Hello everyone!

Currently I am in the market for a Pen Computer or a Pen Display with pressure settings, and while I am doing research of my own (including video reviews and the like) I wanted also personal opinions from my artsy fartsy friends and anyone else if they use them? Is refurbished better than brand new? How much is too much for a Pen Computer or Pen Display?

I am currently looking at a Wacom Cintiq and while I do think they may be ideal for what I am looking for the price tag makes my heart stop. Don't get me wrong; I am willing to save up for what I want and I am a very patient person. But I am one of those people who sees $10 for something that is considered a "Want" rather than a "Need" is too much.

I currently have a Wacom Intuos Pen Tablet. It's great but I would love to have something that feels more like paper and offers more... control... visible control than a tablet.

Any and all help would be great.

I personally have a wacom intuos large and I've always been very happy with it (roughly $650 i think?) It has a pretty good ratio (unlike the smaller tablets) so I don't need to scale everything eye/ratio all the time.

I never tried a cintiq though and chances are that if I did, id die and want one right away. So I can't tell haha ;________;

As for the surface itself, have you tried different pen nibs? Some of them emulate the paper surface a bit more, although it's definitely not the same feeling. Cintiq would provide that more natural feeling but it does come with the hefty price qq

It looks like Amazon actually has them between anywhere from $300-$500 but that is still far better than the $800-$2300 price tags of the others.

Provided this is the one you are talking about? Amazon Link

I honestly did not know there were different nibs for Wacom Pens... D: Because paper usually has a grain does it affect the quality of the lines or would they appear as smooth as they would on a smooth surface?

yupp looks like that one! Dont you have some in pen holder? ;o

Nope. I had to purchase my own nibs and it took me forever to find them for my Intuos pen. My Best Buy doesn't sell them individually so I usually find have to find them on Amazon. Is it the flex nibs that give you a more paper feel?

So a friend of mine mentioned the Iskn Slate to me. I think for what you are thinking of and wanting, it is the best solution and is WAAAAAYYYY cheaper than the Cintque. It basically IS drawing on paper, but it uses technology to be able to transfer whatever you're doing onto your computer. It has the ability to track your pressure strokes and even has a program to help with color and everything. Look into it, it might be exactly what you're looking for and at a fraction of the cost. =D I'd get one myself, if my Wacom ever broke, seems to be worth a shot?

I feel like the felt tip nibs have the best paper-y feeling for me! Personally I'm a cheapo so I just have mostly standard nibs that I work down to tiny little points, but I bought a mixed pack once and I quite liked the felt tip ones.

I've tried the Cintiq before and it's honestly amazing. It's the kind of work surface that makes you go "omg this is what I've been missing in my life" XD ... and then half your wallet is also missing! 8D

The new-ish Windows Surface Studio is REALLY nice too - I tried out an older Cintiq so I can't tell you if there's a huge difference between the two but the Dial was super handy and I felt like they were comparable in terms of sensitivity / response time. Again, very expensive. I'd probably say if you were going to invest to just go with a Cintiq since it's more established and whatnot ~

I've been looking to upgrade as well so I'll be following to see more suggestions! I currently have the small Intuos Pen + Touch old generation and not being able to complete strokes drives me crazy haha. Hope you find what you're looking for!!

-edit-

I do maybe suggest going to try them out yourself if possible too - the Surface Studio you can find in any Windows store and the Cintiqs can be found in showrooms + I know they sometimes show up at Comiccons or other conferences for people to test (that's how I tried one out before!)

That is actually a really cool little tablet. ;O I've seen the ring before on pinterest but I honestly didn't know who released them or where to find them. I am guessing the tablet can double as a normal tablet like the Intuos Large or Intuos like I have. I am a little concerned though. Does it require a special art program to use the ring function? If so does it save in both SAI and/or PSD files? I also noticed that in the video that they provide it was rather heavy-handed during the coloring phase compared to actual paper that he was drawing on. I wonder if that was just a configuration error or if it was because it doesn't have as many pressure points? Overall it's a really kick ass tablet and the idea of my pencil drawings being able to be stored is a rather tempting notion.

I took your suggestion on the Felt Nibs along with the Flex nibs that someone else suggested. So I will try both those out and see what happens. ❤️

I saw the window surface, in fact it was one of the first alternatives I looked up when I saw how much the Pen Computers went for. When I did a bit more research I found that they only have 1,024 levels of pen pressure sensitivity compared to the 2,048 levels of pen pressure that the Cintiq 13HD or an Intuos or the 8,192 levels of pen pressure the Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 has. From a review I saw there is also a slight drag between the stylus and what appears on the screen. But while it doesn't QUITE stand up to the Wacom Tablet, Display or Computer in regards to artistic touch it is cheaper AND it is a computer that apparently can play last gen games? (at least that is what I saw in a review) So it hasn't been completely negated from my list of possibilities.

I do hear that my local Staples and Best Buy do have the Cintiq and the Surface in stock so maybe they will let me compare the two. Though from my experience in the past with Best Buy they will push the most expensive. :X LOL

(Your HA is BOSS >>)

Ohhh yes you should go try them both out! It'll be nice to see them around the same time so you can really compare. Yea the Surface doubles as a solid computer as well as a dedicated art surface. I think the main use it was designed for was photo editing / architecture / design purposes rather than painting, so they probably sacrificed a bit of the pressure sensitivity.

It's definitely hard to beat Wacom in anything besides price though XD

I'm actually not sure about the program with that. I figured it'd still work with any art program- but I'd have to research into it further to find out if it does or doesn't. I have used the felt tip pen on my Intuos and it is lovely, I just haven't bothered to buy any more... lol (lazy over here) xD; Also, how old is your Intuos? Is it a more new one or something? I have a Intuos Pro and it works great, well... save for sometimes when it's a jerk but that usually has to do with the driver more than the tablet itself and I think you'd prolly run into that problem with a lot of things. I used the Cintique when I was at art school and I liked it, but I never got to use it with it laying down, only standing up which I hated cuz my arm would get tired drawing on it like I was painting on an easel. But it was pretty cool otherwise, tho I wouldn't say that it feels like paper any more than the Intuos- just that it has direct control from pen to screen which is pretty nice.

I haven't looked at the surface myself, so i can't say anything about that. The thing that I knew about the Slate at least was that you can hook it to any computer tablet and it's thin and lightweight and you can take it with you. I also don't know if you can use it like a tablet w/out the paper of if you can only use it with a pen or pencil on paper. But I agree, the coloring on the vid looked weird, but the finished pieces I've seen shown afterwards looked just as good as anything else... so I think the vid wasn't really showing it well as far as coloring. lol.

GL whatever you decide!