Sit on my lap and I'll draw you a story.
Written: Feb 19 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Special Edition has smoky, transparent plastic. Best look and feel of all graphics tablets available.
Cons: Initial drivers were buggy, although they've worked most problems out now. A tad pricey.
The Bottom Line: The best graphics tablet for tracing documents that are letter or screen sized. Some say the 6x8 or 4x5 are adequate. Try before you buy and you won't be disappointed!
|
|
|
| amarand's Full Review: Wacom Intuos Tablet Series |
Whew! I hope that title wasn't too risqué for you. This tablet is so lightweight and perfectly sized that it sits wonderfully on your lap or desk.
The Arrival
I purchased the Intuos Special Edition GD-0912-U from an on-line store (buy.com) for $402.95 plus shipping of $26.28 (Next Day Air). It arrived perfectly in a large box, within an even larger box filled with packing peanuts. I was very excited to open this package, and who wouldn't? I had saved for months and I'd been thinking about it every day, getting more and more impatient as time went by. I can say that the moment of truth was even better than I could have anticipated. The box and packaging is impeccable. I know I'm going to eventually throw it all away, but they really did pay a lot of attention to detail. I guess when you spend close to half a grand on something you want it to look good, and arrive in one piece, with no damage. They succeeded in their mission.
Preparation…it's a snap!
After taking it out of the box, plugging it into the USB port of my PC (it also works for Macintosh computers) and installing the drivers, I was off! Initially, the drivers were slightly buggy, and caused my Windows 2000 machine to crash often, but that might have also had something to do with my outdated USB drivers as well. I fixed everything by updating the drivers to the latest beta version off of Wacom's impressive web-site and I was off! It worked in Windows flawlessly in one of three modes: pen, mouse and quick point. I like quick-point because it allows me to move the cursor in a smaller area so I can move my hand in the similar area as I would if I were using a mouse. I really don't use the mouse much, but it has been nice when I've needed to. I've heard that they initially had some problems with the mouse jumping back when you stopped, which I also experienced, but when I upgraded to the most recent drivers, a lot of that went away.
Perfect for me…but maybe not for you?
It's the perfect tablet for just about everything, without going overboard. If you use a graphics tablet all day, on a large monitor at work, maybe the 12x18 might be better for you. I'm not certain what the 12x12 is good for, but I would guess it's great for portrait or landscape oriented documents that are legal or letter sized? Some people actually like the 6x8 and the 4x5 tablets because they are really small, and very lightweight; but if I'm going to invest a couple hundred dollars in a graphics tablet, I want to at least be able to trace a full sheet of paper underneath the plastic tracing sheet; something you can't do with the smaller tablets. Like I said, this is a very happy medium; just like Goldilocks and the Three Bears: this porridge was ju-u-ust right! If you can get into a store that has these on display (good luck!), you can see which size fits your budget, and your need for size. Bring along some paperwork you've wanted to trace and see if it'll fit under the plastic. You'll be glad you did this before you get it into your house and have to pay money to return it because it's too big or too small.
It's got style!
I love the Transparent Smoke colored plastic on top with the white plastic on the bottom. The matching see-through pen, penholder and three-button mouse with side wheel are all very nice touches. The USB cable going to the computer is see-through clear plastic with silver braid ground visible throughout. This tablet has very modern and attractive styling. I know I mentioned this in the beginning, but you can't underestimate the value of a lightweight input device. Putting it on your lap is wonderful if you need that angle for some reason.
Touch sensitive pen with two-way rocker switch makes for easy, intuitive work in many graphic arts applications from Adobe Photoshop to Adobe Illustrator. While the pen and mouse work in just about every application Windows can throw at it, there are some that work better and use the features better than others. If you use a specific program, look on Wacom and the software manufacturer's web site to see if the touch-sensitivity is going to work for your particular program.
Function buttons add a level of simplicity, minimizing the number of times you have to touch the computer's keyboard and mouse. With Windows' New, Open, Save and Close preprogrammed in right at the top, you'll be able to spend more time drawing and less time fooling with non-tablet oriented activities. The transparent tracing plastic over drawing surface allows you to place paper underneath, and trace over the plastic without harming the original document. Dual-color LED for status (orange is "POWER ON", green is "PEN DOWN"). The pen also has an eraser on the other end, which most software will recognize as an eraser in some fashion or another, so you can erase things with a simple flick of your wrist, just like with a pencil. This works just as well for text-input windows as well as parts of drawings.
Integration
This hardware and the drivers that come with it, as well as the software that's bundled, allows for a really tight integration between the tablet, your operating system, and your software. If you're made of money, you can purchase 10 separate pens, and have each one of them represent a different effect (one acts as a pen, another a pencil, and a third might act like a paintbrush). The tablet and driver knows exactly which pen you put to the tablet and changes settings accordingly. The fact that you can use the tablet in Windows or Mac/OS to manipulate windows and click icons is just as great as the fact that you can also use it in your paint program to draw things. It's very versatile and allows you freedom of motion that you just can't get with a mouse. If you are used to drawing with traditional media, this is great too! It feels like drawing on rough plastic, which isn't completely like drawing on paper, but because of the way the tablet's designed, you can easily tape paper or cardboard to the unit and get the same "feel" of traditional media. I've heard of people using this thing through foam-board and thicker!
The Final Word
All in all, it's a treat to own, use and look at. It does cost quite a bit of money, although you do get what you pay for, which is a very durable, well-built and engineered tool that will last for many, many years to come. If you don't need this much quality, there are less expensive tablets on the market. If you need the quality, but don't want to spend as much on the size, go for the slightly smaller 6x8. I'm not sure what good a 4x5 tablet would be, but Wacom also has a great line of Graphire 4x5 tablets that are very inexpensive with fewer features and slightly lesser quality. If you need a tablet for drawing, tracing or designing original line art, buy this tablet, you won't be sorry. It must say something that not one person has yet to "not recommend" this tablet. There's literally nothing wrong with it, because of Wacom's many years of experience in tablet design, production and marketing.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 402.95 +ship
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
amarand
|
|
Member: Amarand Agasi
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
Senior UNIX systems administrator who enjoys people and learning new things!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.