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Wacom Cintiq 13HD - A Space-Saving Pen Display For Designers (Part 1)

9/11/2013 11:11:36 AM

In general, the performance is true to what we can expect from a Wacom screen (and definitely a welcome replacement for the Cintiq 12WX), but the missing bells and whistles give us pause.

Our curiosity was stimulated immediately when Wacom revealed a tablet-sized device a few months ago. However, the next reveal from the company specializes in pen-enabled device was actually the Cintiq 13HD - a product similar to the outfit's existing displays. We guess we will have to continue to wait patiently for that truly mobile input device. However, this time, the 13-inch pen display sports that tablet form factor, but still is a special accessory for artists, designers and photographers. While the device still offers the capable, user-configurable ExpressKeys and mighty Cintiq pen, are the lack of touch gestures and the need to remain wired to your desktop or laptop deal breakers? Keep on reading to see what we discovered.

Wacom Cintiq 13HD

Wacom Cintiq 13HD

Hardware

At first glance with the screen off, the Cintiq 13HD can be confused with the medium Intuos5 touch. However, take a closer look; you will see that it provides room to view its semi-gloss, pen-enabled surface. Wacom's latest device is decorated in an all-black coating, while a slightly smaller set of ExpressKeys, surrounding a single Rocker Ring and a centered home button, lines the bezel to one side of the display panel. Again, these controls have a soft outer layer, providing comfortable place to rest your weary fingers during an intense work session. Raised bumps on a few of those toggles allow you to determine the direction without looking at the numbers. A power button, USB 2.0 port, 3-in-1 cable jack and LED status indicator are located on the other side, as opposed to these user-configurable buttons.

A slightly smaller set of ExpressKeys, surrounding a single Rocker Ring and a centered home button, lines the bezel to one side of the display panel.

A slightly smaller set of ExpressKeys, surrounding a single Rocker Ring and a centered home button, lines the bezel to one side of the display panel.

Around the back, there's a panel of the same soft-touch material embossed with the Wacom logo that covers a portion of display and two squares of it on the opposite end. A pair of slots for the included stand can also be found at the rear. In terms of size, the Cintiq 13HD measures 14.75x9.75 inch (375 x 248mm) and about a half inch thick in general, but the screen or "active" area measures 11.75x6.75 inch (299x171mm) or 13.3 inches diagonally. These dimensions make this pen display slightly portlier than the Toshiba's Excite 13, if you are looking for size comparison with a full-size 13-inch tablet. It is also heavier, about 2.65 pounds.

Included in the box - just like with the larger Cintiq offerings, although much less strong this time - is the stand. The black and silver accessory offers notches for those built-in slots on the back of the 13HD; with a little more of that soft-touch material to minimize scratches and to ensure the thing doesn't slip off the desk. The stand has separate inserts for 22-, 35- and 50-degree viewing angles and the screen will remain fixed in a completely flat orientation. Adjusting the angle here is slightly harder than we saw with the lever pushes on the giant 24HD touch model. Of course, this is not necessary and a stand-less, in-lap work session is also an option.

The stand has separate inserts for 22-, 35- and 50-degree viewing angles

The stand has separate inserts for 22-, 35- and 50-degree viewing angles

Remember that 3-in-1 port? Well, as you may have to wait, there's a dedicated cable for that guy. At one end, there's a single connector that resembles Apple's 30-pin option for the 13HD and on the other, the cable split into 3 separate connections for USB and HDMI on your selected computer, and AC adapter. If Mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt jack is your chosen weapon, you will need to purchase a $35 adapter (we bought Belkin accessories at the local Apple store), just like we did for the Cintiq 24HD touch.

There's a dedicated cable for that 3-in-1 port.

There's a dedicated cable for that 3-in-1 port.

Display

The major attractiveness on the Cintiq 13HD is the display. The display measures 13.3 inches (338mm) with 1920x1080 resolutions for full HD viewing with more than 165ppi. Using 75% of the Adobe RGB color gamut, the panel sorts 16.7 million colors and offers 250 cd/m2 of brightness. "Semi-gloss" probably best describes the surface because it only provides enough brightness without bring reflections from external light. The viewing angle is also quite excellent and we didn't see much depth between the outer surface and the pixel below that we have observed on the 24HD touch screen. Close-up work sessions didn't reveal visible pixels like they did on its massive brother - a welcome improvement. Overall, we liked the screen quality here than the larger pen peripheral, as the sharpness greatly improves detailed design work and tedious photo editing.

Cintiq Pen

There's one box to keep the pen in the upright position which also contains 10 spare nibs, too.

There's one box to keep the pen in the upright position which also contains 10 spare nibs, too.

While the highly capable Cintiq pen does get a bit of an exterior makeover this time around, internal things mostly remain the same. The 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity (on the pen tip and eraser) and soft-touch grip that we liked on the Intuos 5 touch and the Cintiq 24HD touch are also present here. There’s still one box to keep the pen in the upright position which also contains 10 spare nibs, too. However, the pen itself now sports a dapper two-tone, silver-and-black scheme with a dash of chrome around its built-in buttons. It lines in its own separate case alongside those extra pen tips and color rings for keeping one pen easily identifiable from that of a fellow cubicle dweller.

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