I was having a conversation with a friend who used to be a fast spender. It’s still in his DNA but his lovely long term girlfriend has brought it under control Now he always thinks 100 times before buying something big. He was asking me at what point does it become ok to say splash out on a Cintique 21 inch when he already has an A4 Intuous tablet?
His business goes up and down and his girlfriend is the stable bread winner. That said they have no responsibilities and apparently 200k sitting in the bank I told him he should get it as they have plenty of savings. Funny thing is that while giving him advice I started thinking that maybe I should buy a Cintique as well Giving advice to him was easy but acting on my own advice is harder. My savings are not as large as his but I have some saved up.
So how do you deal with such issues? should I also get a cintique?
The intuous tablet still works, right? His “girlfriend” doesn’t matter either. She might not be a bread winner for too much longer, you never know. And since she’s just his “girlfriend” she has no requirement to contribute anything to the household, especially a discretionary purchase like a 21" Cintiq.
My advice, is wait until something breaks, or becomes a hindrance on your productivity to buy something new or upgrade.
That doesn’t mean you can’t splurge on yourself once in a while, but there’s no reason to do it when you have something that works perfectly well.
It’s not like he’s spending $2000 on a pool table or a vacation to Vegas. So why not?
A cintique is WAY more useful then an Intuos. And they hold their value very very well. If he’s using this for his professional career then I don’t see the big deal. Plus Wacom products hold their value very well. If he decided down the road he didn’t want it it’s an easy thing to Ebay.
And since she’s just his “girlfriend” she has no requirement to contribute anything to the household.
I hope I did not sow the seeds for their breakage They actually live together and one of the most solid relationships I have ever come across, 15 years together. Also even if they were to seperate half the money is his savings.
My advice, is wait until something breaks, or becomes a hindrance on your productivity to buy something new or upgrade.
Spoken like a wise man. Personally speaking I find Intuous slightly irritating when guessing complex freehand strokes (without using paths). I think i will take your advice and hold out for now even though I am single and no partner to answer to
I will let you know what my friend or maybe his girlfriend decide.
I moved from tablet PC to the Cintiq at work, and I rarely do anything more then a pen sketch on paper any more. Most of my sketching gets done on the Cintiq over a 3D model. While I miss the days of slick marker renderings it’s much faster and more effective to stay completely digital.
Plus if you’re still running 1 monitor - jumping to 2 monitors is HUGELY productive. Just think of how many windows most CAD programs have now and how much easier it would be to work if you could move things between two windows, or drag and drop straight from photoshop on one screen to illustrator on another.
And if you’re a freelancer, equipment is a tax writeoff.
Does this friend happen to post on core77 as “testin2010”?
If it were me, I would try to separate want from need. If his workflow is fine as is, it is a want. If he needs to get faster, more accurate, then go for it. Tax wright offs are always nice.
I guess the way you wrote the post, I imagined him to still be thinking as want instead of a need. There is no question the Cintiq is better than the intuos. And yes, if it’s for his business its a simple tax right off.
I wish Sadly me and my friend talk endlessely about well endless things. Our second favourite activity is to sit on a wall and look at all the people passing by
If it were me, I would try to separate want from need. If his workflow is fine as is, it is a want. If he needs to get faster, more accurate, then go for it. Tax wright offs are always nice.
I think the big question is what percentage of your income should you invest back into your tools? (Also think about where your income goes now–does it make sense that you spend more on utilities or taxes than you do on yourself?)
5%-15% sounds reasonable to me. On the low end, a 5% @ $40k a year is $2000. On the high end 15% @ $80k = $12k! Considering you need a PC about every-other year, that gives plenty of room for other things, like software, printers, cameras, software, shop equipment etc.
Not at all. Wants are the best thing in life. Frank Lloyd Wright once said something to the effect “as long as we take care of the wants in life, the needs will pretty much take of themselves”
Wants and the pursuit of them are what separate humans from everything else… but it is important to distinguish between the wants and the needs so we don’t fool ourselves.
Dude, tell you buddy that girls love when you act spontaneously. Do like me for instance, tell her that when you get home you want to go test drive a car, and then once you get there and drive it, just buy it. Don’t ask her, don’t think about the cost, just say yeah, I’ll take it, but in black with leather seats instead of this one.
Women are hard-wired to look for men who have resources. It’s scientifically proven and is very different from men, who tend to go for physical attraction. Spending money can be sign of resources for sure–the question is if they know the truth. I just heard a comic say: “I go for women who are attracted to money but have really bad math skills.”
Women are also far more likely to be attracted to you when they’re ovulating–so you might want to schedule your purchases
My friend already got it after his purchase memo was okeyed by his girlfriend. She told him that it was his birthday present in advance and he should not expect any more birthday presents apart from a card LOL His birthday is 7 months away.
As for me. Intuous 4 is being released early next month so Cintiq might get updated soon as well. It’s already 10million years old since last update. So I will stick with my Intuous 3 for now and then decide in second half of the year (depending on how work goes). I will also test my friend’s Cintiq to see if it is worth the $$$$
The Cintiq’s have actually been updated quite a bit. We have several in our offices and they have gone through a lot of revisions - all fairly minor (how the pen is clipped, how the glass bezel sits, etc) but I wouldn’t expect a wireless Cintiq thats 3mm thick and runs on OLED magic anytime soon.
I’m with NURB & CG - I’m pretty conservative towards “wants”. Feast or famine is the way of business & if your indy, you really need to watch your business expenses write off or not.
However, if your productivity and effectiveness can be greatly increased therefore helping your business, it might be a wise investment.
Please, please, please ask your friend (family, strangers…) to recycle their old electronics. Your friends old unloved Intuous could get a new life (& offset some cost) by being sold on ebay, donated, etc. You’d be surprised at how many charities will be more than happy to take your old cell phone, pc, ink cartridge, batteries… because they resell / recycle them for much needed funds. Just make sure to do a hard reset on the phones, & DOD wipe on the pc’s! They do NOT do anything other than check for working order on the resales.
Now he always thinks 100 times before buying something big. He was asking me at what point does it become ok to say splash out on a Cintique 21 inch when he already has an A4 Intuous tablet?
I told him he should get it as they have plenty of savings. Funny thing is that while giving him advice I started thinking that maybe I should buy a Cintique as well 
Giving advice to him was easy but acting on my own advice is harder. My savings are not as large as his but I have some saved up.
