Holiday shopping - anybody play any of these and your thoughts on them

[Mrtoad]

It is that time of year to do a little shopping for the people in our lives. I love Christmas and especially love to give presents to people. I do have budgets to stick to but always wind up over what we set.

This year my 14 year old daughter had a very small birthday/Christmas list. Her birthday is in November so she makes one list. She only had a few books, a few movies, a couple Doctor Who items, pie (she likes pie) and one item she surely did not know the cost or would not ask for, a drawing tablet for her PC (she is an artist). So her big item is a tablet, I looked at cheaper ones but figured in the end it will be wasted money as she will want a better one in a few years so got a good one.

My 7 year old daughter on the other hand has so much on her list and adds to it each day I would not know where to begin to list it all. Her big item is a Frozen castle as well as some pink cowgirl boots.

But on top of all that I like to get some games each year we can all play as a family. Last year they got several board games and their Elf before going back to the North Pole left them a nice nok hockey game. This year thinking that what they got from their elf was so much fun I purchased a few games I have never played before but looked fun but wondered if anybody has tried them and if they were indeed fun. All 3 are made by Carrom.

The Carrom board
Carrom Skittles
Carrom Bowl-A-Mania

Anybody play them and what do you think of them?

if anybody would like to share their holiday shopping list, I would love to hear that as well.

thanks,
Mike

[luckydog]

I plan on giving the same thing I give every year, some lottery scratch off tickets and something green and one size fits all "Cash"

and maybe a few little items

I usually get a few gift cards

[hanabi]

My daughter is also interested in drawing (she has an interest in manga /anime) and would love a drawing tablet,

not sure what is out there, heard her talk about 'Bamboo'?

Do you have any recommendations / suggestions for a Drawing tablet thingy?

[Mrtoad]

My daughter is also interested in drawing (she has an interest in manga /anime) and would love a drawing tablet,

not sure what is out there, heard her talk about 'Bamboo'?

Do you have any recommendations / suggestions for a Drawing tablet thingy?

Anime is an interest of my daughter too. She has been taking private art lessons for about 6 to 7 years and starting this weekend will be taking classes at an art school. If she likes the school we will stick with it.

I only really know what I have read. Wacom who makes the Bamboo tablet is supposed to be the recommended brand. I read though the bamboo is very entry level and does not have good pressure sensitivity. The recommended line is the Intuos (and Intuos Pro). They have a wide swing in cost though. The Intuos small tablet on Amazon is about $85.00 US being the cheapest. The Intuos Pro large tablet is the most expensive at nearly $450 US on Amazon. I read that medium is the recommended size due to if your monitor is not humongous the large will be too big and the small ones won't work well on a large monitor. The standard Intuos medium is about $175 and the Intuos Pro medium is about $300. I wound up getting the Pro one just because I was concerned of needing an upgrade too quick but the price point is high so hopefully it gets the use we are hoping it will.

The he pro line is supposed to have the best pressure sensitivity and will recognize pen angles to be more like using pencil and paper. I am not sure your budget (I broke mine) but if you can at least go with medium Intuos over the bamboo I think you should. All that being said, it is all off of what I read, not from personal experience.

Here red is one link to do some reading: http://cameratico.com/guides/how-to-...om-pen-tablet/

Good luck and that helped a little
Mike

[pds319]

In regards to a drawing tablet, you really can't go wrong with either the Bamboo or Intuos. Both are made by Wacom and share a lot of the same features. The Intous Pro is a very good tablet and has a ton of versatility. The Bamboo (which it looks like is now just called the Intuos) is a great tablet as well. In my opinion, it really just boils down to cost.

I work in TV graphics and use a tablet fairly regularly. Honestly, I've had a Bamboo Pen tablet for the last 5 years and haven't upgraded yet. It's comparable to the current Intuos Pen small. I do a lot of work in Photoshop, drawing in Illustrator, and Flash animation. That tablet has gotten me through many shows. The active area on it is nowhere near the size of any of the Intuos Pros, nor does it have any of the shortcut keys found on the Pro. With any sort of tool, it boils down to how and how well you use it. It's coming time to get a new tablet as the cable on mine is near ready to fall off. Hell, the new ones have detachable cables or are wireless! With that said, I'm still leaning more towards the Intuos Pen & Touch. I can justify the cost of the Pro, but I just don't need all the bells and whistles.

Well, that's my take on the tablet front.

[Mrtoad]

In regards to a drawing tablet, you really can't go wrong with either the Bamboo or Intuos. Both are made by Wacom and share a lot of the same features. The Intous Pro is a very good tablet and has a ton of versatility. The Bamboo (which it looks like is now just called the Intuos) is a great tablet as well. In my opinion, it really just boils down to cost.

I work in TV graphics and use a tablet fairly regularly. Honestly, I've had a Bamboo Pen tablet for the last 5 years and haven't upgraded yet. It's comparable to the current Intuos Pen small. I do a lot of work in Photoshop, drawing in Illustrator, and Flash animation. That tablet has gotten me through many shows. The active area on it is nowhere near the size of any of the Intuos Pros, nor does it have any of the shortcut keys found on the Pro. With any sort of tool, it boils down to how and how well you use it. It's coming time to get a new tablet as the cable on mine is near ready to fall off. Hell, the new ones have detachable cables or are wireless! With that said, I'm still leaning more towards the Intuos Pen & Touch. I can justify the cost of the Pro, but I just don't need all the bells and whistles.

Well, that's my take on the tablet front.

thanks for the info! Do you think then the pro is overkill or if able to afford it is a good move? I do think she will be in the art field (she never is anywhere without a pad and pencil). If she is not doing school work she is usually drawing. I hate second guessing myself...

[pds319]

I feel like the Pro would be something great to work up to. Once one gets the hang of working with a standard tablet (which can be a challenge in the beginning), I'd then move onto a Pro. The extra pressure sensitivity and extra quick keys probably won't matter. Even the entry level tablets won't give much trouble in detecting a stronger stroke vs. a lighter touch. I would start with maybe the Pen & Touch and if she sticks with it, maybe get a Pro. And that's only if she feels like she'd want to get a new one. These things last forever and you become accustomed to every little nuance that you may only upgrade if your hand is forced. It's pretty much the case with most input devices. I've only bought one new mouse in the last 5 years and that was because I knocked my last one on a concrete floor. I ended up getting one with all sorts of bells and whistles that blew my old one out of the water. That being said, I still miss my old mouse a little.

[Mrtoad]

hmm, thanks, i need to do some thinking here. i just dont want to buy something that is not the right tool but also don't want to spend 3 times the price than i need to. thanks for the reply and info and I will need to do some thinking the next few days...

[Mrtoad]

Two more gifts out of the way that I am very excited about. I have 2 younger brothers and one is very into movies and the other is very into music.

The one who is into movies is also a big time Star Wars fan and I got him this print and bought a frame for it. The print won't be here for a week so hoping it is as cool in person. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1109101...ef=favs_view_1

For or the one into music, he plays both guitar and bass and I found a seller on eBay who had something they make that I think will be perfect for him. The video in the link is the actual item I bought. He posts a video of each one which is really nice and very helpful. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7g3SSfQn08g

I think both gifts are perfect for them and am so excited to give to them when I see them on Christmas Eve.