If you don’t know Wacom’s Cintiq range yet, that’s simple : it’s their top of the range graphic tablets, which have a screen, thus enabling you to draw directly on a screen as you would on paper. Because drawing on some empty surface, looking at the lines you’re creating on a computer screen which is not below your stylus is in no way natural, it isn’t “logical”, and unlike what I have read on the internet it has nothing to do with being used or not to computers. If you really like drawing you can never get used to this paradox, you learn to deal with it because you don’t have a better option. Being able to draw directly on the screen, on the other hand, is logical, natural, a huge comfort and a liberated gesture. And Wacom means a lot of advantages to make you feel closer to the real thing: pressure levels, precision, and quality… But the Cintiq range is not new. In which way is this product interesting? Because of its price! As a top of the range product, Cintiq tablets have always been overly expensive, and are therefore a luxury. It’s still the case, but it has become affordable. This smaller model than its counterparts (the screen is still 26 per 16 cm, all of it stylus enabled, of course, with a 1,280X800 resolution) is “only” worth 1,200 €.
Is the alternate solution I’ve spoken about before here, a penabled Tablet PC (which means using Wacom technology) still worth it? More than ever: when new the cost is about the same, and it’s the same technology, but including an operating system, which seems to mean Wacom has a bigger price margin on products they sell themselve than on those they sell to third parties as components : a screen by itself should be way cheaper than a whole computer.
Pros of a tablet PC : you can use it while travelling (laptop + cintiq, that would be very expensive, and bulky), and Tablet PCs often have a much better resolution (smaller pixels and bigger amount).
The Cintiq 12wx still has advantages : it is not always easy to find out if a Tablet PC has Penabled technology, and not just a simple touch screen, or their own technology, they are not as powerful as desktop computers and the hardware cannot be upgraded unless buying a new one altogether, and there is no Mac Tablet PC whereas Cintiq works on both operating systems.
Cintiq 12wx showcase