Drop the damn prices already!!!! This for $1000-1200 would sell 5 times as many units, and this would then be a bona fide hit, not just a luxury item for people with lots of expendable income.
At least it's getting close... they used to be $3000, right?
You're the type that cries "Mercedes are too expensive for us!" Whaaa. You get what you pay for. Integrating an LCD display and pen tablet isn't exactly an inexpensive design-manufacturing process. And we do want companies to make some sort of profit so they can succeed and make more innovative items, yes?
Also, you have to consider that most artists who use this plan on making that money back in no time after the production/quality increase when using this. It's similar to a studio photographer spending $20,000+ on a hasselblad.
The problem is that the 20" Wacom tablets themselves are expensive to produce, also the sensitivity in these Cintiqs are much higher then the sensitivity in the Wacom boards in the tabletPC (256-512 levels). The Cintiq are designed primarily for professionals and have 1024 tip/eraser levels of sensitivity.
If you're professional software alone reaches in the thousands of dollars (Adobe Creative suite CS3 has a MSRP of $1,799 for single user license), $2,000 for a device that serves as your monitor and tablet and can dramatically improve your productivity is very fair.
I bought the 21UX when it came out. The price has been $2500 since I bought it a year ago. But, it is worth the money, because it increased my (art and design) capacity by at least 500%.
It's worth every penny, and personally I'm glad not every artist can afford one because it truly puts me in a different league than my peers.
Uh. Can you say Gear whore? More expensive tablets, cameras, synths, guitars, or any other gear for that matter does not make the artist. If you are a better artist because you have a Cinteq I have to say I consider you to be a spoiled amateur, and if it separates you from your peers in terms of results produce, I have to say they are also amateurs. I assure you that while a Cinteq makes life a bit easier, the same results can be achieved by a person with an Inutos, Graphire, or hell, even a mouse and enough dedication. In this case, you should be glad that not every hobbyist artist can afford one because then you wouldn't be special, but your expensive toy doesn't make you a professional.
I belong to a small community of people who build homemade versions of these, and I can honestly say that the construction methods are NOT that intense. Building the LCD alone is harder than getting it to work with a tablet. I built a 15" version for less than $200 (using an actual Wacom tablet), as have many others. Wacom's pricing scheme is justified by two main reasons:
1) They've got what amounts to a monopoly on the art tablet market. There are other brands, but they're no threat. Wacom can charge what they want— so they do.
2) They make quality equipment. It's not unheard of for their tablets to last decades. They simply don't make disposable products.
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Drop the damn prices already!!!! This for $1000-1200 would sell 5 times as many units, and this would then be a bona fide hit, not just a luxury item for people with lots of expendable income.
At least it's getting close... they used to be $3000, right?
You're the type that cries "Mercedes are too expensive for us!" Whaaa. You get what you pay for. Integrating an LCD display and pen tablet isn't exactly an inexpensive design-manufacturing process. And we do want companies to make some sort of profit so they can succeed and make more innovative items, yes?
Also, you have to consider that most artists who use this plan on making that money back in no time after the production/quality increase when using this. It's similar to a studio photographer spending $20,000+ on a hasselblad.
It's not for you, it's for people that need this as a work tool and live from it. $2000 for one of tyour main work tools is not so much, is it?
The problem is that the 20" Wacom tablets themselves are expensive to produce, also the sensitivity in these Cintiqs are much higher then the sensitivity in the Wacom boards in the tabletPC (256-512 levels). The Cintiq are designed primarily for professionals and have 1024 tip/eraser levels of sensitivity.
If you're professional software alone reaches in the thousands of dollars (Adobe Creative suite CS3 has a MSRP of $1,799 for single user license), $2,000 for a device that serves as your monitor and tablet and can dramatically improve your productivity is very fair.
I bought the 21UX when it came out. The price has been $2500 since I bought it a year ago. But, it is worth the money, because it increased my (art and design) capacity by at least 500%.
It's worth every penny, and personally I'm glad not every artist can afford one because it truly puts me in a different league than my peers.
@MangaMan
Uh. Can you say Gear whore? More expensive tablets, cameras, synths, guitars, or any other gear for that matter does not make the artist. If you are a better artist because you have a Cinteq I have to say I consider you to be a spoiled amateur, and if it separates you from your peers in terms of results produce, I have to say they are also amateurs. I assure you that while a Cinteq makes life a bit easier, the same results can be achieved by a person with an Inutos, Graphire, or hell, even a mouse and enough dedication. In this case, you should be glad that not every hobbyist artist can afford one because then you wouldn't be special, but your expensive toy doesn't make you a professional.
I belong to a small community of people who build homemade versions of these, and I can honestly say that the construction methods are NOT that intense. Building the LCD alone is harder than getting it to work with a tablet. I built a 15" version for less than $200 (using an actual Wacom tablet), as have many others. Wacom's pricing scheme is justified by two main reasons:
1) They've got what amounts to a monopoly on the art tablet market. There are other brands, but they're no threat. Wacom can charge what they want— so they do.
2) They make quality equipment. It's not unheard of for their tablets to last decades. They simply don't make disposable products.