Bamboo Fun (Medium) Silver Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics Software

by Wacom

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 11.1 x 0.5 inches ; 1.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000V9USBG
• Item model number: CTE650S
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 13, 2007

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

From the Manufacturer

Create Your World
Now there's a simple, easy, and fun way to harness your creativity. Bamboo Fun makes your computer your canvas, allowing you to freely express yourself by simply touching the pen tip to the tablet. Touch up digital photos, draw by hand, create artwork and paintings, and even write in your own handwriting.

Bamboo Fun includes full editions of valuable creative software to help get your creative juices flowing. Edit photos with Adobe Photoshop Elements, create artwork with Corel Painter Essentials, and apply photo effects with Nik Color Efex Pro. Bamboo Fun is available in a variety of colors and sizes.

Bamboo funs offers a more comfortable and natural way to work, enabling you to alternate between a pen, a mouse, and a keyboard.

Edit
Bring out the best in your photos. Bamboo Fun's pressure-sensitive pen makes it easy to edit, retouch, and enhance and digital photograph. Create a collage with your favorite pictures, design your own unique borders, or write directly on your photos in your own handwriting.

Paint
Make perfect brush strokes without the mess. Bamboo Fun puts painting effects and artistic tools right at your fingertips. Control brush size, paint, patterns, and textures by changing how hard you press the pen tip to the tablet.

Draw
Bring your ideas to life by drawing, sketching, and illustrating with Bamboo Fun. Use the pressure-sensitive control of the pen to vary line thickness, and add shading and color with the natural feel of pen-on-paper.

Write
Express yourself. Write notes and email, sign your name, mark up documents, and enter handwritten text anywhere typed text is accepted. Combine Bamboo Fun with Mac Inkwell or Microsoft Windows Vista and Office 2007 to unleash pen-specific features and capabilities to communicate more personally.

Simplify
Navigate quickly and easily. Bamboo Fun makes it a cinch to move files, switch views, and work in applications. ExpressKeys provide shortcuts to your most commonly-used keystrokes, and the Touch Ring allows you to zoom and scroll with the touch of your finger.

Precise control with an active area of 21 square inches and 512 levels of pressure sensitivity on both pen and eraser.

Features

• Supports widescreen displays and has a textured work surface for a natural pen-on-paper feel
• Quick access to user-defined shortcuts with four Express Keys
• High resolution and report rate for outstanding accuracy
• Easy scrolling and zooming with finger-sensitive Touch Ring
• Detachable USB cable unplugs from your computer and your tablet for easy storage and transport
• Ergonomic design provides a comfortable supplement to keyboard input
• Includes one year warranty
• Free US-based technical support available

What's in the Box

• Bamboo Fun pen tablet
• Bamboo Fun mouse
• Bamboo Fun pen
• Pen stand
• USB cable
• Quick start guide
• Installation CD (includes tablet driver and electronic user manual)
• Software DVD that includes: Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 Win/4.0 Mac, Corel Painter Essentials 4, and Nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 GE
• Package of 3 replacement pen nibs
• Available in blue, black, silver, and white

Product Description

BAMBOO FUN MEDIUM SILVER TABLET

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wacom Bamboo Medium for professional results, June 4, 2008

By 

A. Vannoy "a2elements" (Greensboro, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bamboo Fun (Medium) Silver Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics Software (Personal Computers)

Just a quick note for those of you considering to purchase a new Wacom Bamboo tablet...

I am a professional graphic artist and web developer. I use a Wacom Intuos2 at the office and was considering getting one for the home. After several weeks of research I decided to go with the less expensive and smaller Wacom Bamboo tablet for my home/personal use. My 2 reasons for deciding on the Bamboo were as follows: First off, I have a 4 year old son who wants to draw on everything, and paying $350+ for a tablet similar to my Intuos at work would just not be worth the risk, (those of you with kids can relate!); Secondly, I have a limited amount of space on my home desk and a large tablet similar to my 9x12 at work just would not fit where I need it. With that in mind, I opted for the Medium version of the Wacom Bamboo and after a month of heavy use, I have yet to discover a flaw. Although statistically it has half the pressure sensitivity of the Intuos models, after some minor adjusting of the settings, I can tell very little difference between the Bamboo and the Intuos at work. My main concern for this tablet was that the smaller size would require a large adjustment on my part since I am use to a larger tablet, however, the tablet is designed to match my widescreen display and I actually find the smaller size much easier and more manageable than the larger Intuos.

