I got this last time it was on Woot. It’s okay, but unless you want to spend a long time learning to use it, it isn’t that great. The pressure sensetivity worked fine (not great, but fine) for me. The problem is, the image doesn’t show up on the pad, rendering it no easier to draw with this than with a mouse. But it is nice to hold it like a pen rather than having to click the mouse button down, and it also works in place of a mouse if you hover it over the board. If you just want to play with it for a bit, it’s not bad for 30 bucks. But don’t expect to suddenly be able to draw on your computer like you can on paper.
My little brother was just considering getting a Wacom bamboo tablet, but this looks like a great deal! I’m also assuming that the active touch area on the tablet isn’t actually 8x6", more like 5x3.5". Is this right?
keep in mind that the most helpful negative review says “No sensitivity with Windows Paint.”
For a total price of $5 more you can get this at newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823102015
is this better or worse?
I have one of these from a previous woot. It works great on XP with Gimp image editing software. Worth every penny. It is far easier to draw with a pen than a mouse!
Come on…That’s a 5x3 vs. this one 8x6.
No, it’s really that big afaik. I have one of these. They are ‘OK’. Think training pad. To get a wacom this size that is a pro tablet is $$$. I have this installed with no problem on Win Vista 64 Ultimate. I use it with Photoshop all the time. I can set custom pallets with it, pressures - all that jazz. It has moderate to OK sensitivity and is more than fine for someone to learn on.
I do suggest not using this for ‘everything’ though. You can screw up the plastic part you run the pen across which will mess with the contact. What some people suggest is putting a tiny micro dot of crazy glue on the end of the pen. This stops the end of the pen from becoming abrasive and carving grooves into the plastic. You can also knock the bead of glue off and replace it if you start to notice it getting rough.
However - attempt this at your own risk. Getting crazy glue all over everything is a great way to get divorced. DO NOT put insane pressure on the pen tip when you use it. I ruined an older cheaper wacom this way. Putting too much pressure on it with cause the pen nib to scuff up as well as damage the plastic sheet. That will screw up the connection between pen and pad and then good luck keeping it under control.
You have to teach yourself to use one of these and it is a pain in the ass - even with the better quality ones. They are all adjustable depending on the program you use. Just don’t think this thing will enable you to create Lord of The Rings on your 2gb wonder machine.
eh, i’d prefer a 5x3 if it works much better :\
p.s. does this work with CS4?
Well, yeah, sure. But that one at Newegg is another no-name-brand. Probably no better, possibly worse.
A note: The pad being sold by Woot is sold under AT LEAST three different names in the US:
DigiPro, LaPazz and UC-Logic. Basically, a cheapo pad sold to anyone who wants to sell a cheap pad with their own name on the box–or so it seems.
Seems like an OK deal for the cash, still…
I’m definitely on the fence with this woot. I’ve always wanted a graphics tablet and even have it on my ‘to-get’ list (though I have the name Wacom preceding it). I feel like i would only use a tablet once in a blue moon, especially after the novelty wares off on me and it just becomes another gadget I own.
I suppose I’ll wait until I wake up and if it’s still here I may woot.
Is there a technical term for the addiction to wooting? If there is, I’m sick with it! My friend has this same tablet and it seems to be doing him a world of good.
I have tried to find out in the past if there are replacement nibs out there to purchase, and I remember coming up with nada. Even if I found a site that sold them, they are forever out of stock.
Then again you really shouldn’t have a problem with the nib on the pen for a while if you are using the tablet for casual use. If you are planning on using it quite often, then go for something better than this.
As someone else mentioned, it’s a good tablet for testing the waters if are unsure you’ll like working with tablets (though some drawing programs will respond better to this tablet than others).
On a side note, has anyone yet found out if there is a way to change the pressure sensitivity in Paint Shop Pro (PSP8 in particular)?
I say get it. I got excited and got one during a woot-off and for the price its pretty awesome. I’ve never really used an expensive one but this works well enough. I’m pretty much like you: used it like crazy for the first few days, and now (months later) use it every once in a while for photoshop or illustrator. great gadget for $35
Alright, I’m in. Thanks woot commenters!
This will not work with Leopard. Spend hours, different drivers, tried reinstalling drivers multiple times, different instructions, but never got it to work. If you are buying this for Mac 10.5 let me save you the trouble.
I picked up one of these in a previous Woot offer. It’s pretty decent - it’s no Wacom, but it’s a decent entry-level tablet.
I’d almost say it’s worth getting it to play Crayon Physics with. (http://www.crayonphysics.com/)
I have one of these from a previous Woot and I can say that it works well under Linux. If you just plug it in, it works like a mouse and with some tooling around, it works exactly like it should.
I’ll pull mine out now and I’ll figure out the configuration steps I did. I’ll post what I find out later.
It does work with Leopard. You just have to hunt down the right drivers – this did take some time. Tested with OS X 10.5.7 and Photoshop/Illustrator CS3. Everything worked fine. I don’t have CS4, so I can’t try it. The drivers that worked for me are here:
http://download.pentagram.pl/en/drivers/graphic_tablets/open_wide/?C=M;O=A
I found these in this Apple discussion:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1824315&tstart=-2
The tablet itself does feel a bit cheap, as does the pen, but it does work and you can’t beat the price as an entry level tablet. Unless you’re a professional artist that will be constantly using this (in that case, invest in a Wacom which has better features and software support), it should work for most people.
As many people have said before, this is great for a training device. Unless you’re doing mostly illustrator work where the pressure levels don’t mean that much, don’t expect any miracles with it.
If you know for a fact that you’re going to be doing painting/raster illustration, save your money and buy an intuos when you can afford it.
I always wanted just a beginner pad to just mess around with. Still undecided. Seen this last night decided “if its still there in the AM, i’ll get it” checke,d sure enough “after the shower, i’ll get it” …still there.
I think I will wait until I get to work. See if its still here.