Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch
by Wacom, Inc
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch
Customer Review: Great for pen input, touch functionality need much improvement
Summary: 4 Stars
I mostly use this tablet for pen input (drawing sketches and Photoshop work). For that, it's great and quite a bargain. The control panel software for it gives enough options that I can do what I need no problem. In particular, I love the fact that you can choose to map the active area to one monitor or both when using dual monitors. That's a big help to me because I have two fairly high resolution monitors (one is 1920 x 1200) and without being able to limit the working range to one at a time, it would be very hard to do anything with any kind of precision. By mapping to one monitor at a time, I have no accuracy problems even with the relatively small working area on the tablet (compared to the larger Intuos or Bamboo Fun and Craft tablets). I also very much appreciate the fact that the side buttons can be mapped to a middle click amongst lots of other things. Several programs that I use make a lot of use of the middle click and it's always a pet peeve of mine that most laptop touchpad drivers don't have any good way of emulating a middle mouse button.
Now for the not so hot. The touch functionality needs a lot of improvement. It's very sensitive to anything remotely akin to a tap and there's no adjustment for that in the preferences. So, if you have tap to click turned on, you get inadvertent clicks all the time while you are moving the cursor around. Depending on what you're doing, this ranges from annoying to inspiring cuss words. Fortunately, you can turn that off, but then you have to tie up a side button with a plain old left mouse click so you can still click on things.
I also found the gestures to be very unreliable. Two fingered taps are registered pretty well. Two fingered scrolling works okay sometimes and other times just makes things move around erratically. For example, opening up a file browser with only a few lines of room to scroll and trying to use the two fingered scroll gesture makes the window scroll fine for a second and then when you lift your fingers it jumps up and down randomly for a bit. It also gets confused in windows with room to scroll both vertically and horizontally. Then it wigs out in all four directions. The swipe motions were also impossible for me to use reliably. I spent probably a good half hour once trying to practice the forward and back gestures (two fingered swipe). Even after that, I still could only get it to work about 1 in 5 times. Rotating and zooming register correctly about 50% of the time for me.
For the record, in all this touch testing I was using the latest drivers from Wacom's website. At the time, they were version 5.2.3-4 (RC). I can only hope the touch functions will get better with future driver releases. Right now, I just turn off all the stuff that doesn't work and at least I can still use it to drag the cursor around. That's better than not having it at all, in my opinion. If you're working with the pen on one monitor, you aren't obliged to go find your mouse if you need to do a couple clicks on the other. But, I found it very unsuitable for a mouse replacement with the current software.
One other tip I'd like to mention is that the rough surface of the tablet was designed to feel like writing on paper; but, to me, it feels more like writing on 1000 grit sandpaper. And, from the multitude of complaints out there about pen tip, or nib, wear on this new surface, apparently the pen would agree. To avoid having my tips get worn down and having the rough active surface get worn and become uneven, I just bought a set of ipad screen protectors (splash Masque Screen Protector Films Clear (Invisible) for Apple iPad (5-Pack)) (acutally I bought the 3-pack because I didn't realize I could get a 5-pack for a buck more - shucks) and cut one down to size to put on the active area of the tablet. The protector is ALMOST big enough to get two uses from one. The second half will end up with a very small (about 1/8") amount of the circle cutout for the ipad's button being on the tablet. Not a big deal to me. I chose this product because it has no adhesive and doesn't require water to apply. It just sticks in place via static so there's no trouble taking it off and on. With the screen protector on there, the pen glides soooo smoothly and has no registration problems. I prefer it to the original surface hands down. The touch input also still works just as unimpressively as before. The only problem I've had is that at first my fingers didn't glide as smoothly on the screen protector as they did on the original tablet surface. That's gotten better as I've used it, probably thanks to some lubrication from skin oil building up on there.
Customer Review: Will drive you mad
Summary: 2 Stars
My review will concentrate on the use of this device as a replacement for a mouse or trackball. I'm interested in that for ergonomic reasons; I'm a retired software engineer, and spend many hours per day using the computer. Bottom line, the Bamboo Touch, and all its variants provide a terrible, frustrating user experience. I've been using it as my only pointing device for 6 weeks, gritting my teeth and hoping that I will adjust to it, because it is so poor in adjusting to me. There are many sorts of problems, primarily at the driver level, and the sum of them make me want to smash the thing with a hammer.
