Customer Reviews

Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch

5 star:		(102)
4 star:		(72)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

As a designer I have seen Wacom tablets in various shapes and sizes throughout the years. I have only used them a handful of times at colleagues offices however once learning of the Bamboo Pen & Touch and seeing the price, I decided to take the leap.

Overview:
For less than $100 you get an extremely capable pen tablet with a "rough around the edges" yet promising touch device. The shape and form factor is smallish yet works fine with my 20" widescreen monitor. The long USB cable should accommodate almost any workspace setup.

Pen:
The pen works flawlessly. Using the pen has dramatically increased my productivity particularly in Adobe Illustrator, it's a breeze to use compared to a mouse for vector work. It's also very capable in Photoshop and even as a mouse replacement for general use. The shape of the pen could be more contoured however and it's not easy to move quickly from using the pen to typing due to its shape. Overall I am very pleased using the pen.

Touch:
The multi-touch component of this device combined with the price is what sold me. I wanted a fluid experience much like other touch devices and this seemed, in combination with the pen, like the answer to a mouse-less desk. My initial impressions of the touch capabilities of the tablet were mixed, it was jittery, continually dragging items around my computer screen that I did not intend to move and frustrating. Now I have a touch pad on my laptop and am very comfortable using such a surface which made the experience even more confusing. A large portion of my problems were fixed by adjusting the preferences in the control panel as well as turning off the single finger "Drag" setting. Even after rectifying many of my issues I still feel like the touch experience could use some refinement, however I am sticking with it so far and have not returned to using a mouse.

Conclusion:
The Bamboo Pen & Touch offers a great entry into the tablet world along with a promising touch functionality. I would definitely buy this again with the strong message of adjusting the preferences right out of the box since this solved most of my initial issues.

I've been using Wacom products for a long time, going back to the old ADB Macintoshes. When the new Bamboo tablets came out, I picked up one of the large ones for my main workstation, and then the smaller one (the subject of this review) to travel with my laptop. Most of the comments here would apply equally to both. I use the tablets both for their particular capabilities when it comes to art and photography and also as a mouse substitute. I've long had tendonitis and I found it helpful to have both a mouse and tablet available, depending on the particular discomfort I might be enjoying.

First a few comments for owners of previous Wacom tablets. The pen itself feels a little different. It's a bit larger and lighter and feels less substantial than previous versions. There's no way to know if that translates into shorter life--we'll just have to see as the months and years go by. The surface of the tablet is different as well. Whereas previous Wacoms had a smooth glassy feel, the Bamboo feels more paper-like. No big deal, but it does feel different. I do notice that Wacom includes spare tips for the pen along with a strange little tool to remove the pen's tip (you'll find an unlabeled metal loop in the package. That's the tool). In my previous experience, the tablet surface always wore out before the pen. Perhaps this new surface is a bit abrasive to the pen tip. Again, we'll just have to see. There's also no mouse included with the package. For me that's not a problem--I never liked their mouse anyway.

Back to the more general reader. You'll like using a tablet. It's easy to draw things, and the increased resolution in pressure sensitivity is welcome. You'll also like the fact that the surface of the tablet has a one-to-one correspondence with screen position. No continued picking up the mouse and moving it. If you have any sort of repetitive motion injury, you'll also appreciate having the ability to put the load on other muscle groups. If you use dual-monitors or a single monitor 24" or larger, you'll want the larger version of this tablet--unless you have extreme fine motor skills.

Over the years, Wacom has employed several methods to keep track of your pen when you're not using it. They've had little stands that are attached to the tablets, and little stands that go somewhere on your desk. This new tablet has the best and--simplest--way of doing it. There's a little fabric loop on the outer edge. The pen slips easily into the loop--close by and out of the way.

Now what I didn't like. Touch is awfully finicky and needs a lot more work. I've never had any trouble getting used to a trackpad, but I have yet to build any trust with the touch system in the Wacom. There are particular gestures for selecting, opening, and dragging things around. Sometimes, they simply don't work. Sometimes they work too well. I've found myself continually opening files I only meant to reposition. I've found myself moving files I didn't want to move. I've found that the slightest inadvertent touch of a pinky makes things happen that I didn't want to happen. While the four buttons on the keyboard side of the tablet can be programmed to take over some of these functions, they're too far away for smaller hands. Luckily, the upper button turns the touch system off and on. I've found that 'off' is my preferred position. I keep going back and practicing to improve my control of touch, but something this critical ought to work right out of the box. The four buttons could be more useful as well. They're top-level only, with no context sensitivity. I'd love to be able to program them to do specific things in different programs, but I can't do that. Perhaps future driver updates will remedy some of these problems.

