Wacom Cintiqs and Alternatives

[ZombieChinchilla]

So for the past few months I've been wanting to get a drawing tablet where I can see what I'm drawing where I'm drawing it, aka a Cintiq. Unfortunately I don't really have $2000 to spend, so I'd rather spend something around ~$800 at the most. So I was wondering if anyone else had a Cintiq or something similar, and what you guys would recommend. I'm also curious because I'm a little worried that I'm falling into the trap of, "if my art supplies are better my art will get better," and I'm wondering if a drawing tablet with a screen is as nice as I'm being led to believe.

I've narrowed my options down some:

The Wacom Cintiq 13HD: http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Cintiq-Inter...rds=cintiq
The most expensive at $820, but will probably be the best quality, and has the best review.

Yiynova MSP19U: http://www.amazon.com/Yiynova-MSP19U-Mon...ds=yiynova
Cheaper at $500, good reviews, but and it comes with a dorky glove I would totally use! :Y But one review I watched mentioned it using a VGA cord, so I need to look into it more since my current laptop doesn't have a VGA port.

Huion GT-190: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LA0N..._pC_nS_ttl
Worst reviews of the three, cheapest at $450.

What tablets do you guys have? Is it even worth it for me to get one of these? It probably won't at least six months until I get one of these for me to save up money but I'd love some input.

[Lodratio]

I have a yiynova. Pressure sensitivity works well , I haven't had any issues with it detecting the pen when it shouldn't or not detecting it when it should, and the viewing angles and colors are good as well. From what I've heard the glass is a bit thicker than wacoms', but it isn't even noticeable to me. Might just be that I haven't had a chance to compare it to a cintique yet though. My one complaint is that the pen is fairly cheaply made and a bit clunky. Mine actually broke recently, so I'm going to get one of the better models that yiynova sells separately.

Here's the thing: Since my pen broke I'm using my old, tiny bamboo tablet right now, and it actually feels pretty natural. I still think drawing on the yiynova helped me get a better feel for digital, so it's not useless or anything like that, but it doesn't do wonders either. Getting a cintique would be a huge waste of money, so in my opinion you should just decide between the cheap ones.

[Tristan Berndt]

So my views on Cintiq tablets have changed over the years. I used to own a Cintiq and I used it for maybe 2 years. Then I also got an Intuos5 as a backup/portable tablet and after I got used to it I realised that I really prefer tablets over screen displays.

Some of the differences where that I had a better view of my work with a tablet. I could sit further away from my screen (stops my eyes from hurting and my posture is a lot better) and my hand wasn't always covering a large portion of what I was drawing (compare this to traditional art where you work on a vertical surface and there is a distance between your hand and the edge of the charcoal/brush. You can't really do that with digital due to the way the pen is designed). Another thing that annoyed me with the Cintiq was that the surface you drew on was like 20-30 millimetres from the actual screen. This meant that it never felt like the tip of the pen was making the mark (even through I calibrated it all the time, I still couldn't get that traditional "feel")

Now these things are mostly a question of taste. Even through I'm not drawing on the "canvas", a tablet feels more traditional and natural for me. The drawback is that you have to ghost some lines when doing tight line drawings but that's something I do anyway.

If you have tried and like these kinds of screen displays, go for it. The better it feels the work, the easier it will be to work. I'd hope that you could try one out before spending a lot of money :)

[Adam Lina]

I have a yiynova msp19u and despite some recent technical difficulties with the drivers it works great. The drivers for it are not that great. It stopped working right in my version of photoshop that i procured through a certain website. Yar matey! And the one program it seems to play nice with is manga studio. I mostly work traditional so I'm kind of embarrassed I spent that much money and haven't used it that much. I bought an ergo ton monitor arm that I highly recommend if you do get it.

[ZombieChinchilla]

@Lodratio- Thanks for the advice! Yeah, I think I'll skip the Cintiq and look into the other two. It may have better quality, but I don't think it's worth the extra $300.

@Tristan- Hmmm, yeah, I'll have to think about those. I really wish I could try one in real life, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to. I went to Best Buy today and they only had about half a dozen models, none of them with a screen like I want. I can't think of anywhere nearby where they would have them for me to try. Thanks, though.

@Adam- Yeah I might look into a nice monitor arm since I tend to have bad posture already, especially with a yiynova. Thanks!

[Amit Dutta]

I don't have a Cintiq, but I play tested a bunch of different models when I was thinking about shelling out for one a little while ago. For me, the play test really revealed to me that it really wasn't worth the money, so I REALLY HIGHLY recommend that you try whatever you are going to buy before you buy it. I just sent out a facebook request to all the artists in the area I knew, and a few of them had models that they were nice enough to have me around to try out.

I thought the Cintiq felt pretty good to paint and draw on. I didn't really notice my hand getting in the way, though I didn't use them for that long (maybe half an hour a go). It definitely was closer to a trad feeling for me than using a tablet, because while not directly on the surface, it is close, and your arm movements and control are more similar to trad than painting off to the side is. Interesting that Tristan had the opposite reaction, so shows you how subjective even that is. The question was is that enough?

The other thing to be aware of in your research is the screen type and specs and the display connectors it uses. Not everything will work nicely together with your machine depending on the ports. The YiNova you linked to has a TFT screen which won't be the best for colour accuracy. IPS are generally better, but of course depends on the individual screen model. Make sure you do your research there as well.

When I weighed it all up, I realised very quickly that Cintiqs are very nice, very expensive toys for the kid who wants everything. They are designed and priced for serious pros who can offset the cost, or for people who either don't mind or get sucked into blowing 3-5K on something that doesn't give you any measurable advantage besides a different "feel". Their marketing is great, but they won't make you any better or any quicker or anything.

So in summary I would say if you are going to go for it, try before you buy, and go for the cheaper options (by which I mean not Wacom)

And if you haven't seen this already.... http://www.parkablogs.com/content/which-...t-buy-2015

[ReneAigner]

Why do you want a Cintiq? Iw orked professionally on a traditional tablet (intuos) for years and started using a cintiq 24HD two years or so ago. Apart from linework (which is much easier to do on a cintiq), there's no huge upside to a cintiq. I bought it because I could and because I wanted to, not because i had to. If it broke down ight now and i had to switch back to an intuos, no problem at all.
So I'd like to second Amit here. Think twice before investing that sort of money.