First, there is no driver control for touch pressure, so the lightest unintended brush by the heel of your hand, your thumb, or your little finger will be interpreted as gesture. That results in many, many, many unintended results, as things get dragged, moved, erased, or otherwise changed by touches you can't even feel. (There are drawing programs which make use of pressure for line width, color, or texture changes, and they work correctly with the device, so the Bamboo certainly supports pressure at the hardware level.)
Second, there is no driver control for the time between touches for the multitouch gestures. A two-fingered drag is used for scrolling (vertically or horizontally), and a two-fingered swipe is used to indicate "go back" or "go forward." Because dragging supports a ballistic model, where you "throw" the object you're trying to scroll, horizontal scrolls and forward/back gestures get confused frequently. Worse, much worse, a gesture which begins with one finger, and which then adds a second, either to the left or the right of the original finger, will have one of two other different meanings. So, if you're simply trying to scroll, but your two fingers don't touch the surface at exactly the same time, you'll bring up a contextual menu instead, or extend a selection, or move the current selection to somewhere else using drag-and-drop editing. Heaven help you if the underlying app's implementation of Undo isn't perfect, or if the action isn't Undo-able.
Third, the surface is not "glassy smooth;" it's "catchy," so attempting to locate the cursor precisely results in a jerky motion, and dragging is jerky, and it's difficult to aim at a given target, and resizes are jerky and tend to be larger or smaller than you'd really like them to be. You try it again, but since the correction is typically a smaller adjustment than the original gesture, your chances of getting it better are even lower than they were in the first place.
Fourth, the actions of the driver are mysteriously random. You'll touch a hyperlink in a browser, for instance, and the link will change color to indicate that the touch has been seen, but the browser won't follow the link. So you hammer on the link a few more times until it works. I've seen this particular artifact with 3 different web browsers, at random, but only with the Bamboo, never with a mouse or trackball.
Fifth, as a mouse replacement, it turns out that the ergonomics are just as stressful as the more-traditional devices. To get access to the touchpad's entire surface, you have to sort of suspend your hand over the device. This tires your shoulder, so you try it with the heel of your hand on the desk, which eventually hurts your pisiform bone. I've been using it with a gel support pad, but if I told you that, in sum, the experience was less stressful (in terms of potential RSI problems) than a mouse or a trackpad, I'd be lying.
Sixth, the location of the four hardware buttons on the left side of the touch are is far enough away so that it's difficult to "touch type" them, especially the topmost and bottommost buttons. You have no spatial reference, your thumb is in a weak position on its side, and using an index finger to click the buttons requires so much change in hand position that you've lost any spatial context for your next touch pad gesture, so the cursor tends to jump somewhere more-or-less random when you come back from the button press.
After a 6 week fully-committed trial, I'm ready to sell this on Craigslist, but I don't have high hopes; I don't think I can sell it without telling a potential buyer all I've just told you. I don't know why in Heaven's Name they would go forward with the purchase after I tell the truth. I've been using multi-touch gestural controllers on both Apple's Macbooks and on their iPod Touch since they've been available, so I know that multi-touch really does work terrifically well if the software and the hardware are right. The Bamboo Touch is a bit different: the software is poor, the hardware is poor, and the experience is abominable.
Customer Review: Simple to install, easy to use on a Mac - the added touchpad functionality makes the pen tablet very useful
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I use this on my MacBook and have been very happy with it. It's a bit fidgety with some applications and sometimes trackpad movements seem to lag, but overall it works quite well. I'm happy that Wacom finally decided with this model to include a holder for the pen - with my other Bamboo (Small) Pen Tablet I lost the pen and had to get a new one. The fact that you always need a pen with the tablet makes it a no-brainer that there should be some handy way to store them together.
There are really three ways to use this tablet, that aren't mutually exclusive, but I'll address them each:
1. As an alternative to a mouse - this works pretty well
Just hover the tip of the pen over the pad and move it around to move the cursor. Tap on a window or icon or photo to select it and then you can drag it. Set the pen's buttons to whatever function you like (right click, click, pan/scroll, a keystroke you choose, etc.). While it takes a bit of time to get used to, it does work pretty well. I wouldn't use this as my usual mouse, but it's nice to have that functionality when I've got it plugged in for another purpose. I keep my other tablet at home, and picked this one up for the office - this one does seem less fidgety than the other in its mouse-like functions, but the real advantage over that one is in the trackpad.
