Wacom Bamboo Digitizing Tablet - Black
Why it's a best pick:
The Bamboo Pen Tablet, also made by Wacom, is a much more affordable alternative to the Intous4, making it a great choice for designers on a budget or those that are just starting out. This tablet performs extremely well for the price. It’s very intuitive to use and provides an accurate feel of pen on paper. While the pressure sensitivity can’t match that of the Intous4, it’s still very good (512 levels) and should be suitable for most. The Bamboo Pen Tablet also features customizable function keys that can be assigned to do almost anything in order to save time and boost productivity. The Small version of this tablet is very compact, which makes it easy to travel with, and it should provide plenty of workspace for most users. However, professionals that need a larger workspace will want to step up to the Medium Size or go with the Intuous4.
Manufacturer Description: Now there's a simple, easy, and more natural way to bring your big ideas to life. Use Bamboo to transform your thoughts into powerful digital communications. Combine Bamboo with Mac Inkwell or Microsoft Windows Vista and Office 2007 to handwrite email, enter text by hand anywhere typed text is accepted, navigate your desktop with a flick of the pen, and more. This tablet...read full description
Manufacturer Description: Now there's a simple, easy, and more natural way to bring your big ideas to life. Use Bamboo to transform your thoughts into powerful digital communications. Combine Bamboo with Mac Inkwell or Microsoft Windows Vista and Office 2007 to handwrite email, enter text by hand anywhere typed text is accepted, navigate your desktop with a flick of the pen, and more. This tablet works with handwriting recognition, inking and pen features in Windows Vista (all editions but Home Basic) and Apple operating systems (OS X). It supports widescreen displays and has a textured work surface for a natural pen-on-paper feel. It offers high resolution and report rate for outstanding accuracy, precise control with an active area of 21 square inches and 512 levels of pressure sensitivity on the pen, and quick access to user-defined shortcuts with four Express Keys. Enjoy easy scrolling and zooming with the finger-sensitive Touch Ring. The included patented, battery-free pen with customizable buttons allows for comfort and reliability. The ergonomic design provides a comfortable supplement to mouse and keyboard input. minimize
- Best Tablet / Mouse for Graphic DesignersThe Bamboo Pen Tablet, also made by Wacom, is a much more affordable alternative to the Intous4, making it a great choice for designers on a budget or...read moreThe Bamboo Pen Tablet, also made by Wacom, is a much more affordable alternative to the Intous4, making it a great choice for designers on a budget or those that are just starting out. This tablet performs extremely well for the price. It’s very intuitive to use and provides an accurate feel of pen on paper. While the pressure sensitivity can’t match that of the Intous4, it’s still very good (512 levels) and should be suitable for most. The Bamboo Pen Tablet also features customizable function keys that can be assigned to do almost anything in order to save time and boost productivity. The Small version of this tablet is very compact, which makes it easy to travel with, and it should provide plenty of workspace for most users. However, professionals that need a larger workspace will want to step up to the Medium Size or go with the Intuous4....read less
- Best Digitizing Tablet for Designers OverallIf you're a designer on a budget or just getting started, the Bamboo Pen Tablet, also made by Wacom, is a much more affordable alternative to the Into...read moreIf you're a designer on a budget or just getting started, the Bamboo Pen Tablet, also made by Wacom, is a much more affordable alternative to the Intous4. This tablet performs extremely well for the price. It’s very intuitive to use and provides an accurate feel of pen on paper. While the pressure sensitivity can’t match that of the Intous4, it’s still very good (512 levels) and should be suitable for most. The Bamboo Pen Tablet also features customizable function keys that can be assigned to do almost anything in order to save time and boost productivity. The Small version of this tablet is very compact, which makes it easy to travel with, and it should provide plenty of workspace for most users. However, professionals that need a larger workspace will want to step up to the Medium Size or go with the Intuous4....read less
