Buying a Cintiq 12WX today is a good idea?

**Camara** · April 29th, 2012, 02:58 PM

Hi guys!! I have been looking around and I don´t know if it is a good idea to buy a 12WX now. The thing is so old that I am afraid to buy it and have a new model in the market in two or three months.
What do you think? Wacom said nothing about a new model and there are no rumors about it....

**jaas** · April 30th, 2012, 06:50 PM

Well, Cintiq and Intuos are two completely different devices so I would say there's a difference between them. Mainly for the fact that you can draw on the screen with a Cintiq

Personally I could never get used to drawing with an Intuos. Cintiq feels a lot better. However, while good, Cintiq is still not as good as paper.

About if it is wise to buy or not, I'd say the 12WX does it's job so why wait if you need it.

**Arshes Nei** · April 30th, 2012, 07:56 PM

I believe a 12" is too small. You're going to be hurting for screen real estate and a larger one is your best goal.

Drawing on screen != drawing on paper, so resolution is still a good factor here. I have an LE1700 and still wish for more screen real estate.

**artmessiah** · May 1st, 2012, 10:34 AM

I did some pretty good art on the cintiq 12wx and if you can't afford the larger cintiq, the 12 inch will do the job. I wouldn't concern myself if I were you about a new model coming in out a couple months or a year later. Cintiqs always sell very well on ebay and other selling sites whether the cintiq is in excellent or fair condition and you should get most of your money back to use toward a newer model if Wacom ever releases one. As far as screen real estate, since I owned the 12 inch, 21 inch and a some months ago got the 24 inch, I can attest and agree with Arshes Nei about screen space. While I reiterate that the 12 is a great start towards drawing on screen and LOTZ of artist professional and hobbiest use this tablet with no problem or complaints (Check out Vinodrams), imo the larger sizes are better. Having said that, I've heard the argument that the larger tabs especially the new 24 is too bulky, takes up too much desk space, and is generally over kill for non professional artist in regards to price and size and this may be the case for you.

Edit - I linked the wrong artist. Although Vinodrams uses a 21/24 inch cintiq occassionally, Kerem Beyit uses the 12wx for his work.

My trusty ole cintiq 12wx - see how I still can draw fairly well, but the pallets are pretty close in painter, it was better in photoshop with the way photoshop makes use of tabs.

And my 24 inch size and screen space. BTW I put the second picture here because I wanted you to see the size comparison between my cintiq and my 88 key midi controller which is huge - the larger cintiq is great for drawing stress free of having floating panels.

**Arshes Nei** · May 1st, 2012, 01:25 PM

I also have mixed feelings on the newer one as well. It being so large you can't rotate it like the older model and the fact that it takes up much space can be a concern.

However, I want a higher resolution too.

The 12" are just way too small.

**artmessiah** · May 1st, 2012, 11:56 PM

Originally Posted by Arshes Nei

I also have mixed feelings on the newer one as well. It being so large you can't rotate it like the older model and the fact that it takes up much space can be a concern.

However, I want a higher resolution too.

The 12" are just way too small.

The rotation thing isn't so much a problem for me cause I just use the in app rotation anyway. If someone really wanted/needed physical rotation, an ergotron (I have one for my secondary monitor) could fix that problem. BTW the higher Rez is great - I'm glad I updated.

**Chipsterology** · May 2nd, 2012, 01:21 AM

Originally Posted by artmessiah

The rotation thing isn't so much a problem for me cause I just use the in app rotation anyway. If someone really wanted/needed physical rotation, an ergotron (I have one for my secondary monitor) could fix that problem. BTW the higher Rez is great - I'm glad I updated.

I've been accepting that same logic lately myself. I was initially disappointed to see Wacom "roll back" a feature on it's Cintiq line when they dropped the hardware rotation.
If you think about it, it made no sense to rotate in Painter physically when a hotkey did it faster in software, but PS needed the Cintiq rotation badly (for those who traditionally rotate while working or place their bodies at different angles).
As soon as rotation hit PS (FINALLY), it was a wrap for that altogether. I still can't fathom the 24HD's native resolution/choice of panel yet though for a device of that caliber and price range. It's almost like Wacom was playing that dam hold back game again.
Sidenote: These Intuos5 reviews are giving me chest pains. I really, really want to like this tablet. Really. I do. I was set to get the 24HD and the I5 all at once.....
I'm totally undone, my fantasy is being burned down by tiny pink orks with a bad case of facial gonorrhea and patent leather corsets. A nightmare.

**Asterisk** · May 2nd, 2012, 03:03 AM

Hi there, I own a 12wx as well.
It does everything it's supposed to quite well (no "jittery cursor" issue for me), and the only issue is the screen size. When working on bigger projects, the screen does feel smaller than you'd feel comfortable with. To make the workspace bigger, you can move all your windows to the computer monitor and have only the canvas on the Cintiq screen, and move back and forth with the 'switch screen' button for the pen. It's a minor improvement, but it's fine with the size of paintings I do.

I have to say, if you're in no hurry to get a tablet, I'd suggest saving up more and buying the bigger tablet (whether it be from Cintiq or other brands), especially if you want to get serious projects done.