2. As a large trackpad - it adds important functionality, but occasionally lags and I don't love the button placement
I like the fact that you can use this tablet as a trackpad. Sometimes when I'm using the pen for drawing, it's good to be able to scroll or zoom or select with my fingers. You can click by tapping, and then drag what's been tapped. You can double click or right click with two fingers. Or you can scroll by sliding both fingers. Depending on the program you can zoom and rotate as well -- I use this mostly with Corel Painter 11 and with Anime Studio Debut 6 and the gesture rotation doesn't work with either of those, but it will rotate photos in Mac's iPhoto. I do find, though, like some of the other reviewers, that occasionally there is a lag on the trackpad functionality. Especially with the two finger gestures, like zoom, or even scroll, it sometimes takes a moment or so for the computer to register my gesture. One of the buttons on the pad can be set to turn the touchpad on or off, so that accidental finger touches won't do anything you don't want.
The only other aspect that bugs me is that the buttons (which can be set to nearly any function you like) are on the side, rather than beneath the trackpad. When I use my MacBook's trackpad, one thing I like is that I can use the button with my thumb and use another function with my fingers at the same time, and that's harder to do with the buttons on the side. There are options in the driver to set the track pad for left or right hand, with the buttons on the right or on the left, but you can't orient it for up and down use.
3. As a pen tablet - this is the real value, and for this it works great
If you draw or edit photos or do other creative things on your computer, this or something like it is essential and allows for fine movements that would be impossible with a mouse or a trackpad alone. You can adjust the tip to be firm or soft and putting more pressure makes a difference in some applications. You turn it upside down and it automatically erases, in most applications where there are erasers, and you can adjust the firmness of the eraser. As mentioned above, you can also set the two buttons on the pen to almost any function you might need.
To sum up: if you draw or do creative work on your computer, a pen and tablet like this is essential, and this one's pretty affordable, easy to use and set up and the track pad functionality is useful.
Customer Review: Disappointed in the Bamboo and Wacom's service
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me preface my review with a couple of clarifications. One, I am a marketing professional and make it a point to judge not just the quality of a product but also the quality of customer service that supports the product. That means I am more critical and demanding than the average consumer. And two, I had very high expectations for the Bamboo Pen and Touch based on Wacom's marketing materials, its reputation and its thoughtful product design. High expectations can sometimes lead to great disappointment.
So, while I really wanted to rate the Bamboo Pen and Touch higher than 3 stars (i.e., "Mediocre"), I can't.
Here's why:
* As others have stated, the touch function is fair-to-good, but far from excellent. Definitely not in the same zip code as Apple's touchpad's capabilities. To be fair to Wacom, their "not ready-for-prime-time," lackluster Touch is the result of proprietary issues with Apple's and others' software, not Wacom's engineering. Wacom was forced to emulate/approximate the touch functions of the far-superior Apple touchpad, so that's probably the reason why it's inferior. That said, it works OK and is a nice add-on.
* The pen function is a pain in the a**. Out of the box, it's twitchy, imprecise and controlling sensitivity pressure is maddening. Wacom provides no instructions for settings or workarounds, leaving the customer to find the answers online or through Adobe if you're using the Bamboo with Photoshop or Illustrator. This is simply inexcusable in my opinion. Wacom has put a lot of thought into their tutorials so why they omit any information about how to set pressure sensitivity and brush strokes is baffling. Additionally, the eraser brush size does not correspond to the pen brush size. So far I have found no information how to fix this.
* Shame, shame, shame on Wacom's customer service. Long story short, you're pretty much on your own if you have problems. I wrote Wacom about the above issues with the touch, pen and eraser features and got a single, boiler-plate, woefully incomplete answer. It took three subsequent requests (and complaints) before I got a 3/4 complete answer. However, this was too little too late since I'd already found help through various online forums. When I'm paying twice as much for a Wacom Bamboo than a competing product, I expect superior customer service. I did not get it. Boo, hiss, Wacom.
