Customer Reviews

Wacom Graphire4 4x5 USB Tablet (White)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Making selections is as easy as pie with the Wacom pen tablet. Using the lasso tool in photoshop was painful with a mouse, but is much easier with the pen tablet. The pen is about the size of a normal pen and is quite comfortable to hold. There are two customizable buttons on the pen which you can set to keystroke modifiers like ALT and SHIFT, making switching between adding to a selection subtracting from a selection possible without having to use the keyboard.

The low price of this table is worht every penny, but with the accompanying software (Photoshop Elements 3), this is a real bargain.

Hello,
I have used Wacom graphic tablets for the last 8 years. I've come to like the 4 x5 size the best over the 6 x8 or larger. Why? With the larger tablets you'll be moving your arm a lot more, which will be apparent at the end of a 10 hours day. Even though you can define the drawing area in larger tablets, I don't like the inconvenience of the big device. I've also tried different brands but the battery-less design is superior. There is one major drawback on these tablets. They ALL have a matt coating over the clear plastic drawing area. After about 2 years of use that coating starts to chip off, making it very annoying. At that time I usually replace the device with a newer model. Therefore, plan on replacing the tablet at about 2 years if you are a heavy user. Over time I also experienced two pens that suddenly stopped working. Wacom has bad customer support, so expect to shell out some money to buy a new pen. Overall I think there is not much competition so you'll have to live with the drawbacks. http://www.nussberger.com will feature some more of my work. Thanks and have a great day.

I bought this mainly for doing drawing and animation in Flash and other programs. It works like a charm- the pressure sensitivity really helps you get a more traditional "hand-drawn" look on your computer. The size is good- I don't think I'd want a bigger one for what I'm doing. I haven't been able to replace the mouse for the pen fulltime though- surfing the web or working on word docs with the pen still feels "akward" and I still prefer using the mouse- but since the tablet comes with a mouse it's great since I don't have to move the tablet out of the way to switch between the two. There's a slight different feeling using the Wacom mouse though- since it's direction is based on where it is on the tablet, you can't hold the mouse at an angle, move it up/down (at an angle) and expect the cursor to go up/down on the screen- it will go diagonally. Just like if you were to turn the mouse upside down, it will still go up/down on the screen, whereas a regular mouse would do the opposite of it's movement on screen. Not really a problem unless you're used to being lazy with the mouse like I used to be- you get used to it after a short time though. I actually think I like it better now. But no one buys this for the mouse anyways- the pen is awesome!

I've been a VERY satisfied customer of the Wacom Graphire3 4x5 tablet for years and absolutely love it. In fact, it's replaced my mouse entirely with its included one.

I went to purchase the new Graphire4 for my Vista Laptop to enjoy the same functionality. The Graphire4 seemed to be the way to go (a step up from the "3", geared towards vista and a nicer style to it).

Unfortunately, I am a bit disappointed in the product and this may just be from years of being "used to" the Graphire3.

The size of both are nearly identical except the Graphire4 is more rounded whereas the 3 is more square shaped. The pen on the Graphire4 is a bit shorter and also a bit thicker. The "3" pen was fully plastic whereas the "4" has a rubberized grip towards the tip. I don't care for this rubberized feel too much as it makes my fingers feel a bit awkward (as if they were dipped in powder). Another change that I don't care for is the change from a 1-button pen to a 2-button pen. On the "3" you had 1 button that functioned as 2 (you press it forward it does 1 thing, backwards it does another). This has been separated into 2 separate buttons now and doesnt seem as intuitive. Again, this might be from years of getting used to the "3".

The "4" now has 2 buttons and a scroll wheel on the actual tablet. This is a nice feature but one I don't see too much use out of (since you cant really use the pen or mouse and the buttons/wheel at the same time). Unless you use it to scroll up and down webpages, I dont see a whole lot of use for it. Still, its a nice feature to have in case it comes into use one day!

Staying on the Tablet piece, you can raise the lid off to put a photo under the clear plastic cover. This is GREATLY improved over the "3" which always felt like it would break when lifting the plastic cover (even though it was designed to do so).

The included mouse is another great feature I've always loved. It uses the same tablet platform as the pen and works much better than a wired ball-mouse. It has the 2 basic click buttons as well as a scroll wheel. The buttons and wheel are greatly improved over the "3" as they're very silent (instead of the loud noises the "3" makes). The mouse, however, is smaller and features the same rubberized grip I didnt care for on the pen.

Another thing to note - and this is a big complaint.

The box advertises it as "Unleashing vista", "Works with vista", etc.. No "* This feature not compatible with Vista" messages. However, the first thing I see when I opened it is a bright pink flyer saying:

"The version of Adobe Photoshop Elements included with your Wacom Product is NOT compatible with Microsoft Windows Vista".

