Drawing Tablets

Well, I'm thinking about buying a drawing tablet, but I have no idea which one to buy. Obviously, I think Wacom is the way to go. However, I have no experience so I wouldn't know what's too small or large, or what tablets are rather low quality and should be avoided.

So any help in directing me towards a nice, affordable tablet would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!

I've been looking around for one myself..I find sites like amazon.com and newegg.com useful. Their ratings are usually accurate and I haven't been disappointed in any of my purchases in 5 years.

I am only using Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch and it hasn't failed me so far. I think it's a good beginner tablet.

I have a Wacom Bamboo Fun and a Wacom Intuos 4 M.

The Wacom Bamboo Fun is very good exactly for that: Fun. Super nice and easy to use, the drawing surface is on the small side but big enough still. It has 512 levels of pressure sensitivity, which is not a lot, but you can draw very nice with it.
The pen is very comfortable to use, and it comes with 5 replacement nibs. The pen has 2 buttons on it.
It also has some customizable side buttons, though I didn't use them.

The Wacom Intuos 4 M is my brand new sparkly shiny tablet and I love it.
It's more for those who are a bit more serious about drawing, and not just doodling. I bought the Medium sized tablet, because it seemed the best size for the way I draw. Any bigger and I probably would have to draw from the elbow and shoulders instead of the wrist, which I don't like to do.
It has ~2024 levels of pressure sensitivity, with which you can practically draw anything from a barely visible line to a perfectly solid, continuous one.
It also has very nice side buttons, which are fully customizable to your needs. Super easy to set those up. I have modified mine to have the "undo", and "save" functions in Photoshop. You can customize tablet button settings to do different things in different programs. The convenient readouts next to the buttons actually write down what function the button does. The pen here also has 2 buttons on it, fully customizable.
The pen is very comfortable to hold and to draw with, although the pen nibs do wear down pretty fast in the beginning because of the slightly textured material of the drawing surface (it feels kind of like drawing on a smooth paper a bit). Once you draw enough so that the surface is smooth, the pen nibs last longer.
The Wacom Intuos 4 M comes with a cool pen holder, and by screwing the bottom off of it, you find 5 regular nibs, 3 charcoal feeling nibs, 1 pencil feeling nib, and a nib with a spring in it to mimic the feel of a brush.

This is all I can think of right now. If you have any more questions about these 2 tablets, just ask

I have a Manhattan 8x6, and it has been good enough for my casual use. Only one I have had, so I can't really say if it is good or bad, just that it is good enough for me.

I have an old Wacom Graphire 3 tablet that I got for Christmas when I was like 15. I've had it nearly 10 years now. It's old and beat to hell and starting to lose sensitivity, but for the most part, it still works fine. I love it <3

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I have a Wacom Intuos 3. I bought the large size which has maybe 5 x 10 drawing area for $400.00~ and it came with Painter IX. However, it's been close to 5 years and I haven't had any problems with it. It's in perfect condition and looks like it will be lasting me a while.

Wacom is a good investment and I plan on upgrading to an Intuos 4 soon.

Wacom is definitely your best bet for a good tablet. They last for years under heavy use, and have easier to find replacement parts, such as spare nibs. I've heard quite a few horror stories of non-Wacom brands, where the tablet works erratically or breaks down quickly alltogether, so I don't think I'm ever going to waste my money on anything else besides a Wacom.

I've had a Wacom Volito (they don't seem to make them anymore, but I guess it's similar to Wacom Bamboo) that lasted through years and years of drawing and was very good for a first tablet. The smaller ones are good for starting out, but might take longer to get used to due to the smaller size. They're cheap and work well enough for the first few years of practicing drawing on the computer.

Currently I use an A5-sized Wacom Graphire4, which works very well despite having been abused in many ways (the pencil's soft cover broke off ages ago, and there are scratches on the plastic surface from pressing down too hard). It's been a good tablet, though I find the surface and pen are a bit too hard, hurting the hand easily if you draw on it for many hours. The reason I bought it before was because it was cheaper than an Intuos, which I couldn't afford back then.

The best tablet I've used is an A4-sized Intuos, which is made for serious artists who spend hours and hours drawing each day. We had them at the graphic design school I went to. Intuos' pen and tablet have a nice soft feel and the quick buttons built in help to make drawing a little faster. They can take quite a bit of damage as well, and they come with different nibs to try out. Intuos is definitely the one to choose if you're doing professional design work.

Is Bamboo the new Graphire or somehow different?

I started out with a Wacom Graphire and once I got more serious moved onto Intuos 3. I recommend Wacom as a good stable brand of tablets. Worth every penny. It's important that the tablet doesn't break easily and especially the pen. I've heard Volito's break easier but I don't have personal experience about it.

I think Wacom is the industry standard. I've seen it in most of the companies I've worked at and schools too.

If you paint/draw a lot and are certain to draw on the computer for many years to come I would recommend just buying the more expensive Wacom Intuos 4 straight away. Graphire's aren't bad but Intuos is more sensitive & professional to work with. If you are just starting to get into digital painting then a cheaper Wacom is just fine too. Tablet size is not an issue. A4 is a good size but smaller ones tend to feel just as natural to use.

I started with a Wacom Bamboo Fun (Pen & Touch). I'm going to upgrade to Intuos4 M this christmas.

Do give you a little advice about what tablet to buy: Ask yourself how serious you want to jump into drawing. Are you one of those people that looses interest quickly when things are not going as well as planned, or are you willing to go work for it? Because if you are already extremely good at drawing by pencil and paper, you can think about getting an Intuos right away (just try it out a bit first at a friend perhabs). Though thats alot of money spend if you just want to try out digital drawing. Sometimes people tend to think that its alot easier then traditional drawing (which its not imo, its comparing apples and oranges) and when they fail at traditional drawing they think, ah well then I go buy tablet. I made sure I liked drawing with some traditional drawing (I've to admit it wasnt alot) before I bought my tablet. I don't know what your level is so far, but if you dont have alot of expercience with traditional drawing, I'd suggest you try that out first and then if you still want to go through with it, buy a Bamboo Fun or a Bamboo Pen. I suggest Wacom because its the only brand I know, so can't really give you a headsup with other brands. But I guess its not for no reason its the leading brand

I also have been thinking of picking up a tablet. (Too lazy to scan artwork with a scanner anymore)

Only downside I've noticed so far on the Wacom products, is the controls are all on the left side. As a lefty, this is kind of a downer. I don't want to be mistakenly pressing buttons while I am trying to draw.

Do they make these for us left-handed artists?

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