I wouldn't base my buy decision on the touch feature. There may be some people that love it, but I think a lot of people will be frustrated. But the tablet performance is nice and the overall price is attractive compared to previous Wacom products. So I'm not as disappointed as I might sound.

The software bundle is nothing to write home about. There's an old version of Photoshop Elements that may not be fully compatible with Snow Leopard or Win 7. Adobe has announced new versions, but you're going to have to pay full freight on those. I contacted Wacom sales, and they have no plans to offer the newer versions. There also a small filter plugin bundle. The bundle is so old that it's unaware of Photoshop CS4. You can hand-drag it to the right place (don't use touch to do it) and it will work, but it doesn't offer any value that's not already in CS4. The larger tablet also includes a little Corel draw program that's cute, but nothing special. If you're new to computer graphics, you might be perfectly happy with these starter programs. If you're a repeat Wacom buyer, the extras CD makes nice trivet.

In conclusion, I think Wacom shows nice progress in making a solid tablet at an increasingly low price. The touch system feels rushed and not ready for prime time. I'm still a happy Wacom customer.

Pros:
- The gestures for the pad are intuitive.
- The stylus is pressure sensitive and works as one would expect for a Wacom tablet.
- The package comes with video tutorials for complete novices.
- The device is stylish and is well constructed and packaged.

Cons:
- It was too easy to inadvertently click and/or drag something by accident.
- I tried both placing it on the side where one would normally place a mouse and placing it south of the keyboard where one would normally use a trackpad on a laptop. The latter seemed to cause more of the accidental catches while I was typing. I am not entirely sure how I am able to trigger the tablet in that instance expect perhaps a tiny portion of my palm might be just catching the edge of it.
- After using it for some time I started to miss the hand support offered by a mouse, and began to feel some fatigue. I am not sure how long one can sustain that kind of activity.
- The surface of the pad has some resistance to give the stylus the sensation of writing on paper. However this does not make it as ideal a trackpad since your fingers don't glide over the surface as easily.
- Using the zoom, rotate, forward and backward page gestures seemed to introduce significant lag. As a result, for example, when you zoom in/out in a web browser it feels like you are lurching in and out. Often I find myself over shooting a zoom level.
- Sometimes you accidentally trigger the right mouse button when instead you are trying to use a 2-finger gesture.
- The placement of the cable should have been along the top of the unit rather than the side. Having it on the side means you can't cleanly butt it up against a keyboard without the wire getting in the way.

For the price it does what it claims and it is a respectable amount of capability for what you are paying for. I'm not entirely certain however it will ultimately be a successful device to replace the mouse.

I'll stick with it for a little longer and update my review if I feel differently.

I bought this for 4 reasons - to edit images, reduce risk of repetitive strain injury, portability and cost effectiveness. I've explained my reasons in detail below.

1) To edit images. It allows me to refine and clean up images much more efficiently because using a pen to touch up selected areas in an image is a lot easier and precise than using a mouse.

2) To stop using a mouse and reduce the risk of Repetitive Strain injury -I was experiencing wrist fatigue when I used a mouse for extended periods of time, but using the pen as a mouse or the tablet as a touchpad now allows me to keep working longer and wrist fatigue is no longer an issue. I would definitely recommend buying this product if you are beginning to suffer from any sort of wrist fatigue while using a mouse. However it does take a while - (4 or 5 days ) to get accustomed to using the touchpad and you have to configure it through the Bamboo software so it suits your input style.

3) Portability - since this is the small tablet, its easy to slip into most medium or even small sized laptop bags. I can take it with me when I'm in the field without being weighed down. However because of it's small size, sometimes when drawing on the tablet, you may find that you're running out of stroke space. It used to happen to me until I got conditioned to the dimensions of the tablet.

4) Because it was cost effective. This is basically the value buy in the line of Bamboo pen and touch tablets. For 85 to 90 dollars, you get a pen and multi-touch enabled tablet along with Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 Win/6.0 Mac and Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 WE3 photo software.

