To Cintiq, or Not to Cintiq

As you may have seen in my previous journal entries - I recently lost the use of my cintiq companion, which has forced me to decide whether to fix the cintiq, get a new one, or use a back-up solution.

To make a long story short, I have decided to NOT fix the cintiq companion.

Why?

Wacom wants $940 dollars to fix the device. What happened to require such an expensive repair? The cintiq landed on it's side with the power cord plugged in. The  power port on the motherboard was quite busted - the inside of the power port were floating around inside the cintiq. The motherboard was quite fine, as was everything else on the device. The device was fully charged, and it worked perfect until it finally ran out of juice.

Wacom said the only way to fix the port is to replace the motherboard, which they charge a hefty $940 to do. I got a second opinion through a local repair shop, who did some research and came to the same conclusion. More importantly, the local shop said the parts are not available and I'd have to go through Wacom.

$940 bucks. And no warranty. It must be nice giving customers no other option!

I compared this price to a newly refurbished 1st gen cintiq (the same as what I have), which was around $1100. That includes the pen, case, free shipping, etc. Oh, and a warranty. Wacom is wanting to charge an absurd amount of money for a motherboard that is likely less than $100. So - do I really need a cintiq companion? Should I instead buy a refurbished unit? Should I  buy a 2nd generation cintiq?

I chose option D. I ditched the cintiq companion entirely.

I had already purchased a "mobile sketchbook" device, the Helix 2nd gen. The tablet is smaller, only has pressure sensitivity (no tilt, no rotation), but it's amazing nonetheless. It is GREAT as a mobile digital sketchbook. The cintiq companion is mobile... but not really. It's a bit heavy, a bit bulky, and does not have a decent case for "mobile" use. I decided to test the Helix to see how well it can handle bringing a piece to a finish. The vast majority of my latest peice was done on the Helix. I'm quite happy with the results!



I do miss the pen-tilt and rotation of the cintiq companion, but the Helix is proving to be more than adequate as an alternative. It also has a 3 year warranty!

Note - I also have this over at my Blog <blog.keatonstudios.com>, but I figured I'd post this here as well for DA people .