What size Wacom tablet do you use?

The mouse for my Wacom Graphire Bluetooth tablet has packed it in so I'm looking to upgrade to an Intuos. The Graphire has a 6"x8" active area, however Intuos replacement has a much larger footprint on my desk, so I'm considering going smaller.

What are you using?

I use an Intuos 3 X-Large. It's big, but I love it.

I use mine for graphic arts, not just photo retouching though.

Thanks Todd (I added a poll )

Do you use a keyboard and tablet at the same time? If so, how do you have things set up the ergonomics of your workstation?

I voted.

I have an apple wireless keyboard in front of my screen, and then the wacom butted up next to it on the right. I use a different mouse than the supplied wacom mouse, but I use it on top of the tablet (the tablet acts as a mousepad).

The ergonomics are quite good. I don't use the wacom for navigating the OS, just for specialty stuff, illustration, photo touching, etc..

Mine is an older size that doesn't fit the poll, but I voted Large
Casual measurementation puts it at around 9+ X 12 and a bit ...

joayne wrote in post #10846307
Mine is an older size that doesn't fit the poll, but I voted Large
Casual measurementation puts it at around 9+ X 12 and a bit ...

Yup, that would be "large".

It's a shame that the Intuos "small" is wider than my Graphire 3 (12.2" versus 11"). The Intuos "medium" is 14.6" wide.

Hmmm....I've used several Wacom tablets and I've never seen the need to use the Wacom mouse; to me the mouse is the weak point of the product. Currently I'm using a Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0.

I'm also using a Wacom Intuos 3 4" x 6" tablet and its more than enough for retouching. In fact I frequently remap the tablet to use only a portion of its surface.

PixelMagic wrote in post #10846444
Hmmm....I've used several Wacom tablets and I've never seen the need to use the Wacom mouse; to me the mouse is the weak point of the product. Currently I'm using a Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0.

I'm also using a Wacom Intuos 3 4" x 6" tablet and its more than enough for retouching. In fact I frequently remap the tablet to use only a portion of its surface.

No doubt the mouse for my Graphire wasn't that great.

When you re-map what do you do with the remaining area?

6x11" Intuos3. Very, very happy with it - the size matches quite well to a 24" monitor.

The remaining space is simply unused. Unless you're an artist trained to draw/sketch with your shoulder you'll find that a large tablet doesn't help with photo retouching.

Bob_A wrote in post #10846471
No doubt the mouse for my Graphire wasn't that great.

When you re-map what do you do with the remaining area?

A5 wide. That's about 6.5 x 11" active area.
Either spanning two screens, or maximized to map the main screen and a bit of the second. (Just enough to reach the layers palette in PSCS4 )

Well ... so far it looks like 90% opt for the medium size or larger. If anyone went with small it'd be great to know if it was because of cost, space, or because it's all you need

Small for the reason I use laptop, and at times I don't have the extra room for a larger tablet.

Bob_A wrote in post #10849962
If anyone went with small it'd be great to know if it was because of cost, space, or because it's all you need

I bought a small A6 sized one to use with my laptop while away from home but it just wasn't quite big enough. I kept running off the edge and resorting to the mouse. Now I carry an A5 one which is nearly the same footprint as the laptop

I have the Intuos4 Medium. I had a larger Intuos3 but had to sell it it was too big for me.