Graphics Tablet Reviews

The Photoshop and Painter Artist Tablet Book

admin — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 07:07:06 +0000

Despite its fame as an image-editing tool, Photoshop has never been about paintingâ��that is, not until recently. With a new paint engine, however, Photoshop is now about editing, compositing, effects, and paintingâ��and award-winning artist and author Cher Threinen-Pendarvis is here to show you how you can use both Photoshop and Painter with pressure-sensitive tablets to improve your drawing skills and open your mind to new artistic possibilities.

Top 10 Graphics Tablets

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:59:17 +0000

There are many makes and models of graphics tablet on the market today, all with varying sizes, options and accessories. If you are someone who is looking to break into the arena of using a tablet to process photos or do some digital drawings on your Mac or PC, then a cheaper model will usually suffice. If you are already a seasoned user, you will probably want to opt for a Wacom model, which are generally considered to be the industry standard when it comes to USB graphics tablets.

As you can see from the following list of the top 10, best selling graphics tablets at the time this post was published, that Wacom feature heavily and there is no sign of them being challenged any time soon. The top selling models are the cheaper versions of the Wacom range, with one of their higher end models at number 9.

1. Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet

Bamboo Pen turns your computer into the ultimate editing tool and gives you the ability to paint, draw, edit, and personalize your documents with handwritten notes, sketches, and doodles. The ergonomically-designed pen fits comfortably in your hand, and the tablet’s textured work surface makes you feel like you’re working with a pen on paper. Bamboo Pen is a smart solution for anyone who strives for clear, visual communication. Write in digital ink, mark up documents with your own handwriting, draw quick sketches, and explore your creative side. Included in the box is Corel Painter Essentials, which makes it easy to turn photos into paintings and create natural media art. Bamboo Pen works with your existing computer: desktop or laptop, PC or Mac. Sleek and black, it makes for a stylish addition to your workspace. Attach Bamboo Pen to a standard USB port, set it comfortably by your keyboard, and let your creativity flow.

2. Wacom Intuos4 Medium Pen Tablet

With a new design and features inspired by members of the professional creative community, Intuos4 redefines the pen tablet experience. Featuring Wacom¿s new pen tip sensor technology and 2,048 levels of pen pressure sensitivity, the Intuos4 pen captures the most subtle nuances of pressure, allowing you to dynamically adjust exposure, brush size, opacity and more. User-defined ExpressKeys activate frequently used shortcuts and modifiers, while the accompanying, illuminated ExpressKey displays on the medium, large and extra large models, provide a constant reminder of each key¿s function. The finger-sensitive Touch Ring quickly controls up to 4 different functions such as canvas rotation, zoom, scroll, brush size and more.

Read our Intuos 4 review.

3. Wacom Bamboo Fun

The Wacom Bamboo Fun lets you get hands-on with your creative projects, giving you the benefits of Multi-Touch along with the comfort and precision of Wacom’s ergonomically-designed pen. With Multi-Touch, you can navigate, scroll, and work with simple gestures in an area larger than on mobile devices or laptop trackpads. For precision work, pick up the pressure-sensitive pen to draw, sketch, edit photos, and add handwritten elements to your creations. The generous size of Bamboo Fun gives you lots of space for creative freedom, making it simple and comfortable to use. Bamboo Fun works with your existing computer: desktop or laptop, PC or Mac. Attach it to a standard USB port and set it comfortably by your keyboard. You can even customize your Bamboo Fun experience by assigning your own shortcuts to the four ExpressKeys. Available in a stylish silver color, Bamboo Fun will complement your current setup. It includes valuable additions that make it ideal for your creative projects.

4. Genius MousePen 8 x 6-Inch Graphic Tablet for Home and Office

The Genius MousePen 8x6 is a deluxe package that includes a tablet with a comfortable 8"x6" surface area, a cordless pen with 1024 levels of pressure-sensitivity, and a cordless three button mouse. This brand new tablet is ergonomically designed for drawing, handwriting, sketching, coloring, or picture editing, and powered directly by the USB connection. It's not only a fantastic media tool for SOHO or designers.