Tablet Resolution - 2540 lpi
Pressure Levels - 512
Compatibility
Ergonomic Fit - Left or Right-Handed
Interface Connection - USB - Universal Serial Bus "A"
System Type - Apple Macintosh, PC
Dimensions
Height - 0.3 in
Width - 7.88 in
Depth - 7.36 in
Warranty
Warranty Information - 1 Year Limited Warranty
More Info
URL - http://www.wacom.com/bambootablet/bamboo.cfm
Average Customer Rating:
(124 total reviews)
Great deal for the price., March 28, 2009
First of all, I must say that the only tablet I have used before is the Wacom Intuos3, so I will be drawing my comparisons mainly between the Intuos3 and Intuos4. I understand that there are a multitude of tablets/digitizers in the market, such as Genie and *forgot the company's name*, but my review will mainly focus on Wacom's line of tablets. To ...read full review
First of all, I must say that the only tablet I have used before is the Wacom Intuos3, so I will be drawing my comparisons mainly between the Intuos3 and Intuos4. I understand that there are a multitude of tablets/digitizers in the market, such as Genie and *forgot the company's name*, but my review will mainly focus on Wacom's line of tablets. To start off, I must say that if you are considering a tablet, then you might want to first try the Wacom Bamboo/Bamboo Fun before shelling out hundreds for a Intuos.
Everything aside, I love my Intuos4, and I think it is definitely a worthy upgrade from Intuos3 (or any other tablets in general), especially if you spend hours everyday with a pen.
Intuos4, instead of the gray metallic look of the Intuos3, hosts a cool black matte finish with a high-gloss black side panel. It is a lot thinner than the intuos3, a much lower profile, and a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Since most of us have widescreen monitors, I think it is very thoughtful of Wacom to update the aspect ratio of the Intuos4, but be warned though; if you use a 4:3 monitor, you might experience problems with drawing ratios since the 16:9 active area will be 'squeezed' to fit into a 4:3 layout; what this means is that if you draw a tilted line on the tablet, the line will appear to be squeezed horizontally and stretched vertically on the 4:3 monitor. Of course, you can manually limit the active area in the Wacom configuration software, but that would force you to sacrifice a portion of working area, so take this into consideration when purchasing this tablet.
The biggest design change from the Intuos3 is the layout of the expresskeys. Because of the ambidextrous design, Wacom placed all the keys on one side of the tablet, so there are more keys available to the users. What I think is extremely thoughtful of Wacom is that for the Small tablet, it came with 2 USB tables, one tilted upwards and the other downwards, as to cater to both the left-handed and the right-handed configuration. Note, however, that the Small version of the Intuos4 does not have the OLED display to the right of the expresskeys, and instead of 8, you will only get 6 keys (but it is more than sufficient for me).
The problem I have with the expresskeys is that in the Intuos3, the keys are shaped differently, so that it is very easy to locate a specific key without having to constantly look down; however, for intuos4, since all the keys are shaped exactly the same, it is extremely easy activate the wrong key...this is especially the case with Intuos4 Small, since there is no visual indication as to what function each key is assigned to, making navigation difficult. I think Wacom should have made each of the keys more distinct tactilely[sic?], especially for the Small version. However, I think this should not be much of a problem after some time of getting use to (I only had it for a day).
The Touch Ring is what I think the biggest innovation in the Intuos4. The touchstrip was great, but you can only assign one function to the strip, but with the new touch ring, you can assign 4 different functions, switchable with the press of the central bottom. What this means is that you can assign Zoom/Rotate/Brush Size/Opacity/Flow/etc. all to a single touchring, which greatly boosts productivity, and makes the tablet more intuitive to use. This is especially true with the new 'Rotate' feature in Photoshop CS4, but I have noticed that there is a significant latency delay (lag) when invoking the rotate function with the touchring, but it may just be me.
