Despite a few flaws with the Wacom Graphire Set, this is one piece of hardware I couldn't live without!

Note that I am reviewing this product as it applies to creating graphics!

The Whole Set
The Wacom Graphire pad, with it's 4x5 inch drawing area, works great on my home PC (Windows 98). I've never had any problems with it, and I've used it with Photoshop, Illustrator, and even to navigate the desktop. It was easy to set up, using the included CD, and is extremely tweakable (sensitivity, clicking, etc.).
On the Mac at work (an Imac, to be specific), I've had a few problems, though. Setup was just as easy and it felt just the same as on the PC. However, at seemingly-random intervals, the pad seemed to "lock up" at almost a daily rate (at least once per 10 hours or so of use). The light, which signifies when the pen is touching the pad, would stay lit, and the on-screen cursor would behave strangely. Even worse, it actually stayed in this "mousedown" state (as if the button was stuck, which was not the case) even when you unplugged the pad from the USB port and used your regular mouse. The only fix for this, I found, was to reset. :(

The Mouse
The wireless mouse isn't the best, either. The main problem I had was it's tracking as compared to a normal mouse. The cursor just didn't move the same and it didn't "feel" right. It also feels rather light and flimsy, and the scroll-wheel wasn't nearly as good as some other's I've used on generic mice, even.

The Pen
The pen is absolutely what makes the set. It seems to behave much like a real pencil would when you're drawing in Photoshop, making use of it's variable sensitivity. The only real problems I had with the pen were it's tip and the accuracy. The tip is a bit loose, it seems, just like a some of the cheap ball-point pens. I doubt this was a design consideration. :) A firmer tip that didn't give at all when you press down would be better.
And finally, the accuracy isn't perfect, either. Though it tracks very nicely as it's touching the pad, the pad also seems to sense the pen even when it's about 1/4 inch above it. This means, unless you can drop the tip to the surface of the pad in a perfect 90-degree angle (which isn't usually the case when you're drawing), the cursor jumps a tiny bit. It only moves a couple of pixels in either way, but when you're doing extremely detail-sensitive work (web stuff, for instance), this can be a BIG pain.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 100