Wacom Cintiq 18SX: display and tablet combine in a powerful creative solution.

At work and in my personal life, much of my time is devoted to composing creative digital content. For years, I've incorporated a 12x12-inch Wacom Tablet Digitizer 2 (so old that it's no longer listed on the company's Web site) in my work. Although I have few complaints about my current device, I've been looking forward to a time when Wacom would merge a monitor with its pressure-sensitive tablet. So when the Wacom Cintiq 18SX made its debut, I quickly acquired it.

The Wacom Cintiq 18SX sports an 18.1-inch, high-resolution (1280x1024 SXGA) display and ships complete with a new Grip Pen stylus and a software bundle with Corel Painter Classic, Nik multimedia's penPalette, and Wacom brushes 1.0. The tablet also is accompanied by an adjustable stand capable of being rotated up to 180 degrees and inclined a maximum of 70 degrees. The stand was helpful, enabling me not only to move the tablet forward and back, but also to turn it to virtually any angle. When extended forward, however, it would sink slightly as I applied pressure to or leaned on the tablet. It's a minor detail, but I would prefer to mount the Cintiq on a more rigid armature.

The Cintiq weighs in at 17 pounds when removed from the stand. Its weight is such that it's not conducive to working with it in your lap for long periods. Besides, after an hour of working in that position, I had neck pain from having to look down all that time.

On the other hand, the Cintiq did alleviate a common discomfort. I often suffer pain in my shoulder from having my arm positioned on a tablet at the side of my workstation, while I look forward at the screen. And I'd stretch even farther to access the mouse or keyboard. Because I can draw, paint, and preview images directly on the face of the Cintiq, I didn't experience that old, familiar shoulder pain.

Everything I do involves shortcuts and key commands, so I require constant access to my keyboard. With Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, there's no getting around it. It was difficult to access the keyboard while drawing with the tablet in my lap or on its stand. Such awkwardness can be solved by working on a drawing board, which keeps the keyboard within reach. Another minor criticism, the tablet can generate quite a bit of heat, causing me to limit the time spent with it in my hands or on my lap. At the same time, a small groove in the Cintiq held the cord out of the way of the screen. In time, I could ...