Customer Reviews

Bamboo Fun (Medium) Blue Tablet with Pen, Mouse, and Graphics Software

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wacom has brought this technology a long way. This product is more affordable than the higher end Intuos3 models, yet powerful enough for many pros.

For me, the small size is perfect and will fit most users needs. The "medium" sized tablet is suited for hard core graphics people who need to work at the pixel level for large images. Those using this for the mouse also may prefer the medium size. Either way, the tablet maps to your screen size for any of these models.


This unit comes in a variety of colors and configurations. I prefer the look of the black tablet, but there are silver, white and blue ones also.
Bamboo Fun (Medium) Silver Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics Software
Bamboo Fun (Medium) Black Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics Software
Bamboo Fun (Medium) Blue Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics Software
Bamboo Fun (Medium) Silver Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics Software
Bamboo Fun (Small) White Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics Software
Bamboo Fun (Small) Silver Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics Software
Bamboo Fun (Small) Blue Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics Software
Bamboo Fun (Small) Black Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics Software

Upon plugging in the device, it works immediately! The pen works as a mouse or as a pen/brush for drawing applications. The tablet also has function buttons.

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.

Installing the drivers and software allows you to access the settings and tools that make this device versatile and customizable. Be prepared to spend some time tweaking this unit to your likes. The Bamboo software allows you to customize the mouse or pen buttons. Left-handers will greatly appreciate this!

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
+ Traditional or pen mouse for casual users

Cons
- The scrolling zoom function does not work uniformly on all applications
- The mouse with this model will not suffice for power 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.

Enjoy.

I love my Bamboo Tablet! I'm only 12, so the idea of paying 182 dollars of my own cash for something intimidated me, but I really wanted it, so I decided to splurge a bit. I ordered the medium, and although some say Small fits their needs, the Medium was perfectly sized for me. It is about the size of a sheet of paper, so it is really natural to draw on. I thought I would have a hard time drawing something I could only see on the screen, and figured it would take me a long time to get used to NOT looking down at the tablet. But I caught on really quickly- it wasn't nearly as hard as I expected!I love the texture of the tablet- it isn't too smooth, so it's a lot like the pencil-on-paper feel. Easy to draw on. It came with Corel Painter Essentials 3, which I loved sooo much!!!! Incredible! You can choose from lots of drawing settings- chalk, pastel, spray can, lots of different bristled paint brushes, multiple water-color brushes, pencils, crayons, and a lot more! Days of fun experimenting with all the different things and the versatility of drawing tools allowed me to create things such as sunset pastel paintings that looked much harder and advanced than they were to create.

The only problem I have with it is the pen- but it's just a minor pet peeve. I write holding the pen/pencil really low, so I always accidentally press the button. When you press that, it's a right click, so it can sometimes cause an error in what you were doing. But it probably won't for others, because it depends on where you hold the pen.

Overall, I would highly reccomend this to anyone- and even though I had my doubts at first, this was definitely worth the cash! Even my mom loves to use it once and a while!

Best Thing: No experience needed, you can pick it up and start drawing! Takes very little time to get used to it! I love this thing!

I bought it wanting to find a small tablet for when I'm not at my main desk. This one fits perfectly with the small work area I have. I was worried at first since it didn't have full sensitivity as the other wacom tablets. But this still works great. Can't tell much difference drawing wise. Only disadvantage so far was that you can't change the settings on the pen and tablet for each different application.

Item arrived and was a piece of cake to set. it's working wonderfully and has given me no problems what so ever. I highly recommend it for any novice photoshop user.

This is a great product for someone who is not a full-time graphics professional and does not want to spend the big bucks for a WACOM tablet. It is easy to setup and use, although like any grapics tablet, it take time/practice to use it effectively.

I would definitely recommend getting the medium Bamboo tablet rather than the small version. The larger size makes it much easier to control and allows for greater precision. I am not thrilled with the blue color, which makes it kind of obnoxious on a professional-looking desk, but its liveable.

If you want to try a tablet and think you will actually use it, this is the one to buy.

This is the first tablet I have ever owned, and it's great! I was surprised by how light and thin it is. The angled edges make it look thicker in the pictures, I think.

It only took me about 20 min to go through some tutorials and get the whole thing set up. The buttons on the top are quickly customized to do whatever you want. I have mine set to "back", "forward", "show desktop", and "open firefox". I didn't find the scroll pad all that useful in non-graphic applications. The up and down scrolling is pretty clunky, so I prefer to use the pen. In graphics applications, however, it's very useful for quickly zooming in and out.

The pen works wonderfully for quick navigation. It works best when held at an angle just under 90 degrees. This is unnatural for me. I usually sketch with my pencil at something closer to 45 degrees. I found that if I don't hold it upright, the pen will draw or click when I don't want it to. This took some adjusting, but not enough to be a problem.

Another good thing about this pen is the eraser. I expect it to be a lot like erasing with a mouse, an all or nothing deal. But no, erasing with the pen is exactly like erasing with a pencil. The line gets fainter, depending on how hard you press, until it disappears.

All in all, this tablet is just plain fun! Out of the four available colors (black, white, silver, and blue) the blue is my favorite. It really stands apart from all the other black and gray computer peripherals out there.

Excellent product. Easy to install and use. Would recommend this to anyone who is contemplating purchasing a graphics tablet.

The Bamboo Fun lived up to my expectations and to its price tag. Its operation is smooth and pressure sensitivity seems good. Haven't had any problems with it so far and the learning curve didn't seem too steep as this was my first time using a graphics tablet I think I managed okay. I haven't tried out the software much as I had the photoshop already installed on my system so didn't see a need to install some of it. All in all its seems like a great product.

Fast shipping, great product, very easy to set up on the computer with no bad issues at all. Purchased this for my 9 yr old daughter who loves art currently doing pastels / painting. Great platform to learn on the PC and we purchased Painter X and other programs to encourage her.

I don't have any complains. The board works as described. I like being able to draw on a board like this, the response is good too. Good choice for one who is just getting into this type of drawing.