Drawing pad

[Princesa]

Hi,

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good drawing pad for GCSE students? I was looking at just getting an iPad for them and putting software on that and getting a pen etc but my dad has been looking at a Wacom cintiq. This looks a bit too high tech so he’s now looking at a Wacom paper which looks good. They use a chromebook so they’d need to be able to link it up to that.

Thanks!

[Dinglebert]

It really depends on its use. We bought a wacom cintiq for child number 1 four years ago. It still works perfectly and being used for his animation degree.

[Princesa]

That’s good to know. If we got the cintiq, they’d need to share as we’d only be getting the one. I was worried that it would be too difficult/technical for them and that something simpler would be good. One is doing art and one is doing design tech, and they just enjoy drawing and would like to make little animations.

[Dinglebert]

I originally bought him a different model. It was the Huion GT Graphics Tablet GT190 which is basically a cheaper verion of the Wacom. It had a full size 19in screen. They all work with the same software. I saw a Wacom being sold about 30 miles away and went to see it. The person selling it was a professional animator. At first oldest felt it wasnt' for him. He was looking for a portable version but while the wacom was smaller it still needed plugged in to work. However after a fortnight the Huion was no longer being used. Managed to sell it for a good price.

These machines keep their value it would appear and if you see a cheap second hand one which is in good condition I would be grabbing it. I have no idea if its simple to use. What he does animation wise is years beyond my knowledge. He can thank his mother for his artistic abilities. Mind you he can thank me for the computer abilities the OH finds them challenging if anything goes wrong.

The software is not cheap. He uses the full adobe package which even at student rates is £17 a month. Its £50 plus if not a student monthly. Many schools have it for free.

Best of luck.

I have just seen this

amazon/Levels-Pres.../dp/B01FTE9HS2

not too sure if this would be useful or not.

[Princesa]

Thanks! I didn’t realise that we’d have to pay a monthly fee for the software for them to be able to use it. That can add up to a bit with two of them. Thanks for the link, I’ll check it out!

[Twin mummy]

Check if Wacom support chrome book- my Husband doesn't think they do.
My daughter (just started BTech art and design) has a Wacom cintiq with a macbook.

We looked into getting her a new iPad but think it's about 2 years away from running software such as creative cloud properly.
Having said that my husband said it's not worth investing in a new MacBook at the moment as Apple are just about to make a big change to the main processor they use which will make current models obsolete. With all that in mind he has suggested that a mid range Windows 10 laptop with a Wacom device would be the best option at the moment. Especially as a lot of schools and colleges use some software that will only run on Windows in terms of computer aided design and 3D printing.

[Princesa]

We’ve ended up with the cintiq as it looks like they can use it independently and not need to hook up to the computer, but we do have a windows computer in the house if needed. I hope they can figure out how to use it as I imagine I’ll be useless!