Walcom Bamboo Fun Review

Ever since I took a Graphics Design course last year I've wanted to get myself a decent graphics tablet. This last week I finally decided to take the plunge and purchase the top of the line tablet from Wacom, the Bamboo Fun.

To start, ordering from Wacom was a very pleasant experience. The site has a good layout, easy to read information, and checkout was very straightforward. Each page also has a nice promo video which quickly shows off the features of each tablet. Another plus is the free 3-Day UPS ground shipping.

After 3 days I recieved my tablet in the mail. I first noticed that everything from the box to the manual were top notch. I was really impressed. It even smelled nice. Removing the tablet from the box I was struck by how big it was. The tablet is USB powered and the pen requires no batteries. I popped in the included CD, ran the installer, then plugged in the tablet. Everything just worked. I started Firefox and messed around with the multitouch. It's really smooth and accurate. The ultimate trackpad. I then hop over to Photoshop to test out the pen. To put it simply it's amazing. The pen boasts a couple buttons and an eraser. It's hard to explain just how cool it feels to use. Finally I start up OneNote and write a few things down. Looks almost as sloppy as my actual handwriting.

After using it for about a week there are, however, a few things that have been bugging me about the Bamboo Fun. For one there doesn't seem to be a way to switch into Pen-Mode unless the application supports it. Also it looks as if you can't add additional gestures to it on your own.

Even with a few shortcomings I absolutely love my new tablet and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes being artistic on a computer. If the $199 pricetag is a turnoff for you checkout Wacom's other models, there should be one in your price range.

Update: I've started having issues with using my tablet on Windows 7 x64. I think somehow the default Windows driver is hijacking my tablet and really messing things up. I've had to reinstall the Wacom drivers several times to fix this. I'll post a solution if i find it.

Update 2: A simple visit to Wacom to download the latest Windows 7 solved all my issues. I am now 100% satisfied with this tablet.