Wacom Cintiq 21UX review

Verdict:

If you can justify the cost, you'll be captivated

Review Date: 5 Apr 2005

Price when reviewed: (£1899 ex VAT)

Reviewed By: Christopher Phin

Our Rating 5 stars out of 5

When the Cintiq 21UX is lying flat, it can rotate in either direction by a full 180, which means your drawing hand won't mask crucial areas of your artwork - a problem with standard tablets - and serves to make the whole process even more natural.

The screen itself is remarkably clear, particularly when you consider it's placed underneath a fully featured graphics tablet. While it's not quite of the quality of dedicated graphics displays, it's nevertheless very good. An ICC profile is supplied.

Although this is by far the best attempt we've seen to make a combined screen and tablet, some minor problems persist. Wacom has moved the screen closer to the surface, but there's still some discrepancy between the stylus tip and the cursor, exacerbated by the large size of the screen - that is, the act of moving your head from looking at one corner of the display to the other alters the relative position of the nib to the cursor, a trait that no amount of calibration can eradicate.

Due to technical limitations, tracking is less precise at the edges and especially the corners of the screen; it's not bad enough to make selecting the Apple menu a problem, but we were occasionally frustrated in our attempts to bring up the Dock, for instance.

Yes, it's expensive, but it's also lovely. If you can justify the cost, you'll be captivated. If you can't, take on a paper round.

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