Last week, my pen tablet died. I was using a Turcom (Huion) TS-6580 (footprint 12x8"; active area 8.5x5.5"). It’s the stylus that died, so I could just replace the stylus, but I see this as an opportunity to up my game in the pen tablet arena.
Important Note: I have a repetitive strain injury in both of my arms from having a job at a non-ergonomic workstation many years ago. I use Dragon Dictate for most things (including this post), I have a magic trackpad 2 to the right of my keyboard, an ergonomic left-hand mouse to the left of my keyboard, and a full size keyboard with real keys that are easy to press. Oh, and I use an iMac from June 2017 running High Sierra 10.13.6.
The tablet sits on the desktop while the keyboard, mouse, and trackpad are on the keyboard tray. The most comfortable device for me to use for basic navigation is the pen tablet. I can get by with the mouse and trackpad but it takes twice as long to do anything and causes some residual pain in my arms. So I need to make a decision on a new pen tablet quickly.
I also used to be a graphic artist and occasionally do graphics work in CreativeSuite 5. I am planning to do more of this work in the future, so I like the idea of a graphics tablet that can accommodate that.
Here are some ideas kicking around my head:
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Purchase a new, better quality pen tablet with some of the newer features. Something that is preferably smaller than what I have now, and definitely not any larger. It would also be nice if it had a stand or feet at the back so it could tilt upward a little bit so I’m not reaching too far to use it.
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Purchase a stylus that works with my magic trackpad. I don’t know if this option would actually replace a pen tablet, but the benefit would be that I could use the stylus for navigation and use the multitouch system with my fingers. I tried using a basic rubber tip stylus on it, and it does work, but really poorly. Way too much drag and no precision.
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Purchase a smaller size pen tablet such as the Wacom Intuous small that can actually replace my magic trackpad entirely. That way I can sit it right next to my keyboard and never have to reach up on top of the desk to get to a tablet. But I have heard mixed reviews on the small. Some people say it’s fantastic, replaces a mouse and also works for graphics and other people say it is too small to work well for graphics.
Ultimately, I’d like to replace my mouse/trackpad entirely with a pen tablet system, but I also like to have the ability to do graphics work on my tablet. Multitouch would be nice so I could use it as a trackpad also, but is probably not entirely necessary. Things like “tilt recognition” are great, but not dealbreakers. Also, would like to keep the cost under $300.
There are so many options out there and some conflicting reviews, so I really wanted to post to this group to see if anybody has suggestions for me. Thanks so much!
