Wacom Bamboo Product Review

Features:

• Two sensors for precise pen and Multi-Touch input
• Use a single finger for navigation and multiple fingers for gestures
• Simple gestures make it easy to scroll, zoom, rotate, move backward or forward
• Pressure-sensitive pen tip for natural pen and brush strokes
• Battery-free, ergonomic pen with two switches
• Textured work surface for a pen-on-paper feel
• Quick access to user-defined shortcuts with four ExpressKeys™
• Attached fabric pen loop conveniently stores pen
• Easy USB connection to Mac or PC, laptop or desktop
• Interactive tutorial helps you learn gestures and make the most of your Bamboo
• Included in the package with every Bamboo Pen & Touch:
  • Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 7.0 Win/6.0 Mac for editing, retouching, enhancing and sharing digital photos
  • Nik® Color Efex Pro™ 3.0 WE3 for selectively applying lighting and photo enhancements with the pen

Review:

The Bamboo Pen and Touch is is one of the models in the Bamboo line. There are similar models with a variety of features, but the Pen and Touch would be considered Wacom's flagship model.

The touch pad and pen are designed very sleek and ergonomical. They can easily be packed into a laptop carrying bag to travel without taking up to much space. The installation is a breeze, just hook it up to your computer with the included USB cord and insert the installation disk. Adobe Photoshop Elements is included with the package, but it does not need to be installed in order to operate the Bamboo properly. Installation should just take a minute or two and you're off and ready to use the touch pad.

As with anything new, it took me a little while to get comfortable with the Bamboo. The most challenging task is to develop a feel for how much pressure to put on the pad. I found myself placing too much pressure on the pad which resulted in unwanted selections. After a little time and a bit of practice I became accustomed to the proper amount of pressure to apply and the navigation became a breeze.

I was very excited to use this product since I've never really enjoyed using a paintbrush or pencil tool with a mouse. By using the your finger or pen on the touchpad, you gain much more control of movement. The control experienced using a the pen tool was very similar to that of using a pen and paper.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience of using the Bamboo Pen and Touch. With an MSRP of only $99 I would consider it a bargain, especially for those who use the paintbrush tool and other similar tools.

Please follow this link if you're interested in purchasing a Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch.