Bamboo Tablet | Graphics Tablet Review

Thumbs up
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This was bought for our elem. school daughter. She recommends it, finds it easy to use, and the pen is easier than using a mouse to draw. It’s a nice size tablet – almost the size of a regular sheet of paper. We have it connected to a Mac.

Good for the price!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Ordered this for my son. Works pretty good. Works better on Vista than XP. There is a small gap when drawing on pad and looking at screen, but overall a nice drawing tool. I would recommend this.

Nice tablet
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
No major issues. The pen sensativity & tracking was a bit wonky, but once I downloaded & installed the driver for Win 7(64) the problem was resolved. Drawing on a tablet in GIMP and Photoshop takes some getting use to, but I am satisfied with my purchase.

Not good so far…
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
So, decided to get my first tablet. Did not want to go for anything too expensive because im really just an amateur photographer and wanted to try the experience before actually putting money on it…

Well, I have to say im not happy at all so far. And im bummed by the fact that it did not really bring any real

instructions.

I mean, I hope to get better at using it after a while, I have only been using it for 1 day.

A)The pen needs A LOT of pressure to work.

B)The right click buttons dont seem to do anything

C)The hole panning thing with the pen only ends up selecting the things that im trying to pan above :s

D)This tablet is not portable AT ALL, I mean, I was actually expecting only the 6×10 but it has a frame of more than

one inch on every side and on the bottom it has almost two, so its truly a 12×10.

E)The hole writing thing is a mess and does not understand anything and the eraser does not work.

On the up sides, it looks nice :/ although the pen does feel cheap

I dont know, will update my review in a week or so, but so far, i do not recommend this to anyone, just put a little

extra money and get one of the better brands.

Better than a cheap tablet it is a pleasure to use
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Hope everyone has a chance to see this tablet.

I have used other tablets over the years and they have come a long way in clean easy to use tools.

pretty decent
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Overall the tablet is decent.

Pros: Large writing area + hotkeys. Works in windows xp, vista and 7. Also works in Ubuntu Linux.

Cons: Cable does not detach from tablet. You need XP tablet, vista or 7 in order to use inking in Microsoft Office. The pen kind of feels like a toy, pretty cheap plastic. Only comes with win xp and vista hotkey inserts. Hotkeys don’t work in linux out of the box.

pretty good
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Pretty content with this pen pad. Never used one before. There is a slight lag compared to a mouse, but that seems to be expected. I had a little difficulty with getting the pressure to work properly with Photoshop, but I researched that and it seems all pen pads have problems with it. The solutions was to open Photoshop with the pen ped. No problems after that. I only worry about the cord connected to the pen pad if it gets bent hard or dropped on. I love that it’s very thin and works great with my laptop.

It works
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’m writing this review using cursive recognition on the tablet itself, so it can’t be all bad. For the price it is fantastic. Its not a Wacom: it takes more pressure to make a mark, and the feel isn’t as nice as a Wacom, but at about 30% the price of the equivalent Wacom, it has to be considered an overall great deal, and recommended for anyone who can’t afford an lntuos.

Good tablet for the price.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This tablet has a fairly good quality. It is very slim and spacious. However, the pen’s weight is unevenly distributed (more towards the lower end), and it can be tricky to draw with varying pressure. I bought a large pad, thinking it was going to be easier to draw in, but in fact, straight lines can be hard to do because of the distance your hand has to travel. Just something to keep in mind, if you’re new to graphic tablets.

Product was huge but ………
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
we were excited to recieve this package and even paid additional shipping to get it next day it was beautiful large perfect ALMOST……… we set it up and unfortunately the pen was not sensitive enough to capture a picture unto the computer you had to apply extreme pressure to see something which affect drawing ability most of these we have used in the past were extra sensitive where you just drew as it suppose to be so sadly we had to return it as damaged and hopefully get a new one that actually works

leroy’s review
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am very satistify with Genius G-PEN F610 Ultra slim graphic tablet it fills my graphic designs needs for now. I am very happy with this product!

Do not buy this!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Don’t be taken in by the low price–this thing isn’t worth the money.

These are the only nice things I’m able to say about this sad waste of parts: it was easy to install, and it looked pretty sitting on my desk.

Once I got it running, I was extremely disappointed. The tablet was heavily mottled with blind spots, and on a few places it didn’t even recognize different amounts of pressure I applied. I also noticed that some lines randomly became jittery and thin when they appeared on the screen, regardless of how straight or thick I had actually drawn them.

Maybe I just got a particular one that wasn’t working, but these types of complaints seem so common with this model, I’m not going to take my chances with buying a new one. I’m returning it.

Inexpensive but only lasted 5 months
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Very inexpensive compared to others. Initially worked great. But then failed suddenly at age 5 months.

