Customer Reviews

Bamboo Fun (Small) White Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics Software

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Wacom has brought this technology a long way. Many 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.

For me, the small size is perfect. 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. However, most users will find the small size probably fits their needs. 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

Upon plugging in the device, the mouse worked immediately! The pen also works as a mouse or as a pen/brush for drawing applications.

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. The Bamboo software also allows you to customize the buttons. Left-handers will greatly appreciate this! Be prepared to spend some time tweaking this unit to your likes.

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

+ Small size is perfect for users not using the mouse

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. The small model with pen only will meet most users' needs.

Enjoy.

i just got this little toy, and believe me, it rocks!! i've used digital tablets before, but the bamboo fun is definitely the best value i've encountered.

what really impresses me is that you can actually WRITE using the pen and tablet. most people discover that writing on a tablet is a little harder than it looks, not least because there's a lag of a few microseconds between the pen movement and the actual screen response. at first this is a bit of a problem, but the trick is to concentrate your attention on the movement of the pointer on the screen rather than your hand motion. once your brain syncs to the screen movement, you'll soon be writing naturally using the tablet.

the included software is excellent, and getting up and running is also unbelievably easy. i think this is a wonderful gift for anyone - even if you're not an artist, you can still spend hours fooling around with the bamboo fun and the Corel Paint software. oh, and this might sound irrelevant, but i think it's a revealing detail about the quality of this product (and wacom, in general): the packaging (the box) is really aesthetic, a small work of art in itself.

This is my first drawing tablet and I have to say I'm surprised how easy it was to use. The software installation was fairly quick, and the tablet was working as soon as I plugged it in, even before I installed anything. The pen itself works very smoothly, and you get a different line depending on how hard you push on the tip. I was surprised at the level of sensitivity since it is one of the cheapest tablets on the market. Since it is very intuitive to use, I probably won't use my mouse anymore. Bamboo Fun is worth every cent.

This particular Wacom was pretty cool. It works right when you plug it into your computer. I only wish I bought a larger one. The size was a bit of a challenge for me to get used to. I am still learning alot of other features from it.

The Wacom® Bamboo Fun graphics tablet is easy to use. Since I am running Mac OS X Leopard (v10.5.2) on an Intel Mac mini, I downloaded the latest drivers from the Wacom website. The driver version is v. 5.08-2 as of this writing.

I did a few test drawings in Photoshop Elements 6 for the Mac. It worked wonderfully, with the pressure sensitivity of the pen working. The eraser also worked as described.

The function keys are programmable and so are the mouse and pen. Since I am left-handed, I kept on accidentally pressing on the pen buttons -- I disabled them to avoid this.

Now, I just have to work on my "artistic" skills. :-)

I was really worried about getting used to this thing but it's very easy to use really. I was also concerned with it being awkard to use with my 24" iMac, but since the driver corresponds every pixel on the screen with a point on the pad, I really had no problem. Only reason I am giving it 4 stars is because the mouse is downright awkward to use on it. I keep my corded mouse plugged up for when I'm just navigating. I like it though, and it's super-cute :)

nice looking product and works perfect for retouching in photoshop.

plastics have a nice feel and features are excellent. buttons are really cool and useful.

all pros no cons.

As an artist who does more digital coloring than 'traditional', I make a fair amount of use of both this and my 'regular' Wacom tablet, depending where I am. However it's been my experience that the ONLY thing the Bamboo does is make me miss my bigger, harder to transport tablet.

The drawing screen is rough and the tablet itself is obnoxiously poor in response, creating ragged, crooked lines when my larger one draws smoothly. That's assuming it decides to draw instead of assuming me -drawing lines on the touch pad- means "Zoom in."

If I ever need another 'Small' tablet, it won't be the Bamboo edition. EVER. I'd rather spend more and go for one of their superior models, because I'm fed up with this one.