* Insult to injury: I complained to one of Wacom's customer service supervisors and got a half-hearted, belated apology. When I wrote back with an extensive evaluation the company's customer service shortcomings, the CS supervisor apparently couldn't have cared less...I got no reply in return for my effort. (Clearly, Wacom thinks losing a customer isn't important.) Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting special treatment, but in my 25 years of marketing research, how a company responds to customer issues tells you everything about the company.
* Frustrated and disappointed with Wacom, I decided to test out a competing product (Congrats, Wacom, you just alienated a potentially loyal customer and sent him running to your competition. Smart business strategy!) Monoprice.com sells a comparable tablet, albeit without touch capabilities--but with a larger working area, for half the Pen and Touch's price. And guess what, it works just as well. Sure, it's not quite as nicely designed or as solidly built, but for graphics and photo editing it's every bit as good as the Pen and Touch--and only $40! Plus, Monoprice's customer service is exemplarily. I put some of the same questions to their customer service department and got very responsive and very complete replies. They even had a CS supervisor follow up to make sure I was completely satisfied. Now this is how every company should treat customers. Wacom, take a lesson.
Bottom line, for half the price of the Pen & Touch you can buy a perfectly good graphics tablet and wait until Wacom gets the touch function right. Then again, they may never get their customer service just right.
Customer Review: decent tablet, don't bother with the multi-touch feature
Summary: 4 Stars
To start off, i should point out that, although i am quite familiar with Photoshop (and other graphics applications, but mainly PS) and have been using it frequently since at least version 6, i am not professionally involved in graphics in any way. Nor do i have heaps of experience with tablets (this isn't my first, but it may as well be). So my review should be taken with that context in mind.
Anyway, i purchased this for my iMac recently, and after using it for a month or so i can say the following things (in pro/con format, naturally):
PROS
- The tablet is aesthetically attractive and it appears to be of relatively high build quality. It doesn't really 'match' my iMac, but it doesn't clash either. So that's nice.
- The tablet supports both left- and right-handed use.
- The pen feels nice in the hand. It has 512 levels of sensitivity (more than enough for everyone but the most advanced users, i would think), two side buttons, removable nibs, and an eraser end.
- The software is fairly customisable and is surprisingly 'Mac-like'. Very often the drivers and preference panes for devices that support the Mac are really slow, ugly, and un-intuitive, but not here.
- Included in the package are some extra nibs, a tutorial CD, and a CD containing Photoshop Elements and some other software. Personally i'm not very excited about that last one, but it must be nice if you don't already have a graphics application.
CONS
- The multi-touch feature is mediocre. It definitely works, but the responsiveness is no-where near what i would require for every-day use. A lot of anti-Apple zealots were posting online about how the Magic Trackpad is a gyp when you could just get a Bamboo, but really -- speaking as someone who hates track pads in general, the Bamboo is not an equivalent at all. It's not even as good as a standard cheap lap-top track pad. Seriously, i would (and did) just leave it out of the equation entirely.
- Although having the cord on the side allows the user to rotate it depending on their dominant hand, i really think it's a solution to a problem that they themselves created. Why not leave the cord on top, and then just put the buttons above the pad (instead of to the side) and the pen holder on the bottom? Problem solved -- no rotating required, no cord getting smashed and bent against the side of your keyboard or whatever. Luckily i have a lot of space on my desk, but it's still a somewhat irritating design.
- The LED between the two middle buttons on the side is sort of annoyingly bright. I like that it changes colour and intensifies when the pen is within range, but i really don't understand why the white light needs to be on at full intensity ALL THE TIME, even when you're not using it. Dear computer peripheral companies: stop putting these unnecessary lights all over the place, it's ridiculous.
- The second ('right') pen button is very easy to accidentally press. I found myself just disabling it altogether after a few uses, because my hand repeatedly pressed it down when i was in the middle of drawing. I admit this might be a hard problem to solve, though -- it's difficult to position that button so it would work for everyone.
So overall i like it. I think it's very nicely priced for the features it has, it looks great, and the major complaint i have is with the multi-touch (which i personally didn't even care about it when i bought it).
Also, as a note for people who like to draw but are new to tablets: Drawing on the tablet is NOT like drawing on paper. You might actually be surprised how different it is. It's kind of discouraging at first, but you'll get used to it if you keep trying.