200) but thier latest driver takes car of that. I paid under $100.OO Canadian.

i have a graphire 2 also. just got it last week. so which program is the best to use with it...if you want to paint or draw clothing and hair?

Attached Link: http://www.shopharmony.com/

I have to throw in my $.13 (inflation and all) and toot my Intuos's horn. It's a 6x8 and I love the little thing. It's responsive as hell and works beautifully for painting hair and that sort of thing. Now if only I could actually do that. :P You might want to poke around an auction site or two as well. I found mine on Amazon auctions and bought it for less than half of what those sell for (i.e. got it for under $150). You never know what you'll find.

Wow!

Many thanks everyone for taking the time to post your comments and suggestions. Now I can just see myself sitting here for days trying to decide should I get that one or this one :) Cant wait to test one of these boards out!

Aloha,
TropicalRain

I use a trackball myself in addition to the tablet (I can't stand the tablet interface for navigation outside my paint program), as my workspace is very limited on my desk. Still, I feel I get more precision in drawing and post render work with a pen than I do using a trackball or a mouse. Being lefthanded may have something to do with it though.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess, eh?

Ron: I was a professional digitizer in the mid to late 90s and used one of those damnable cross-hairs pucks on a huge tablet. Thankfully there's no comparison between those carpal tunnel syndrome factories and the tablets Wacom makes. Pens are best for drawing in Photoshop: no mouse can reproduce the contact and feedback that pens do. That said, they're not as great for dragging screen controls like scroll bars or Poser's dials (and if you change cameras by dragging horizontally across the view icon, you'll notice that it moves too fast). No knock against the Intuos users here, but how many of you use both tablets? Intuos' main advantage is that it comes in larger sizes, but I think it's probably not a coincidence that the Graphire has the same footprint as the mousepad it replaces... Considering the price, the Graphire should be bundled with both PC and Mac packages, IMHO.