Tablet related questions

[moxie]

Hey, fancy artist people.

I've been saving up a wee bit of money for a tablet, and here's my dilemma:

I have roughly enough for an Intuos3 4x6, or a Bamboo. Should I get one of those two, or save up a little bit more and go for an Intuos4 Small, or Intuos3 6x8 instead?

Which would you suggest most, for what reasons?

How much impact does the size of the tablet on your art?

I have zero experience with digital art, so I'm fairly unfamiliar with all the terminology and such that gets thrown around by people reviewing the tablets, which is why I'm turning to you guys.

 

[Venetia]

I have an Intuos3 6x8. Bought it when they were brand new. Paid too much, but I was excited.
Holy crap, it's poop-your-pants amazing fantastic. Makes such an enormous difference it's not even funny.

If you're still a newb at tablets though you may want to start smaller. Jumping right at an Intuos3 from nothing is like riding a motorcycle before learning to take off the training wheels from your bicycle. It can be done, but your learning curve will be steeper.

The Bamboo is great for beginners. As far as I know it doesnt offer tilt support, and it has half the sensitivity or pressure points or total functionality of the Intuos. I started out with a cheapass Genius tablet, which is roughly the same, with a slightly less sleek pad-part.
Since you're just starting out, you won't notice a difference. You really won't. It won't be until you get the REALLY subtle nuances and movements and controls that you start to appreciate the higher functionality. It's not really like drawing on pen & paper. It's about gliding in a very controlled way. Takes some time to get used to. Took me about 2 months to even be able to draw something that didn't look like shaky poopcrap. And you've seen how I like clean, controlled linework.

Anyway so like I said, your best bet is, test drive a cheap Bamboo, learn it like the back of your hand, sell it, and upgrade. Or go full-hog for the Intuos and suffer the longer learning time--it really IS worth the money. I'd be lost w/o mine.

I've only ever had 6x8's ... And it feels a little too small even. Going smaller will just increase the difficulty honestly. You'll have to learn to be even more conservative with your glides and strokes.