Wacom’s Cheap, Sleek New Cintiq Tablet

PC World’s Techlog Wacom’s Cheap, Sleek New Cintiq Tablet

One of my favorite products from the Consumer Electronics Show was actually released last month. But it’s still pretty new and exceptionally cool: Wacom’s Cintiq 12WX pen display, a PC peripheral that lets you draw directly on the screen with a pressure-sensitive pen.Cintiqs have been around for a long time, and have been one of the best digital tools an artist could have–they replicate the natural feel of working with pen and paper in a way that no other input device can.

But they’ve been pricey–two grand and above–and big, bulky beasts that needed lots of room. (I have the 21ux model and love it, but it occupies an entire small desk all by itself.)

At $999, the 12UX is half the price of any previous Cintiq, making it a plausible purchase for a lot more serious amateur artists. But the price is less interesting than the tablet’s design, which bears little resemblance to any previous Cintiq. It’s the first Cintiq you’d describe as sleek–it’s .67″ thick, compared to 1.8″ for the 21UX model. Actually, in terms of form factor, it looks more like Wacom’s Intuos tablets, which don’t have displays, than the other Cintiqs.