Poodles are so weird and proper, I couldn't stop thinking of hieroglyphs while sketching this guy.

Still trying to figure out this yiynova tablet I got recently (because holy crap are cinitqs way too expensive). There's a little lag at the beginning of the line in photoshop but not flash. So strange...

and my god those painted poodles are creepy.

You can't beat the Turcom for the price. It's only about $60, good size, decent amount of side buttons, pen sensitivity is actually pretty good, and it is fairly responsive. If you want an Wacom Cintiq type of experience for a much lower price, try the Yiynova. Don't take my word for either of these alone, read all the reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/Yiynova-MSP19U-Monitor-Windows-Solution/dp/B009QQ7BG0
I got my Yiynova a couple of years ago and have no complaints about the tablet sensitivity. The monitor itself isn't great, and you have to uninstall any Wacom drivers to get the tablet to play nice, but it's serviceable as an inexpensive Cintiq alternative. Good luck!

Lots of comments on Monoprice, and they're not bad. But if you're getting a tablet -- not a tablet monitor -- then the little extra you'd spend for an Intuos 5 is is well worth it.

I have:

• Intuos 5 Medium from Wacom
  
• Yiynova 19" MSP19U+ tablet monitor
  
• Surface Pro 3
  
  The Intuos is great. For on-desk tablets, they don't get any better than this and the other on-desk tablets just don't compare.
  
  The Yiynova is amazing. I can't recommend it enough. It's Monoprice hardware inside with a few nice upgrades. When shopping for it, I looked closely at the Monoprice version and in the end decided the Yiynova's extras and build quality were worth it. I'm very glad I did.
  
  The Surface Pro 3 is also fantastic hardware. It's great to be portable with it, but the drawing experience on my Yiynova is still better.
  
  For the latter two, drawing on-screen is a huge leap from drawing on-desk. I still use my Intuos, but mostly just for coloring and not for drawing.
  
  Beware Bosto Kingtee. Their support is awful, build quality is terrible and you'll hate life if you get one.
  
  Monoprice is moderately okay. Yiynova goes just a few extra steps, into what I'd call a quality product.
  
  Surface Pro 3 is awesome, but expensive. I decided it was worth it for portability, but YMMV.
  
  Edit: Ray Frenden's reviews on these things are gold. Trust this man. He's never steered me wrong.

As a digital artist, I'd just get the baseline intuos. Intuos pro is nice, but not significantly better. Cintiqs can be very hit-or-miss for some, and I've heard of famous concept artists who still use old intuos tablets despite owning cintiqs; likely for the simplicity/low cost. (I've personally been using an intuos 3 since high school, and the only reason I'd ever upgrade is it's hard to find replacement parts for it nowadays. Otherwise, it's perfectly fine for everything.)
Intuos Medium is only 200$, small is 100. A surface is probably unecessary unless you really need a laptop replacement.
Yiynova makes decent cintiq alternatives, if you want a screen on the cheap.
(you can find a lot of discussions of intuos vs cintiq/screen tablets, also)

It does take a little while to get used to, and using a bigger tablet does help with this. Look on the wacom site to compare specs for the different bamboo tablets. One of them is touch sensitive which, while its really cool, isn't necessary for drawing. I used one for a year while I was working at sesame street since they didn't offer tablets to their freelancers and it worked well enough for me. You could also peruse ebay or craigslist to see if you can score a cheap Intuos tablet.

Someday if you'd really really like to upgrade to something along the lines of a cintiq so it feels like you're drawing on paper but don't want to pay $2500, http://www.amazon.com/Yiynova-MSP19U-Monitor-Windows-Solution/dp/B009QQ7BG0 this is a good alternative. They say the sensitivity is slightly different but I doubt its significantly noticeable, and the price tag definitely makes up for that.

There is the Yiynova: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4rGTP4gPZ8


It's much cheaper than the Cintiq at $600: http://www.amazon.com/Yiynova-MSP19U-Monitor-Windows-Solution/dp/B009QQ7BG0.

Believe it or not, considering some people can draw the Mona Lisa with MS Paint technically you don't need Photoshop. :-)

However I would consider:

• Krita
  
• Inkscape
  
• GimpShop -- Version of Gimp with keyboard bindings to be more like Photoshop
  
• Photoshop Elements
  
  All see 23 alternatives to Photoshop
  
  You really do want a Tablet. 12x9 will let you fit the standard 8.5x11"
  
  
• Watcom Intuos
  
• Monoprice Tablets
  
• Huion or Huion Krita Suppport
  
  Alternatives:
  
  
• Tablet Monitor!
  
  

  .
  

  
  "A poor craftsmans always blames his tools."

I use a Yiynova MSP19U+

http://www.amazon.com/Yiynova-MSP19U-Monitor-Windows-Solution/dp/B009QQ7BG0/ref=pd_cp_pc_0

For the price, I can't recommend it enough.

Digital artist here.


I had a Cintiq at work and it ruined me, now I always have to draw on a graphics tablet with a screen. Had to buy a chinese ripoff because I couldn't afford to drop 2k-3k on a tablet.

After a little search this is what I found:

Yiynova MSP19U is $479.00.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009QQ7BG0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009QQ7BG0&linkCode=as2&tag=z0n4m4-20


The Cheapest cintiq(Cintiq 13 HD) is $799.95.

http://www.wacom.com/en-us/products/pen-displays/cintiq-13-hd



Ive never used the Yiynova brand before so I cant say if its good or not. You would have to trust the reviews. As for Wacom Cintiqs. Theyre worth the price!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009QQ7BG0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009QQ7BG0&linkCode=as2&tag=frenden-20 Is probably the least expensive one I've seen.