The next model in the line Wacom Bamboo Craft costs $129, is the same size and has no upgraded hardware features except for being a different color. It has some extra software included (Corel Painter essentials 4 and some scrapbooking software) If you need the extra software, go ahead and spend 45 dollars more but if you don't need scrap booking software or Corel Essentials 4 - save your 45 dollars and buy the Bamboo pen and touch. There is no difference in the hardware between the two models except for the color.

The final model in the Bamboo pen and touch tablet line - Wacom Bamboo Fun sells for $165 to $170 , is also silver in color but has a larger active surface to work on. Which depending on your work requirements, could be important. It is also more comfortable to work on because of the larger active area. I own this model also and use it for the times when I'm at my desk and have to work on media for an extended period of time.

If you have to choose between these 3 models I would say look at the Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch Fun small tablet for portability and a value for money buy or the Bamboo Fun for the larger active area and comfort factor.

Don't bother with the Bamboo Craft unless you really want Corel Essentials 4 and the scrapbooking software.

Hope this helps!

I'm an artist. After I got my Macbook Pro, I decided to get a tablet to go along with it- some of my peers had said good things about tablets and I'd always wanted to try one.

All I can say is WOW.

Where do I start?

Well, my first impression was that this product has the "Apple effect". The packaging is very nice, everything is easy to find. The installation and tutorial is also incredibly easy.

The Pen
Then I put the pen to the pad. I was blown away. I had to check to see if I hadn't picked up a pencil instead; they're not kidding when they say it's a natural feel! The tablet feels amazingly natural; I was able to start creating art right away without a problem. The pen has a replaceable tip, a button that can be pressed two ways, and a thicker "eraser" tip. The buttons can be programmed for basic preset functions, or any keystrokes you want to program. The tip and eraser feel can actually be adjusted in System Preferences!

Navigation
Using it to navigate is fairly straightforward, and the two programmable buttons (default Scroll and Right Click) make the experience fairly smooth. However, it's much easier to use a mouse/trackpad with a keyboard than the pen plus keyboard just because you don't have to put a pen down to type.
Since I rest my hand on the sensor area while I draw, I usually turn the touch off and I keep it off- If you have a Macbook, you will find that there is absolutely no reason for you to use the touch functionality. While the tactile feel of drawing is amazing, I and my friends much prefer the Macbook trackpad. Also, three and four finger gestures are not supported.
If you're buying this tablet to draw, I would suggest keying the pen and tablet buttons to photoshop-related functions.

Software Integration
I've only used Photoshop, and the integration is amazing! The pressure sensitivity makes random sketching come out with a much more natural feel. Also, you can flip the pen around and it will become an eraser! Very useful. The handwriting recognition is also fairly nice. It works with any program and it's fairly accurate. I still find that I type much faster, but for people who don't it's worth a try.

In conclusion, for the purpose I bought it, this tablet is a definite 5/5. An absolute blast to use with, undoubtedly, the quality of a professional's precision tool.

My first Wacom tablet was the Original "Intuos" 4x5 back in 1998, I loved it so much that the next year I purchased the 12x18 monster! I currently use a Cintiq 21UX and a Fujitsu Tablet, so all my digitizers are screen based. I purchased this for a friend who wants to use it with a projector instead of a "blackboard/whiteboard" in a teaching setting. Below are couple of instructions I gave to him as he was trying to figure out the tablet.

From Mouse to Pen:
You will have to adjust to the cursor moving based on LOCATION instead of drag. The left top corner of the digitizer (tablet) is the left corner of your monitor, the bottom right is the bottom right. I've seen many people trying to use a tablet for the first time and they'll drag it half way and go back to the middle and try to drag the rest of the way (kinda like a mouse/touchpad) instead of moving to pen to the corner.

Yes, you can set it in options so that it acts like a touchpad instead of location accuracy but then why did you get a tablet? Well, Carpel Tunnel Syndrome people aside (a tablet is great for people with this ailment), the point of this tablet is for fast location accurate movement. You'll get used to it. Oh yeah, you can use the "touch" of this tablet to use it as a trackpad, but as others mentioned the Touch aspect is finicky at best, it just doesn't feel and act as good as your laptop touchpad.

Double Clicking:
Trying to double click at first by tapping quickly 2x with your pen also has a learning curve for some people. You can set one of your "thumb" rocker buttons to "double click" if you have problem (it comes as TOP rocker = Right Click, and BOTTOM rocker = Pan/Scroll, you can change the BOTTOM one to "double click"). Or you can use the BUTTONS on the side for easy double click or right click.

