Photographers kill that mouse with a Bamboo

Product: Wacom Bamboo Small

RATING: 4 stars

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

As a Wacom Intuos 3 owner, I was surprised with the build quality of the Wacom Bamboo. When the package came in from Amazon. As i opened the brown cardboard box outer shell to expose the black glossy box of the Bamboo, I was impressed with the packaging of this entry level Wacom tablet.

So you must be wondering why add another tablet to the aresenal. Especially since i already own the pro quality Wacom Intuos 3 6×8. Well the reason for the other tabet is to accompany my new netbook. With such small touchpad on the Lenovo S10e, I required another input device other than an external mouse. I needed more control and the ability to draw diagrams. More details of the use of this device will be revealed later in the review.

As I open the nice Wacom Bamboo black box, the Bamboo was wrapped with a thin foam white sleeve and another cardboard box holds the usb cable. I immediately removed the small 4×6 tablet from its foam cover and examined the buttons on my new tablet to accompany my new netbook

First, I made sure the tablet fit my new netbook bag. Thankfully, it fit perfectly in the case alongside the netbook and the peripherals.

After I’ve confirmed the Wacom Bamboo fits with my Lenovo S10e in my netbook bag, I proceeded to examine the tablet further by identifying the buttons and scroll wheel on the device.

As you can see by the image above, the input area is 4×6 and above this area are 4 customizable buttons and a circular trackpad.

Now that you are familiar with the Wacom Bamboo buttons, lets plug this in to my Lenovo S10e netbook devoted to photography. You will first have to install the driver. Once the driver is installed the hard stuff is complete.

So what are the reason again for this new addition to my photography aresenal? Well lets check out the list below.

1.Needed an input device for my Lenovo S10e Netbook
2.Required a small input device to fit in Netbook bag
3.Required a pen style input device to allow drawing of the lighting diagrams on location.

AFTER A WEEK OF NORMAL USE:

I must say that the handling of this device is similar to drawing on a piece of thick white paper using a pencil. The sensitivity and resistance was just right.  The customizable buttons also became indispensible due to the speed I was able to achieve. it is very difficult to use my Lenovo S10e without the Wacom bamboo.

AFTER FIRST USE IN A PHOTO SHOOT:
Check back soon for a real life photography use review.

PROS:
Small form factor
Multiple buttons to customize for most used items which will in turn make a more efficient workflow.
Illuminated customizable buttons to allow for at night quick access.

CONS:
The touch sensitivity levels of the Wacom Intuos 3, but again that is known on the specs. The bamboo is perfect for me when it is used solely as an input device and diagram drawing too.
Pen feels a little flimsy when compared to the pen that came with my Intuos 3.

CONCLUSION:
If you have a netbook and a photographer, you will not be sorry with a Wacom Bamboo purchase. The conveniance and efficiency with the use of the Wacom bamboo is beyond compare.