Eduard Punset states that the overwhelming availability of choices present in modern life is a hell of a stress factor and an important cause of unhappiness. Man, he is right!

At the beginning of the DIY-Cintiq (I should really get a name for mine!), many choices need to be made, and they are difficult to deal with at times: I found a great offer on ebay for a wacom table, but quite a large one: 12”x18” for 50€ total, and I could not refuse it (I know there are far more offers in the US, but post and customs costs to Spain cause you to lose any possible gain). Also I got a very cheap compaq 15” monitor with external power supply for 40€… I got it because it is the only one I could find at surplus dealers with external power supply.

Now I am sitting with a 12×18 tablet (well, still awaiting for it to arrive!), and a 15” monitor, half the size of the tablet (9”x12”)… and I face three possible options:

1. Build with what I have: I would have half the tablet for the monitor, and the other half to map to the main screen… it seems nice, but maybe too big an not very practical. Also I need to check the jittering compatibility of these two !
2. Search for a larger monitor that could fit better my current tablet… problems: cost and difficulty finding larger monitors with external power supply…
3. Search for a smaller tablet and use my current monitor… uuuumh…
4. Get both non-jittering monitor & tablet from a friendly guy at Bongofish…

My Wacom Digitizer II - UD1218

Choices…

The bottom-line: read before you buy… this thread would have helped a lot. But to tell the truth, it is stupid why I get confused by measures given in inches instead of meters… why? They are just numbers, equally comparable… some strange wiring in my mind forces me to try to convert them to meters and compare there in an “unreal perfect ethereal world”, instead just compare 12 to 12 and 18 to 9… Punset might write a whole new book from this…

Ok, not the most literary quote here, but if it rings the bell, then we are aboard the same boat…

So, who many times you think, “oh, it would be great if I could build a […], wouldn’t it?”. Just go and google it, chances are someone has already thought about it, and yes, surely built it too, and even have a nice forum set up full of wonderful people willing to share and help.

Well, how about building a Wacom Cinquit…

Cintiq screen - pressure sensitive pannel...

The thing is a beauty, but just a bit pricey for just a whim… maybe Art & Design pros can afford it, but not me! I will do the googling for you, and the site to go is definitely Drew’s DIY Cinqit page… and his forums.

Anyway, isn’t it too much of an effort just to get a tablet PC?… not quite, since Wacoms are much more functional than just a mere tablet: they are pressure sensitive among other wonders… In any case, it is a little overkill if you are not a pro in Arts… hell, I don’t even draw!… but you know what?, it seems so much fun to build one, and I am sure it makes a great present for someone who works in arts.

So, here I go!… this is not a project for the faint hearted, though: we will be seeing the guts and most likely corpses of LCD monitors, pen tablets and the like… take out your weapons (let’s say s screwdriver and soldering iron) and let the game begin!