A quote from Wacom on the Intuos3 "Intuos3 gives you the power to quickly and professionally edit photos and create digital artwork by turning on the full power of Adobe® Photoshop®, Corel® Painter™, and over 100 other leading software applications. Intuos3 tablets now put ExpressKeys™ and Touch Strips right at your fingertips for convenient keyboard shortcuts, scrolling, zooming, brush size control, and more. Wacom's Penabled™ technology gives you the natural feel and superior performance of Wacom's patented cordless and battery-free tablet technology. You'll find that using an Intuos pen, mouse, and tablet gives you more control, comfort, and productivity. Alternating between the comfortable Grip Pen and the ergonomic five-button Intuos3 mouse reduces repetitive motion. It's an easy and natural way to work."

*Specifications and quote found at the Quote and specifications found at Wacom.com.

Being a digital artist, I need to put good consideration into what materials I use, and one of the most prevalent tools in this field is the graphics tablet.
Can you get away with a low cost tablet?
Do I need one for what I do?
What seperates Wacom from the competition?

These are a few of the questions I'll answer for you, as I put Wacom to the test, and see if they really are as good as all the hype.


When I first received the tablet (very fast delivery I might add), and opened the boxes, the first thought that stuck me was, “whoa. 

I say this because there is a lot of stuff that goes with that tablet, including:
A pen holder
Extra nibs (plastic pen tips)
2 CDs; one driver, one software bundle disk
A wireless, battery-less mouse
And, of course, the tablet and pen themselves.


(This amounts to A LOT of packaging!)


INSTALLING THE TABLET

Getting the tablet set up was relatively easy, if you don't have a klutz attack and become incapable of plugging it in
to a USB port. (Don't laugh, this happened to me)

After installation, you have the option to try the tablet tutorial, which is helpful for those who have never used a tablet, and also for those who are unfamiliar with the layout in use on this tablet.

Note: Have the tablet plugged in before you install the driver, otherwise it screws everything up.

The tablet itself

The tablet itself is smooth, with a slightly rubbery feeling screen, which aids sensitivity, and prevents undo sliding or scratches. This is an important factor, and one of the bigger differences between Wacom and other companies. While using this tablet I noticed no skipping of the pen over to another part of the screen, which I've seen in my own Aiptek tablet. The tablet also has a keypad, (convenient for both right handed and left) with some of the most commonly used keys, such as Shift, Ctrl, Alt, and Space (Unfortunately, there is no delete key, so Ctrl Alt Del still must be done via keyboard). Another feature is the scroll bar, which is pressure sensitive, and can also be used to zoom in or out in magnification.

The keypad

The pen is slim, with a convenient rubberized grip, a button for double clicking, and a built in eraser. It also has the option of removable pen nibs, four white ones, one black, and one spring-loaded, grey one. The white is the standard pen nib, while the grey is for more sensitive use, and the black pen nib gives you the feel of a real pencil or pen, which makes it easier to handle. These nibs can be removed via tweezers, but should not be attempted unless you need to replace it, as the squeezing can slightly damage the nib.

The pen

(Note: Grip nib from the SIDE when removing, not from the top like in the tutorial. It is almost impossible to pull it out otherwise.)

The mouse is wireless and battery-less, with five buttons, including a scroll wheel. I personally did not use this much. It's difficult not to click the two side buttons when you hold it.

The mouse

:RotoSequence says: I used this mouse a bit too, and noticed a slight degree of lag between hand movement and cursor movement.

Along with the hardware comes software, a tutorial and installation CD, and a software bundle CD with programs specifically chosen to work well with the Intuos tablet and Photoshop. Among these are Correl Painter Essentials 2, nik Color Efex Pro 2.0, and Photoshop Elements 2.0. These programs are optional, but fun to play with.


WHAT THIS TABLET CAN DO


This tablets strongest point would have to be the smooth lines and precision of pressure. If you often draw pictures entirely digitally, you probably want this kind of tablet. This is not a perfect peice of hardware though; programs tend to take a bit longer to recognise the pressure changes, and tends to pause if an alert (like the kind in messenger programs) pops up on the screen. Still, this sort of problem is minor, and tend to be synonomous with the general use of graphics tablets. Here is an example of pictures drawn with the Intuos 3.

Picture drawn with the white nib

Picture drawn with the grey nib

WHAT THE TABLET CANNOT DO


The Wacom tablet (or any other tablet, for that matter) does not work very well for tracing a traditional drawing (by laying paper on the tablet screen). It works but it turns out like this:

A drawing gone bad

Tablets are not a replacement for a scanner, so buy one of those if your art is mainly traditional. However, for digital work, a good tablet will make it all that much easier.
Tablets also work well for coloring a scanned drawing.


SO, IS WACOM BETTER THAN OTHER TABLETS?

In my own experience, I would have to say yes. Wacom is not the best in the business for nothing. In addition to all the neat extras that come with the package, the tablet is attractive and resistant to wear from the pen nib. The design is comfortable to use, being small, as well as battery-less. Wacom offers a degree of precision not seen in other tablets, and if you can shell out the $350 for it, I would defiantly recommend this tablet. Having used an Aiptek Hyper pen tablet for some time, I can tell you the difference is staggering. Do yourself a favor, and save the money to buy a quality tablet. It may take longer, but when you try it, you'll be glad you did.

Pros: The design is built to work, easy to handle, and has excellent pressure sensitivity.

Cons: The mouse is uncomfortable to hold, and the cost is large.


This device earns a gold, as it is the best I've seen the tablet industry has to offer.

Special thanks go out to Wacom for making this review possible.