How did I get along without this?
Written: Jun 03 '00 (Updated Jun 03 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: professional quality, comfortable to use
Cons: won't work when machine wakes up from full sleep mode
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| box543's Full Review: Wacom Intuos Tablet Series |
I recently bought a 9x12 WACOM Intuos tablet (ADB version). I was actually saving up for the 4x5 size, but was able to get a great deal on a returned one at Fry's. I've been wanting a tablet to make it easier for me to do illustration on my laptop. It's a heck of a lot easier to draw a shap with a pen and tablet than with the little mousepad on my G3 Powerbook!
The tablet came with two CDs. One of the CDs was MetaCreations' Painter Classic (which I didn't install because I'm not a big fan) and the other was the Intuos CD. On the Intuos CD, you get help files, PenTools plug-ins for Photoshop and the software necessary to run the tablet. The software installed easily. I was able to open up the the Tablet Extension and easily adjust the settings. The extension interface is a bit difficult to navigate. However, that's just because it allows you to adjust a ton of options.
After setting up my pen angle and pressure levels, I got to work on actually using the pen. The hardest thing for me to get used to it the one-to-one tablet to screen ratio. Unlike the laptop's trackpad, I can't just skip around on the screen. The other thing that took a bit of getting used to was the fact that I don't want to navigate via pen with the pen tip on the tablet. I ended up selecting item all over the screen before I realized that I could navigate by hovering the pen.
The pen itself is comfortable and easy to use. It's shaped like a calligraphy pen, almost. So, if you find those easy to grasp, you'll do fine with this pen. Sometimes I forget about the button on the side and grip a little to hard in the wrong place and end up activating things I didn't mean to. I suppose it'll just take time for me to get used to it.
There's a nifty eraser feature on the pen. I use it a lot in Netscape. Turn the pen over to use the eraser point and click on the URL line and it gets "erased." Very handy.
The pen comes with a small weighted holder. Just remember: the pen fits bet if it goes tip side in (not eraser side in).
The tablet also came with a wireless 6 button mouse. It can be adjusted easily for right- or left-hand use. The mouse will always take precedence over the pen if you try to use them both at the same time. (Or if, like me, you forget and leave the mouse on the tablet by accident.)
The tablet itself has some nice features. First of all, it has a heavy-duty, transparent plastic flap that you can place items to trace under. It's a much better quality than other tablets I've seen. There are also "quick buttons" at the top of the tablet. Some are already programmed for commands: Open, New, Close, Save, Print, Exit, Cut, Copy, Undo, Paste, Delete. And there are also 5 that you can program yourself. They are very handy and I use them a lot. Other buttons on the tablet include a set to change the pressure (soft, medium, firm) and a set to change the mode (pen, mouse, quickpoint).
The only flaw I've found is that if I let my laptop go all the way to sleep, I cannot use the tablet after the machine wakes up, I have to restart. However, I'm using Mac OS 8.5 and this could be an incompatability that can be fixed by upgrading my OS, I'm not sure.
Overall,, I would recommend this product to anyone who needs more comfort and control over their digital work - especially designers. I've only had it a few weeks and I'm start to wonder how I ever got along with out it!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 299.90
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Epinions.com ID:
box543
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Location: Frisco, TX
Reviews written: 70
Trusted by: 32 members
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