Upgrading my graphics tablet, worth it or not?

[Inferna]

I've had my wacom bamboo for about 3 years now, it still works but it's a little battle worn. I've noticed fairly frequently when I go to use it the pen pressure goes whack, even when I'm in the middle of drawing so I have to restart which gets very tedious. I couldn't even get the original drivers for it after I got my laptop last year so I had to download ones at random to see if they worked -_-

I'm just wondering if it is worth upgrading to an intous (the next step up). Confusingly there are two kinds of intuos now, the intuos seem to be the old bamboos and the intuos pro are the old intuos 5.
I am fairly serious about my digital art after doing it for 3 years now. Once college starts again I'll be using it pretty much daily so it won't go to waste!
A few other things:
- is it worth upgrading in size? my tablet is a small and I'm finding it too small now but the medium could seem too big I guess?
- are the current intuos better than the original bamboo or am I better upgrading to an intuos pro?
- A small pro is £200 and a medium pen and Touch is £170, is paying the extra £30 worth it?

So yeah any help or advice is appreciated~

[Wrath of Zuruggu]

Get a Cintiq.

No but seriously, I have this bad boy except it was £100 more expensive when I bought it. Ever since I've had it I've loved every second of using it. Before that I had a small Graphire and I have really appreciated the size upgrade. The size makes more of a difference if you do a lot of long strokes - so things like outlining I guess would improve from the bigger space. Any bigger than the medium and I don't think I would *personally* use the room it offers, but the smaller ones I definitely find limiting.

I've used other brands of tablet but Wacom is by far the nicest. It is definitely worth the cost of a new one. They're amazingly smooth to use, the pen pressures are spot on, in all the years I've owned one, they have /never/ broken or gone wrong (and I travelled halfway round the world with my Graphire). Plus, the Intuos Pro model comes with different pen nibs, so you have spare standard nibs as well as nibs that really make it feel like you've got pen to paper. To be honest though, I never use the eraser feature.

If you can afford it I'd suggest you go for the pro medium, but if you've got limited cash, get the pen&touch medium. The extra space is worth more than the bells and whistles of the pro. Either way, definitely upgrade if your Bamboo is losing the plot.

[lets all go out for some frosty chocolate milkshakes]

a medium New Intuous is basically Rebranded Bamboo which in turn is a Rebranded Graphire, if you're deadly serious about digital art then i'd reccommend jumping up to their pro line, the "pro/old intuos" is basically higher resolution and sensitivity and also gadgety crap like tilt which is nice to play w/ esp if, like you say, like you might want to Make A Thing out of digital art rather than just drawing the odd thing in a hobbyist fashion (which is what the bamboo line is for, hobbyist drawing)

re: tablet sizes, Medium (6 inch by 8 inch???? im not sure, im still on an intuos3) is universally regarded as The Best Size, especially if your current one is too small but you dont have a massive ikea desk/huge monitor to make the Large worth it,
 
i wouldn't get the intuospro Small, people say its like trying to write on a postage stamp compared to the Medium, and i remember this cheap A6-size tablet we had which i hated cos it felt way too cramped
(also our earth spike in our crappy rural spanish house was rubbish so the underside of this A6 tablet would electrify you unless you were wearing sandals, which was probably another reason i hated it )


intuos 4 and 5/pro are basically like the samsung galaxy S4 and S5, almost the same thing completely except for a couple small iphone style gadgety upgrades, i.e. on intuos5 you got the multitouch and slightly better keys, its almost like an intuos 4.1 really

basically: if money is no object, then an intuos5/pro medium,
if you're willing to put up with a Less Good Version for cheaper but still want the touch ring/programmable buttons then spring for the Intuos4 medium, prepare to put up with janky controls a bit though
(be prepared to buy tips a lot for either the 4/5 too, seems like wacom wasn't making enough money on nibs with the intuos1-3)

intuos3 6x8 is alright (mine is still chugging along) but quite olde now

if all your money falls down the drain or you just need a new one now and dont got a lot of cash, get a monoprice, they do surprisingly well for their price point and are regarded as the best "i'm not paying 300 quid" intuos currently, other than trying to find an olde intuos3

[Inferna]

Sorry for taking ages to reply! Thanks for the advice though.
I'm def going to get a pro I think. I would have maybe gone for a 4 but the hassle I had with drivers and stuff with my bamboo was irritating, so unless they're still on wacoms site I'll reconsider.
Still unsure about the size though, like I really want a medium but I either work lying on my bed or on my tiny desk. I do have a keyboard bit so it might fit on there actually.
I've still to replace my nibs yet, I thought you did when they were worn down to a stump lmao??
The only things swaying me to the pro are the better sensitivity but is stuff like tilt pressure actually useful??
I don't get my first bit of money til September anyway, I did the same with it last year and invested in my new laptop.

[Wrath of Zuruggu]

Still unsure about the size though, like I really want a medium but I either work lying on my bed or on my tiny desk. I do have a keyboard bit so it might fit on there actually.

When I'm using mine I get rid of the keyboard and mouse (and prop it up a bit so I'm drawing on a comfortable angle). When I'm not using it I tuck it away; For one it is pretty big and I've no room for it either but putting it away also keeps it safe from damage.

[lets all go out for some frosty chocolate milkshakes]

Sorry for taking ages to reply! Thanks for the advice though.
I'm def going to get a pro I think. I would have maybe gone for a 4 but the hassle I had with drivers and stuff with my bamboo was irritating, so unless they're still on wacoms site I'll reconsider.
Still unsure about the size though, like I really want a medium but I either work lying on my bed or on my tiny desk. I do have a keyboard bit so it might fit on there actually.
I've still to replace my nibs yet, I thought you did when they were worn down to a stump lmao??
The only things swaying me to the pro are the better sensitivity but is stuff like tilt pressure actually useful??
I don't get my first bit of money til September anyway, I did the same with it last year and invested in my new laptop.

i spose you know about the sneaky "there are pen nibs hidden in the stylus rest" thing with the intuous 4/5??? i almost destroyed my intuos3 one before realising whoop the intuos3 doesn't have it and i'd just have to cough up the extra 20 quid for new ones and also a new rocker switch

you get those 10 free nibs to begin w/, but yeah basically people are finding the nibs wear down a lot quicker on the v new ones for some reason?? although ymmv, im quite sorta hamfisted so i always tend to be heavyhanded w my stylus but i haven't seen any wear yet cos im still a filthy casual when it comes to drawing

personally i dont use tilt that much and its more a novelty to me, ive heard that tilt is more for people who do airbrushing????? if airbrushing/photomanip is a thing you might do then poss consider it, at best you could just bind it to a brush quality like brush angle if you were trying to do some sumi-e type stuff???? i think the high-end intuoses do Brush Rotation as well which sounds neat although i haven't looked properly yet

if space is limited tho you might wanna consider the small perhaps, like my medium is easily about the size of a laptop width/heightwise, but ive got room for it on this Worst Desk 2014, either that or i just put it on my lap


does anywhere near you have a store you could try them out???? not likely since ive never found anything i want to prospectively buy in the stores cos i live in clownland but it might be worth a try

[sylar]

re: pen pressure messing up
ive found this method works p well for fixing it

i think it might just be me refusing to spend money unless i desperately need it speaking but unless your tablet has a broken wire or is literally falling apart i wouldnt bother upgrading at all tbh But Thats Just Me

though in saying that the intuos pro small is calling out to me so i might need to reconsider my stance on saving money because boy i die