Bamboo Tablet | Graphics Tablet Review

Worth every penny.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this INVESTMENT for work I was starting on a Graphic Novel. I needed a tablet that was going to be as close to a size of real paper as possible so I could work at 100% and as fast as I do with paper. The size, response and feel of this tablet is all those things and more. The short cut wheel and completely customizable set of keys on the side is a HUGE time saver. I rarely have to touch my keyboard when I’m madly working on an idea from my head. The feel of the pen is just perfection. Incredible design and beauty. I only have one issue with the tablet and that’s how fast the nibs get worn down. They’re designed to feel like a pencil running across paper- well that part works very, very well. But it means that this small plastic heads get worn down surprisingly fast. I don’t mean to say “you’re working SO MUCH that you go through nibs like candy!” I mean- “You’ll notice them wearing down in only a few pages of content!” and that’s going to be expensive to keep replacing. But that’s my only complaint- so 5 stars across the board. Easy to install- easy to use… and I’m working on a two monitor set up, still NO issues with either.

A defective pen is real possibility.
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This is my first attempt at a pen tablet(intuos4 small). I chose intuos4 over Bamboo pen&touch mainly for the better pen(better grip and higher sensitivity).

However, in just 9 days after I had started using it, I found my pen defective.

It writes when it is NOT contacting the tablet surface.

Also, at about the same time, the pen tip had begun to feel looser.

(It wasn’t the quality you expect from “a $200 pen” anymore.)

This is very disappointing after all those overwhelmingly good reviews from everywhere.

Hope this problem goes away in the future Wacom tablets.

P.S. I found very similar(almost identical) problems from youtube.

[...]

muy buena tabla
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
hola la tabla es excelente en todo antes tenia una graphire4 pero verdaderamente esta es mu buen es un poco grande pero bueno ke se puede hacer…. la recomiendo y recomiendo el vendedor muy cumplido y confiable…

Wacom Intuos 4 is Fantastic!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m thrilled with my new Wacom Intuos 4 drawing tablet! I got the medium size and use it to design Fine & Graphic images with Adobe Photoshop Elements 8! Extremely easy to install and start using! A must have for artists of any experience level.

As good as it’s advertized
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am not a professional artist, I am just an amateur artist with too much free time. so the tablet is very easy to use once I got it all I had to do was plug it in to the computer and installed the software downloaded sketchbook express and I was set. I did a couple of sketches was very pleased with how clean and easy they came out. if you want to see what an amateur can do with this you can look me up on [...] under tekatomon. I am going to have to buy the full version of Sketchbook 2010 though.

Great product with one issue…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Pros:

Too many to list…the new hot keys and circular scrollwheel design is awesome. So many great uses and you can even flip it around for you southpaws out there.

Cons:

The new black pen nibs are terrible and so soft. I use this at work every day. I’ve gone through 2 already in the two months I’ve had it. I know what you’re thinking…I’m pressing too hard, I’m not.

I own 2 other Wacom tablets. My last one is an Intuos3. It has the white nibs and they last forever. It took over a year to wear one of those down with daily use. What gives Wacom? I guess i’ll be buying lots of nibs which benefits you but why the move to these softer black nibs?

Still well worth the money though!

Nice tablet but maybe too large
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Very nice tablet. Only comment is that unless you know you need the larger area the medium will work fine. No harm in the getting the larger sizes (except your wallet) but I have simply set it to use a smaller area in the middle of the tablet so the larger area is a waste for the time being.

Wacom
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a brilliant piece of equipment at a great price from Amazon. If you haven’t used one of these before you will wonder why you never did. This one is really an advanced system for those wanting to do close detailed work or use it in combination with Painter or Photoshop. for those just wanting a better way to work on a computer I would suggest a cheaper and more stripped down version. But this is brilliant.

Love the Intuos4
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Let me start that by saying that, up to this point, I was not a fan of tablets. I had previously used a Graphire tablet (for about a week before getting frustrated and shelving it) … and years later an Intuos3 (better experience, but I never got into the button layout – so my work was slow, at best).

I purchased the Intuos4 Medium size tablet for a college course I’m taking – and cannot put it down. I’m using the medium sized tablet, which works well for me. I primarily use it in Photoshop and Painter … and it shines.

