I looked at a number of tablets and even borrowed a Hyperpen 6000 for several days. Construction and Pen design are what won me over to Wacom. I found the Wacom pens to be of a more solid design and did not need a battery. The pen on the Intuos2 was of a fuller design and a better fit for my hand. The pen activates the cursor when you are about 5/8 of an inch above the pad. You can also rest your hand on the pad while using the pen. The Hyperpen activated 2 - 3 inches above the pad and if you rested your hand on the pad while holding the pen it disrupted the cursor action.

The cordless mouse does not use a battery and performed well enough for me to stop using my Wireless Intellimouse. The mouse buttons and wheel essentially emulate the Intellimouse function and really seems to respond better the Intellimouse.

The drivers and software work well with my Windows XP system. I have used it with Photoshop 7, Word 2000 and a variety of other programs and all work flawlessly.

There are specifications that lift this tablet above the Wacom Graphire2. Pen tilt, 2D Mouse, double the pressure levels, twice the tablet resolution, programmable menu strip, recognition and properties retention of individual tools.

Most important for me were the "Grip Pen" design, the Limited Lifetime Warranty (Graphire2 only has 1 year)and the full version of Photoshop Elements.


Recommended: Yes