Ya, I meant academic pricing not student version.
I just recently purchased a Toshiba Tecra M7 off ebay on the cheap, due mainly because of the reviews on this board. I would definitely suggest it as an alternative to the Cintiq. I’m fairly sure it has a Wacom digitizer and a nice large screen for sketching. And in my opinion is easier to use then the large Cintiq, since you can spin it around, and move it as you would a piece of paper if you were sketching analog style. All this for the low low price of 300 dollars.
you know you can spin the cintiq around (the larger one has a pivot built in, and the smaller one you can just fold up and use like a pad of paper). but that 300 bucks is a tasty offer.
yeah we had one at work, I never felt like i could move it as fast as a piece of paper so that I could keep momentum of a sketch going. It always felt kind of tedious to move it around and re angle the thing. It was kind of awkward, plus we have really crappy desks so that might be it too. I have no exp with the little wacom, maybe thats easier to use?
I have the 6x11 intuos3. I had a similar sized intuos2 before it. I’ve only used the 4 a few times the big pluses are the dial thing and more buttons (functions). The cintiq is very very nice as well. As long as you can quickly change tools and things with the hot keys, you will not loose your momentum, at least I don’t. If your budget is tight you could look for a 3, they are nearly as sensitive as the 4. If it is a skill you wish to add to your repertoire then save a couple of bucks and dive in. It really isn’t that expensive and the units have good resale.
I would say that anyone who wants to start using a tablet should start on an intuous. Much easier set up and a less costly investment. To me what’s most important is getting set up quickly so you spend less time messing around with the settings and more time learning how to use this new tool. And even when you can afford to upgrade to a cintiq, an intuos still has its uses. I personally can’t stand rendering on a cintiq because you just can’t beat the color and resolution that an external monitor offers. I have used a cintiq for laying down linework, and an intuos to finish the rendering.
But in the end it comes down to personal preference, try both of them out to see which would be a better fit (actually, most people would probably pick the cintiq in that situation haha!). But if I had to make a choice, I’d start on an intuos. Look around on the web, stores are always selling refurbished units it seems.
I’m a firm believer in the 21UX Wacom Cintiq. 2K is expensive, but the benefits are amazing and it doubles as my monitor.
That being said, I tried to buy one recently. They’re impossible to find new now. Apparently there is a workers strike somewhere in Asia where they make one of the Cintiq’s parts. They’re on back order everywhere. I’ve heard it’s going to take 2 weeks - 6 months. Not very promising.
I got REALLY lucky and found the older version (but new) for sale for $1999, but a lot of people are over pricing the old version or used new versions for $2600-$3000. So if you’re looking to sell your Cintiq used and make a profit, now’s the time.
i think i have made the decision:
im gonna go for the intuos 4 - medium (bluetooth-my laptop is bluetooth), i think that will be a great investment.
thanks to everyone that helped.
I have a little question…
I bought a Wacom tablet (Intuos A4 size) with a serial plug and I use a serial to USB adapter to plug it in in my laptop.
On windows XP it works and the tablet is really fun to work with.
On my new laptop, with Vista, it doesn’t work anymore and I cannot downgrade to XP (and i don’t want to either)
I’ve contacted Wacom to ask if any driver to solve this problem could be expected. They told me they know about the problem but they are not developping a new driver to solve it…
Anyone else has this problem and maybe solved it? It’s a pity not using this tablet while it is still perfectly working…
Serial plug? Didn’t even know they shipped with those.
Since things like that seem to get solved fairly slow, i would try to sell it and get a USB/wireless version.
Weird stance by wacom though. Such a new product and not to offer/develop any drivers for it.
It’s an “old” perfectly working Wacom tablet and a new laptop…
I thought an old device was usualy working without any problems on a newer PC (printers, scanners,…)
So at least you don’t have to change all your extra devices when you buy a new PC
Like this ‘they’ force you to buy a new tablet (with USB connection) and they also admit that the USB adapter I have will not work on Vista… I don’t see the point why they refuse to make a stupid driver to make it work
(I also called Microsoft to complain about the fact I didn’t have any choice which operating system to use on my laptop - standard Vista and downgrading to XP made several things not work - and I asked why I had this problem… the nice answer was that it would cost me 80€ if I wanted somebody to have a look at my problem 
)
Ah, sorry, I misread and thought you had an Intuos 4… My mistake there.
Then I understand the lack of driversupport…
I’ve used a Cintiq 12wx for almost two years now. It is a great tool. I use it with sketchbook pro and PS mainly. I worked with an intuos 3 before I made the switch and it has a lot of advantages. I draw directly on screen most of the time, but I also use it as a “blind” tablet. For really detailed photo-real renderings, the screen is a bit small. I overcome this by setting up a larger external monitor to mirror the 12wx. This setup is the best of both worlds - High pressure sensitivity, large working area, and a higher resolution than the 12wx. I’ve never used the 21 but the new ones seem really nice though. For less than a thousand dollars, the 12wx is a good deal.