For The Occasional Artist (4x5 tablet)
Written: Dec 15 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: accurate, sturdy, useful, sexy
Cons: right clicking is a pain
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| spiffdude's Full Review: Wacom Intuos Tablet Series |
My main trade is as a programmer, but I have the need to occasionally do graphics or 3D modeling. Since drawing with a mouse is like playing guitar with boxing gloves, I decided to pick up a $150 4x5 Wacom tablet. Installation was a breeze, and within minutes of plugging it into the USB port, I was goofing around in the bundled Fractal Design Painter. Besides being a practical peripheral, it's a lot of fun!
The tablet is not going to replace your mouse, but rather it supplements it. The pen is cordless and requires no power, and when it is near the tablet surface it takes control of the cursor. When you apply pressure, it acts as a mouse click. In a painting program that supports pressure-sensitivity (most of them do), pressing harder on the tablet makes your pen thicker, or darker, or does something else depending on the software. There is even an "eraser" on the other end of the pen -- flip the pen over, and most paint programs will switch to Erase mode and let you erase away.
The pressure sensitivity of this tablet is very good. It recognizes the slightest feather touch, and scales all the way up to a firm pencil-like pressure. A bundled utility allows very fine control over the sensitivity, and lets you experiment with the settings until you get it to your liking. I have not had any problems with uneven sensitivity, or jittering -- the response is smooth and natural. After your hands get used to the notion, it becomes second nature.
There are a couple of practical issues when using the device for serious work, however. The first is that certain tasks are better suited to a mouse. I find myself switching between tablet and mouse quite often, which can be distracting, especially when you have to also use the keyboard. Another problem arises when you have the need to right-click. There is a small rocker switch on the pen that lets you perform left and right mouse clicks, but I find this unnatural and cumbersome. A better option would be a small button on the tablet itself.
I have also had a couple of problems with "stuck" pen pressure in the bundled Painter Classic software, but there might be patches available for it. I have had no such problems in Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. The tablet software seems quite reliable.
If you're going to be doing serious graphic art work, I would recommend a larger tablet -- the 4x5 does not quite resolve down to 1 pixel. If you are just curious, try the Wacom Graphite tablet which is pretty much the same tablet but has 1/2 the sensitivity. I'm quite happy with my small handheld tablet though, and would buy it again if I had to.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 150
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Epinions.com ID:
spiffdude
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Location: Bethesda MD
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 2 members
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