Read our Genius MousePen 8x6 review.

5. Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch Fun Small Tablet

The Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch combines the benefits of Multi-Touch with the comfort and precision of Wacom’s ergonomically-designed pen, giving you a powerful new way to work with your computer. Multi-Touch allows you to use simple gestures and finger taps in an area larger than on standard mobile devices or laptop trackpads. Easily move around your desktop, scroll through documents, navigate the web, zoom in and out of photos, and rotate images. For precision work, pick up the pressure-sensitive pen to edit photos, create personal greetings, make sketches, and mark up documents in your own handwriting. The tablet’s generous active area makes it more natural to use. It’s easy—even if you’re new to the touch experience. You can even customize your Bamboo Pen and Touch experience by assigning your own shortcuts to the four ExpressKeys.

Read our recent review of the Wacom Bamboo Pen And Touch.

6. Wacom Intuos4 Small Pen Tablet

With a new design and features inspired by members of the professional creative community, Intuos4 redefines the pen tablet experience. Featuring Wacom¿s new pen tip sensor technology and 2,048 levels of pen pressure sensitivity, the Intuos4 pen captures the most subtle nuances of pressure, allowing you to dynamically adjust exposure, brush size, opacity and more. User-defined ExpressKeys activate frequently used shortcuts and modifiers. The finger-sensitive Touch Ring quickly controls up to 4 different functions such as canvas rotation, zoom, scroll, brush size and more.

7. SolidTek DM-L2 DigiMemo L2 8-1/2-by-11-Inch Digital Notepad

The DigiMemo 692 is a stand-alone device with storage capability that digitally captures and stores everything you write or draw with ink on ordinary paper, without the use of computer and special paper. Then you can easily view, edit, organize and share your handwritten notes in Windows.

Read what we thought of it here.

8. Wacom Intuos4 Large Pen Tablet

Read our Intuos 4 review for more information.

9. Wacom CINTIQ 21UX (DTK2100) 21-Inch Pen Display - Graphics Monitor with Digital Pen

Work directly on screen with the new Cintiq 21UX. The newly-redesigned Cintiq 21UX incorporates Wacom’s most advanced pen technology in a sleek, black, display, allowing photographers, designers, animators and other creative professionals to work naturally and intuitively directly on the surface of the large-format, 21.3” LCD screen. The Cintiq 21UX now detects 2048 levels of pressure, giving you even more control over pressure-sensitive pen effects such as line weight, opacity, and exposure. With Wacom’s new Tip Sensor, the pen now features a lower activation force that captures even the most subtle nuances of pressure. The ambidextrous design features rear-mounted Touch Strips, along with the accompanying Touch Strip Toggle Buttons, which give you control of up to four application-specific Touch Strip functions like brush size, zooming, canvas rotation and scrolling. Sixteen ExpressKeys (eight on either side of the display) boost productivity by providing quick access to keyboard shortcuts and modifier keys.

We loved the Cintiq 21UX! Read our review.

10. VisTablet 12-Inch Tablet

Vistablet 12" (12x10 dimensions), the New Standard in graphic tablets. Pen tablets have been around for some time. Not until recently have they become affordable to the general public. These tablets are ideal for professionals in the Graphic art and Photo industries, students, and general needs for handwriting recognition on your MAC or PC. VisTablet allows you to explore the internet, draw, paint, write, highlight and do professional or home photo editing. Vistablet ahs incorporated all the latest features and benfits needed and expected from a graphics tablet and made it affordable for everyone. The VisTablet has 1,024 levels of sensitivity to the pen-pressure you apply to the surface for superb recognition.

A great entry level product. Read our Vistablet 12 inch review here.

5 Best Selling Graphics Tablets (Without Wacom)

admin — Sun, 02 May 2010 08:09:37 +0000

Imagine a world without Wacom.

