Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen and Touch Unboxing and Review

A few months ago, I purchased the Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen and Touch graphics tablet to preplace the Intuos4 tablet I had originally purchased. I use this tablet for photo editing and some light drawing on Photoshop. The Intuos was simply overkill for my needs and as a student, I wanted to save as much money as I could and so I decided to try out the Bamboo. I’m so glad I did.

My first impressions of this product are all very positive. Firstly, the build quality is superb. I thought that the build quality would not impress me considering the price difference compared the the Intuous line of tablets, but I was just blown away. The tablet feels very solid in my hand, very close to the feel of the Intuous. It also has a bit of weight to it, which for me is a positive thing. Its feels very dense and well built. Overall, I think the build quality of the tablet is excellent.

Secondly, the look of the tablet, although not as elegant as the Intuous4, is very nice. It comes is a silver finish. Although it’s made with plastic, it looks like brushed aluminum. Its more “fun” than the Intuous4 and the color matches the macbook air I use when I’m working away from my desk, which is a plus for me.

The pen is quite different from that of the Intuous. It is definitely lighter and doesn’t feel as substantial. It also doesn’t come with a rubber grip, which may be uncomfortable for some. However, after a few hours of usage, I got used to the feeling and it didn’t bother me at all.

Alright, so now that I’ve talked quite a bit about the build quality, I’m going to move on to the performance of the tablet. The Intuous is said to have double the amount of pressure sensors of the Bamboo, however, I can honestly say that I don’t feel a difference whatsoever. The sensitivity feels exactly the same to me. For those of you who want to use a tablet for the same things I do, you’ll be perfectly happy with a bamboo.

The biggest difference to me is the lack of a programmable wheel and the 4 less programmable buttons on the bamboo. When I had my Intuous, I used the wheel a lot. I set it to control brush size, zooming, rotating of the canvas and the history, which saved me a bit of time. However, I’m used to using the keyboard for shortcuts anyway so it wasn’t a big problem moving back to using the keyboard for most of the functions that I use.

Other things which I didn’t like about the bamboo are that the cable is not detachable unlike the Intuous. I bring the tablet to school and back a few times a week and I am afraid that the cable will stop functioning in the future because of the way it bends in my computer bag. A detachable cable would allow me to store it separately, and it is easily replaced if it does break. Also, the cable is white which means that it is a dirt magnet.

The one feature which I didn’t really talk about through this review is the touch feature. The bamboo fun pen and touch can be used as a huge track pad. Although this is a fun feature, I never really use it. I usually turn the touch functionality off because I accidentally click it sometimes (which can get annoying). Some people may le this feature, but I don’t. I don’t see this as a disadvantage though because it can be turned off, and I know it’s there just in case I may want to use it in the future. I’m sure that the implementation of this feature will only get better.

Overall the Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen and Touch is a great product for those of you that want tablets, but can’t afford the Intuous line. I believe that is give you the most ”bang for your buck”. Of course, there are even cheaper tablets out there like the bamboo tablets that are limited to either pen or touch (which are all excellent aswell). There are also other brands that sell tablets for much cheaper, but I believe that Wacom is the way to go because you’re almost guaranteed an excellent product. I’m happy that I downgraded from the Intuous4 and I’m sure any of you who purchase this product will be 100% happy as well.

For all the technical stuff, visit: http://www.wacom.com/bamboo/bamboo_fun.php 

For photography related reviews, check out my YouTube channel.

Bye Nvidia, You Served Us Well, But We're Booting Your A** - Sincerely, Apple Inc

SemiAccurate is reporting that Apple will soon be dropping Nvidia GPU chips from their product line. The article says that Apple will start to drop them from Nehalem Processors, meaning the Mac Pro, and then the iMac, and then the rest of the line after that.

I’ll have to assume that SemiAccurate is well, accurate, or maybe not.

If Apple really is dropping Nvidia from it’s line, then an assortment of questions come up. What will replace Nvidia? Why are they dropping Nvidia? Perhaps even this question, which a user posted on the MacRumors forums.

Is there anything better than Nvidia?

Apple is to go back to Intel GMA graphics chips and also continue to use ATI chips as well. Upon hearing that they were using GMA I had to think for just a second, aren’t GMA chips what used to come standard in crap 14 Inch laptops made by Dell, Gateway, HP, and Asus?

Yep, you bet.

Whether or not Intel’s GMA chips have graduated from being crap is the real question, and you’ve got to admit that using Intel GPUs in Apple’s product line is just showing that Apple and Intel really are friends, as they keep trying to point out, both to the Intel transition, and the fact that they have both given each other awards at keynotes and events.

But wait, didn’t Apple just implement new Nvidia GPU chips into their notebook line? Yep, In fact, a little over 6 months ago, why the sudden door opening to Nvidia?

Well, exactly a month ago, on June 1, Apple announced an extension on the warranty for MacBook Pros from early 2008 and on, specifically covering the GPU area of the models.

At that same time, NVIDIA assured Apple that Mac computers with these graphics processors were not affected. However, after an Apple-led investigation, Apple has determined that some MacBook Pro computers with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor may be affected. If the NVIDIA graphics processor in your MacBook Pro has failed, or fails within three years of the original date of purchase, a repair will be done free of charge, even if your MacBook Pro is out of warranty.

It probably really is Nvidia’s fault, as there are tons of Nvidia problems with Windows PCs too.

JD

My Bite Into Apple

http://mybiteintoapple.com

Yet Another Graphics Card Problem For Apple

OK guys sorry I haven't posted anything in a while, but I got some pretty bad news for all owners of the new 17in MacBook Pro. Engadget reports that the fans on the machine may cause your graphics card to produce glitches of some sorts. Engadget also reports that Apple and Nvidia are working on a solution. But I can't help thinking lately Apple has been having a lot of "glitches" and "issues" with a lot of there products

Thanks

Links:

YouTube Channel

First Video

iMac Graphics Issues?

Here is what the displays look like when the 'graphics issue' occurs. On the left is the 20" iMac and on the right is the 22" Acer X223w.

Click to read more ...