But for students and working artists who use cheap knockoffs and are sick of fooling around with them, it’s a useful ramp to the industry standard.
Unless some of those ‘knockoffs’ perform better than Cintiqs in many aspects. Honestly, I cheer for the Cintiq alternatives. It is because of their existence (and in some cases, their pluses over Cintiq other than price) that Wacom is having to finally create some mid-tier options.
And for those looking for a good painting program, if their work is largely illustrative I cannot recommend Clip Studio Paint more. The program frequently goes on sale for $50, and all of my illustrating/digital painting friends have quit Photoshop for it. For even cheaper, the program Krita is free. It too stands toe-to-toe with Photoshop in many aspects. Both Krita and Clip Studio Paint have Wacom support (last time I checked). They also have support for many other tablet brands too iirc.