This is what the graphics tablet landscape would look like if there were no products made by them. The smaller, less well known products (that are equally as good in our opinion) would be all that is left on the shelves and high end graphics professionals would be forced to use these models to do their work.

It is not all doom and gloom though. A simple USB graphics tablet will perform very adequately for the majority of the work that people do. The greater levels of pressure sensitivity or higher DPI do make a difference if you are a digital artist, but otherwise and simple product from someone like Genius will suffice.

Here is a list of the current best selling graphics tablets, without Wacom included.

1. Genius MousePen 8 x 6-Inch

Item #: M16182. The Genius MousePen 8x6 is a deluxe package that includes a tablet with a comfortable 8"x6" surface area, a cordless pen with 1024 levels of pressure-sensitivity, and a cordless three button mouse. This brand new tablet is ergonomically designed for drawing, handwriting, sketching, coloring, or picture editing, and powered directly by the USB connection. It's not only a fantastic media tool for SOHO or designers.

Genius MousePen 8x6 - mouse, digitizer, stylusDevice Type: Mouse, digitizer, stylusConnectivity Technology: Wired - USBFeatures: Pressure sensitive penBattery: 2 x AAA typeOS Required: Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP Customers also search for: Discount Genius MousePen 8x6 - Mouse, Digitizer, Stylus, Buy Genius MousePen 8x6 - Mouse, Digitizer, Stylus, Wholesale Genius MousePen 8x6 - Mouse, Digitizer, Stylus, 0091163213123, 31100001101, Mouse and Pointing Devices.

Read our review of the Genius 8x6 tablet.

2. Genius G-PEN F610 Ultra slim graphic tablet

G-Pen F610 is the brand new slim tablet with 6"x10" working area and one cordless pen for PC Windows and MACs to write, draw, sketch and sign emails. Using the pen tablet gives you ultra convenience and better control than your mouse. The cursor moves precisely where you position the pen.

We tested the Genius G-Pen F610 and found it to be a very capable product. Read our F610 review here.

3. DigiPro WP5540

Paint, draw, write, sign, and sketch all your documents and applications! This DigiPro WP5540 digital tablet comes equipped with a pressure sensitive stylus pen giving you the right tools for any task! The tablet features a 5.5 x 4-inch working area with a pen holder and indicator and an attached USB cable.

The stylus pen has 512 levels of pressure sensitivity and is compatible with most graphic software such as Painter and Adobe Photoshop! The WP5540 is Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 compatible (see driver link below).Change the way you interact with your PC! Get the DigiPro WP5540 digital tablet today!

We have yet to review the DigiPro WP5540, but you can get a good price at Amazon here.

4. Adesso CyberTablet M14 Widescreen Slim Graphics Tablet

The CyberTablet M14 is one of the most spacious tablets in its class. The tablet is able to support a 12 x 7.25 or 9.5 x 7.25 selectable writing area. The tablet is great for graphic artists and animators, architects and engineers, web designers and people who love to draw. It is ideal also for students and professional who are in to handwriting, sketching, coloring and editing photos.

It features a powerful pressure sensitivity to accomplish the most sophisticated computer-aided design task with the aide of 4000 lpi (lines per inch) hardware resolution and 1024 lop (level of pressure) pen sensitivity. It makes easier to use with the aide of an ergonomic pen, tablet and software which is included in the package. It lets you draw naturally and let you write freehand graphics and text, as comfortable as on a real paper. This Media Graphics Tablet provides you with excellent writing and drawing convenience, making it easier for you to use with your PC or Mac.

See what we thought of this product at our CyberTablet M14 review page.

5. Genius EasyPen i405 Graphics Tablet (Silver)

EasyPen i405, 4-Inch x 5.5-Inch graphic tablet for painting & drawing. Now here's a simple, easy, and fun way to show your creativity. The new EasyPen i405 from Genius allows you to freely express yourself on your computer by simply touching the pen tip to the tablet. The 4-Inch x 5.5-Inch working area with the cordless pen is great for Windows and MAC users to write, draw, sketch or sign emails. Using EasyPen i405 gives you more convenience and is easier to control compared to a mouse.

