I'm going to persevere!! (Wacom Graphire Blueberry)

Member Name: Highwayman

Product:	Wacom Graphire Blueberry
Date:	11/05/02 (576 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: looks good on the desk, does what it claims

Disadvantages: inaccurate, takes a lot of setting up, very smal tablet

My Mouse died............

For serious computer stuff ( not this internet thingo) I use an Apple G4 450Mhz DP. (until November last year the fastest benchmarked computer in the world, but that's besides the point) The G4 comes with a snazzy infra-red mouse, which died after two years of service.

I shot out the door ( because I was in the middle of an income producing project) to buy a new one, but surprise of surprise, Currys and Dixons dont stock anything like serious mouses. Ones with plenty of buttons, yes. Mouses that are smooth accurate and reliable ( and Mac ready) are impossible to find except in serious computer shops - and I didnt have one of them handy.

I Bought the Graphire because I have been contemplating a tablet for a while, and the mouse/stylus combination seemes the answer to two needs.

On getting home I carefully unpacked my purchase ( like any other 2 year old on Xmas day) and plugged it in............to be greeted with a whole lot of nothingness.

To run the Graphire with a Mac you need to install ALL the drivers - there is no plug and play facility. This makes it difficult when you have no mouse to click the buttons on the install panel. Luckily I borrowed a mouse and I was away.

The Graphire Mouse I am not fond of...........the tablet is very small, and the mouse only works on the tablet, so gone are the long elegant sweeps of the mouse, and I'm reduced to scrubbing with it. In addition, the mouse/tablet has a high friction co-efficient, so if you're used to smooth mouse action this will come as a bit of a shock. It still feels like I'm scraping the mouse across wet and dry paper...........but I assume I'll get used to it.

The pen is a fun toy, once set up. At first it felt like I was never get the pen so that it didnt feel like I was pushing it THROUGH the tablet to get any sort of coverage in photoshop. An hour or two tweaking the control panel and I'm
happy. Great fun, but not amazingly accurate due to the size of the tablet. A larger tablet is next on the list ( After a REAL mouse, of course).

One problem I experienced in BRYCE 3D is that the pen can't be used for rotation - you just dont have the control to move the pointer just 2 or 3 pixels. Maybe in practice that will improve, but quite frankly why bother??

Tracing is fun - as long as what you're tracing is A5 size or smaller. This means making art from photos can be done, but you're still better off scanning most things, and working on layers.

In all - it does what it says on the box............but whether that is what most people are actually after I dont know. Given the choice I think I would have been better off buying a good mouse, but there ya go.

I AM getting used to it....and it does draw admiring gasps when you just dot the pen on the pad and a window closes. It will never replace having a mouse, but occasionally it will be very useful.

Over all?? Im not convinced. It's a second mouse rather than an only mouse, and the pen is a bit of a toy - gadget lovers will love it, but for most work Im heading back to an apple pro-mouse.

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