Customer Reviews

Aiptek HP8UPRO Hyperpen 8000U Pro PC Tablet

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recently started getting back into hobbyist-level art, mostly comicbook stuff...reading around various comic artist forums I noticed that the majority of them are now using Photoshop/Illustrator/Painter either solo, or in conjunction with one another.

Also, they were all using Wacoms (I'm assuming if you're looking at this item, it's because you discovered how much Wacoms cost)...

Since I was coming back to art, but not on a professional level, I decided to take the plunge and pick one of these Aiptek tablets up...

Keep in mind, I've never used a Wacom tablet, so this review (less so than others I've read) is not a comparison of the two devices.

Firstly, don't buy this if you're on a Mac.

The package showed up at work and I plugged it into my work machine (OX10, 1.8ghz Intel)- it WORKED, but the sensitivity was WAY high. There were no options to change that.

Got home, plugged it into my WinXP laptop (which was to be the primary machine for it anyhow), installed the drivers, found the sensitivity slider: all good to go.

Fired up photoshop: works fine.

The pen takes a bit to get used to, and I've heard complaints about the location of the pen "clicker"- which, I'll admit is placed in a fairly retarded location, but it's something that you'll get used to. Since I have the tendency to "roll" the pen a lot when I'm between lines, I'll occasionally hit the clicker when I return the pen to pad, but it isn't anything beyond a minor annoyance- I just readjust the pen in my hand.

The weight of the pen isn't amazingly balanced nor ergonomic, but once again: a few hours of using it and you probably won't notice.

Haven't run into any of those "cursor zooming away" problems that I've heard about-

The wireless mouse: Wouldn't know, never used it...Actually, come to think of it, the wireless mouse MIGHT have something to do with the above mentioned zooming problem...I don't know, interference of some kind.

Note also, I'm using an LCD screen, not CRT- which I've also heard can cause interference problems if you're too close to the monitor.

The Pad itself is nice and roomy...Seems to be built fairly solidly. I've spilled coffee on it already and it still works fine.

In final, It's a good pad- if you're judging it against a top-line Wacom, it'll probably fail miserably...but if you're like me, and just getting (back) into art, it's worth the purchase. Haven't had any issues from a technical standpoint with it yet.

I figure if I ever become the next Frank Miller/Alex Maleev/John Cassidy/ Jim Lee/ Travis Charest/ Mike Mignola / ect...I'll step up to a Wacom then.

This is the only pen/tablet I've used, so can't base my rating on comparison with others.

I use it for drawing trails on maps and fine-tuning images, and all I can say is "WOW!". Anyone that has tried intricate work with a mouse knows how frustrating that can be. I more than got my moneys worth after the first day of using this product. I got done in a day what would have literally taken a week or more - and the finer precision resulted in better quality.

The hyperpen does the job at a very reasonable price. If you're looking at this product, then you probably need one. Buy it! It'll be one of the best investments you make.

All indications are that the tablet is a very good one for PCs. However, the Amazon ad stated that it was MAC compatible without further qualification. That's only partially true. As received, it is compaptible with Mac operating system 9 but not 10. Also, on the Aiptek website there is no driver to enable use with Mac OS 10. Therefore, I am returning the tablet.

I bought the Hyperpen to free hand draw some illustrations for one of my books, but I quickly learned that you get what you pay for. Although the look and feel of the Hyperpen is nice, its a little choppy as you draw, almost like working with an etch-a-sketch. I don't want to turn people away from it, because its not bad for a lower end digital drawing pad, but I just didn't have much luck with it in the professional arena. I probably should've went with a top of the line product. That said it would be a cool tool for your kids to draw and have fun on the computer.