The cursor moves precisely where you position the pen. Just click the pen on any of the 28 programmable shortcut keys for instant access to Office and Internet functions. You just need to barely touch the pen to start a funciton, it features two buttons and 1024 level pressure sensitivity for thickness during drawing or writing. You can store the pen in the clip on the right and this makes it easy to carry and store. Touch up digital photos, draw by hand, create artwork and paintings, and even write in your own handwriting, EasyPen i405 has all these options at your disposal.

We have not had our review copy of the EasyPen i405 yet, but you can read the customer i405 reviews over at Amazon.

Top Graphics Tablets – March 2010

admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 05:39:38 +0000

Wow. Well, this is the first of our monthly round ups of which USB Graphics Tablet sold the most during the previous month and it seems that we might be dominated by the Wacom range already! I guess that Wacom is the "industry standard" and that they have gone all out to drive further into the home user market with the smaller and more specialised tablets such as the Bamboo Fun range. So this could account for their success too.

Just taking a quick glance at the best sellers without Wacom included, we can see other manufacturers such as Genius, Adesso and DigiPro coming up fast, but selling no where near as many items. With the iPad just being launched today we can expect that some people may begin to create more digital artwork which may, in turn lead to more graphics tablet sales overall. We shall see.

1. Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet

Bamboo Pen is a smart solution for anyone who strives for clear, visual communication. Write in digital ink, mark up documents with your own handwriting, draw quick sketches, and explore your creative side. Included in the box is Corel Painter Essentials, which makes it easy to turn photos into paintings and create natural media art. Bamboo Pen works with your existing computer: desktop or laptop, PC or Mac. Sleek and black, it makes for a stylish addition to your workspace. Attach Bamboo Pen to a standard USB port, set it comfortably by your keyboard, and let your creativity flow.

Read our full Wacom Bamboo review here.

2. Wacom Intuos4 Medium Pen Tablet

User-defined ExpressKeys activate frequently used shortcuts and modifiers, while the accompanying, illuminated ExpressKey displays on the medium, large and extra large models, provide a constant reminder of each key¿s function. The finger-sensitive Touch Ring quickly controls up to 4 different functions such as canvas rotation, zoom, scroll, brush size and more.

Read our Intuos4 review here.

3. WACOM Sliver Bamboo Fun Tablet (Factory Refurbished)

Now there's a simple, easy, and fun way to harness your creativity. Bamboo Fun makes your computer your canvas, allowing you to freely express yourself by simply touching the pen tip to the tablet. Touch up digital photos, draw by hand, create artwork and paintings, and even write in your own handwriting.

Bamboo Fun includes full editions of valuable creative software to help get your creative juices flowing. Edit photos with Adobe Photoshop Elements, create artwork with Corel Painter Essentials, and apply photo effects with Nik Color Efex Pro. Bamboo Fun works with any software, and is the perfect mate to those software applications with special features and tools that are designed to be used with a pen.

Read what we thought of the Wacom Silver Bamboo Fun here.

4. Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch Fun Small Tablet

Bamboo Pen and Touch combines the benefits of Multi-Touch with the comfort and precision of Wacom’s ergonomically-designed pen, giving you a powerful new way to work with your computer. Multi-Touch allows you to use simple gestures and finger taps in an area larger than on standard mobile devices or laptop trackpads. Easily move around your desktop, scroll through documents, navigate the web, zoom in and out of photos, and rotate images.

For precision work, pick up the pressure-sensitive pen to edit photos, create personal greetings, make sketches, and mark up documents in your own handwriting. The tablet’s generous active area makes it more natural to use. It’s easy—even if you’re new to the touch experience. You can even customize your Bamboo Pen and Touch experience by assigning your own shortcuts to the four ExpressKeys.

