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rozwado1 · Jan 24, 2006, 09:54 PM

I do graphic design as a second income and have been getting pissed off with jittery mice. I've decided to try a used Intuos because i hear they're the best. Express keys are a bonus.

My question is - is 6x8 big enough for most, or should I be looking for bigger?

Any cons to having too big of a tablet?

I plan on using this regularly (daily) - could it function as a mouse in Tiger?

havocidal · Jan 25, 2006, 01:46 AM

the wacom tablet maps onto the size of the active area in proportion... so if u just place ur pen on the corner... your cursor will just jump... and yes it can function as a mouse

as for whether 6x8 is large enough... you haven't mentioned the size of your monitor

rozwado1 · Jan 25, 2006, 06:56 AM

touché. I have a 20" CRT now and I'm looking to get a dell 2407fpw when they come out.

jebjeb · Jan 25, 2006, 07:54 AM

Depends how you want to use it. If you use absolute positioning, a big tablet will mean big mouse/pen movements to move across the screen. However, it means precise movements and positioning as well.

If you use it in mouse mode, a big tablet is nice as you don't have to pickup your mouse as much.

You will find it annoying, depending on how you use your tablet, when you use a 4x3 table with a widescreen. Yes you can map the tablet area to an area on the display but that can be a pain if you want to do all your movements and menu selections with the tablet.

If you do have a 4x3 tablet mapped to the entire screen on a widescreen, movements on the x-axis will be amplified compared to the y-axis i.e. if you move your mouse/pen across and down 10 units, on the screen it will look something like down 10 units and across 14 units.

Definetly get the Intuos over the Graphires as the sensitivity distance from the surface of the tablet is much greater on the Intuos.

Overall, I think 8x6 is a pretty good compromise.

rozwado1 · Jan 25, 2006, 10:43 PM

6x11 just came out, but i may try a used 6x8 for starters...

havocidal · Jan 26, 2006, 10:32 AM

6 x 11 is only good if u have widescreen

rozwado1 · Jan 28, 2006, 01:06 PM

So it's my understanding that if I use a 6x8 tablet with a widescreen monitor, if I draw a circle it would be an ellipse.

And... if I bought a 6x11 and used it with a 3:2 monitor, it would be the same way.

Is it possible to tweak the aspect ratio so I can draw a circle on the tablet and get a circle on the screen?

linusone · Jan 28, 2006, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by rozwado1

So it's my understanding that if I use a 6x8 tablet with a widescreen monitor, if I draw a circle it would be an ellipse.

This isn't true. You would have a circle. I use a 6x8 intuos3 with a wodescreen display. You'll be fine.

jebjeb · Jan 29, 2006, 06:14 AM

Originally Posted by linusone

This isn't true. You would have a circle. I use a 6x8 intuos3 with a wodescreen display. You'll be fine.

It depends how you set it up. If you mapped the whole tablet to the whole widescreen display area, it would draw an elipse. If you map it to a 4x3 area on the display, all will be fine.

If you put it in mouse mode then it will have the correct proportional shape as well.

havocidal · Jan 29, 2006, 08:12 AM

yep u are allowed to set with the tablet driver provided... and u can even set specifics for different software and how the expresskeys behave... sensitivity of the touch strip etc.

the only problem with a tablet too small is that if your screen is too large... you're gonna have a headache doing the very fine touches on a piece of work since your mouse is likely to jump... that's why I mentioned earlier on you will have to buy it according to your needs and your monitor size

rozwado1 · 10:42 PM

Well, I got impatient today and bought a 6x8 Intuos3 at CompUSA for too much. This thing is awesome, and will be even better when I forget about how much I paid for it.

Here's my first sketch (of my sister):