We first got one of the Genius G-Pen tablets, but then found out it didn't work, it had loose wiring. So when we were gonna send it back we discovered we couldn't, Amazon (Or maybe it was "Genius.") didn't sell it anymore so we went hunting for other tablets. I also wanted PhotoShop Elements 6, but this said 5, so I went looking to see if 5 had the features I wanted, it did, sure it didn't have the black GUI, but I could do without it. So, we ordered this, when it got here two days later I was so happy to finally get a tablet that I could use, and, when I read the box (Because I read every product I get's box just because I like to.) to my surprise after software it said "PhotoShop Elements 6.0", so that was big plus for me.

The CD is useless, you really only need the instructions, which aren't too hard to follow. However the driver on the CD is out of date, always go for the driver on the website for everything with a driver, they just released a new one that I discovered just yesterday. Always check for new drivers every two weeks or so, too. The software "CD" isn't a CD at all, it's a DVD, so if you don't have a DVD drive you may need a computer with one. Than just open the CD in Explorer (Windows Explorer, the window manager/computer navigator.) or in Finder to get the files off and onto the other one so you can install the software. If you don't have a computer with one, ask Wacom, they'll probably give you the files, they're helpful.

Also, the best part: It's universal! It runs on stinky old Microsnot Win-doze/blows, awesome old Mac, and the best, Linux and all the other open source OSs! And Jaunty(Ubuntu 10.4. Comes out tomorrow!!!!)will support Wacom tablets completely! Or maybe the best part is it's plug and play... Either way, it's universal. So if you're a corrupted error-prone BSOD frequent Winblows user, it works, even on stinky old V[Bzz]. If you're a safety loving Mac user, it works, if you're an exceedingly smart to use and safe Linux user, both good for you for running Linux and you can use the tablet! PSE6 can run in Wine, too. Although I haven't tried yet, haven't booted Ubuntu since getting my tablet 'cause I've been using it.

The tablet itself is great. The textures surface greatly reduced learning time for me, I was telling my brother I'd probably have to spend hours practicing before being able to finish inking my drawing I started inking with my mom's tablet, but I didn't! I was fooling around in PhotoShop 5.0 (What I had before the tablet.) and was drawing fine! So the textured surface is GREAT. Now, on to the buttons. I could do with some more buttons, but I don't need them. The tablet has four customizable buttons which work well. I have the top two on my tablet set two undo and redo and the bottom two to brush and zoom. The touch ring is also a good feature, it can zoom or scroll. (However, only up and down.) It may not zoom in PhotoShop Elements 6.0, but you can try to get tech support to help you on that. I'm trying to get it worked out right now.

The mouse is just like a normal mouse, and the only reason I use it is because I put the tablet where I put my mouse when I'm gonna work. The workspace is a little small for a mouse, but if you speed up the cursor it works fine.

The pen is also good and had a surprise for me, an eraser! I never even knew what the thing on the end was until Mom asked me if the eraser worked.

The software is also good. PSE6 (PhotoShop Elements 6.) is great, it works on 800x600, too! It only overlaps some options, but it works, unlike most software I've found. PSE6 works well with the tablet, minus the fact it doesn't want to zoom with the touch ring. Corel Painter Essentials (CPE.) is also good, their watercolors are good, not as fun as normal watercolor, but good and take less time to use, and the acrylics are also really good, too! Although I'm not very familiar with traditional mediums, I've only ever used colored pencils and watercolor, which is why I got a tablet, I color digitally. (Which is also mainly 'cause I draw manga.) CPE, however, doesn't work on 800x600, not even the thing you click to install it on the DVD. (Which we had to get the PSE and CPE folders off of 'cause I don't have a DVD drive, I have a five year old computer.)

All in all, it's a great tablet.

I received the larger one for Christsmas from my sister, but I bought this one for her at the same time (neither of us knew the other was buying for each other). I love it!!! It has been so much fun, I draw with it, I use it on my Audio Workstations, and just plain use it as a mouse now. I haven't written with it yet in a text program, but I have experimented to make sure it worked easily. It is a great product for anyone who uses a computer and is willing to break old habits of a mouse. There is a quick learning curve of the pen, but like I said it is quick.

Just know that a point on the tablet is a fixed point on the screen. Meaning, when you have the pen in the top right of tablet, that is equal to top right of screen...or middle of tablet is equal to middle of screen. So if you are like me and use 2 screens get the larger one, because the left half of the tablet is the entire left screen and same for the right.