Bamboo Pen and Touch works with your existing computer: desktop or laptop, PC or Mac. And it’s an incredible value with the included software: Adobe Photoshop Elements and Nik Color Efex Pro. Sleek and black, the tablet makes for a stylish addition to your workspace. Attach Bamboo Pen and Touch to a standard USB port, set it comfortably by your keyboard, and let your intuition guide you.

Read our review of the Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch.

5. Wacom Bamboo Fun

Bamboo Fun lets you get hands-on with your creative projects, giving you the benefits of Multi-Touch along with the comfort and precision of Wacom’s ergonomically-designed pen. With Multi-Touch, you can navigate, scroll, and work with simple gestures in an area larger than on mobile devices or laptop trackpads. For precision work, pick up the pressure-sensitive pen to draw, sketch, edit photos, and add handwritten elements to your creations.

The generous size of Bamboo Fun gives you lots of space for creative freedom, making it simple and comfortable to use. Bamboo Fun works with your existing computer: desktop or laptop, PC or Mac. Attach it to a standard USB port and set it comfortably by your keyboard. You can even customize your Bamboo Fun experience by assigning your own shortcuts to the four ExpressKeys. Available in a stylish silver color, Bamboo Fun will complement your current setup. It includes valuable additions that make it ideal for your creative projects.

We have reviewed the Bamboo Fun tablet here, take a read and find out what we thought.

Wacom Cintiq 21UX

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:18:27 +0000


The new Cintiq 21UX from Wacom is another triumph in their excellent line of pen tablet displays. This new model brings all of the latest technological advances in tablet innovation and delivers it all in a solid package that will let digital artists, designers and creatives draw, paint and write without restriction.

SolidTek DM-L2 DigiMemo Digital Notepad

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:45:16 +0000

Imagine being able to fill in a form using this electronic clipboard, where each entry you make is stored as an image that you can keep or print later. As an artist, sketching will be an excellent use for this device and it will let you be creative where ever you like. Just turn it on, place any kind of piece of paper and start drawing. When you are done, plug the DM-L2 into your PC and download your image for further work or printing.

Adesso Cybertablet M14 Review

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:25:55 +0000


The Addesso Cybertablet M14 is a great choice if you are looking for a graphics tablet with a large drawing area. The spacious 12x7.25 or 9.5x7.25 inch active area will leave you with no restrictions during your creative moments and the 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity will allow you to paint, draw and sketch just like using a real paper pad.

Will The iPad Become The New Graphics Tablet?

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:27:01 +0000

As usual, with a launch of a new Apple product, the press and public are in a frenzy over the shortcomings, failings, benefits and "game changers" that it will deliver. Or not, as the case may be. The iPad is definitely one of those products that fits the Apple ideal. Simple, built for purpose technology that satisfies an exact requirement. I am sure they knew that the iPhone would take off massively once it had been accepted and applications began to start trickling through for it. The iPad will be the same.

As part of the Apple iPad keynote, the creator of Brushes, an existing iPhone app, showed what he had achieved working with the iPad. Now, lets just stop a minute and think about his appearance at this famous event. His mere presence at this speech indicates that Apple are considering the creative sector of the market for this new device. The iPad has a very nice, full color screen that can easily be turned into something akin to an interactive pen display, such as the Wacom Cintiq models. Will the iPad open the doors to the device becoming the next graphics tablet of choice for designers, digital artists and standard consumers? Perhaps, but there is one big thing standing in it's way.

The problem is the way that we interface with the iPad. With a traditional graphics tablet, a wireless pen is used to send pressure sensitive strokes direct to the screen, but the iPad has not capability for pressure sensitive touch. Unless a canny manufacturer creates a pen that works with the iPad and also delivers 1024 levels of sensitivity, then it will not be a perfect match. Drawing with your fingers is just horrible on the iPhone and although there are several styluses and pens available (such as the Pogo Stylus), the psudeo-strokes that software like Brushes creates are far from what you can achieve on a Wacom pad.

