Other reviewers have mentioned that if you are new to pen tablets, it takes some getting used to. Heed the warning, it really does. That said, after 1.5 weeks of use I am just now beginning to get the hang of this. And believe me, for drawing, doodling, doing scratch text for notes, or what ever, this is awesome! It looks like Wacom has been the leader in this product space, and as far as the tablet product itself goes, I guess they are. Once you get past your own bunch of glitches if you are new to it.
On the down side, for me, is the software aspect. But there are 2 parts to this so if you're really reading this, follow closely. There's the tablet "driver" software and hardware-support applications, and then there's the "drawing and art" apps that are not fully tied to any particular tablet. Wacom's driver and support apps are exactly what I demand -- install, run, it works. No futzing around trying to "patch" or configure or tune, the software that mates the Intuos to the operating system works straight away, no problems.
Be advised though, I am speaking only for Mac since that's what I use, I can't speak to the Windows universe on this.
Moving along with software, here's where it got sketchy for me (pun possibly intended...) what I do with the tablet is scratching out electronics circuit drawings and jotting down notes and formulas related to the circuit of interest. Some for design ideas, some for study into areas I'm not so familiar with.
I wanted this because I'm tired of generated piles of paper that I ultimately just throw out once I've moved on. I also wanted to be able to save my work in case I want to go back and look at something, which my own bad habit of scrapping the pencil-and-paper work prevents me from doing. So I went for this tablet, thinking that the "free," "drawing" software would do the trick. So here we go.
I am not an artist. My on-paper transfer ability looks more like a stoned chicken dragging 3 pencils around. That's my lot. So I don't want to be unfair to artists who are familiar with these software packages but for types like me, the "free" software offered by Wacom came down to ONE app that is more-or-less market tied to the Intuos Draw tablet. It's a 3rd party app that you cannot get access to until you successfully register your tablet with Wacom, an adventure that took me 5 calendar days to complete. That really sucked (referring more to the Wacom website than the app). It was finally rectified by Wacom via email after I sent a painfully detailed problem description of what was going on.
Fast forward to "let's get that software ..." so I did, access and download and emailed registration key activities went ok, but then I got into the software and for what I need, it was simply horrible. It's not Wacom's fault per se, that I can tell. But still, only ONE app, and it was very unintuitive for me the newbie to this. The pen-motion to render delay is horrid. And that's wired to the tablet. Some folks have complained about slow reaction times to pen action, but that's mostly over the Wireless Kiit woes threads on the 'net. Not applicable to my set up, so far.
So with a very low "aggravation threshold" for these types of things, I scrapped the drawing app and looked for something different. Enter my old friend, the world of Open Source Software, where any Linux user would easily recognize an app called GIMP. Well it turns out the folks behind GIMP have ported to Apple OS-X (and apparently Windows too), and people on the associated forums swear by the combo of GIMP and Wacom tablets like mine. Great news for those like me who are doing free-form capture that surely does not qualify as art. If that's all you're doing, go with GIMP, it's 0 delay with pen motion, highly adjustable, and of course, also free.
With GIMP and the Intuos I've been trekking through the pen over here, output over there disconnect (remember the part about getting used to using a tablet?) for around this past 1.5 weeks, and I love this thing.
Ok, one more hoorah to go: The USB cable tethering the tablet to my laptop drove me nuts, so I ordered the Wacom Wireless Kit for the Intuos. THAT is the icing on the cake. Great adaptation over wireless, and I get no "drawing delay" using GIMP (I've done a separate review on the kit). The Wacom "driver and system" software picked up the tablet hardware connection immediately. Just read the quick-start steps in your language, do what it says, and away you go. No more USB cable (unless you need to charge the battery on the tablet).
SUMMARY:
* Tablet: great. allow yourself to get used to drawing in once place and seeing it on your screen 2 feet away from where your hand is.
* USB cable connection. Works well, ok if the cable doesn't bug you. Otherwise annoying.
* Wireless Kit: a true gem.
* Product registration on Wacom's site. has the potential to make you want to send to whole thing back. Be diligent, contact Wacom Tech support. They will help.
* "Free" Software sponsored by Wacom: not for me, may makes more sense to an artist.
| Standing screen display size | 7 Inches |
|---|---|
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
