New Wacom Bamboo!

Computer tablets have been around for a while, but I never was into them, until now. What first caught my attention was all the buzz on the internet about the new Wacom Intuos4 tablets. My big question is why so many pros swear by them? Do they really make that much difference?

Problems!...
My problems:
1) I didn't want to buy one and then find out a hated it...$300+ ...ouch!
2) No one has these things on display so i could try it out...wtf?

So I went to the local graphic designer at my work. He's a cool guy and he let me borrow his Intuos3 for a week. Lesson learned...This thing is weird...the surface is slippery, the aspect ratio is square, not wide screen, and then there's getting used to the ergonomics. I switched my whole desk around! This sucked and even with everything I tried, I couldn't get my handwriting to look better than a kinder gardener's chicken scratch. WTF?! Why do people like these things? This made me even more intrigued and it pushed me to try other tablets.

Thank you Samy's!...
I did more research and the new Intuos addresses a lot of these issues. I needed to find one on display at a store, and I did. Thank you Samy's Camera in Santa Barbara. They actually have the large version of the Intuos4 on display with a crazy MacPro Tower. Sweet setup...Let's just say I was there for a while playing...that thing rocked, but it was huge! I don't have space for that beast on my desk...how are you supposed to bring it around...

Katarina to the rescue!!
Finally I spoke to my friend Katarina and she told me she has a Wacom Bamboo. This was the answer. She let me borrow it for a week and after that, I never looked back. This has all the cool stuff the intuos4s have without the big price tag...sure the 4s have more pressure levels, buttons galore and so on, but I'm not pro. I don't need all that. I just need something simple that works for photoshop post processing.

The Bamboo answers the questions that the Intous3 got wrong. It has a cool textured surface that feels more like real paper, wide screen aspect so you don't lose workspace to keep the proportions the same as your wide screen and it's small. It's basically a baby Intuos4. and the best part is it's only $70 bucks! Deal...

Recommendations!
If you decide to get a tablet I would recommend a few things.

1) Check out this guide first. It shows you proper ergonomics and will help a lot!!! I'm using the "trade-off" position for my purposes.
2) You need to have desk space...the Bamboo is small and I still could use more space on my desk. I couldn't imagine how to use the larger versions
3) Find one to try first. You need to feel a tablet before you buy it
4) I put my pen stand between my keyboard and the tablet. This way when I'm browsing, there is a fluid motion when I have to put the pen down and type.
5) When using the pen, I like to press the buttons with my thumb rather than my index finger. This is way more comfortable!

All this being said, I love my Bamboo...I use brush tools extensively and the pressure levels are priceless. If you use Photoshop, this is a great tool for post processing. I'm sure there are many other great uses for this tablet as well.

The Pic - the pic above was really easy to light...I basically used a Maglight L.E.D flashlight and zoomed it on the bamboo logo. The flash light was positioned high and slightly behind the unit and to the camera's right. No flash for this one :)

-Morgan