Wacom CTE-440 tablet

[sublime79]

I found a used Wacom CTE-440 tablet on ebay for 56.00 shipped. I'm not a professional graphics designer by any means, but I was wondering if this would be a good tablet for a beginner to use with Photoshop. I have never used a tablet before at all, so I don't really need a $300 one or anything.

 

[Seggybop]

I've got one and it's not bad at all. The area is kind of small, but it's acceptable for most things.

 

[IlllI]

good to start off small and see if you like it. if you do then you can maybe upgrade to a bigger one in the future

 

[mixxedstuff]

I've got one of those at the moment, and have had it for a few years. It's good if you don't like to wave your arm all over the place while working (meaning, if you have limited desktop space, that's a plus). I definitely recommend getting one to try out.

A few notes, though: you might want to look into extra pens if you use the pen a lot (although they aren't terribly cheap, at about $30 apiece). I'm on my third in about two or three years, if I'm not mistaken- and I *should* be getting another, due to the condition of the current one. The first stopped working out of the blue, the second just disappeared, I think, and this third one's rubber grip is eroding away, its body cracked on me, and the grip is misshapen in the shape of finger indentations from heavy use. Wear and tear! =)

If a mouse is coming with that one on ebay, keep in mind that it only works on the active area- which means lots of picking up the mouse and re-centering it. That was something to adapt to when I first got mine. Also, the felt on the bottom picks up LOTS of junk- you have to scrape it off with all the lint somewhat often or mouse movement gets quite slow.

I would recommend looking around for refurbs- a quick google search brought up a couple at $40.
http://www.google.com/products...roup&resnum=1&ct=title

 

[runawayprisoner]

At $56.00 shipped, I can sell you my tablet, which is twice the size, half as thick, and with twice the precision with only $10 more. (shipped, too)

So definitely... look for one that is about $40 or so. $56 is too high a price.

 

[sublime79]

Thank you all for the responses. Just a couple more questions I thought of. Does a tablet like this work like a touchpad on a laptop? Also, does the pen take batteries? Thanks again everybody.

 

[mixxedstuff]

The pen and mouse that come with the tablet do not take batteries. With the default windows drivers, the pen seems to function much like the mouse (so sort of like a touchpad, just more room to work with). However, when you install the Wacom drivers, it adjusts so that if you put the pen to the top right corner of the active area, the mouse moves to the top right corner of the screen, and similarly for any other point on the active area/screen. This makes it MUCH more intuitive/easy to use.

 

[IlllI]

the wacom doesnt need batteries. the other brands do