Before we write a thorough review of the Wacom Cintiq 12WX  after using it for a few weeks, we thought it would be a good idea to give you some first impressions of this draw-on-the-screen, pressure-sensitive tablet LCD display. As you can see in the picture above, the $999 device can be propped up and function as a second monitor, providing a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution squeezed ever so slightly into 12-inches of screen real estate. The Cintiq 12WX, however, is not primarily intended to be used as a display. The device offers 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity for graphic artists and photographers to use in drawing and photo-retouching directly on the screen.

 

Although the Cintiq 12WX is the smallest and most portable of the Cintiq interactive pen displays, there's quite a bit included in the box. Not only does the device include all the wires and software needed to make it run, a Wacom Grip Pen for working on the device, and an integrated and collapsable arm and stand, but Wacom also bundles the 12WX with Photoshop Elements (4.0 for Mac and 5.0 for Windows), Corel Painter Essentials 3, Nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 IE for photo retouching, and Wacom Brushes 3.0 with 81 customized brushes for use with Photoshop CS+ or Photoshop Elements.

The display itself has a single cord coming from the upper right-hand corner of the device, measures 16 x 10.5 x 0.67 inches, and is light enough and designed well enough so that it feels solid and comfortable to hold in your arms or on your lap when drawing. However, while the 12WX itself would easily slide in a backpack to go on a quick trip with your laptop, don't expect to be able to pull it out and sketch on it just anywhere. The display is powered by a LCD tablet converter box that connects via the Cintiq's integrated display cord to the tablet itself and then connects to your computer by the included USB cable and either the included DVI cable or DVI to VGA cable. The converter box also requires power from an AC adapter that includes a power brick that measures roughly 4 x 2 x 1 inches.

It's possible to pack this all up in a backpack, but there are quite a bit of wires involved and it's more geared towards regular usage in one location or occasional relocation to different work environments, rather than as an easy to carry always available sketching solution. If you're looking for a fully on-the-go solution, you should probably consider one of the Wacom Intuos, Graphire, or Bamboo graphic tablets that do not include a built-in display, but which are less expensive than the Wacom Cintiq 12WX, are powered by a simple USB connection to your computer, and offer the same pressure sensitive input as the Cintiq.

Besides the one caveat that there are lots of wires needed to run the device, our first impressions of the device are largely positive. Once the 12WX is connected to your computer, the cable from the converter box to the device itself is long enough where you have a good deal of motion and flexibility in usage that makes you largely forget about all those wires until you have to move your entire workstation again.

The screen offers a nicely wide viewing angle of 170 degrees, a matte finish, and is bright. The 12WX comes with an adjustable aluminum arm that can fold fully into the back of the thin device, so that you can either lay it flat on a table or easily move it about and prop it up into whatever position is most comfortable for you. When laid flat on a table, there's even a slightly raised rubber bump on the back in the middle of the Cintiq, so that you can easily spin the display around on the table while drawing like you would with a physical piece of paper.

On either side of the screen, there are touch strips that work for scrolling up and down in some programs and for zooming in and out in others. The 12WX also features ten programmable ExpressKey controls, five on either side of the screen, that can be used for various clicks and key combinations, so that you can minimize the times you need to put down the pen to access your computer's keyboard. By default, the top of the ExpressKey buttons on either side of the screen triggers a display toggle mode that allows the tablet to either be used for precision control on the Cintiq display itself, or as a mouse like input device that in multiple-monitor scenarios can access and control both actions on your computer's default screen and the integrated screen.

We've only been using the device for a few days now, but already we're impressed with its ease of use and responsiveness. If you're an artist, an aspiring artist, or you just love doodling or drawing, the ability to draw directly on the screen on the Wacom Cintiq 12WX feels very natural, and unlike the bulkiness of typical Tablet PCs or integrated touch displays, the ergonomics of this thin tablet feel very similar to drawing on a sketching board of some sort. After we've had more time to fully explore the device we'll have a full review here at Obsessable, so make sure you check back.