The new rubberized grip pen also features the cool black finish akin to that of the tablet; the weight of the pen is almost perfect, and the rubber grip makes using the grip pen more comfortable than ever before, but the rubber grip also attracts dust and lint, so it may be subjected to constant cleaning. The pen supports 2048 levels of sensitivity, and since I have a light stroke, the penstrokes register a lot better with Intuos4. The rocker on the pen, however, has a very poor travel, and a bit awkward to use. But all in all, I prefer the Intuos4 grip pen over the Intuos3 version for its comfort and usability.
The new improved tablet surface is perhaps as close as you can get with real Pen-on-Paper experience with a digital tablet. Intuos3's surface is extremely 'slippery', and drawing on it feels like plastic-on-plastic; however, the Intuos4's surface makes me really feel like drawing on paper with almost perfect travel and traction. The different nibs offer different levels of friction, simulating different mediums. This concept was attempted in Intuos3, but I think Intuos4 has really perfected the formula, making drawing on the tablet feel almost the same as drawing on paper.
I don't usually talk about the pen-stand, but the pen stand for Intuos4 is definitely worthy mentioning. A high gloss black finish, the pen stand can be twisted open, revealing a nib storage compartment with slots to store 10 extra nibs (and a nib extractor). I used to lose track of my pen nibs all the time, but not anymore, so kudos to Wacom for their attention to details.
The tablet comes with a wide array of softwares (Photoshop Elements, Sketchpad, etc.) all available online to Intuos4 customers via Wacom's website (but you'll have to register your Intuos4 to receive the softwares); the driver installation is extremely easy (but I do recommend resetting your wacom profile in the Wacom Preference Utility and uninstall any old wacom driver(s) before installing the new one to prevent conflicts); it took me literally 15 minutes to set everything up and running under Vista, and no problems thus far.
The expresskey configuration, however, is a bit tedious, especially if you plan on using different presets for you applications. There are many great additions, such as the Radial Menu, which is, in short, a nice multi-command invoker; this, along with the additional expresskeys and the touch ring, would probably take some time to configure to your liking.
There has been complaints about Intuos3's poor Vista support (although I have had no problems with my Intuos3 under vista); according to other reviews, Wacom seems to have fixed most of the incompatibility problems with Intuos4.
Note that I have intentionally left out the Wacom mouse because I never was a fan of Wacom's mouses, so it is still sitting in my box...maybe I'll take it out and test it someday...
PROS
+ Cool black finish, matte frame extremely comfortable to rest hand on.
+ Ambidextrous design
+ More expresskeys
+ Touchring with 4 presets
+ 2048 Levels of sensitivity
+ 16:9 Aspect ratio (may not be a pro if you have a 4:3 design, see above)
+ Great drawing surface, feels like pen-on-paper.
+ Thinner, lighter than Intuos3
+ Great driver, vista support.
+ Improved customization software, many useful functions
+ Improved grip pen, comfortable to use
+ 10 replacement nibs (should last 2-5 years)
+ Innovating pen holder, serves as a storage for replacement nibs
+ Color rings to give the grip pen a different feel
+ Tons of extra softwares, great value.
CONS
- Expresskeys shaped the same, easy to press the wrong key
- Intuos4 Small does not have the OLED display
- Price
- Only 16:9 is offered
- The rocker on the grip pen has poor travel
- May not be the best choice if you prefer the smooth drawing surface of Intuos3
- A bit too big for a small tablet (compared to Intuos3 Small)
- High gloss side panel is a fingerprint magnet
- The rubber grip on the pen attracts dust and lint.
- Does not come with a travel sleeve (is this really too much to ask?)
All in all, Intuos4 boasts many notable upgrades from the previous Intuos3 line. If you have been holding off for a Intuos3, then this is perhaps the time for you to finally jump on the Intuos boat. Due to the size limitations, the Small Intuos4 lacks a few features available in the other models of the Intuos4 line (notably the OLED display, dual USB ports, etc.), but the price difference between the Small and the Medium ($199 vs $349) tablets does not seem to justify for the price jump (especially since I don't have the space to accommodate for a medium tablet).