Not worth the money.
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Occasionally I modify graphics and really dislike computer mice. A laptop mouse is even worse.. I had hoped that for my occasional use, this drawing pen would work ‘acceptably’ well. I have a very fast dual CPU laptop with 3 Gig of RAM, not an old box. There are three problems that I found with this unit that make it in effect unusable. (1) The mouse pointer area seems unusually large, making it difficult to pinpoint your location, (2) the physical area is large (which I thought would be good) causing the user to make ‘overly large’ gestures. That is to say, what might normally appear to be a small area on the screen, will take a larger non-intuitive move on the board. This might be less an issue if you have a 24″ monitor..But on a laptop..Ehh! And (3): The lag is terrible even on my system and there does not seem to be any mention of it on the product homepage. To explain, when you move the mouse over the tablet, the pointer on the screen appears to be talking a break. Your natural inclination is to slow down, only to have the pointer overshoot your intended spot on the screen. Imagine having a ball on a string tied to your ankle as you walk and I think you’ll get my drift. True, the ball is moving generally in the direction of your movement, but its position relative to you foot can be off. You can reduce this problem by drawing very slowly, which detracts from whatever artistic endeavor you may be dealing with.

Need to also point out that the documentation not only kept crashing Adobe Reader, but is deficient. It dutifully pointed out screenshots of settings, but did not say where to find those settings, causing the user to vainly hunt for them within the Genius icon on the taskbar… In Windoze, you need to go to ‘Control Panel” and search for the appropriate icons.

The software crashed my operating system
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Do Not buy this. I never had a chance to actually use the tablet. When I attempted to restart the computer after loading the software, I experienced a catastrophic operating system (Windows XP)crash. The system would continually reboot. I had to resort to the backup recovery disks and then had to reinstall all the software I use. I returned the item for the large Manhattan tablet that, although more expensive, works beautifully.

Defects make it unusable
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I’m an aspiring and new artist when it comes to 2D art and have been looking around for entry-level tablets. Of course, Wacom’s are very intimidating with such high price points and I figured there must be some alternative, and that’s when I finally found the Genius series of tablets and their inviting price points.

The prices seemed deceptively low, the kind of prices that scream “something must be wrong”. And this seemed to be the case as most of the tablets were reviewed poorly and had low star ratings on numerous websites. However, the F610 seemed to stick out as one that averaged on the high side and I figured that while the company might not be the best, this may be a decent product after all.

Well, I guess I was wrong. I had similar issues that other people post about, but somehow think they’re worth writing off – for me they made the tablet unusable. Supposedly there is a jittering that goes away after using the tablet for 15-20 minutes, after an hour of scribbling (all I could do with this model, I assure you) nothing was improved. It was maddening especially since the tablet tracked fine when in a 1cm-2cm range above the surface of the tablet – but get any closer, and it would stop tracking until you actually clicked. Essentially this made it so your cursor would pop all over the screen until you finally started drawing. Long story short, if you’re going to use this thing you’d better have your fingers on CTRL+Z every second of the day.

The lack of any physical buttons is also a problem, but that is a feature you can expect to write off for the price. Don’t let the many buttons around the tablet attract you though – they’re gimmicks and wastes of space. If nothing else leaving them enabled does more harm than good as you’ll be sketching and then accidentally go too far and bam, Microsoft Word starts opening. What?

On the topic of the software, it’s pretty grim. Firstly the install cd menu doesn’t even work. The only button that I could actually highlight and click was for third party software that has nothing to do with the tablet. Exciting. After browsing and manually installing the software for the tablet, it left broken shortcuts in my start menu. Not a problem for me but, again… this thing should be aimed at entry level users. The software itself isn’t too awful – you can edit the buttons around the area of the tablet, but again they’re not worth using in the first place. If you’re going to use this tablet you’re definitely going to want one hand on the keyboard.

Appearance wise and feel it performs great. One of the few things I can say I like about it. I like that it doesn’t waste as much space as Wacoms are oft to do.

To sum it up, I wouldn’t waste my time. The problems I read about in other reviews people said were tolerable and would go away, were intolerable and did not go away for me. Wacom’s price point may be very intimidating but, well – you get what you pay for.

Great for newbies
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I purchased the Genius G-PEN F610 about a month ago and I really love it. In the beginning it was tricky for me to adjust and use. It’s my first time using a tablet so I wasn’t too familiar. Anyway, I practiced and practiced and now I like it much better than my mouse. I draw with it and color.

The only complaints I have is that it is a little too sensitive. The preset application buttons activate too easily if you accidentally tap or swipe them. It also starts to lag a little sometimes if you place the pen down too long.

I would definitely buy this product again if I needed it.

Simple, yet one of the most useful things I’ve ever bought
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The genius tablet is a purchase I won’t regret. It works perfect when it comes to photoshop editing purposes, it also works very well in windows vista to do handwritten notes.

It was just what I needed, for a real good price

Great beginner tablet
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
* Function buttons on the sides are extremely useful for navigation and program integration.

* Software it comes with can be used in PowerPoint for professional looking presentations, and OfficeNote allows you to draw on your desktop.

* It works very well with Photoshop, EZtoon, Google SketchUp, and many others.

* If you get this tablet, and you don’t have Maya, then get it!

Overall,this is definitely a good buy.