Why the change of heart? For the first time, I can see the labels I assigned to the buttons, so I know what it is they’re supposed to do immediately. Additionally, the circular wheel was implemented nicely, and I can now change the brush size, zoom, etc. in a logical and fluid way.

From a software perspective, everything is running nicely. My main computer is Windows 7, 64 bit, using dual monitors. I have no problems jumping back and forth between monitors (as I have my tablet set up for one monitor at a time). I’ve also not experienced any crashes or software ‘hiccups’.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the product.

Wow…what a product…
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am not only a Wacom Intuos4 Large Pen Tablet user…I am a fan as well. I am a graphic artist and a mechanical designer. The product is awesome and the design is amazing. I dont know what else to say. If you have a need for something like this well…you need to just go ahead and buy it.

Wacom Intuos 4 size Medium
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Awesome tablet, size is right, performance is great. I had used an older Graphire 2 but found that it’s small size was too limiting. I am not an artist but find a tablet much easier to use for Photoshop, Illustrator, and CAD programs. Doing dodging and burning with the pen is much more accurate and natural. The included mouse works much better on this size tablet than on the smaller tablets. This is a 5 star product but I reserve 5 stars for perfect products and haven’t found a perfect product yet. Would recommend this size to anyone looking for a tablet, spend the extra bucks and don’t settle for a smaller size.

I’m new to Wacom but I’m already a fan.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m new to the Wacom tablent and I’ve always used the mouse to try and draw. Now I’m a convert.

Wacom Dropped The Ball…
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I cannot recommend this product to anyone as the nib issue is too great to ignore. They have designed a great, feature loaded product which is left completely useless because of the speed at which nibs wear down, leaving the user in a committed cycle of constantly buying nib replacements and worrying about scratching the tablet surface. The point of this product is enable to “free you up” digitally to work creatively. How can you do that when you are constantly thinking about the wear this product is taking? I am not talking about long term wear – the nibs on these can literally be going down and scratching the tablet in hours.

I would urge anybody thinking about this product to think about this carefully – look at Wacom’s own support forum for the anger people have about this. Wacom have known about this issue for months and just can’t be bothered to sort it – after all, they know people will be locked in the cycle of buying more nibs from them…

I love Wacom’s previous products and their approach, so I am as baffled as anyone else as to how they completely screwed up and will not listen to the massive feedback they are getting with this issue.

I returned my product – utter garbage.

amazing!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
i used to work with a mouse when i digital paint, i decided to try many tablets none of them was good..

but this one is incredible..easy to use and so smooth

you can control the pressure as you like.

plus it looks elegent

Absolutely Amazing! I LOVE my Intuos4!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just LOVE the Intuos4!! I fell in love with it the moment I started using it. (I have purchased the medium one at work and am going to get one for my home office ASAP!) I am a graphics designer in profession and work intimately with the major graphics apps (Photoshop, Painter, Illustrator, etc.).

I upgraded from a first generation Intuos 9×12 (still have a first generation 6×8 at home) and can REALLY tell the difference! One thing I can say about the Intuos tablets is that they last and last and LAST. My 9×12 only just started to feel ancient recently. (And heck, I’ve had it for 10 years plus! My 6×8 is still going strong.) I always felt it was a bit too large as well and had thus mapped out a smaller active area of the tablet for use, so the Intuos4 Medium size works out MUCH better sidewise as well.

I am not going to repeat all the wonderful things that so many others have said…I will just mention a few things that struck me the most. This tablet has a completely different feel to it. It has been dramatically improved and feels just like a pencil on paper (with the default nib). I really love the surface! It’s so much better than the more slippery surfaces of the previous tablets…it just feels SO natural and that makes all the difference in the world!

I HIGHLY HIGHLY, without a doubt, recommend the Intuos 4! The difference in pressure sensitivity (with 2048 pressure points vs 1024 in Intuos 3 and earlier) is absolutely incredible! I just cannot imagine working in Photoshop (or any of my other graphics apps) without this. As a matter of fact, this is ALL I use and have not really used the mouse since the day I started using the tablet 11 years ago. (Using the mouse feels like I am trying to move a potato around my desk.)