Again, if this is your first time shopping for a tablet, then I would recommend trying out the Bamboo line of products before considering the Intuos.
I enjoy the Intuos4 tablet, and I would recommend it to any serious graphics designers/photographers/animators/etc. This is a worthy investment and you won't regret it.
Final Verdict: Wacom, you have done it again. ^^ minimize
A must have for Photoshop retouching., June 3, 2009
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2C9NV32Q3Q6SN The New Intuos4 is better in almost every way! In this video I'll show you my favorite new features.
3 steps forward, 2 steps backward, May 4, 2009
As my review title suggests, Wacom has improved once again with it's new tablet, yet has taken a couple steps backward also which keeps me from giving it 5 stars.
CONS:
1. If you're a 3d Artist, you might use the Ctrl/Alt/Shift buttons much more than regular graphic artists.. Intuos4 lined up these buttons making it harder to select...read full review
As my review title suggests, Wacom has improved once again with it's new tablet, yet has taken a couple steps backward also which keeps me from giving it 5 stars.
CONS:
1. If you're a 3d Artist, you might use the Ctrl/Alt/Shift buttons much more than regular graphic artists.. Intuos4 lined up these buttons making it harder to select more than one at a time, and the buttons themselves are harder to press and now feel "cheap". Intuos3 buttons were perfect, the changes are purely for looks and the functionality suffered because of it.
2. Zoom is circular now? whatever. Again, looks cool, less functional.
PROS:
1. Beautiful looking! A bit thinner & wider which is great for us dual-monitor users. I could even see a market for a "9x18" size.
2. Wacom FINALLY got the surface improved. No more "painting on glass" surface.. it now has a bit of 'roughness' to it, like you're drawing on paper. HUGE improvement!!!
3. Small improvement to the grip on the pen. Same pen, but the rubber grip slips less (so far).
note: Wacom mouse now works like a regular wireless mouse, it's axis/input is determined by the mouse location/direction... not by the tablets. It's the first Wacom mouse I've considered using!! minimize
Pretty On the Inside., April 1, 2009
Honestly, the place I work doesn't look very impressive. It is full of cobbled together machines, with mirrors askew and wires everywhere. I am comforted by the knowledge that it is accomplishing high-end science, and perhaps professional tools simply shouldn't be pretty. The Intuos line seems to have followed that logic quite closely in the...read full review
Honestly, the place I work doesn't look very impressive. It is full of cobbled together machines, with mirrors askew and wires everywhere. I am comforted by the knowledge that it is accomplishing high-end science, and perhaps professional tools simply shouldn't be pretty. The Intuos line seems to have followed that logic quite closely in the past, with very sterile and clunky looking tablets that delivered impressive results. With that in mind, there may be some trepidation about this flashy update, all covered in shiny black plastic and LCD screens. I assure you, though, that they have not forgotten where they will be used or who they will be used by.
The Basics:
A modern tablet is expected to do a few things. It should give touchscreen-like functionality (with a pen rather than a finger). That means that I should be able to draw as I would with a real pencil/paintbrush/etc. To this end, the tablet must have pressure sensitivity. For example, pressing harder with a simulated paintbrush should create a larger blob of paint. Really, these are all that are required, and the Wacom does them excellently, giving both an extremely precise (high resolution) X-Y position and pressure sensitivity. It is very enjoyable and intuitive for use in Photoshop, which is my primary use. Will the increase in sensitivity resolution over the Intuos3 demand that you upgrade? For all but the most demanding, I would say no. With that said, you will surely enjoy it when you do decide to upgrade. Specifically, I enjoy the ability to use very light strokes, which did not register as anything on older tablets. For people who enjoy using very faint lines in art, this is a very appreciated addition. Also appreciated is the nib holder in the pen base, which houses a good number of nibs, preventing the "missing sock" phenomena you may have experienced in the past, as the small guys tended to mysteriously disappear. Regardless of which nib is chosen, the surface of the new Intuos gives a very natural feel that Wacom has really perfected at this point.
