In the world of fountain pens it is becoming harder and harder to find a pen that is new, simple, and writes good without buying a ligitimate fountain pen. Well, the Sharpie Premium Stainless Steel Pen is the perfect pen for writing, sketching, etc. and it even has the option to be refilled once it is all out of ink. It is not only a very affordable ink pen, but it is one that will last you a very long time and provide the professional results that you are alooking for.
For a while now I have wondered what the hype about these LAMY pens is all about. The best way to find out of course is to buy one and try it, so that is exactly what I did. The pen writes great, looks amazing, and seems quite simple to replace the cartriges. The company LAMY has a wide selection of fountain pens, but the Safari is by far one of the most popular due to it's affordable price of around $25-$30 USD.
There are many styluses on the market now for Apple products that claim to be the best. All ranging in price, design, and function. I have used most of them, and to be honest it's hard to say that most of them have been worth the money. One thing to also keep an eye open for are fakes, there are hundreds and hundreds of fakes on the market, most of which consume the market on eBay. I have owned a few of the fakes and cheaper ones, and one sign to note is the material of the tip, if the tip is a shiney rubbery material, don't get it. Wacom has producted a fantastic stylus and app to match it! The app is currently free, and the stylus ranges in price, but can be found on Amazon for around $25 for the black one (unfortunately some places charge more for different colors). The tip is a soft rubber that is pressure sensitive and one of the best styluses on the market.
Some of the best In-Ear Headphones for the price ($99.95 USD). Cant go wrong with these bad boys, as they sound excellent with a nice, crisp overall sound with a very flat EQ. The flat EQ will allow the tremendous sound to carry over to all genres in your music library! Comes with some decent goodies, but maybe they could have included a couple more silicon tips (maybe even a set of foam tips). If you think these might be too fragile, I highly suggest going with the S5i Rugged model. Same great sound, much more durable hardware. My Rating: 9.5/10 Check out Klipsch at http://klipsch.com Also, how does the video quality look? This was my first video shot with the Olypmus PEN E-PL1 Micro Four-Thirds camera.
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.
James Agee