Wacom Cintiq 21UX Review

The new Cintiq 21UX from Wacom is another triumph in their excellent line of pen tablets. This new model brings all of the latest technological advances in tablet innovation and delivers it all in a solid package that will let digital artists, designers and creatives draw, paint and write without restriction.

The 21UX features 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity and allows you to rotate the display by 180 degrees in each direction too. The LCD display area is bright and responds well to the stroke of the wireless grip-pen, which has also been refined and is very comfortable to hold and use for long periods of time. To rub something out, simply flip the pen over and begin to erase – the same as a normal pencil. This erase function also allows the use of the 2048 levels of pressure, so making minute or subtle changes is easy.

The tablet stand is totally adjustable too allowing you to incline it between 10-65 degrees. The stand also allows you to quickly unhinge the panel section totally and use it on your lap, or how ever you feel comfortable. The panel did get a little hot during our (brief) test, so I am not sure that having it resting on your legs for long periods of time would be a good idea.

As with the other Cintiq models, the 21UX has an array of quick-access keys and selectors around the edge of the bezel. This makes them very easy to access with your spare hand and they are fully customisable too. If you need to scroll around a document, you can hold the relevant button and then move the page with your pen. After a while, this gets very intuative and natural. You can also use the touch sensitive touch strips for quick zooming, scrolling or adjusting the size of your brush or tool. Unless you are used to using a tablet that has these kinds of additions, they may seem a little gimicky, but they will soon become essential to your productivity. Each strip has an LED that lights up to tell you what mode it is operating in and they are very easy to use.

Wacom supply the usual excellent drivers and software and this interactive pen display is compatible with PC and MAC too, so there are no issues to report there. Once you have registered the tablet online, you are able to download lots of software demos for the major products from Adobe or Corel. Although this cuts down on the items in the box, it may be a pain if you are not connected to the internet.