I have heard good things about the Yiynova. However, I have not used it personally and really haven't heard anything other than "it is a great alternative to the Cintiq", from a teacher of mine. I'm thinking I actually may buy one soon though. For $600 it is pretty tempting.

Here is a video with a guy briefly using it. Skip to 5:58 to see him make tiny strokes really fast to show there isn't any lag etc etc.

Check out some comments on Amazon. And keep googling, cause I'm sure there are others.

Asus Vivotab Note 8 - A friend let me know about this, it uses wacom technology and is around/under $200. This is pretty much the only tablet this cheap where you can actually draw on the "screen" that I've found.

http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/forums/asus.1024/ --> forums on the tablet that can give you more info.

There were a couple others that are more expensive: [$300-$400]

Old cintiq model: https://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Cintiq-12WX-12-Inch-Display/dp/B00115OFJK/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1475485795&sr=1-5&keywords=cintiq+13hd

Chinese brand (Huion): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LA0NONE?tag=artprdus-20&link_code=ur2&creative=9325&camp=211189

This other one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009QQ7BG0?tag=artprdus-20&link_code=ur2&creative=9325&camp=211189

As someone with a screen-less tablet looking to upgrade I'd definitely recommend looking into these - I'm sure your SO would love being able to draw directly on the screen.

And she can then later upgrade if she likes it to a cheaper cintiq or surface studio; maybe something like lenovo yoga book or iPad pro depending on her needs.

The size of my 13HD has never been a problem, it's easy to sit down with and draw. The hot keys are easily programmed to help with zooming, the touch would also work nicely.

But really don't. I have not been able to use mine in months because the cord.

The cord is notorious for breaking, and Wacom never has it in stock. It has been out of stock for at least five months, and Wacom is not working with me or helping me get a new one, even though my Cintiq is under warranty for more than another year.

Wacom's customer service is terrible. It takes weeks for them to get back to you.

I'd try for a Huion or Yiynova. I personally haven't tried them but many of my animator friends enjoy theirs and generally have good reviews online.

http://www.amazon.com/Yiynova-MSP19U-Monitor-Windows-Solution/dp/B009QQ7BG0

https://www.huiontablet.com/all-products/pen-tablet-monitor/huion-gt-190.html/

http://www.amazon.com/Huion-Graphic-Tablet-Monitor-Resolution/dp/B010L8OC9K/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1449379041&sr=1-6&keywords=huion

http://www.amazon.com/Yiynova-MSP19U-Monitor-Windows-Solution/dp/B009QQ7BG0

Get that.

I have used wacom products for a while and I love them. I used a wacom bamboo for a LONG time and it worked well enought (though small) for a long time.
http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Bamboo-Splash-Tablet-CTL471/dp/B0089VGPII

Right now I use a wacom cintiq 13HD and I love it. It works almost flawlessly for me and I can't imagine switching back to something else.
http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Cintiq-Interactive-Display-DTK1300/dp/B00BSOSCNE/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1451245108&sr=1-1&keywords=wacom+cintiq+13hd

I used some wacom knock offs too. They work rather well and the prices are really competitive like the one for the yiynovia brands.
http://www.amazon.com/Yiynova-MSP19U-Monitor-Windows-Solution/dp/B009QQ7BG0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1451245197&sr=1-1&keywords=yiynova+tablet

I had an older version of the above tablet for a while and it lasted about 6 months before it just stopped working for me. It kind of turned me off to those knock off brands but other people have had great things to say about them so I don't know for sure. Good luck in your search.

Well, if you want to save money consider looking at Yiynova tablets. There is a 600 dollar model thats 19 inches at a not too terrible resolution. It's not a companion, but I thought I'd let you know about it.

http://www.amazon.com/Yiynova-MSP19U-Monitor-Windows-Solution/dp/B009QQ7BG0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409375434&sr=8-1&keywords=yiynova

I've been using a Yiynova MSP19U+. I've had it for about 4 years now and I've never had any issues. The pressure and lines are smooth. That said, if I was buying today I would go with the 22" 1080p tablet monitor at monoprice.

http://www.yiynova.com/En/index.php watch some youtube videos of it as well.

this one seems to be the best bang for the buck 19 inch $619

http://www.amazon.com/Yiynova-MSP19U-Monitor-Windows-Solution/dp/B009QQ7BG0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1393681835&sr=1-1

Unless you're going to be working at really extreme resolutions and doing some really heavy-duty work, you don't really need something like a macbook pro. Any decent laptop with a good amount of ram (8+ gb seems ideal) should do you just fine. There are some cheap tablets that I've heard are really good (for example, [monoprice] (http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=113&cp_id=11303)). If you don't want that, I've heard the [Yiynova MSP19U] (http://www.amazon.com/Yiynova-MSP19U-Monitor-Windows-Solution/dp/B009QQ7BG0) is decent without costing nearly as much as a cintiq.

I had similar questions before I got a Cintiq last year. I ended up getting a 22HD because of cost and size. The 24HD is just too wide for my setup and although the color gamut is a consideration, I couldn't justify the extra cost for the size or touch features. I use a [ShuttleXpress] (http://retail.contourdesign.com/?/products/22) that I used with a previous [Yiynova tablet] (http://www.amazon.com/Yiynova-MSP19U-Monitor-Windows-Solution/dp/B009QQ7BG0) and it, along with the Cintiq controls, give me all the buttons and controls I need.

Psst.