[brungeman]

I need some input (so I came to the monkey)!

I am looking to get some sort of affordable interface for a couple of the computers in our lab. I was thinking I may want to do away with the mouse and do a "Wacom" tablet or something... but I don't know enough about them or alternatives.

We are coming up on budget time and I was thinking that this would be a good time to look into the options.

what would you recomend?

 

[stinkyboy]

I don't use a tablet, but I am leaning towards one. I'd love to sketch in Photoshop.

Sorry, that's all I got for ya.

Oh, and this guy has a bad azz setup: http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/archives/2005/05/american_choppe_1.html

 

[stinkyboy]

Badness: http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-21ux.php

 

[RUFUS]

The wacom tablet is great because you could use the tablet to draw and you can use the supplied mouse for other applications.
It is a great setup.

 

[jonKranked]

the cintiq's are awesome, but mad expensive yo.

 

[brungeman]

Thanks guys! I am going to investigate them a bit...

and stinky, YES those are Bad@ss... I have wondered what that goofy dood on Am. Chop. was using to sketch with! That system is pretty sweet! Have you just done without a tablet? Corel Painter may be a good choice for sketching and painting etc. I messed with it a while back but you REALLY needed a tablet. Using a mouse with that program sucked!

 

[moff_quigley]

My wife uses a Wacom tablet, I forget which model but it wasn't crazy expensive. I really like it we never use the mouse just the pen.

 

[TN]

I went from a shop that had half a dozen big wacoms to a shop that wont get me one, no matter how much i beg. lthumbsdown:

 

[erastusboy]

I say if you are going to do it, go big with the Cintiq. They rule seriously I use mine for pretty much everything, not just drawing. I'm a big fan of Illustrator with the Cintiq. They run about two thousand dollars a pop though.

 

[DNA]

Do you have a Smartboard? Another bonus to the Wacom is that you can get a bluetooth connection for it so you can write on the board from anywhere in your room.

 

[brungeman]

Do you have a Smartboard? Another bonus to the Wacom is that you can get a bluetooth connection for it so you can write on the board from anywhere in your room.

no. I have a projector at times... but no smartboard! But that is cool!

I am leaning on a few of the cheap "Bamboo" models. I am not using these to do production, and I am not a designer myself. I just need to teach the kids about the tool and let them work with them to understand what tools are in the industry now. Although I would love to get one of the Cintiq models... I just cant justify the outlay. It would mean cutting other things that I need!

 

[AngryMetalsmith]

Do you have a Smartboard? Another bonus to the Wacom is that you can get a bluetooth connection for it so you can write on the board from anywhere in your room.

Now that's a useful feature.

I draw and write in a sketch book on my lap while sitting at the puter.

 

[Streamline]

The photographer here loves his Wacom. I have always just been a mouse user. I don't really do many sketches though or digital painting. I have often gone to pull the trigger and get one but always back out. I have been eyeing up the Bamboo though. It looks like a solid starter system at a great price.

From your last post it sounds like the Bamboo's would work great. Man kids have it lucky now a days. I wish I had a fraction of the technology available to me that they have now and it wasn't that long ago that I was in school.

 

[brungeman]

The photographer here loves his Wacom. I have always just been a mouse user. I don't really do many sketches though or digital painting. I have often gone to pull the trigger and get one but always back out. I have been eyeing up the Bamboo though. It looks like a solid starter system at a great price.

From your last post it sounds like the Bamboo's would work great. Man kids have it lucky now a days. I wish I had a fraction of the technology available to me that they have now and it wasn't that long ago that I was in school.

it is all relative! The kids now have the same amount of technology available to them (relatively speaking) then you or I did when we were in school. The reality is, that Apple IIe's aren't all that cool of a memory!

if what you are trying to say is... It would be nice to go to school now to experience all of the cool technology, then I may agree however most schools are 5 steps behind the industry anyway... Most kids that experience the cool technology are the ones buying the stuff themselves.

and yes the Bamboo, does seem like it will fit the bill.

 

[Streamline]

When I was in school 10 years ago art was considered a joke. You took possibly two classes and that was painting, sketching,... that sort of thing. Now I have cousins that are in the 9th grade that are working in 3d programs, the Adobe design and web Suite, and have more understanding that we had after taking classes in college. It is freaking crazy and awesome.
The area I live in does get more funding than most public schools so I can not comment on other areas, but these kids are coming out with enough knowledge to handle most of the basics of jobs and just lack the experience.

 

[DNA]

Do you have a Smartboard? Another bonus to the Wacom is that you can get a bluetooth connection for it so you can write on the board from anywhere in your room.

Now that's a useful feature.

I draw and write in a sketch book on my lap while sitting at the puter.

I can't tell what you meant by that ... my sarcasm-meter is on the fritz right now. I think Brungeman knew what I was getting at.

It is really handy in the classroom. Not being stuck in the front of the room makes classroom management easier and you aren't blocking the Smartboard from the projector or from students on the side of the room.

 

[TN]

The damn chalk boards now sound smarter than the students.

 

[brungeman]

I can't tell what you meant by that ... my sarcasm-meter is on the fritz right now. I think Brungeman knew what I was getting at.

It is really handy in the classroom. Not being stuck in the front of the room makes classroom management easier and you aren't blocking the Smartboard from the projector or from students on the side of the room.

Yep! That is a great feature, and Yes I did know exactly what you were talking about! Some teachers in our school have classrooms equiped with a similar set of hardware to what you suggested.

The damn chalk boards now sound smarter than the students.

Yes! you are correct sir!

When I was in school 10 years ago art was considered a joke. You took possibly two classes and that was painting, sketching,... that sort of thing. Now I have cousins that are in the 9th grade that are working in 3d programs, the Adobe design and web Suite, and have more understanding that we had after taking classes in college. It is freaking crazy and awesome.
The area I live in does get more funding than most public schools so I can not comment on other areas, but these kids are coming out with enough knowledge to handle most of the basics of jobs and just lack the experience.

apples and oranges! What you described is art classes. What I teach is Tech. Ed. AKA "Shop classes" If you had shop classes in your school, these may be the types of things they would be using. Also the Business Ed. classes are really taking off with web and multi media stuff!

And yes my mission as a teacher is not to teach EVERY MINUTE DETAIL of programs, processes etc., but to teach kids how to learn! Being able to learn and adapt is more important in the day and age of yearly, if not monthly changes in technology. A person has to be able to adapt! That is the most important thing!