Aiptek tablets

[stlewis]

Has anyone used an Aiptek tablet?

In the UK, Serif are doing a 6 x 4.5", 512 pressure level, 3048 dpi USB tablet for £60 which is nothing compared to Wacom - unless it's rubbish in which case it's a waste of money!

Any views welcome. Thanks...

www.thelondonhouse.co.uk

[stlewis]

Has anyone used an Aiptek tablet?

In the UK, Serif are doing a 6 x 4.5", 512 pressure level, 3048 dpi USB tablet for £60 which is nothing compared to Wacom - unless it's rubbish in which case it's a waste of money!

Any views welcome. Thanks...

www.thelondonhouse.co.uk

[Erik Heyninck]

Aiptek Hyperpen tablets, but I remembered reading an article on budget tablets.

In this Article Aiptek finishes last...
Pro: you get art dabbler with it
the tablet is a little bigger
there comes a wireless mouse with the tablet
the sensitivity in Photoshop and Painter
were as good as the Graphire

Con: the system regularly slowed down (the pen/
mouse didn't "follow")
there is little if any documentation on
setting preferences
the pen needs a 1.5 v battery


The Magazine that did the testing is quite objective, and they preferred the Wacom Graphire, and not only for the Painter Classic and the PenTools plug-in you get with it.

Perhaps someone can talk out of personal experience...

[wfcentral]

Hi,

I think I have some info for your research.

I am a graphic artist and have used four different tablets.

My first two tablets were 12x12. I find that if you are planning on putting photos, illustrations, etc under the tablet skin for manual tracing it's nice to have a tablet that big, but I don't like having to drag my arm all over the tablet just to hit a couple of menu items. I prefer the smaller tablets I've been using lately so that I can hit all points of the screen without lifting my arm.

At work I use a Wacom 4x5 tablet and at home I use an Aiptek 6000 5x6 tablet. I purchased my Aiptek over two years ago. It cost me $69 with a $20 rebate. So, here's what you want to know...

Aiptek
I had to return my tablet for an exchange once because it would quit working after 20-30 minutes. I'm not sure if it was the tablet or the computer that caused the problem. Yes, there is a AAAA battery in the pen which is harder to come by than AAA but it last a long time. You get two with the tablet and I haven't had to buy any new batteries yet. Don't screw the pen together too tightly (it will start to crack). The feel on the tablet is right on, I have never had a problem with tracking or pressure sensitivity. My wacom tablet at work seems to be too touchy and cannot be used for tedious pixel pushing. I also love the fact that smaller tablets get their power from the computer so if you are using a laptop computer check into this. I can take my laptop and tablet without having to plug in. If I had gone with a large tablet (12x12) I would have to find a power source to plug in the tablet.
And a note on the "mouse" - I got a cordless mouse with my Aiptek tablet, but it is practically useless. It is 75% the size of a normal mouse and I think the only hand it fits in is my 9 year old childs. It has three buttons on it that are not quite lined up well so you have to have your hand in an odd position just to hit the buttons. Picture a spider perched on a tennis ball.

So, would I buy it again - YES definately. It is well worth the money. If money were not an option I would rather go with a Wacom. The pen has no battery and most come with a pen that can be flipped over for an electronic eraser. Also, the buttons on pen sides for right clicking are practically impossible to hit so I use the buttons on my laptop built-in mouse while drawing with the pen (on my desktop at work I have a mouse and tablet running at the same time so I can use the buttons on the mouse while drawing with the pen - it helps to be ambidexterous for these applications).

Robert

[jriemerm]

Just a reminder: while many Wacom tablets are expensive, the Graphire is quite reasonable--well under $100 (that's about $70 pounds, right?). Myself, I came across a reconditioned one with full factory warranty for $60.

I'm not a heavy or experienced tablet users, but I've really liked the Graphire. Given its reasonable cost and the minor criticisms of the Aiptek mentioned above, you might want to consider it.

james

============================================
James Riemermann
MN Office of Tourism
james.riemermann@state.mn.us

For travel info: www.exploreminnesota.com
============================================

[stlewis]

I already have an elderly Wacom KT405 but was wondering whether the Aiptek would give me anything more. You've left me 50:50. Perhaps I'll spend the money on a crate of wine instead.

Thanks

www.thelondonhouse.co.uk

[Stewart]

I bought the Aiptek tablet you mention from Serif as a bundle and it literally ended up costing pennies, and there was the mouse bundled with it.

The software is crap that came with it, but it works briliantly with XARA X and everything else I have including all Adobe.

The only problem with it that I find over others is that the float above the tablet is too high and take too much getting used to, about a full inch.

I've only ever had one other tablet and it was four times the size, but considering the price of this little unit and what I can do with it, you can shove the rest as this does the lot.

You want a cheap tablet get this one, it works for me. Mind you, I'm not the Mac/Adobe type idiot who thinks certain products must be the best, know what I mean?

Regards
Stewart [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[coffeejunkie]

I brought a Aiptek slim tblet as my Trust Tablet decided to jump around a lot after a month on a new computer using Vista (I was told that it went heywire coz of the Vista updates, tho it still continude after the computer was fully restord to factory settings!) I do a lot of digital painting and I thought that I would try this as it was compatable with Vista, alls great apart from I cant get any pen presher. Theres suposed to be 200 odd but Ive only got one! Can any one help on this?

[Egg Bramhill]

Welcome coffeejunkie, you've dragged up a very old thread here, 7 years old!

I take it that you're talking about using Xara Xtreme with regard to the pen pressure? I've never heard of Aiptek tablets so I couldn't comment on this but the pressure does work using Wacom (and Bamboo) tablets. Unfortunately it only works when using a Brush, so it's very limited.

[David O'Neil]

Are you certain you have the newest drivers, and that they are certified for Vista? I wasn't getting pressure sensitivity from my tablet, but updating the driver fixed it. (I don't have Vista.)