CES News--Wacom Cintiq Tablets

I'm sure many of you have seen news items about CES (Consumer Electronics Show). Maybe it was the 150 inch plasma TV or the 3mm thick OLED display from Sony. Or even the car that could drive itself. Sure, I saw those things at the show. I'm going to focus on the stuff I saw that directly affects those of us in the graphics world. Plus, I don't think any designers can afford the other stuff! :)

In my first post, I'm going to talk about the Wacom Cintiq tablets. They aren't really new, but they are becoming more popular. The folks from Genius were showing similar tablets. I shocked the girl demoing the Genius tablet when I sat down and starting playing with Corel Painter and knew more than she did about it. Funny thing is I haven't played with Painter in years.

The difference between a regular Wacom tablet and the Cintiq line is that you draw directly on the screen. When they demo the product, they typically have the screen sitting on a desk. If I had one, I think I'd prefer to put it in my lap. Because these tablets combine an LCD monitor with a tablet, they do cost a lot more than a regular tablet.

For the time being, I'm still a fan of the regular tablet with a huge monitor. I use a Wacom Intuos tablet along with a 30 inch Samsung monitor. These two combined cost a lot less than a 21 inch Cintiq. For those wanting to draw directly on the screen, there is a 12 inch Cintiq that weighs in under $1000.

Since the Cintiq line first appeared a few years ago, the price and display quality have both gotten better. As with many products you see at CES, they really hit their stride a few years after CES. So for now, I think you may want to wait a year or two to buy a Cintiq. For those who really want to draw directly on the screen, they work wonderful.

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