Well, another day of horrible weather and I'm stuck inside studying for exams. What to do...write a review of my newest toy, the Wacom Intuos4 Medium Tablet.
Background
Tablets are not for everyone. Some people love them, some people hate them, and some people are indifferent until they try one, after which they become a lover or a hater. I count myself among the last group -- I was indifferent until I first used a tablet years ago, after which I became a convert. I have used the Wacom Graphire 4x5 extensively, the Intuos3 a bit, and now the Intuos4. There are other brands of tablets on the market these days, but Wacom was first and have always produced a quality product, and after comparing their current offerings to those of other manufacturers, I am still using a Wacom tablet.
The advantages of a tablet (for me) are: comfort, speed, and accuracy.
Comfort: I dislike using a mouse for long periods of time (wrists hurt) and the trackpads on laptops are even worse. I can work comfortably all day with a pen on a tablet for any application, whether it be word processing, image editing, writing, or just browsing the internet.
Speed: Tablets are fast, due to the 1:1 mapping of your display. Need to be in the upper left corner? Move your pen to the corresponding position on the tablet and you are there. You can jump instantaneously to any point on your screen, which is the most appealing factor for me.
Accuracy: Cloning out dust spots is a painstaking and laborious process, as is using a the clone/stamp/brush/lasso/selection/etc tool in photoshop for anything but the most simple work. Using a pen is a far more natural way to use tools, and additionally, the pressure sensitivity of many tools in photoshop makes the pen an extension of your hand.
Differences to Older Models
My go-to tablet has been a Graphire 4x5 for the past 5 years. It is about as basic as you can get for functionality: a 512-level pressure sensitive pen, and a small working area. The pen is plastic, with no rubber gripping and a poorly positioned secondary button. That's it. I upgraded because I wanted programmable hotkeys, greater working area, and a more comfortable pen.
The Intuos3 has 1024-level pressure sensitivity, a larger working area, touch strips, and 8 programmable buttons (4 on each side of the active area). The pen is greatly improved as well, with a more balanced feel and more exchangeable tips.
The Intuos4 doubles the sensitivity of the Intuos3, changes the aspect ratio of the working area to match (at all sizes) the common 16:10 ratio of LCD displays, changes the touch strips to a touch wheel with 4 different settings, consolidates the 8 buttons to one side of the tablet, and adds programmable OLED displays to each button (not on the Small size). The consolidation of the buttons to one side of the tablet makes it a true ambidextrous design, as the USB connector can be moved to allow right or left handed use while retaining easy access to all 8 buttons.
Now to the actual review.
Packaging, Build Quality, and Installation
It was deja vu of opening my Macbook Pro. Very well packed, nice packaging.
Build quality is superb. Very sturdy, no flex at all, even though only ~1cm thick. The buttons have a weird "squishy" feel to them, with no 'click.' Not bad, just different. The included mouse and pen are very nice, feeling quite substantial in your hand but not heavy at all (no batteries are required). Wacom has definitely got some new talent working on the design, as this tablet is miles ahead of any of its predecessors or competition. Very sleek and minimalist, it looks fantastic sitting on a desk.
Sexy...
New vs. Old
Mouse
The pen comes with 4 different coloured rings that can be changed by the user, presumably for artists who have multiple pens with different nibs. I chose red to add the L touch.
Exchangeable nibs, including Soft, Hard, Flex, and 5 replacement original nibs.
Installation was a snap, just throw in the disk, the drivers install, and you're good to go. Also included with every Wacom tablet is free software, you get to choose 2 of: Sketchbook Express, Corel Painter Sketch Pad, and PS Elements (OSX v.6/PC v.7). Also included is Nik Software's Color Efex Pro 3 (Wacom Edition).
The drivers themselves provide a bazillion options for customization. You can program the buttons and touchring for any application, and label the OLED displays accordingly. Setting these up is very intuitive, no need to look at the manual.
