I want to get my SIL a graphics tablet for Christmas, because she’s starting to become a photography hobbyist and is dabbling in Photoshop.
I don’t want to spend a ton in case it ends up collecting dust, but I only want to buy one if it will perform well and be really useful.
I’d like to spend about $50 since that’s what I’m supposed to spend, but only if it will get me a decent piece of gear for an amateur.
What do you mean by “graphics tablet?” Do you mean a tablet like a Kindle Fire or iPad? Or a tablet that you use as an drawing/input device on a computer?
Latter, specifically for editing photos.
i heard the Bamboo sucks, and it looks to be the go-to for cheap tablets.
i am borrowing a Intuous 4 medium, and i love it so damn hard. i am a freelance artist (degree in painting) and i drug my feet forever about even trying digital painting/drawing. something was really offputting about the whole thing. then my friend let me borrow her intuous and holy cow. it’s all the fun parts of painting minus the cleaning and bullshit. and the results look nice.
all that said, it might be she and i have different needs, so take this for what it’s worth. the Intuous 4 has an ipod style wheel and various buttons to the left (or right however you orient it) that i never, ever eveeeeer use. i paint in photoshop and find it much easier to use the quick-keys w my non-pen hand than to jump over to the other tablet controls.
i am looking to buy my own, and i will probably buy one used, maybe an older Intuous. bear in mind they have various sizes (small, medium which i find pretty perfect, large and XL). each size is the workspace, and the smaller, the better for me. it means less arm movement and less fatigue.
the newer intuous has more bells and whistles than even the 4, so i might look at a used 3 medium.
i know they make a lot of no-brand and low-end drawing tablets, but if the Wiacom Bamboo is crap compared to their Intuous line, i would be skeptical to buy anything lesser than a Wiacom at all.
the input is very weird at first anyway, and there’s a bit of a frustrating tech-hurdle just to get use to the mechanics of pen-input cursor movement and all it does, and how it translates from how a real pen functions and all that. if there were glitches or poor quality transposition hardware involved too (via cheaper units), i think i’d lose my everloving mind.
so in short: i’d get a nice new or used intuous 2 or 3.
final thought:
i know a photographer who bought one just for exactly what you are talking about. she went w the intuous 4 small and got it for around $168 from a private seller on ebay. it was still in the factory box but wasn’t NEW new as the owner played on it a few times. new enough, tho.
The name is spelled Wacom.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a good tablet fur under $100, never mind $50. A Bamboo (made by Wacom) is better than nothing, and is probably sufficient for someone just starting out with Photoshop, but the Intuos line is really nice. I’ve had an Intuos 3 for about five years and like it a lot.
do you know if the precision increases with newer intuos models or between the varying sizes?
Read this review:
Monoprice.
dang. welp. i’m having that.
it’ll be hard to go wrong at that price.
wow.
It doesn’t suck in terms of doing what it promises to do. But compared to its predecessor, the Graphire (esp the v4) it’s seriously disappointing.
I would recommend the Wacom Graphire 4 if you can find one (it’s discontinued) except I am not sure what OS it still works on. I think Win7 is okay, but Win8 or OSX Mountain Lion? No idea.
The Bamboo is fine, only the touch doesn’t work so well (it’s like a giant laptop touchpad). One of the problems with no brand products is software support. Pros of Bamboo: good software, pen doesn’t need batteries, comes with Photoshop Elements.
Perfect! I think we have a winner. 
indeed. i’m really grateful for that post.
i just ordered me the 10x6 w hotkeys.
i have yet to find a negative review with cogent points anyplace on the net. everyone really loves this thing. and it’s never “good for the money,” it’s just “good period.”
i’ll know more in a few days when it comes in.