ok heres one of these help-me-what-wacom-should-i-buy threads

but this time it´s not for me [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

i want to buy a gift-wacom ha.. but i´m not sure which one i should take..

we have

bamboo fun A6 / A5
Graphire classic A6 / classic XL A5
intuos A6 wide

its should be some kind of starter-wacom.. but not sure if i should buy one you can use even if you get better?!
i think the intuos A6 is too expensive for this sice and purpose.. i mean.. its the same price then the A5´s from the others

but i´m not sure about bamboo and gw and if i should take A5 or A6 .. theres 80-100€ difference

so i would know if someone has used one of these and can say something about them

thx! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I still use a graphire A6 at home and at work... It's enough [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]


edit: graphire isn't produced any more :/
that seems to be the successor

http://www.wacom-europe.com/int/prod...g=de&pid=7

Graphire FTW.

i have a graphire at home and intous at work and there is barely any difference of what I can tell. but then again im only intern and might be wrong :P

Ok they feel a little different from each other, the intous maybe makes it a little easier getting accuracy down. the intous feels more natural to draw on, but i got used to the other one first. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] ur a good friend getting him or her a wacom its a good gift.

Just unboxed my Bamboo. It's the non-fun version in black and, only difference is square function buttons which look better IMO, and no eraser which I assume is just a stylus purchace away. And software, which was pointless since I owned what I needed already.

I demoed a graphire in-store before I bought the Bamboo, and I'm nt sure if they had a different pen-nub in it, but the graphire drew a tad smoother on the tactile side, like you were drawing with soft plastic. The bamboo feels slightly more rigid. The zoom/scrool circle is a little wonky, it works great for zooming you just move it in a circle, but scrolling is odd. I can tap the thing and it scrolls as if you were hitting the up and down arrow key, but you would think it would be like a notebook touch pad when trying to smoothly scroll pages with a slide. It does not as far as I can tell. No power cord, just a mini USB to USB-A, strong blue button backlighting. No film cover for the pad, no extra nubs, the pen included does not seem capable of changing nubs. The stylus holder can be unscrewed i'mm assuming to hold pen nubs, or something. No charger for the pen etc.

The only other pad I've used is an aiptek donated to me by poop, and this was an incredible upgrade. Pressure sensativity is smooth, and the cursor never jumps. For 70 bucks from circuit city online (they will price match themselves in-store) it was worth it.

Motz, you might've demoed one of the anniversary models, they come with interchangeable nibs. Felt, soft rubber and hard, I think. I've been wanting to try those, but I dont know any stores which demo wacoms around here.

If they are left handed don't go with the Intuos A6. They will trip the touch strips with their hand constantly if they drag their hand on the tablet, which most new users do. If they are already an arm painter and don't drag their hand the canvas might be too small for their strokes. I doubt they'll use the touch strips or end up disabling them, or appreciate the other subtle feature improvements in the Intuos line, its not worth the money at that point.

I'm not sure if they are discontinuing the Graphire line or not. The European Wacom site still has the Graphire4 listed. I wonder if they are "hiding" the Graphire line because they are trying to push the Bamboo for the "holiday season"? The Graphire has always been an awesome option for those looking for a first tablet, and since they are so cheap and so widely used they might have a hard time selling their more expensive brands.

If they are discontinuing the line, watch out for driver updates, MS might do something to Vista that Wacom won't update its older product line driver(s).

Personally I would go Graphire, and try to match the size with their painting style. Biggest bang for your buck.

The graphire has the same pressure sensitivity and slightly lower resolution than the Bamboo, but costs nearly twice as much new. The bamboo fun comes in a medium size as well, if the small one isn't enough, and it's still less than the graphire. I'm not sure if the graphire has tilt sense, but the bamboo does not.