Bottom line is this, if you want a accurate and reliable tablet that doesn't take up a lot of space and still leaves you plenty of money to buy more gas for your car, the Wacom Bamboo Medium is a great choice. It will give you fast, reliable control with plenty of available options to move your creative side forward.

56 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Functionality for Serious Users, September 22, 2007

By 

Charles Evans "Call me Kevin" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bamboo Fun (Medium) Silver Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics Software (Personal Computers)

(What's this?)

The Bamboo Fun Silver tablet has certainly surpassed all of my expectations. I wasn't actually sure how the product would work, but I found it a powerful tool for photo editing. My only concerns- if you are not a technically sound you may have difficulty understanding all of the tools that are at your disposal.

Likes-

-Nothing uses batteries! Once you plug the tablet into your USB port there is not a need for any additional batteries. In fact, the tablet makes a very nice wireless mouse!

- The pen is a bit awkward at first - I still need to develop the motor skills to see my pen strokes transferred to a screen - but it is an effective editing tool.

- Adobe Photoshop and Corel draw both come with the package. Both software packages provide you with top-notch photo editing capability. Photoshop will allow to make customized photos and add text - while Corel gives you the ability to draw freehand.

- The zoom feature on the tablet works like a charm. it works the same as the dial on a Video Ipod.

- Once you master the pen - you can use Corel Draw to paint in the same manner as a canvas!

- Programs installed without any issues on my MAC.

Concerns-

- While I like the functionality, design, ergonomics and such I wonder how often I will us the tablet. Unless you are a serious photo editor the Bamboo tablet may be overkill.

- There are SO many options it will take many hours before you are fully able to maximize the Bamboo tablet's capabilities.

Final verdict? If you enjoy photo editing or doing paintings/crafts the Bamboo Fun Tablet is for you. If you are more of a casual editor who may modify an occasional Christmas card this may be a little more than you actually need.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wacom delivers with Bamboo Fun!, October 11, 2007

By 

Mark "Technology, Music and Movies" (East Coast) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)   

This review is from: Bamboo Fun (Medium) Silver Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics Software (Personal Computers)

(What's this?)

For those looking at these with fresh eyes, Wacom has brought this technology a long way. Most people shopping for Wacom tablets probably have owned similar products in the past. This product is more affordable than the higher end Intuos3 models, yet powerful enough for many pros. While I have struggled with rating this product a 3 or 4, it is definitely a good product.

First of all, the "medium" sized tablet will look large to most people. This size is perfect for hard core graphics people who need to work at the pixel level for large images. However, most users will find the small size probably fits the needs of occasional graphics use. Those using this for the mouse and function keys may prefer this size. Either way, the pen function will map to your screen size for any of the Wacom models.

This unit comes in a variety of colors and configurations. The mouse is nice because it allows you to free up a USB port if you're using a USB mouse. Power users will need more from a mouse though. If you're anything like me, you prefer a mouse with many more options than this one provides.

The Bamboo software also allows you to customize the buttons. Left-handers will greatly appreciate this!

Upon plugging in the device, the mouse worked immediately! The pen also works as a mouse or as a pen/brush for drawing applications. Be prepared to spend some time tweaking this unit to your likes though. Installing the drivers and software allows you to access the settings and tools that make this device versatile and customizable.

The software included with this device is a nice to have. Many people who buy this will already have or need full blown Adobe Photoshop. Adobe Elements gives you everything casual users need. The Corel application is nice to play with. But other than a few "macro" type functions I have yet to find anything I can't already do with Adobe. Perhaps newer users may find the Corel product more user-friendly.

Pros
+ USB connection
+ Works on XP and Vista almost plug and play - before software installation
+ Nice customizable software
+ Nice bundled applications - Adobe Elements and Corel Draw
+ No additional power adapter needed

Cons
- Medium size is large for casual users not using the mouse
- The scrolling zoom function does not work uniformly on all applications
- The mouse with this model will not suffice for most users
- Default settings require a lot of adjusting for graphics editing
- The tablet would have been ideal with several additional USB ports

Overall, the graphic artist or visual junkie NEEDS one of these. If you are a casual user, it is worth getting one on sale. You just might want to lean towards the small one. The small model with pen only will meet most users' needs.

Enjoy.