Mouse vs. tablet

[Midgardsormr]

Finding a Graphire or Intuos3 is hit-and-miss, since they're no longer manufactured. Quite a few people have picked them up on Craigslist and eBay, though.

If you can't find one, the Bamboo Fun, as the descendant of the Graphire, is affordable and very usable.

[TheMarcus7]

I recently purchased a Genius MousePen 8x6 from Amazon and am well pleased. I've been wary on spending hundred$ for a Wacom when I wasn't sure if I could train myself to use it. You'll want to read the top review, and do what I did, replace batteries, download new drivers, etc. but so far, it works like a champ.

I also dug up this Training Tutorial which I try to do every day, so far I'm about 1 for 5

[Ascension]

That's pretty handy TM7...I really need to practice my straight lines, ugh.

[Jaxilon]

That Genius Mouse pen seems like a pretty cheap way to get started using a tablet. The only thing about it that really bothers me is that it sounds like you have to draw with the pen standing straight up?! I almost never do that when I draw on paper so I'm wondering how much I would hate it.

My concern over this has me leaning toward saving for one that allows for holding the pen in a natural way. Does anyone have any experience in how odd it feels to draw with on of these compared to the ones that allow you to tilt the pen?

[Coyotemax]

I've used my tablet with the pen straight up a few times, to work with the "tilt" feature for a few things (corel sketchpad really showed me that one, brush angle and roundness/size are visible directly on the screen as opposed to photoshop) and found it to be a bit awkward at first, but I was able to adapt pretty quickly for those times I wanted a consistent brush angle/shape. I haven't been limited to that, so I can't say what it would be like as a longterm solution though.

After doing my research i went for my wacom based on three things:
No batteries = lightweight pen
user reviews gave me confidence in the product/brand
software/hardware compatibility with the programs I use most often

Cost factored in only after the above were met, and only in respect to the size of the tablet I ended up purchasing. I don't regret it, and am very pleased what I ended up with

[Ascension]

Using a stylus or a pencil straight up isn't too hard to get used to really. But why do it if ya don't have to right? If ya have to then it's no biggie really.

[mearrin69]

CM, how's Corel Sketchpad working for you? I got it with my Intuos4 and really liked it but it kept crashing on me and I was losing too much work. Tried getting the latest updates but nothing fixed it...so I uninstalled. Shame because it seemed like a great app and it worked the way a sketchpad should. The Autodesk app isn't bad but I don't like it as well (except for its stability.)
M

[Coyotemax]

Sketchpad is okay, the thing it has going for it is the way it shows the actual brush size/rotation/etc, about the only thing I've gotten to like that photoshop can't do as well I've had some stability problems, but not so much in the crashing area, I don't think it's done that to me. It's more like a memory leak or something, the longer I use it, the more ram gets used up t the point where the machine slows down. And it's not a undo/layers/similar thing filling up memory issue, i've tested all the options along those lines. If I close out the program then restart it it's ok, but it's pain to do every ten mins.
Autodesk is what it is, but I can do the same things with photoshop, and it's no slower to load than autodesk (at least on my system). All in all, not bad add-ons, but I've fallen back to just using photoshop. I was about to try a demo of corel-paint because I heard good things about using that with a tablet, but when I tried to install it bluescreened the laptop and the boot block got wiped. I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but I'm just not willing to try again. once burned, and all that.

I do love the photoshop filters that came with the wacom though - I've been able to use them to good effect on a few maps when i want to do colour adjustments that the builtin filters/adjustment don't seem to be able to do for me. And the brushes are useful!

[mearrin69]

Not sure what Sketchpad is doing to me. I draw for a while then it starts trying to open some sort of window that never gets fully drawn. The window just flickers on and off and I can never get control back. Nothing I've done for a while gets saved and all work is lost. I just can't take that kind of abuse. I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling, updates, etc. Nothing seems to fix it. The Autodesk thing is meh...but I'd like it if I had a tablet PC I think. I gave it to my wife since I'm not using it and she's used it a bit on her HP tablet (has a Wacom pen) and it's pretty cool.
M

[LonewandererD]

I just picked up a tablet today and while i have no idea how to use it right now I'm still liking it. I was in luck that the place i went to had a Intuos in stock but i was streched for cash and got a Bamboo instead, not that I'm complaining

-D-