As you would expect, there is also the intuitive ability to use the other end of the pen as an eraser as with all Wacom tablets. This end can also be customized for other purposes. The customization in general is quite extensive. Every button can be mapped as desired, as well as tilt sensitivity, tip feel, and tip double-click distance. Additionally, the surface can be set to pen or mouse mode. I saw another reviewer critique that someone had not set the tablet to mouse mode, which is why the mouse felt sluggish. Actually, this is not what these modes represent (the tablet automatically detects if a mouse or pen is being used and responds appropriately). Pen mode, which most people will prefer, creates a 1-to-1 mapping between the tablet and the screen. So, if I touch the lower right corner of the tablet, I will click the lower right corner of the screen. Mouse mode is so named because, like a mouse, the pen movement will simply move the cursor in an unmapped fashion. I will need to move the pen down and right, then, to get to the lower right of the screen.
The Mouse:
Speaking of the mouse, it is a handy peripheral to have around. The tablet can take up a lot of space, leaving no good place to have a mouse on the work surface. The Wacom mouse, which works on the tablet, solves that issue. I can not say it is the most ergonomic design, but it looks slick and functions well as a standard 5-button mouse. The scroll wheel is inferior to those on Logitech mice I am used to, but it is functional. The bottom of the mouse seems to be covered in felt, which allows it to slide across the tablet without scratching it. As with the pen, the buttons can be fully customized, in addition to the speed and acceleration of cursor movement.
A very nice feature of the mouse is that it detects the orientation that the tablet is set to (buttons on left, buttons on right, buttons on top, or buttons on bottom) and behaves accordingly. Unfortunately, this is the only notable feature of the mouse. If you are planning to purchase this tablet because of the mouse, I suggest you think again. It feels like it is a bit tacked on for the sake of workflow, but is not really the focus of this product.
The Buttons:
The flashiest aspect of the new Intuos by far is the slick set of 8 buttons with LCD labels. I am happy to report that this is not just a gimmick, however, as the button labels are immediately useful. Without them, the buttons are completely ambiguous and would take some effort to memorize. That is fine, but in the process, it would become too much effort to change them as needed over time or for different programs. Speaking of the latter, the buttons can also be customized to be program specific, which is great. Additionally, as with all functions of the tablet, the labels can be set to function properly for both right- and left-handed tablet positions, so do not be concerned about upside-down letters. One of the button options is to open up a star menu, in which you can press the button and motion in a particular direction with the pen or mouse to choose a function. This creates even more options to avoid having to use the keyboard. If you choose a larger tablet size, the keyboard may be pushed to the side or below and so this will be quite beneficial. In addition, it's just cool.
Speaking of cool, there is a central wheel which can be toggled between four functions easily. The wheel is not new to Wacom, but the toggle feature allows more functionality at a quick pace. This tablet has clearly been thought out in real-world terms.
But, I do have one qualm here. The buttons feel terrible. They are mushy and don't click at all. I feel unsure of whether or not I pushed the button when I push it. Perhaps this is a matter of taste, but I was immediately turned off by the buttons, and their strange and unnecessary angling does not help. I think this angling is the result of using two long LCD screens, rather than eight individual ones, presumably to cut costs. This means that the buttons can not be separate; rather, they are shoved right next to each other. The angling is a makeshift solution to allow us to differentiate the buttons from each other, avoiding the potential of hitting the wrong or multiple buttons. It is a functional solution, but one that could have been avoided altogether by separation of the buttons.
Conclusions:
Why the five-star rating? Because this tablet is not about the mouse, which is admittedly mediocre, and I can not drop an entire point for mushy buttons. The thoughtful design for modern workflow is amazing, and the real functionality we all care about - the pen - is near perfect. I can see room for improvement, but for all practical purposes, I think this is going to serve exactly the purpose you want. Please enjoy it and your work. minimize
Intuos 4: Great Idea, Bad Execution., October 4, 2009
I've been using the intuos family line for 6 years now. I'm a digital concept and 3d artist so a wacom tablet or cintiq is the only choice. I've owned 2 intuos2's(6x8 & 9x12) , 1 intuos3 12x19 and 1 intuos4 XL (which i returned because of major design flaws).