With wifi and bluetooth connectivity, the device could be paired with your PC or Mac and allow you to draw directly onto the screen, but apps like Brushes will also allow you to draw direct to a multi layer canvas and then upload to the internet after it is finished. We will only be limited by the creativity of the application developers, rather than the iPad hardware and interface.

Another point that needs addressing would be the lack of quick access buttons and "hot keys" that are on most of the pen tablets you can buy today. I can foresee an app for the iPad that floats out a hotkey selection panel that allows you to change layers or drawing tools, all in the excellent Apple style and glitz. The iPad display is certainly large enough to contain an active area for drawing and a smaller toolbar area where colors can be selected or layers adjusted.

There are many ideas that could propel the iPad to become the next graphics tablet, but also a few considerations that will need to be addressed. After all, who would have thought that people would be able to make such amazing images on just the iPhone.

What do you think? Will the iPad become the next graphics tablet? Let us hear your thoughts in the comment box below.

Small Graphics Tablet Recommendations

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:06:39 +0000

Technology is all well and good, but when you are carrying around a laptop, power supply, mouse and bag, things can get a little cumbersome. Also, at your computer desk or table, you need to keep room there for a cup of coffee, the telephone, kids drawings or that newtons cradle you got for christmas. You need space to work, which is where a small graphics tablet comes in.

Designed to be smaller and more compact than their hefty cousins, a small graphics tablet will be lighter and more portable but will not let you miss out on any of the features that the larger and more expensive graphics tablets have these days. Since the advent of USB, pen tablets have become much easier to take with you or use in smaller spaces. Gone are the serial cables and power bricks and say hello to sleek, sexy tablets designed to be used in many different ways.

The king of the mini tablets has to be the Wacom Bamboo Fun. This device, measuring at 19 x 21 cm, covers various ideals. It is designed to be small enough to be portable and used at home by all the family, but also good enough that it can be used by professionals too. Wacom have not missed out any components from this demure tablet, the same wireless pens and quick access keys are present and as with the other products from this manufacturer, they work brilliantly. For home use, this will be perfect for Children or great for adults who might want to edit digital photographs or do some digital scrapbooking. For the office, it can be used to sign documents on screen, make presentations, draw product designs, anything you can think of. Because it is so small, you can just pop it into your bag and take it with you where ever you go. You can read our full Wacom Bamboo Fun review here.

If you want to increase the amount you are prepared to spend, the Wacom Intuos4 also comes in a small version of this best selling, industry leading tablet. The Intuos4 adds greater levels of pressure sensitivity and style along with OLED quick access keys that change depending on the application or program you are using. These tablets are great to use and have recently become wireless too, so no more cables draping all over the place.

If you want to look at other manufacturers, the Vistablet Mini is also one of the best selling small graphics tablets. The active area (where you draw) is 3 x 5 inches, making it easy to use in places where space might be an issue. Vistablet claim that this is the "most affordable tablet on the market" and also one of the thinnest.

They have managed to pack a great deal into this product, making it PC and MAC compatible and fully usable with software such as Adobe Photoshop or Corel Painter. It measures 1024 levels of sensitivity from the wireless pen and also lets you flip the pen over to rub out. How cool is that?

Whilst Wacom may be king of the hill when it comes to producing a small graphics tablet for consumers, it pays to check out the competition too. Some people say that tablets from other manufacturers do not work as well as Wacom ones, and I have to admit that I would opt for a Wacom if I was in the market for such a device. If it is going to be used by children, you may need to weigh up cost versus risk of damage. This is probably the same if you are going to be taking the tablet around with you in a laptop bag.

Adesso Cybertablet Z12 Widescreen Graphics Tablet

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:57:57 +0000


At the time of writing this review, the Cybertablet Z12 from Adesso is the only widescreen graphics tablet we have reviewed. With an active area of 10 x 6.25 inches, the Z12 certainly has lots of digital real estate to let you draw in photoshop or arrange in illustrator, but does it match up to the similarly priced Wacom tablets?