wacom grahphire vs intuos

looking at getting a wacom - but which one - have had a look at the specs on the wacom site and compared the two but as i havent used these before not sure what i "really" need as to what would be nice to have. i am wanting to use the wacom for general photo editing and am thinking that the intuos might be a bit of overkill for my experience. how much of the extra options in the intuos do you really use - also there is also the option of a 2nd hand intuos 2 - how does it compare to 3?? any help/knowledge greatly appreciated

Intuos owner here:

I chose the intuos over the graphire because of the extra levels of sensitivity, also, intuos has the ability to read pen tilt, and on some pens even rotation, which can be helpful for some calligraphy-type effects.

I'm not sure if the graphire pen comes with extra nibs, but the intuos comes with a couple spares, and a couple specialty nibs: One that has extra travel, so it "feels" like a paintbrush, and one of a material that tends to drag on the tablet, which feels a lot like a felt tipped pen.

Having used the older intuos, there's really not too much different, aside from cosmetics. The only caution I would say on the Intuos 2 is to make sure the drivers are XP compatible. I'm also not sure on the compatibility with newer pens (such as the airbrush tool..) One somewhat nice thing is on mine there's a palette of buttons to the left of the drawing surface that emulate the ctrl, alt, shift and space keys, as well as a small pad that acts as a mouse wheel (great for zooming in and out w/o having to go back to the mouse)

Also, get as big a drawing surface as you can afford (and your desk can hold) you'll thank yourself later.

HTH.

thanks for that - was looking at getting 6 x 8 - i only have a small working area - will look at the intuos and you never know i might actually "grow into" the extra options

intuos all the way...and even if you have a small area, do your hardest to get the biggest one possible...

I also own an Intuos owner. I've ever tried the Graphie, because for just a few more dollars I could get all of the additional listed sensitivities and options. I have the 6'' x 8'' and a small work space; I like to take it with me on trips because it's small and portable.

over here in aussie land - the intuos is double the price of a graphire

I've just (like yesterday) picked up a brand new Graphire 4 XL (A5) on ebay for £114. Well pleased with it, in fact I haven't used the mouse since. I've tried out a couple of bits in PS, highlighting around the eyes and sharpening and it's just soo much easier than struggling with the mouse.

I too went through the debate of which pad to get, but in the end decided that I didn't need the addition of a mouse with the pad, I have an IR wireless mouse any way. Also the A5 size fits comfortably on my desk and navigating around my screen, an Iiyama 19" LCD, is quite easy without too much over movement.

I'm not that happy with the buttons on the pen, but then I have got big mits, maybe its one of those time to get used to things. However double tapping on the pad is no real problem. As to the replacement nibs, they are available from Wacom, you just don't get any with the kit. But then being a nylon tip I don't expect it to wear out that quick.

Another reason for not going for the Intuos is that the angle sensing motion of the pen would be of no use to me. My 20 month old granddaughter is a better artist than me

With you on the money front too. Here in the UK the price difference between the two A5 models is about £100!