I am a long-time Wacom user, but had recently heard a lot of good things about Yiynova circulating around. A friend of mine loaned me his Wacom Cintiq 12WX a little while back and while I didn't feel it an absolute necessity, it was quite nice and as such I have sort of always wanted to get such a tool for myself.
Thus, when my old Wacom Intuos 3 started to give out on me, I thought I'd give this Yiynova thing a try as the $1000+ price tags on the Cintiqs is just too much for me.
Size:
The MVP10UHD was a little bit smaller than I expected, measuring in at 7.5"x12", with an actual drawing area of 5"x7.75". NOTE: the actual device I received has a widescreen resolution display, as opposed to the one in the example pictures which is closer to a more traditional screen shape. This is fine though--it's even more portable than I was expecting, and I had no real idea what to expect anyway.
The device does feel surprisingly light, but as to whether this is a result of cheap materials or not I cannot say. The plastic feels like it could be a little flimsy, but only time will tell I suppose. Extra light just adds to its portability.
As for the pen, with battery in it feels about the same weight as my Intuos 3's stylus, and I haven't really noticed a difference in the feel in my hand. It feels natural. The buttons do stand out a bit further than on my Intuos stylus, so it's easier to bump them by mistake.
Setup:
Despite the horror stories I'd heard about installation for these devices, it went very smoothly. Perhaps because it's a newer device, but all of the software on the included CD was up to date. Yes, on a Windows PC, you DO have to open the CD manually to access the installers, but I feel that anyone even somewhat used to operating their computer should have no trouble doing this.
I was unsure when setting up myself, but you should plug in the tablet before you start installing drivers--the display driver halted halfway through during my setup, and then finished when I attached the device, so I imagine it would have gone even more smoothly had I hooked it up from the beginning. Regardless, a very short installation time and a PC reboot later, you should be good to go.
The included User's Guide walks you through everything pretty clearly. If you're unsure, read it.
Tablet Usage:
After a little bit of time spent setting up my buttons and orientation (also clearly explained in the Guide), and a quick crash course in multiple monitor displays, I dove in.
All I can say is, WOW.
Not only does it have higher pressure sensitivity than my Intuos 3, it has perhaps double what I remember the Cintiq 12WX having when I tried it. I've never been able to achieve such a range of pressure with a single brush before on any tablet I've tried in the past. It performs beautifully in both Manga Studios 4 and 5, and Paint Tool SAI (also a bonus: it worked in SAI immediately! SAI has a history of not performing at all with tablet switches) with no jitter at all. There is some jitter in Photoshop, but this is more a product of the program itself than the tablet, and I noticed less thanks to the nature of drawing directly onto the screen.
As stated in previous reviews, the cursor does not sit directly beneath the tip of the stylus (it's REALLY close though), even after calibration, but my brain adjusted to this almost immediately and it does not cause me any trouble at all.
Personal thoughts:
A word of advice: adjust the brightness settings right away. I think it comes set up at maximum brightness, and within an hour or two I began to suffer from significant eye strain for the first time in my life. This could be a product of any combination of things (aging, eyesight, smaller screen, lack of breaks), but by dropping the brightness down to its lowest setting I reduced it significantly. Guess it'll force me to take more frequent breaks.
Because the screen DOES behave like a typical laptop and the display has a tendency to reverse to negative values at extreme angles, it's taking me a little bit of practice to find a comfortable arrangement for me. I apparently draw with my sketchbook at a particular angle when drawing with pencil, so there's a bit of retraining going on there. It's probably better for me anyway.
Also, and this was perhaps the deal maker/breaker for me: LEFT HANDED SUPPORT! No review of any of the Yiynova digitizers had yet mentioned it at all, so I was terrified while waiting for it to arrive that I would have to completely retrain my button usage to accomodate (the Intuos 3 had equal buttons on either side and I got very used to using them). A couple switches in display orientation and tablet setup and I was ready to go! You do have to program the buttons upside down, but that's a worthy exchange for me for being able to use them at all. :)
I'm still learning the ins and outs of multiple monitors, but so far the only real annoyance I've encountered is that I have to redo my lefty settings every time my computer enters standby or hibernates. In fact, the driver settings don't seem to play well with laptop hibernation at all (I lose my button settings and have to restart to fix it). Not sure why this happens, but if this is the only real downside to finally having a solid Cintiq alternative, then that's okay with me.
All in all, this is a fine digital drawing tool that accomplishes just about everything I need it to do. Having used it for a few weeks now, I don't think I would want to go back. :) Good job, Yiynova!
(Also, I was planning on writing a detailed review of this item regardless, but the free pen kit offer is a nice bonus, Panda City. ;) )
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