almost all of us use them

its great

I have a wacom2

That's my mouse and table, so yeah... I use a Wacom Graphire. It's a budget tablet, but it's all I need... I'm sure more experienced tablet users would want an Intuos though. More tools and even better sensitivity.

/Samuelf

I recently bought a graphire2 and I don't think I'd go back. It makes drawing so much more natural. I found that the learning curve on it was very low, it took maybe an hour and a half to two hours across two days of playing around with it to get the hang of it. The tablet provides less grab than paper, but other than that it's pretty much the same.

I get mine in twenty days!!!! :)

why 20 days?

Because, like feathre said, 20 days from now is Christmas :)

Wow, lots of questions. Let's see if this will help:

1. Yes, you can use your existing mouse as well. Right now I have both my tablet and my logitech connected. But I find the mouse that comes with the tablet to be just as useful (it's only a three button wheelmouse - so if you have something better, by all means use your prefered mouse as well).

2. Not sure if I understand this question. The tablets come in both serial and USB type. But if you mean can you connect your regular mouse in series through your tablet, then no. There are no ports on the Graphire2 (can't say for sure about the intuos, but I don't believe they have any either.)

3. Guess I answered that in the first question. Also the really nice thing about the tablet mouse is that there is no ball to clean, so you don't have to pick mouse boogers anymore. A definate plus in my books.

4. The graphire comes with its own tablet properties app. You can configure your pen and mouse to operate a specific way for each application that you use them in. If you prefer to have fine control over line width/opacity/whatever in photoshop you can raise the pressure needed to produce a change. It also allows you to set the function of the pen's and mouse's buttons. Photoshop should automatically work with the tablet. Theres usually a button in the upper right on the properties bar (PS6) that changes the function of the pressure sensitivity (ie brush size, opacity, and something else I can't remember right now.)

5. Switching tools is like magic! It's spooky cool :) Say you're using your pen and you decide that you want to use your mouse: Set your pen down on your desk, pick up the mouse and use it. The tablet automatically senses what you are using. You can buy extra pens and airbrushes and whatnot and each can have its own settings in a program!

6. I'm not sure that the old cliche about size mattering is true. The graphire is 4X5 and I was a bit skeptical too. But now I think it's just perfect (and I didn't have to sell organs to buy it) The tablet can be set to map to the screen resolution so there is no having to pick up and center the mouse or the pen. I found it really easy to use. Of course, I suppose if you are more comfortable making large sweeping brush strokes equivalent to working on large canvases in real life, a larger tablet would probably be more comfortable. But if you have used a mouse to draw with the usable space is pretty much the same (you don't usually use more than the surface of your mouse pad, do you?).

7. As for this last point, There's a difference in sensitivity (on the larger intuos tablets the pen has a greater range of sensitivity to pressure than the graphire2 (1024 vs 512) and the tablet resolution is greater as well (2540 vs 1015). But considering the graphire has greater resolution than that provided the standard mouse (don't have the specs on hand) I find it works excellently.

I guess what it comes down to is your budget and the use that you will put the tablet to. If you're in business doing professional work I would probably spring for the Intuos line (something larger). But if you're just a part-time artist (or a poor, starving student like me :)) then stick with the graphire. Also if you're unsure about the purchase, pick it up at a place where they have total customer satisfaction (i.e. in Canada, Future Shop allows 30 to return the product if you aren't completely satisfied) That way you can test out the smaller tablet and if you find it's not meeting your needs you can return it and pick up a larger one.

Phew, feels like I just wrote War and Peace. Good luck with your purchase.

I can also notify y'all that wacom has a "which artpad to buy"-wizard on their homepage...

(ofcourse - they don't tell you about other brands)

Anybody got experience with Aiptek 8000,... I'm thinking of upgrading from my (almost broken) Wacom Penpartner...

Thanks man...
It's one of my favourite ones among my own little collection. It was really great to be the one to start a quilt.

/Samuelf