Xencelabs

What to know about shopping at Xencelabs

Xencelabs makes drawing hardware for people who already know what they want from it. The lineup is small and aimed at the professional end, and the useful first decision is which of the two families you need. Pen displays are screens you draw directly onto - the Pen Display 24 and 24 Plus for a studio desk, and the Pen Display 16, 16 Bundle and 16 Lite where space or budget is tighter. Pen tablets are the screenless kind, where you draw on the tablet while watching your monitor, and come in Medium and Small.

The detail that separates the brand from its larger competitors is the Quick Keys remote. It is a separate programmable controller with its own small display and a dial, and it ships inside several of the bundles as well as being sold on its own. The point of it is that your shortcut keys come off the tablet body and sit wherever your other hand naturally rests, so the drawing surface stays uncluttered and the controller can be moved for left or right-handed use. If you are comparing a bare tablet against a bundle, that remote is usually the difference.

Accessories are worth knowing about because they are consumables. Nibs wear down with use and are sold in replacement packs; there are also spare pens, pen holders, stands, cables and power supplies. An Education Pack is offered for students and institutions, which is the route worth checking first if you qualify.

Two buying tips. Work out whether you actually need a screen before paying for one - a pen tablet costs considerably less than a pen display of the same generation, and many illustrators prefer drawing while looking up at a calibrated monitor. And order nibs with the hardware rather than separately, since they are low-value items that are far cheaper to add to an existing order than to ship on their own.

— MoneySaverCodes Team