Button Customization:
If you get a little more adventurous you can customize every available button (the 4 on the tablet and the 4 on the pen--yes, the tip and eraser count as "buttons") I actually use the BOTTOM rocker = CTRL-Z, so whatever I'm drawing I quickly press the rocker to UNDO my last couple of steps. Every button is customizable so find your best combination of Pan/Scroll, Program Launch, double click, menu launch, etc.

Software:
I wouldn't recommend the Bamboo Dock, they are toys really. You can use your pen on Office 2003, 2007, 2010 to highlight, annotate, etc. Photoshop is perfect for this pen as well. The best software for pure pen use (designed from the ground up to use PEN) is the Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 2011 if you're a student go to their website and you can get a student license with your .EDU address or you can download a 15 day trial version.

If the touch is not good, then why not just buy the cheaper WACOM PEN instead of PEN & TOUCH?
Because the cheaper "Pen" has half the resolution and pressure sensitivity.
- Wacome Pen (CTL460) 512 levels pressure sensitivity and 1270 lines per inch (lpi)
- Wacom Pen & Touch (CTH460) 1024 pressure and 2540 lpi
- Wacom Intuos (the professional line) 2048 pressure (and TILT) and 5080 lpi

Of course the price reflects the advantages and if you're going to work on anything that requires pressure sensitivity (sketching, photo editing, etc) then the higher the better. Just to note, my original Intuos was 1024 pressure and 2540 lpi from what I remember, so that's plenty.

Hope this helped, I have set to receive emails from comments so I can reply to any particular question as well.

I bought this tablet because... well, to be honest, I had no reason for buying a tablet. I'm not a professional graphic designer (though if I were, I'm sure I'd invest in at least the Bamboo Fun over this), and I'm more than happy with Logitech mice. I merely had some money burning in my pocket and wanted to have a much more intuitive, fluid experience. I'm happy to say I had such a thing with this tablet.

To start off, I bought the Pen & Touch model intentionally believing that the addition of both was a good idea, rather than being stuck with only one or the other. Of course the control works flawlessly. There are times where I'll be holding the pen while utilizing the touch, but the pen cancels it out from being too near, but that's due to human error, not a machine flaw.

Now, the pen works perfectly. Everything feels right and great, and the pressure sensitivity is wonderful on Photoshop. It feels (almost) like I'm drawing on paper. Of course, I'm sure we're not ever going to achieve that pencil-to-paper feel with a digital tablet--not with as consumer-friendly of a tablet as this, but for being only $100, it sure gets close; and if I'm going to be using it as a mouse alternative 80% of the time, it's not a big deal to have such a feel anyways. My only gripe would be that there's not much grip the pen, and it can sort of find some wiggle room if you're not careful. Otherwise, it works as it should, and then some. Incredible pen tablet.

When it comes to the touch, however, it falls short a tiny, tiny bit. Of course the larger surface area makes it miles better than any laptop touch pad, but it still feels a bit claustrophobic. For some odd reason, the entirety of the tablet's surface cannot be used for touch. There is a small sliver around the touch-sensitive area that is not used for touch. Why this is, I'm not sure, and it's not too incredibly annoying. I just feel like it should have utilized the whole area, but I'm just nitpicking. In all, the touch portion of the tablet is a bit... well, bad. The touch-only cues are very well done, as the tablet seems to always recognize my flicks for back and forward, as well as scrolling. The zooming is a bit more bipolar, and I have yet to get the rotate to work, though that's merely due to the lack of rotatable objects I've had to work with. Just using the touch portion for the mouse feels incredibly jerky. No matter what speed I set it to, it seems to be impossible to gauge the speed. It feels like it speeds and slows constantly, regardless of what I do. I've been able to get used to it a bit, but I always take the pen over the touch at any point I can.

The tablet is incredibly solid and incredible. The pen portion is completely flawless; sure, there are places where you could nitpick, but that's just if you REALLY want to find any type of negative aspect to it. The touch could be polished a bit, and it's definitely different from what I'm used to. I'm sure over time, any person could easily master this minuscule task. Mastering it shouldn't really be a priority, though, if it were maybe fixed up a tiny bit. Regardless, don't let these comments sway you from the tablet. The touch really isn't that bad. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 7. It's up there, it just needs a push higher.

Really, for only $100, it's an incredible deal. It sounds like a lot, but I was honestly surprised something as nice as this could go for $100. The space itself is generous, too. It works incredibly, and is as consumer-friendly as a microwavable Mac & Cheese. Crappy analogy, yes, but it works.

