Wacom Graphire4 4x5 USB Tablet (Silver)

I have owned one of these tablets for a couple years now and really love it. It works great with XP and older versions of adobe and MS Office. When you spend $2000 for the entire Adobe collection and nearly as much for the full Office collection you expect your software to last a while.

The only problems I have had are due to the way I use the tablet heavily all day long on the arm of a recliner. It falls onto the carpet a lot and constant movement each time I get up and set it off to the side... which has now worn through the cable shielding and only the two wires are holding it in place. Another problem is the tablet would be better about 1/3 smaller on the arm of the chair for my needs.

With heavy use the rubber cover on the pen between the two buttons will eventually tear in that spot but does not affect the use or performance. It stays in place unless you mess with it.

The only other complaint was the lack of information which came with the tablet. It never explained how the product worked. Nor did it state that the product was of a magnetic nature and never required batteries. Even an experienced computer user who had never used a device like this may not know these do not need batteries.

Wacom should spell this out clearly in the instructions. If you have never used a product like this and with the total lack of info about the pen in the package, you would be wanting to know if it heId batteries or not and thus you would be inclined to check out the pen... which is not something you want to do. To open the pen is to break the pen. It cannot open unless you destroy it. Even though I'm an engineer, I broke the first one trying to look inside when I couldn't find info on the pen and was having problems with it because I had it too close to other devices which were interfering with each other. So I had to buy a new pen... pricey.. over $30 for the pen. If you want to know what is inside the pen, I will tell you. It is a very long narrow circuit board with magnets inside copper windings. If you try to pull the pen apart, it will break the tiny circuit board in half and unless you feel like resoldering the runs and gluing the board together, I wouldn't recommend it. There are microcircuits on it which can break in half along with the circuit board.

Keep the pen away from wireless keyboards and don't lay it on your chest if you have a pacemaker or defibrillator. The magnet is weak but can cause your cardiac device to reset or produce glitches. So if you are being constantly paced, you might want to avoid laying the pen or mouse on your chest... keep your cell phone away from your chest and wireless keyboards, etc., as well.

The Bamboo tablet is for Vista and doesn't work with older software according to others who bought it... so don't let them get away with forcing you to spend a ton of money to upgrade. This one works fine. Like I said on another commentary... it is just like the automakers who were greedy and would not listen... if a product is not user friendly and affordable, they will lose their shirts because most people are at the point where they are not going to be forced into buying a bunch of upgrades. Products should be able to handle older software. The Bamboo is the first time I have ever seen a product limited to Vista and 2007 software only. That is a sign of lazy software developers work on the drivers. Maybe they will get the message like the car companies if people stop buying their newer products.

I have become so accustomed to using the pen, I never use a mouse at all anymore. I particularly like the pinpoint accuracy I can get when editing images on Adobe Photoshop or CS3. Pen size is perfect and comfortable. I definitely recommend this product. I have never had any problems with the performance.

As many mentioned it already, the unit is very well made and provides years of trouble free operations. I have mine for some two years and it is reliably fun to use it. The bundled software is huge value!

The rubber grip of the stylus disintegrated in a few weeks. Then with an unprotected skeleton of a pen, one of the buttons fell out. (It still works, just looks bad.) I have used the same tablet before, though, and it lasted for years, so I would recommend it all over again and buy it again. The tablet is protected by a strong acrylic casing, so the entire surface is smooth.

Works perfectly, no reason to get the more expensive version. Size is good for drawing.

The Wacom Graphire4 may be a little small at only 4x5, but it is a great option for those looking for a cheap tablet. I purchased this item partly because of the great programs packaged with it. It is a great option for the casual artist.