Is it worth me upgrading to an Intuos?

[Burl]

Hey, I've owned a Graphire 4 for some years now but it's pretty knackered. Since it's always worked well enough for me I've never considered getting a more expensive Intuos, but I think that time has come. I am just wondering if there's a big difference between the two? I think for me it mostly comes down to 512 vs 1024 pressure sensitivity, and if that difference really improves line quality and ease of use.

[Doolio]

Well, I think it depends... I mean, I've been drawing on intuos 3, 4, those genius stuff for like $30, some genius tablet for like $100, a bamboo etc. and yes, you can feel the difference.
However, I think it all boils down to priorities. If you have the money and you don't really need it for something else (in a sense that the intuos would be the next logical upgrade to your work gear, which means you already have a decent amount of ram and stuff like that), then I would say yes, definitely go for it. It is better, the quality is better overall, it flows more fluidly. The buttons are handy, at least for me etc. And of course, if you actually feel the lack of points of pressure or dpi, then it's a clear sign:) I think it's more or less an individual thing... I mean, once I was working with intuos 3 and then I had to use a $30 genius for some time, while painting the same thing, and I was shocked at the lack of sensitivity and stuff like that for the first 10 minutes and after that it had no impact on my painting whatsoever.

So, I don't really know if this was helpful lol:) but essentially, I think that pretty much surrounding factors affect whether you should upgrade to a next level tablet and not the tablet itself, if that makes any sense:)

I think that by far the best solution would be if you had a friend or something who has intuos, so you could test it for a couple of hours and see for yourself.
But generally, if you do have the money and want to buy an intuos and there really isn't any reason not to, you should buy it, it's a very good tablet and it has bunch of cool little things that add up and make one's life easier. I had my intuos 4 for four (or is it five?) years and it's as good as ever, it hasn't behaved funny or anything and I've yet to spend a single nib.

[Burl]

Thankyou, that is certainly helpful. I think I will just go for it then! The basic small Intuos is only £50 from Amazon which was alot cheaper than I was expecting.

[Psychotime]

I never went for a cheaper alternative before "upgrading" to a pricier brand. But I honestly wish I bothered to do so, just to know 100% if "upgrading" is really a waste of time.

Something tells me it is. There's a point where added pressure sensitivity doesn't make a lick of difference.

The only upgrading I've done is from an intuos 2 to a 4, and it was only for school reasons. My school had upgraded all of their classroom cintiqs to ones that required a newer pen in order to work, and it turned out that it was a better deal to buy a pen and a tablet instead of the pen by itself.

I haven't noticed much difference between the two tablets, whenever I use them. But for convenience reasons, I use the newer one. My old one is too big to carry around, and that was due to the fact that before that one I never had a tablet before, and really didn't know what it was like. I had learned years later that it was better to have a small one.

Sorry I can't be any more helpful than that. I've never used a graphire.

[JonHop]

imo I think it's worth it, I used to have a bamboo and the main issue was the sensitivity and also the fact that its work area was so small (Im tall and have long arms) so it was causing problems with my arm as I couldn't get the swing with my elbow etc. I think by the looks of it you already decided you want to upgrade, if you've got the money to spare I'd say go for it :).

[Burl]

Thanks for your input guys! I went ahead and ordered it. Can definitely feel a decent difference. I like the bit of tooth the surface has, too... feels like drawing onto paper. But damn, dem nibs wear down quickly. It's already chiseling down

[Doolio]

Ah, that will reverse:) The surface will soon become an ice rink and your nibs will literally stop wearing down:) Which is a shame really, as those teeth were pretty good at emulating traditional surface...

edit:
You probably bought an intuos 5, I don't know what it's like, I was speaking about the 4:)