Is a tablet useful?

Jackson

Plan on wearing it out?

Yep, I'm a fast worker! Actually I just asked because I read this on Renderosity's Photoshop forum: "Just remember to buy spare nibs, as you'll probably run through them quickly if you're doing lots of modeling."

not registered yet

Well I've been using Wacom tablets for years and I've never worn a pen tip out - the plastic protective covers to the old tablets could get a bit hashed, but not the pen tips.

P: akzidenz

robmoors

Yeah you can damage some tips which simulate fine liner, and markers and such but the good old wacom tip is pretty much bastard proof. Heck I could know I love chewing on it with my front teeth

Jackson

OK, cool.... that explains why replacements are so hard to find. Thanks guys.

I'm like a kid at Christmas this week- I can't wait for the postman to deliver my new toy!

Edson

jackson, just in case you need it, BH Photovideo in NY sells spare pens...

monsterzero

I've been using mine for a year and haven't needed to change the tip.

Also, the Intuos comes with extra tips in the box. Not sure about the other models.

Jackson

Thanks Edson, akzidenz and monsterzero.

Jackson

My £34.99 Wacom Volito 2 arrived - I'm messing around with it at the moment. Surprisingly it's fairly easy to navigate around, using it to open IE, click on links in this forum, clicking and dragging text, etc is simple. There's definitely something very intuitive about holding a pen, even if like me you're used to gripping a mouse 12 hours a day. Messing around in SU is also surprisingly easy and logical, but I quickly realised the lack of a zoom scroll wheel meant I wouldn't use a tablet to work in SU, Autocad or any program where scrolling or zooming are nessesary. I know some of the high-end tablets have scroll wheels which would possibly make a mouse-less setup possible.... but not for anywhere near 35 quid.

Writing in Photoshop is a little tricky- it looks like I'm writing with my left hand, but still better than I can with a mouse so that's progress already. Accuracy is OK, but there is slight lag between pen and screen, but not as much as I expected- especially from the 2nd cheapest tablet in Wacom's range.

So far, so good, part 2 of the review to follow!