Thursday 21 April 2011

I Have A Tablet

Hoorah!  It arrived yesterday - my very, very basic Bamboo Pen tablet by Wacom, which you can find here.

It's roughly A5 in size, comes with the driver software - but advisable to update immediately from the Wacom website, especially if you are running Windows 7 64-bit OS, as I am - the pen (that needs no battery - yipee!), with replacement tips, and a metal collar ring for which I have no clue as to its function, although it looks like it should/could fit over the pen?


My 'work' & play area ... where all my cares disappear!


Actually, looking at the Bamboo on this background, it looks rather sexy ... ahem!

The pen isn't too light and has (for me) just about the right weight of a slightly thicker than normal pencil.  I find I am painfully aware of pressing the tip against the tablet drawing surface, and have visions of me leaving dirty, great gauges across it - but that's just me being a tablet newbie.  The drawing surface is nicely textured and feels very natural with minimal friction.


The one aspect I am finding difficult to get to grips with (no pun intended) are the buttons on the pen itself, as highlighted in the image below:


I can't seem to get good enough tactile pressure either through my index finger or thumb, but then, I've only had it two days now, so like everything else, I will get used to it and find my own way of working with it.

Getting used to the small working area of the tablet is a challenge.  This is mainly due to my mind not yet grasping the fact that the small surface area translates perfectly to the size of your monitor, so your hand movements only need to be minimal on the tablet but move perfectly well in relation to your on-screen dimensions.  Quite often I have to look down at the tablet in order to make sure I'm not running off its edge.  Never happened yet.  So scaling is performed perfectly by the Bamboo.

I have read reviews of this product where buyers have had nothing but problem after problem, especially with Windows 7.  Currently, everything seems to be working perfectly for me from word go.  But like every consumer goods we buy, there will always be the odd few duffs that slip through quality control.

I'm very happy with it.  Previously to this tablet I owned a Trust tablet - a different beast altogether, and seriously not up to the task, but it was an entry level Trust tablet, so that might have been the reason.
But if you are in the market for a beginner's tablet at a very reasonable price (this was bought via Amazon.co.uk @ £39.99), then I can highly recommend the Wacom Bamboo Pen.

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