# Wacom Intuos3 vs. Intuos4



## icassell (Sep 15, 2009)

Ok, so I think I've been convinced I need a graphics tablet.

I can get a refurbished Wacom Intuos3 4X6 wide format with factory 1 year warranty for just over $100 whereas the cheapest I can find a Intuos4 Medium is about $300.  Is the 4 worth the $200 extra smackers? Why or why not?


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## Village Idiot (Sep 15, 2009)

Maybe. Because it's better.


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## icassell (Sep 15, 2009)

Village Idiot said:


> Maybe. Because it's better.



That helps ...


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## tirediron (Sep 15, 2009)

As far as the actual tablet goes, there is virtually no difference between the 3 and 4. The main difference is that the 4 has a new style stylus and more and different buttons. Given the options above, I would go for the 3 and save the $$$$.


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## Silverpenguin (Sep 15, 2009)

I have the Intuos4 at home. We use Intuos3s at work though. For me the 4 was the better purchase, the better layout of the buttons, the scroll wheel and the LCD screens that you can customize for the button labelling all help to make the I4 much faster to use with photoshop (and normal pc usage, I no longer use a mouse).

The Intuos 3 programmable buttons are so poorly devised compared to the 4 that nearly all the designers at my work don't even bother using them.

If you have the money, go for the 4. If you just want basic tablet functions, i.e. a simple pen instead of a mouse, get the 3.


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## astrostu (Sep 15, 2009)

I think that the layout on the 4 is MUCH better than the 3.  However, the aspect ratio of the 4 is different from the 3 (at least mine vs. the one at work).  That throws me off when going from one to the other.  But I think you'd get used to whatever you're using.

Also, I think a 4x6" is a bit small.  This is really a case where bigger is better since the larger the tablet is, the finer resolution you're going to have (at least when using the tablet so that the corners of the tablet are mapped to the corners of the screen).


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## table1349 (Sep 15, 2009)

I'm Guessing that neither of these is going to make your short list then. 
Cintiq 12WX Product Overview
Cintiq 21UX Product Overview

I got to play with the Cintiq-21ux. It was outstanding, but it didn't make my short list either.  The Intuos4 medium did.  Great tablet.


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## icassell (Sep 15, 2009)

gryphonslair99 said:


> I'm Guessing that neither of these is going to make your short list then.
> Cintiq 12WX Product Overview
> Cintiq 21UX Product Overview
> 
> I got to play with the Cintiq-21ux. It was outstanding, but it didn't make my short list either.  The Intuos4 medium did.  Great tablet.



gryphon, that was just plain mean.  I brought up the links and drooled all over my keyboard and shorted it out :lmao:


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## table1349 (Sep 15, 2009)

icassell said:


> gryphonslair99 said:
> 
> 
> > I'm Guessing that neither of these is going to make your short list then.
> ...



That wasn't mean.  Mean was having a friend that is a local graphic artist who let me play with the Cintiq 21UX on a Mac pro 8 core with 32 gigs of ram and then having to go home to the Intuos4.  

Like I said though, the Intuos4 is a great tablet.


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## icassell (Sep 16, 2009)

Well, since the Cintiq was a bit out of my price range, I ordered a medium Intuos4 from Amazon .... I didn't think it was too badly priced at $297 with free shipping.  I found a refurbed Intuos3 online for a bit over $100 with warranty, but I figure I'll eventually grow into the more sophisticated tablet and wished I had spent the extra bux up-front.  Of course now I look and see all the optional pens and wonder how long it will be before I *NEED* ( :lmao: ) to spend extra money on those ...

Thanks for your advice, everyone.


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## tirediron (Sep 16, 2009)

gryphonslair99 said:


> I'm Guessing that neither of these is going to make your short list then.
> Cintiq 12WX Product Overview
> Cintiq 21UX Product Overview
> 
> I got to play with the Cintiq-21ux. It was outstanding, but it didn't make my short list either. The Intuos4 medium did. Great tablet.


 

I bought the 12 this spring but really didn't like it and exchanged it for a '3'.  I found that the parallex error between "writing" surface and the image was very annoying for fine detail work.  The number of cables and power boxes also really bugged me.


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## icassell (Sep 16, 2009)

tirediron said:


> gryphonslair99 said:
> 
> 
> > I'm Guessing that neither of these is going to make your short list then.
> ...



Interesting.  I hadn't thought about the parallax issue.  I would have thought the image would appear to be focused on  the surface of the tablet.


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## table1349 (Sep 16, 2009)

icassell said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> > gryphonslair99 said:
> ...




I agree, very interesting.  I didn't notice that issue with the setup I got to play with, but then I'm sure they did a lot of setup to get it all dead on.


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## icassell (Sep 17, 2009)

Wow! I ordered an Intuos4 yesterday from Amazon with regular delivery and it is out on the UPS truck for delivery today! Now I really call that service!


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## photoshop (Feb 2, 2010)

If you think you need the Intuos4 think again.  If Burt Monroy can do what he does using a 1024 levels of pressure how much better do you think his work would be using 2048?


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## KmH (Feb 2, 2010)

Twice as good! :lmao:


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