I'll Probably Jump Ship

It’s my own fault, really, to lose my ambition. I understand that. I accept that.

So I got a Yiynova MSP19U tablet monitor and I'm just playing around in Photoshop, getting used to it. So far I'm pretty impressed.

For those of you who don't know, the MSP19U is supposed to be a Wacom Cintiq alternative. It's got a 19" (diagonal) surface to draw on and the screen is glassy slick. The glass is a boon to me, as I'm used to drawing on my SurfacePro now and I LOVE that smooth screen. I was NEVER comfortable with the surface of Wacom products; I just never liked that texture and I've always been very sensitive to the feel of things. That's probably why I almost never use my Intuos. I've had it for probably a year and a half now and I've barely touched it. Since I got my SurfacePro, I almost exclusively use that as a drawing device, not just because of it's mobility. 

Anyhar, back to the MSP19U. I've only had it hooked up a few hours now and I'm still figuring things out with it. So far my only annoyance is that for some reason I can't get my dual-screen set-up to act separate from one another. I have the same view on both screens and what I want to do is have it so I can have reference images on my main screen and Photoshop strictly in the other. I'll probably write more once I figure out how to fix that. 

Also, the disc that Yiynova sent me was kind of useless. It wouldn't actually run the setup automatically when I put it in the drive; I had to navigate through the folders to find the drivers to set up the monitor. Lame-sauce.

So far the pen-pressure seems pretty decent? I have to press just a little harder with some pen settings, at least it feels like that.

The pen itself runs on a single triple-A battery, but it's not incredibly heavy. It actually feels like a good weight in my hand.

The monitor came with a pair of gloves that have the tip of the thumb and first three fingers cut out. Only the pinky is fully-covered. It's to keep your greasy-grimy-gross hands from grubbin' up the screen.

The color is a bit off. I've adjusted as best as I can, but there is some difference. I'll get over it.

In reading reviews I was told there was a limited viewing-angle, where you had to look dead-on for the best color. I don't mind looking dead on, and I have it about eye-level, so I don't know that the viewing angle will be an issue for me. I am still considering getting an adjustable monitor-arm though, just so I can occasionally stand up to do work. Sitting in a chair for so long is hard on my neck and concentration levels.

The best part of the Yiynova MSP19U has got to be the price-tag. Altogether with shipping, I paid $579 dollars on Amazon. I got it in a few days and it was packaged very securely (seriously, the bubble-wrap is the kind that could honestly double as flotation devices in a pool). I would pay four times as much for a Cintiq of comparable size.