Below that sheet is another saying:

"Please visit (wacom website) to download and install the newest wacom drivers for Windows Vista"

A bit disappointing since the Photoshop Elements inclusion is a big selling point! Hopefully a patch becomes available to make it vista compatible (one may even be out there now). I have a full licensed copy of Photoshop so this wasn't too big of a disappointment with me.

With all said and done, it works about the same as the Graphire 3. If it isnt broke, don't fix it.

It's a bit more stylish, but the rubberized grips may turn some people away (like myself). I'll stick with it, but I highly suggest trying it out for yourself before purchasing to see if you have any complaints about it.

One nice feature is that the pen and mice are compatible with eachother - This means I can use my "3" pen/mouse on my "4" tablet and vice versa.

As I said, this was purchased for use on Windows Vista and there are a lot of real neat features you can access with it. From note-taking (which translates your handwriting into actual text) to mouse gestures (swiping the pen in a certain direction to perform an action like copy or paste) - There are some real neat features available to owners of vista (except for Home Basic users).

Overall, I'm loving the product. The reason for only 4 stars are from my personal gripes with the pen/mouse. Using my "3" pen and mouse with it, I'd give it 5 stars. Considering I spent about $60 on my Graphire 3 set (at a retail location) years ago, and find the Graphire 4 cost me $90 (1/3rd more) now is the other reasing behind my review.

From a pure functioning standpoint, it's a 5/5.

I needed this tablet because my daughter was doing some overseas tutoring and this was a requirement. However after reading some of the reviews on the less expensive version by another manufacturer I chose to purchase this one based on the cost and the more favorable reviews. This tablet is now my tablet! Its my favorite toy, it never crashes in spite of the fact that my regular mouse is always connected...the rest of the family prefers that one for whatever reason. Don't Make a mistake purchase the Wacom if you need a tablet.

I don't care what anyone says, this thing is great! It is fun to use in painter and adobe for working on photos, the pen works great on the pad unlike some reviewers said. The pen does not need to be hovered above the pad to work this would be ridiculous, so the people that say it works this way must have a defective pad or don't know what they are doing. The mouse is great also, it works on the pad as a wireless mouse and you can switch between the mouse and the pen at any time. The pen has good sensitivity and gives much more control than a mouse when painting or retouching photos. This product comes with some excellent software and that stuff alone is worth the price. The pad is actually a free bonus for buying the software! Some people are just too picky in their reviews, and I think if you are anything but a professional graphic designer then you will love this product. Excellent!!!!

I got it today and was able to use it well right out of the box. It works exactly as I expected and is intuitive enough. I would not use it in place of a mouse (or trackball in my case), but it is perfect for many operations.
The only bad thing is that with GIMP (Open source Photoshop-like tool), there is a horrible delay. I hope to find out what is going on (I have the latest version of GIMP). But, if you use GIMP, be forewarned. Note that it works with GIMP in terms of pressure and drawing, but eraser does not work (is treated as pen) and it bogs down badly every 15 seconds or so.

The tablet was very easy to install and get working with Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Microsoft OneNote. The tablet settings dialog was intuitive, and I liked the variety of actions that could be assigned to the two top buttons. The buttons on the pen are handy, but are easy to press accidentally when drawing or holding the pen. I found the custom context menu option (which I set to the larger of the two buttons on the pen) to be too limiting, so I programmed a replacement for it.

All in all, the Graphire4 is definitely a worthwhile purchase. I find myself using it even when not working in programs that support digital ink... as a mouse replacement. For reading large PDF documents or clicking through tons of emails, it's much more comfortable than using the mouse. The pen pressure sensitivity in Photoshop is also incredible (especially for someone who used to draw things and edit photos with the mouse)!

It allows you to do so much a mouse can't. Takes practice, but allows creativeness!

I have had 3 Wacom tablets over the last ~10 years and can't work without it. My initial reason for using it was b/c of hand/wrist/arm problems due to mousing fatigue. The Wacom solved that for me (I had suffered for years, so it did take time to gain strength back, but the pain and numbness were quickly helped). In addition to the relief from repetitive motion issues, I also can work much faster with the tablet.

But this tool isn't for everyone. From the first moment I used the tablet, I was sold. I had almost no learning curve; it was instinctual. After my success with it, everyone in my department tried it. The outcome was about 50/50 with an extreme love/hate split, no middle ground. If you can, try it out first before committing.

As far as durability, I find them to be very good. My first was at work, and I soon got one for home use despite the >$100 cost at the time. I later upgraded the home one to one with a USB cord when the serial cord was obsolete. I have been using the same one for 8 years now. I sometimes wish it would break, b/c the newer models have the additional tablet controls. I never use the eraser, but do have the buttons programmed, which leads me to one drawback of using a tablet: it is hard to give "mouse-click" instructions. If I have to walk someone through steps to do something, I don't know mousing terms - my fingers just know what to do when they are holding that pen! A small price in my eyes.