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12x9 Medion vs. 4x5 Graphire 3

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 4:23 pm
by r0ck656
I need help in choosing a tablet that fits my mediocre budget. Both tablets are flawed but which one is better? The medion is a large 12x9; unfortunately it isn't a wacom. The graphire is wacom but the working space is less than half of the medion. When I looked at the specs of the medion, I noticed that they're about the same as the graphire. But is a medion as sturdy as a wacom or can it atleast compare? I'm not planning to do any detailed work. I just want to draw and animate in moho (which I'll also have to purchase at some point). If I had the $$ flow I'd be purchasing the Intuos3 right now. Unfortunately that's not the case.

Thoughts and comments are welcomed.

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 4:37 pm
by rylleman
I think 12x9 is too large to work on. You have to use your whole arm to cover the whole working area and after a full day of work you start to feel it in you elbow and shoulder.
I have changed the working area of my 12x9 so I'm using only half the board which is a lot more confortable for my arm.
I don't think you loose too much precision with a smaller board either, for animating it's faster since you don't have to move around as far and if you need to do some precision drawing you can always zoom in on the work area.
So my advise would be to go for the smaller one.
(and it's a Wacom, I've only had bad experience with boards other than wacoms.)

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 5:38 pm
by 7feet
I have have a Graphire 3 4x5, and I do like it a lot. Not familiar with the other brand. As far as the size goes, it depends on how you work. My ex, a textile designer, had a couple of 12x18 Intuos tablets (the first I ever used on a regular basis), and I just bloody loved the thing. If I could possibly afford it, I would get one in a second. And as a second opinion, my brother (a comic artist) has played with mine and found the small size in relation to the size of the screen to kinda mess with his hand-eye coordination. So it comes down to how you think you would be most comfortable working.


And just because I looked around, the Medion appears to be made by AIPTEK (a rebranded Hyperpen 12000U, to be exact), which retails for $139.99 new on AIPTEK's site, so $40 sounds pretty good. And you can use the original to fish around ans see how they hold up. If there was a place nearer to me that I could find one, I'd grab it myself.

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 9:40 pm
by r0ck656
Hoping to try synfig until I can get my hands on moho. How do old wacom models compare to lets say, the new tablets that aren't Wacom? I've taken rylleman advice into consideration. I just came across old and large wacom tablets (like the intuos1 and digitizer II and some other). By the way, 7feet what kind of Intuos did your ex have?

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 10:26 pm
by r0ck656
Synfig is running awfully slow on my colmputer. :( Anyone up for a license transfer? I'll trade my Blender3d license for a moho license.

Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 12:55 am
by 7feet
Intuos 1 serial, if I remember correctly. She had 3, 2 12x18's and a 12x12. She could have at least left me one for driving me out of my bleedin' mind (let alone hundreds of hours of tech on a no longer supported, proprietary design system). Sheesh, women! Whatcha gonna do...

size does matter

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 4:32 pm
by thies
i have the smallest graphire, and i love her! even if i had the money i wouldn't want a bigger one.

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 6:17 pm
by WillBellJr
I agree about a larger tablet my end up being more tiresome to the arm...

I'd also stick with Wacom since they've been the industry standard for a LONG time...

-Will