Note, I'm a heavy user so I spend 6-10 hours per workday painting in...read full review
I've been using the intuos family line for 6 years now. I'm a digital concept and 3d artist so a wacom tablet or cintiq is the only choice. I've owned 2 intuos2's(6x8 & 9x12) , 1 intuos3 12x19 and 1 intuos4 XL (which i returned because of major design flaws).
Note, I'm a heavy user so I spend 6-10 hours per workday painting in Photoshop, modeling in Maya, and concept design in Painter. This review is to help artists decide if it's worth upgrading to the newest intuos for their workspace. Money is not an issue since this is used extensively in my career field.
PROS
- More sensitivity, doubling from 1024 to a whopping 2048 levels. It's a nice improvement when sketching very light construction lines, ie "ghosting". Not a huge help for painting in Photoshop, since I use opacity and flow to adjust my paint layer applications.
-Scroll wheel is a nice addition and offers good control when zooming.
-OLED screen for shortcuts is also a nice addition in case you forget the express key assignments.
-Like it's intuos3 predecessor, the pen is ergonomic and comfortable.
-Pen holder has good functionality because it now holds your spare nibs. Convenient, since you will need to replace nibs like crazy.
-Widescreen formats now for all sizes.
CONS
- The nibs wear out to an annoying chiseled point within hours, and completely gone in days! If you continue to paint with a worn out nib, you will scratch the surface so don't be cheap. This has been the most common problem since most forums have very disgruntled artists spending extra money stocking up on overpriced nibs. $1-2 per plastic nib that costs them 1 penny to make. Just type "intuos4 nib wear" and you can read for yourself. This is due to the new paper-like friction surface, which is nice but not necessary. I've never worn out my intuos2 or intuos3 nibs in 6 years!
- As a result, the surface sheet also wears out. Depending which area you use the most, you'll soon get uneven surfacing throughout. So while one side has the friction feel, another area is worn out smooth. So you'll have to replace the sheet within a year. I've yet to replace my intuos2 or intuos3 sheets.
-The express keys on one side is a great idea, but they are TOO FIRM. They also are placed awkwardly, are too small, and sizes are too similar. I find them uncomfortable and useless since I rarely look down while working since it's about speed and productivity in the motion picture/gaming industry. Plus having wrist issues in the past, these buttons are not ergonomic at all.
-Express key area is a fingerprint magnet. If you continually clean off that area, you will slowly produce little scratches.
-If your unlucky, you'll receive a defective pen. Check out YouTube, there's a lot of customers that have received defective pens. Such as "Tip triggered without actual pressure problem" and "Tip looseness problem"
-Bad customer support for intuos4 from Wacom. The design flaws i mentioned above have been reviewed by Wacom forum reps on their Wacom Europe forums. It seems they are in total denial of any design flaws. They have offered cheap ploys that blame the customer for the nib wear and bad advice such as taping paper onto a $400-700 piece of hardware to cover up their mistakes. SAD but true.
FINAL THOUGHTS
-I like the intuos4, don't get me wrong. But I feel the major design flaws negate the upgrade from intuos3. If you are a heavy user, this can get annoying and tedious to deal with. If you are a new or light user, this will not affect you as much, since most positive reviews I've read are from new or light users.
-However if you are thinking about upgrading from intuos2, an intuos3 or intuos4 is a must. The ergonomic intuos3 or intuos4 pen alone makes it a necessary upgrade.
-With the intuos3, they EVENTUALLY fixed some issues. My intuos3 12x19 is widescreen and the surface surrounding the work area is completely smooth, as opposed to the tacky plastic from 1st generation intuos3's. I pray Wacom will address these intuos4 issues realistically. Until they do, I'll be using my intuos3!!
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