This is really a great product. My only complaint is that the touch capability is kinda useless. Once you get used to using the pen it is actually quite fast to navigate the screen using it. The touch pad just isn't quite there. Its nice, but not nice enough to pay extra for it. Just buy the Bamboo Pen version and save yourself some money. Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet

There is a newer version of the non touch tablet that is actually cheaper than the old one. Wacom Bamboo Connect Pen Tablet (CTL470)

The pen works great! I'm sure if I bought a more expensive version it would work better... but for the price, you can't beat it.

I bought this to help with making cartoon animations. This pad really helped speed up the animation process. Now we don't have to scan and digitally trace each animation... we can just draw right into the computer.

As other reviews indicate, the touch feature on this product isn't absolutely perfect...regardless, it's a fantastic compliment to the pen (and isn't that the real reason someone should buy a Wacom Tablet?). In general the touch feature works just fine, but a few of the gestures are a bit shaky. They work, just not always on the first try. Honestly though, it really doesn't bother me since I'm using my mouse side by side with the tablet. And at the end of the day, it's all about the pen. The pen feels great and the slight texture on the tablet makes the transition from paper to this product very easy. At a price under a hundred dollars this tablet is a crazy good deal. The four buttons on the tablet and the two on the pen are completely programmable, so you can set them up as your favorite keyrokes. And there are a lot more customizable preferences. Lastly, if your not buying this for any particular reason, such as a mouse alternative or for graphic work, you may not find it getting the use it deserves. Much like a nice pair of running shoes...they're not exactly worth the money if you hardly ever run. Overall, if you actually need a tablet like this, it's worth every penny.

I've been wanting a Wacom tablet for years but the price on them has always put me off. I love to draw, but pencil and paper just isn't cutting it for me anymore. I wanted to get my art directly onto the computer and be able to play with it in Photoshop (and scanning artwork in every single time is a chore).

With the Bamboo line I finally decided to jump in and go for it. After scouring Youtube and the rest of the internet for product reviews on this bad boy I felt comfortable enough to know what I could expect from one of these things.

First off, if this is your first drawing tablet then prepared to be amazed. Drawing with it is simple easy and lots of fun. My jaw dropped when I saw how much my lines looked as if I had just drawn them with a real pencil. There's a learning curve though. As an artist I'm used to looking down at the paper as I draw or paint, I like to be able to see exactly where my hands are. So it takes some getting used to with having to look at your monitor instead. It's almost drawing blind in a way as you can't tell where your hand is at. However, your on-screen brush/paint cursors follow the movements of your hand exactly, so you always know where to put your lines. It's just take a bit of getting used too, but after a few weeks of it you'll be just fine.

The pen itself is very weighty, so it provides a good grip and a lot of control. The two customizable buttons on it at it's base though can be a bit of a pain. It's so easy to click them while you're drawing, but it's not really a big deal, just a minor quibble. The buttons are ridiculously useful though, I have one set up for adjusting my brush size and the other for panning the canvas in Photoshop, so I'll gladly take a little headache in exchange for these kinds of features. The pen even has an eraser on it. Just flip it over while drawing and your brush automatically switches to eraser mode. How this works I have absolutely no idea, but it does work and it's such a handy little feature. I wasn't expecting such a fully featured pen tool for this price.

The pen is also completely wireless and it doesn't require batteries either. Again, how the heck the pen works like this is anyone's guess. But no one will argue that it's nothing short of awesome.

If you've been wanting to draw, paint or whatever with a drawing tablet but have yet to do so then this tablet won't let you down. It's the perfect introductory tablet to digital drawing and it's one you'll use for years. Don't let it's price or looks fool you. You can create professional quality artwork and beyond with this thing.

I'm too used to the mouse, so I don't use the tablet as a mouse replacement. But I have to admit, writing out the names of websites or Google searches in my own handwriting and having it automatically recognized by the tablet is too cool for words.

Oh, and one handy little tip I came up with. I like the drawing texture on the tablet, but if you're like me and would like something a little more close to actual paper then check this out. Take a small sheet of paper, cut it up so it matches the size of the drawing screen and place it on top of the drawing area. Tape it down on the sides and try drawing on it, the texture, feel, and behavior of the brush is just like drawing in your favorite sketchbook with no loss of tablet functionality.

Great product, 5 stars easy.