It LOOKS gorgeous too! Pen feels amazing….love the nib set and that the nibs are so readily available in the pen holder….love the buttons and the touchwheel…love EVERYTHING about it!

Worn out nibs, bad USB……terrible
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Take a look at Wacom’s forums, and you’ll see that the USB is not good on Large models, they soldered the connectors without screws so plugging in and unplugging break the unit completely. This is “covered” under the warranty, but you still have to pay for the replacement/repair shipping. They also charge as much as a new tablet to repair in some cases. How is that “covered”?

The nibs wear out quickly making it impossible to afford drawing for a living on the tablet, unless you put plastic over the tablet. They suggest putting paper over it (Wacom).

All in all, do not trust Wacom for repair/replacement. They are not in it for the customer, they’re in it for themselves. Also, check your stores for better prices – Amazon’s price for this tablet seems to have jumped up over $30. I should have just got it from my local store.

Great Tablet
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This tablet is great. It’s easy to use and has buttons and a scroll for ease of use.

Wacom Intuos4 Medium Tablet review
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this product for my 7th grade daughter as a Christmas gift. She is very artistic, spends a great deal of time on the computer or freestyle drawing and had expressed an interest in a drawing tablet. I did some research and decided that it was worth the investment to buy this particular tablet with the larger drawing surface over some of the much smaller but much less expensive models. She loves this one! It is a wonderful tool with endless possibilities for her to increase her skills. Because of the cost, I would not recommend this to everyone. It’s definitely NOT a toy. I am totally please with the Intuos 4.

Easy to hook up, just the right size, easy to use.

small pen tablet
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Sorry, I sent it back because the person I wanted to give it to, already bought one.

Wacom doesn’t care about customers
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
You can read about many pros here, I’ll write some very disappointing facts about Wacom customer care.

1. Nibs flattering very quickly. Wacom says in it forum: “Put paper sheet on your tablet to reduce flattering”. Yeah, I’ve bought tablet for $1400 (it’s official price in Russia for Intuos4 XL) and now they offer me to stick a paper sheet on it! Great solution!

Wacom knows about this problem for about a year, but they did nothing. Also, the say, $3 per nib is a reasonable price. For that tiny piece of plastic!

2. There are driver problems on Russian and Ukrainian systems: tablet driver stops working after reboot on win 7, so you have to make some manipulations (restarting wacom service, clearing preferences, etc.) to make it work instead of painting. Wacom knows about this problem for about two months and they still did nothing. We buy tablets for the biggest prices in the world, and we are not provided with normally working drivers.

And one small bug: you CANNOT upload your own pictures to the tablet’s ExpressKey displays. Only text labels and very limited set of pictures (hand, question sign, quick menu, and… that’s it). Wacom says again: “driver has no such options”.

Don’t hesitate, get WACOM’ed!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
For the christmas period I found myself in the situation of having some spare money and no idea about what to buy with it. I’ve been thinking about buying an Intuos tablet long ago and after being encouraged by my fellow designer coleagues, I finally made the move to get the small Intuos 4.

I have had already some experience with a humble genius tablet that worked pretty fine at some digital illustration, but it lacked the precision needed to do the work including tracing, correcting, direct sketching and the kind of things you would expect from a digital tablet. Having those thing in mind, I already knew that buying the Intuos tablet would be a great improvement upon my professional equipment, but I really didn’t knew how much until I put my hands over it.

I could tell you the benefits from it’s specs and technical info, but that kind of stuff can be found easily everywhere. Instead, I’m gonna tell you that by the time I just installed it (and with some practice doodling) I was able to work inmediately with a noticeable quality increase, and by the time I manage to set the expresskey shortcuts that fit me the most my drawing speed increased even more.

Some of you may think for the small Intuos tablet that not having the LED display or by its size itself it wouldn’t be as good as a larger one, but I can assure you that none of those issues are things you would regret for, but instead you can take full advantage to easily manipulate and carry the tablet along with your laptop, or to store it without using lots of space.