Application Specific labels. In real life the illumination is even, I'm not sure why they appear brighter on the left-hand side in the photo. The gloss-black is prone to fingerprints.
In Use
The Intuos 4 is an improvement in all areas over the Intuos3, and especially over the Graphire 4x5.
By far the biggest improvement is the programmable displays for each button. It is simply fantastic to have mappable hotkeys at your fingertips, and even better to not have to remember exactly what they do for each application. I used the Intuos3 for 2 months at a job and never used the hotkeys because I ended up wasting more time trying to find the correct button than just going the long route to select the proper tool. Having the functions of each key displayed is the "killer-app" for the Intuos4. I cannot stress enough how great this is. HOWEVER, my question to Wacom is this: why didn't you add a programmable display to the touch ring? You can toggle between 4 different sets of functions, but there is no indication (apart from a small white LED) which function you are using.
The increased sensitivity is not a huge improvement over the Intuos3, but it is a massive difference compared to the Graphire. It is very easy to 'paint' an impressive array of different line widths in photoshop without changing the brush size at all.
The pen is, as always, a treat. Comfortable to hold and use, Wacom has refined the design even further over the Intuos3 version, giving it (IMO) a better balance. A rubberized covering now encloses the entire pen, rather than just the grip area, to provide a good grip when erasing as well. This new covering seems very dust prone, so those of us with OCD may have an issue with that. Also, the buttons on the side of the pen have changed position slightly, and are easier to click. The interchangeable nibs that are included provide a different feel when using the pen, from soft and springy, to hard like a pencil crayon. They are stored in the pen stand, which is a nice touch. No batteries are required for the pen.
Previous versions of the included mouse have always felt plasticky and cheap. Not so with the new version, it is very solid and compares very nicely to any of the stand-alone laptop mice you may have used in the past. It is not a desktop replacement, it fits quite nicely into the palm of your hand. The 5-buttons are fully programmable, and the best part: no batteries.
The decision to finally standardize the active area to the most common display aspect ratio (16:10) is a welcome change. Previous versions would stretch one axis to make the tablet "fit" the screen.
Apart from the lack of an OLED display on the Touchring, the only significant drawback to the new Intuos4 is price. Ranging from $199 (Small, 3.9x6.2" active area) to $789 (Extra Large, 12x19.2" active area), these are not a cheap accessory for your computer. The Medium size (5.5x8.8" active area, $349) is a good deal more expensive than the only slightly smaller Small, but the Small only has 6 hotkeys, and no OLED displays. Since the OLED displays are, IMO, the biggest reason to purchase the Intuos4, I could not recommend purchasing the Small -- you would be better off buying a used Intuos3 (or new, while they remain in stock).
There are a many more subtle improvements and features that could be discussed, but I feel the main ones have been covered. If there is something you would like me comment about, let me know and I'll add a section on it. I did not discuss the Radial Menu function, as I have yet to experiment with it. At a glance it appears to be a useful concept.
Summarizing the Pros & Cons
Pros
+awesome design
+standardized aspect ratio
+increased sensitivity
+even more comfortable pen than the Intuos3
+better positioning of buttons on pen
+mouse is finally great
+programmable hotkeys with OLED displays and touchring with 4 settings
+simple to use drivers
+free software
Cons
-no OLED display for the touchring
-rubberized grip on pen seems to attract dust very easily
-gloss black finish on button console shows fingerprints easily.
-price
In conclusion, if you already own an Intuos3, this may not be an economical upgrade, unless you make your living doing something that uses a tablet (I don't). For users of earlier versions, or other brands, the Intuos4 is a significant upgrade in all respects.
If you have never used a tablet before, I highly recommend trying one out -- if the Intuos4 price is too steep to swallow, Wacom also sells the Bamboo series (budget, limited features). Other brands may provide a similar experience, but I am confident that Wacom makes the best product, period.
Great review. Thanks for doing it.
