Wacom intous3 4×6 Pen Tablet
Friday, July 4th, 2008
I’ve thought about getting one of these things for awhile – a pen tablet. Plugs into a USB port on my Mac. I’ve avoided it for quite awhile – since I’ve always told myself that my mouse works just fine, and I can’t see why I should spend hundreds of dollars to do the same thing my mouse does.
Well, prices have come down. I’ve thought about getting the Wacom Bamboo…but the Bamboo Fun Medium is only $30 less than the intous3 – and the intous3 has twice the resolution. And, I also figured I’d use a little bit of the “stimulis” check (which is a whole other joke) – and get myself another business write-off this month as well – so tonight, I bought a pen tablet – the aforementioned Wacom intous3 4×6.
This thing is uber-cool. I’ve been using it for 2 hours – and I’ll be damned – it works SO much better than a mouse! It’s so damn intuitive – and my wrist doesn’t ache from using it like it does after using a mouse for hours!
Now, I know – this is for graphics professionals (like myself) – who spend buttloads of time in Photoshop or Illustrator. I have only started playing with it in Photoshop. More importantly – this thing just completely ROCKS if you have any kind of work that would normally require a mouse. Multiple windows open? Just point & drag – but unlike a mouse, you’re not moving your whole hand – it feels more like your just pointing with your finger! And, whether it’s photo re-touching, illustration, or painting in Photoshop – having the ability to use brushes to not only clean things up, but it’s also pressure sensitive – so it’s much more like using a real paintbrush or airbrush!
i haven’t tried the handwriting recognition yet either – and probably won’t, as I used a Palm IIIxe for years, and never really felt that handwriting recognition works that well – there’s always that part of my crappy handwriting that it just never translates correctly, and I spend more time retyping than it would have taken to type to begin with.
But for moving around your computer’s desktop – I think this is freakin’ nirvana!