So, if it comes to happen that you have the chance to buy a WACOM tablet and you’re unsure about it, as I was not long before, or if you’re still thinking about which size would suit you better, take my advise when I say that the small Intuos 4 tablet is quite an option, so don’t hesitate and get WACOM’ed!

wacom intuos4 small
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
i’ve used wacom products before, at school (digital media major).

this new wacom has already begun to pay for itself, but it has been hard to get used to. the smaller screen (the ones i use at school are larger) has been somewhat limiting, but i am getting used to it now.

i also found it initially frustrating that the pen tracking across the tablet when not in contact with the tablet, is a lot more sensitive. most tablets that i have used only track the pen if it is within 1/4″ to 1/2″ of the surface. this one tracks up to 1″ above the surface, meaning that i often end up tracking away from where i want to go with gestures that are not meant to be close enough to track. there is no option in the preferences to limit the tracking either, so it means that i just have to get used to “high-stepping.”

other than that, i love it. when i was away from school before getting my intuos4, i would have to do artwork with the small trackpad of my laptop (using a mouse for art sucks, in my opinion). now i can take the tablet with me, pretty much anywhere.

great product–leaps and bounds above the competition. still wish it wasn’t as sensitive as it is; some of the older ones feel smoother to me. but it is awesome.

Great drawing tool
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Doesn’t slip when drawing, and it’s really cool and nice that it has labels on the shortcuts. Still prefer the rectangular strip for scrolling compared to the circular one. Overall, it’s awesome!

Too cool.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
First let me say I use a Macbook Pro 17′ OSx with Snow Patrol Leopard. Unpacked mine about a week or so ago. Pretty easy to set up and get going. Added a Wacon Airbrush set with Purchase. Mainly use Aperture 2, iPhoto, Canon Digital Photo Pro, Lightroom 2, and Photoshop Elements 8 to process Jpeg and Raw photo files.

Pretty straight forward design and delivery of promised features. Open editing software, select picture, pick up pen, select tool and start editing.

Easy to figure out how to program advanced settings. Does some pretty cool things. Am very pleased and highly recommend one.

Already see a huge difference in dynamic output and quality of pictures. Huge difference in streamlining workflow.

Best part. Check out Wacom Priviledge website for great deals on additional Namebrand compatible softwares for use with this device.

[...]

I bought large pad, but in hindsight the medium or small probably would have worked just as good or better.

I love wacom tablets
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am a motion graphics designer, I use the tablet mostly for rotoing, and matte painting. Here’s what I think about this tablet after using it for a month:

The tip of the pen feels a little more harsh on the surface then Intuos3.

The Mouse works, but doesn’t works as good as a regular mouse, in my opinion.

The new black look (compare to the gray Intuos3) is slick looking.

I don’t use the special buttons on the side or the wheel, so can’t comment there.

Over all, it’s a tool I cannot work without. I just wish it’s cheaper…

Troubled start but happy ending
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
When I first tried installing it would not install. After getting help from tech support they decided to replace my unit. It was replaced promptly and all I had to pay was for shipping. The new unit also would not install and tech support decided there was a problem with my computer. With the help of a local friend, who is much more knowledgeable about computers than I am, we got it to install. I found Tech support to be very helpful, courteous and willing to bend over backwards to give me help.

Perfect
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was saving for the 12″ cintiq but then saw reviews for this. Its perfect for me, works really well with photoshop at least. Not very heavy and really thin. The next size up needs a desk and I dont think you can hold it in your lap like you can with this one. Very comfortable to hold.

The best
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I would get this one out of all the sizes. The first one is too small and doesn’t contain any backlit keys. This one is perfect. Trust me, as a graduating art school student this thing is worth it’s weight in gold, lol, it’s pretty light so that may not be saying much but it’s a great tool, not unlike most kids in art school. :p

Love it!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve used Wacom tablets for several years and if you like the previous versions you’ll love this one. Better sensitivity (although it was already good with the Intuos3) and the ability to have more command options directly from the tablet is nice. Worth every penny.

Excellent design tool
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This must be my sixth Wacom device (not counting the 12″ Cintiq) and it’s the best designed one yet. Not only functional but pretty to look at. The pen is exceptionally comfortable in the hand. Highly recommended.