Hi! Happy new year for all people here!!! i´ve a question: anybody knows the Summagraphics Summasketch tablet? i am to near to buy one at an online auction, but i couldn´t find to much information from the internet and here it isn´t a popular model. Before all, i´d like to know if this model is pression sensible, like Wacom tablets are. Thanks
I’d recommend going with the popular brand, not just because it’s thoroughly tested within ZBrush, but because you know it’ll be supported for some time to come.
Cue the horror story!
My first tablet was from a company called Kurta. It was a $1500 monstrosity, but I think I paid $700 for it as an evaluation for the computer store I worked at. Prices have dropped since then, obviously. (Man, I remember the incredible bargain I was getting, walking away with 32 megs of system RAM for a mere $800. But, that’s a story for another time.)
Shortly after I made this purchase, Kurta was absorbed by Mutoh, who later delegated support for their tablet line to a third party company. New drivers (supporting Windows 95 and higher) now cost an additional $45.
Your 32-bit operating system is going away in a few years, and it’s taking the current base of available drivers with it. If the tablet in question is cheap enough to consider disposable, by all means go for it. Otherwise, I challenge you to seek out the Summagraphics official website, and evaluate their staying power based on this experience.
Hint: CalComp isn’t Summagraphics
Hint #2: This isn’t a developer’s site
Near as I can tell, the Summasketch FX is pressure sensitive, but no longer supported. The Summasketch III does not appear to be. (rule of thumb: if the specs don’t list how many levels of pressure sensitivity there are, assume it to be 1)
Given that the brochure here is dated 1999 the SummasketchIII is a pretty old model. The drivers available will make it work but how long it will be supported is anybody’s guess. I used to own a CalComp Drawing Slate which I was very happy with but eventually - even with Win98 - it just became too difficult to install. The technology has moved on. My advice is to get the best Wacom tablet you can afford. Even if it is a small one it will be the latest technology, well-supported and you won’t be disappointed.
Marcus