Okay guys… I got this monster set up, after a LOT of stress.

There do not appear to be any dead or malfunctioning pixels.

My graphics card appears to work with the super-high resolution just fine.

The pressure sensitivity is functional, like the old 13HD.


That out of the way… I decided to do some further tests, just for peace of mind.

My screen protector won’t be arriving until at LEAST tuesday, since in Canada Good Friday AND Easter fucking Monday are holidays, so the postal service just STOPS for four days. Which means not only do I not get my screen protector until then, but I can’t send my 13HD to the people I promised it to. It’s bullshit. And I’m Catholic.

But that said, I was unable to resist playing with it a little bit.

Someone on the official Wacom forums claimed that the screen is considerably more durable than previous Cintiq models. One person even stated that he couldn’t even scratch the screen with an x-acto knife. That’s a pretty outrageous claim. I am getting some conflicting reports in regards to its build. Some say it’s an anti-glare coating. Some say it’s actual etched glass. I’ve gotten completely different answers from both Wacom employees and actual artists, so I decided to do an experiment.

Against all my better judgement, I took an X-acto knife (STAY WITH ME ON THIS) like that guy said, and I tried to see if it would scratch the screen in a 2x2 millimeter area, away from the actual drawing space.

So I scratched at it, and… It… doesn’t seem to scratch. At first I thought it was because I was just being super-gentle… but after a while, I was really scratching it good, but it didn’t leave a mark that couldn’t be wiped away with the cloth they included. Not even when I took the “cutting” edge to it.

Of course, even SO, I’m still paranoid about the screen. But at least I will be able to use it carefully until Tuesday, when my screen protector gets here. I don’t want to take more chances than necessary. I even have my “smudge guard” pinky-glove on, and I’ve cleaned my office extensively, so no dust and debris gets around.

… Still… it stood up to an X-acto knife……….. I can’t believe I’m saying this…. but I might not even NEED a screen protector. :|


Am I crazy for thinking that? Guys, am I crazy!?


The display itself has excellent color fidelity, like the 13HD, or other mid-range artist IPS monitors. The photo above doesn’t really represent the color fidelity of the tablet or my big…. well, SMALLER monitor now. Gradients will be smooth on this.

The response time of the monitor isn’t so great. But since it’s not designed for GAMING, it should be adequate for all art-related needs. Movies look pretty good, but I wouldn’t go playing TF2 on here.

The only problem I see so far… is the sheer SIZE of this thing. I’m waiting for my screen protector before I do this, but I will be setting it up on an Ergotron LX monitor arm. (Or the HP version of it, which is half the price for some reason) But until then, it’s a HUGE desk hog. I have no reasonable place to put my keyboard. Once I get it set up on the monitor arm, this is all going to be a whole lot simpler.

But I actually like the huge drawing space. I actually feel like I’m PAINTING, not just scribbling.

The remotes that comes with the tablet seems pretty sturdy. I can see myself using this in place of a keyboard. I’m glad wacom at least anticipated the keyboard problem I mentioned above. Of course, I can see that this thing is going to have a very steep learning curve.

Now keep in mind that this is a FIRST IMPRESSION. I’ve had this hooked up for about 4 hours now, and my head hurts from the stress of worrying about scratches, and from the stress of setting it up without accidentally dropping it.

So yeah…. So far so good! Knock on some wood for me, guys! ;v;