Good if you dont mind some frustration.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I like the Genius tablet. It has some trouble picking up where the pen is sometimes, but other than that its a good product I wouldnt suggest it if you are using it for work purposes. I use it with corel and I dont mind having to tinker with it until it picks up where the pen is. It might just be user error on my part but other than that its a good product for use other than running your pc.

perfect product
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a product my son’s uses for school. If you like to do art projects this product is a must.

Using it on a new iMac
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am a working cartoonist who needed to buy a new graphics tablet because I just upgraded my home system from my workhorse Win98 PC to a new iMac. After doing some research, I realized an entry-level Wacom Bamboo was too small and might not be a good match with a widescreen iMac. The higher professional level Wacoms, however, seemed too pricey, esp. since I had done fine previously for nearly a decade with a 4×5 Aiptek tablet connected to my PC.

After doing some research I decided to try the Genius G-PEN F610 since it was priced under $100 at the time of purchase. I just received it today.

It is working fine on the desktop and within Photoshop, and I am already getting great output and linework with no lag. (Up until now, I primarily used the tablet for coloring, not for drawing. The larger space of this tablet, however, sure seems roomy and more accommodating for drawing, so I may explore this more.)

HERE IS THE ONE WORD OF WARNING THOUGH FOR MAC USERS WITH NEWER SYSTEMS: BE SURE TO INSTALL THE LATEST VERSION OF THE MAC DRIVER FROM THE GENIUSNET.COM WEBSITE (version 1.72 of the Mac OS X driver). The version that came on the CD with the product was v 1.68–it did not install properly (I couldn’t even open the configuration software for the pad), and made the pen virtually useless within Photoshop in that it was skipping and not giving me a smooth line. Fortunately, I explored online and found a more up to date driver that worked with my Mac OS 10.5.6 system and which immediately corrected the problem.

So I’m pleased to report I’m very pleased with tablet and won’t need to return it!!

Nice product for artists~
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this item for my girlfriend since she wanted to find something could experience the tablet feature of windows vista. But I found it works even better as a tool for designers as me to input free hand sketches into my laptop and travel with it everywhere since it’s slim and portable. Now I want to buy another one to replace my iPAQ as a accessory for my laptop.

christmas present
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
it was exactly what she wanted, at a price i could afford. there will be hours of enjoyment with it. it came quickly and was what the description said it was.

elbow room
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have tried using a 4X6 tablet for years. It worked fine with my PC but when i converted to MAC having to make tiny motions was driving me crazy! I bought this for my sister who is studying Graphic Design and we both love it. it takes a few minutes to recognize the stylus when you get started but otherwise it is great. I am going to purchase one for myself soon.

Great Product
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I first saw this product on Tiger Direct about 8 months ago. Price was $129 at first then slowly went down to $99. I kept it on my wish list but then, the need for the use of a graphics tablet grew so much on me with my daily work that I had to purchase one. I decided to try Amazon to see if they had in stock, and sure they did, $20 cheaper too.

The tablet works great. If you’re a novice, you might have a few problems especially with the pressure sensitivity but that can be adjusted. My workflow has increased and I even use the pen-ink functionality when I want to ease up typing. I really can’t complain. It was a great buy and I’d recommend this to anyone needing a graphic tablet.

Not so great with 3-d
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am a freelance designer who is just starting out and getting ready to go back to school. This graphics tablet works better than my training tablet, although there are a few things that irk me.

The macro buttons wouldn’t work for me on my laptop, even through I had programed them the way I wanted. Also, when I would make sweeping lines while painting in PS, it tended to trip the macros in the top and open all the programs.

Also, it’s hard to use this with Blender. Trying to use the buttons for all the commands is really hard — sometimes you have to press the buttons several times for the menus to come up.

Having the extra tips for drawing is always a plus, since even the top of the line models require them after heavy use, but that shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve been using my tip now for six months, and there’s hardly any wear on it.

Other than those problems, this is a wonderful tablet. It works great with XP, and with any design software. If you’re a beginner at tablets, this one is great to learn on.

Not a professional Photoshopper? Try this.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I do some Photoshop work as an amateur photographer. For the price, this tablet is a very good choice, as long as you’re not a professional designer or digital artist. The pen can sometimes lack smoothness, especially when writing and taking notes. Otherwise, the entire pad is usable (a comment below claimed only a 4×4 area, but obviously that unit was defective), the macros work great (though easier customization would be nice), the pen is comfortable (the pen buttons could be better placed, however), and the pad is nice and large.

Overall, a good buy if you’re looking for a fun interface and don’t want to spend the $300.00 for some professional-grade pad.

pretty cool
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
this was a great product, plus i received the order about 3 days in advance before the delivery estimate so that was huge thumbs up. sadly, though. this tablet isn’t great for windows XP. only vista. i’m not sure on mac, cause i never tried it.

this tablet has a fantastic price for a huge size, but it’s too bad it didn’t work out for me because i still have XP.

Works great.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have Vista and once the computer loads the Genius it works better than I expected. If I was to list any complaints it would be the time it takes for my computer takes to recignize it when I plug it in. It’s a minor problem and probably my computer more than the tablet itself. It works well with every program I have. For graphics, I use Photoshop Elements and it reacts quickly.