I will admit that the graphire has problems. The mouse needs serious tweaking in the control panel in order to be useful, but once you get the speed right its fine. The plastic covering get scratched and there's no way to replace it. The usb cable is a tad short, making it difficult to use the pad in your lap, as i like to, without having the cable get in the way later. Most annoyingly, I have had to superglue those little rubber things that keep the pad from sliding back on several times - you do not realize how important they are until they are gone. And if you put weight on the front of the pad, it tends to rise up a bit, and the mouse is clearly not designed as well as the modern, more ergonimic devices.

Still, it is an amazing product. With some tweaking, even the mouse can be useful - try using it in pen mode and mapping it to only a partial area of the pad that you can reach without ever lifting the mouse up, so that you can manuever all over the screen without moving anything but the tips of your fingers!!! And if you keep your old PS2 mouse plugged in, you can switch between the two of them, or even wrestle for control when your girlfriend hogs the computer!

And the pen is a must-have, words I do not use lightly. It is almost impossible to ever do any sort of graphics on the computer with the mouse, and yet for us amateur types, it makes no sense to invest in an expensive professional tablet. The pressure sensitivity makes creating anything more easy and realistic, and working in paintshop with the pen just feels natural!

Moreover, the device is incredibly durable. It works perfectly with my windows2000 computer and I got it to work with Redhat 7.2 - you can too! It has had various foods and beverages spilled, crumpled, and stored on it for such exntesive periods of time that mold has grown, and yet it continues to function as well as the day it was first opened. If the computer hickups (tends to happen when i'm swapping other USB devices), you can pull out the cable and plug it back in again, and it will work!

Despite its faults, I swear by my wacom! I do not know what I would do without it.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 65