Wacom Bamboo Fun CTE450K

The mouse was first introduced with a computer system in the early 1980s and while it took time to catch on, it became the standard method of navigating graphical user interfaces. While a mouse, be it the type you push around, a track ball or a track pad, is good for that purpose, it certainly leaves something to be desired when you're going for more free-form control of your cursor You can use a mouse with a fair amount of precision, such as clicking small icons, but it makes it difficult to write notes or draw.

The pen tablet provides you with control that the regular mouse lacks, allowing you to do things that you couldn't with a mouse. Years of schooling using pen and paper have given people an innate comfort with a pen-like device, which makes it easier to draw and write on your computer than using a mouse, making the tablet perfect for people who want to be more creative with their computer or for people whose work is made easier with the ability to draw or write.

The Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet is meant to be an introductory foray into the world of pen tablets. It features a 5.8" x 3.7" active area, 512 levels of pressure sensitivity, battery-less pen and mouse, 4 function buttons and a scroll pad. In this article Benchmark Reviews will test how well the Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet CTE450K holds up in Photoshop Elements.

CTE450K Features and Specifications

The Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet is compatible with both Windows and Mac computers. It connects to the computer via USB (type A to mini type B) and uses the USB power source to power the device. The small version of the device is 8.4" wide, 7.3" deep and 0.3" tall. The active area is 5.8" wide by 3.7" deep. The active area has a resolution of 2,540 lines per inch.

The Wacom Bamboo Fun tablets use a battery-less, cord-less pen and mouse to control input. Both the mouse and pen work on top of the active surface. The pen has tip has 512 levels of pressure sensitivity.

The only computer requirements, as listed by the Wacom website, is a computer running Windows 2000, XP or Vista (32-bit or 64-bit) or a Macintosh running OS X Version 10.3.9 or greater, using either the Intel or PowerPC platform.

About Wacom Co., Ltd.

Wacom (pronounced Wac-om) is inspired by natural human abilities to create. Their patented pen and touch input technology allows freedom of expression, inspired creativity, and drastic improvements in productivity, control and comfort. From product development and graphic design to the media and entertainment sectors, Wacom facilitates the work of individuals and workgroups with truly natural ways to work with digital content.

Wacom believes that technology should be easy to use and simple to understand. With products that rely on human intuition and natural movement, they strive to bring people and technology closer together. Their patented pen and touch input technology has helped professionals around the world create extraordinary characters, digital art, films, special effects, fashions, and industrial designs. No other technology company strives to design tools that empower creative professionals the way Wacom does.

Wacom has offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Wacom works to provide organizations with their core solutions: the Cintiq line of interactive pen displays, the Intuos line of professional pen tablets, and the Bamboo and Bamboo Fun pen tablet lines. Wacom also services specialty markets with a line of other pen displays, and it provides underlying technology for a wide variety of products, including mobile information terminals, Tablet PC's, UMPC's, amusement equipment, and medical devices.

Closer Look: Bamboo Fun Tablet

The Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet comes in a very attractive box showing the tablet, pen and mouse on the front. The box is stylish and still provides an ample amount of information on the back, including computer requirements. A slightly smaller box slides out of the outer shell, which contains all of the components and accessories. The components were all wrapped in foam-like wrapping paper.

The Bamboo Fun Tablet box contains:
- Tablet
- Pen
- Pen holder
- Mouse
- USB cable
- Two CDs containing drivers and software
- Extra Pen nubs
- Instructions

The tablet's active area is situated in the center of the tablet itself. The active area has a textured surface that's supposed to make it feel more like writing on paper. The active area uses an electromagnetic resonance (EMR) technology that is able to sense the pen's position, angle and pressure without powering or connecting the pen to the tablet.

The tablet has four function buttons at the top that are customizable through the driver software. The USB port of the tablet is located on the back rear section. The touch ring, located in top center area, allows you to scroll up and down a page or canvas either by touching the up or down arrows or by touching the pad and rotating around the edge.

The pen included with the tablet is cordless and battery-less. The pen has nubs on both ends. The bottom end has a thin white nub that is meant as a writing end and the top has a much wider black nub that is meant as an erasing nub. There are two buttons located near the thin white nub which can both be customized via the driver software.

The included mouse is fairly standard with left and right mouse buttons and a center scroll wheel that acts as a third mouse button. It, like the pen, is both cordless and batter-less. The mouse has no optical sensor or ball on the bottom. It uses the same EMR technology that the pen uses, so you can use the mouse on top of the tablet's active area.

Digital Tablet Software

The Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet includes 2 CDs with a complete software suite. The first CD contains the driver software for the tablet and the second CD contains 3 pieces of drawing/art/photo software: Adobe Photoshop Elements 6, Corel Painter Essentials 4 and Nik Color Efex Pro 3.

The drivers included on the CD were out of date, so I hopped on to the internet to download the latest version drivers from Wacom's website. The drivers were a snap to install, requiring a restart of the computer.

The driver software allows you to configure and customize your tablet to a fairly great extent. The Pen tab allows you to configure the pen's functionality and buttons. You can adjust the sensitivity and feeling of both nubs. The buttons can be configured with a plethora of different functions, including keystrokes and launching shortcuts.

The pen also has two different "tracking" modes: Pen Mode and Mouse Mode. In pen mode, the active area of the tablet maps to the monitor. For example, hovering over the top left hand corner of the tablet places the mouse in the top left hand corner of the monitor and hovering over the bottom right hand corner of the tablet places the mouse in the bottom right hand corner of the monitor. In mouse mode, the cursor moves in a relative fashion. It doesn't matter where your pen is placed on the tablet. Moving your pen left or right will move the cursor left or right from its previous position.

The mouse tab allows you to customize the functionality of the three mouse buttons, the wheel functionality and tracking mode. The mouse, too, has a pen and mouse tracking mode.

The tablet tab allows you to control the functionality of the 4 custom buttons as well as the touch ring. The pen tablet software comes with a pop-up menu application as well. You can set any of the custom buttons to bring up the pop-up menu which lets you select a shortcut or another function. The Pop-up Menu tab lets you customize the menu's functions, which can lead to shortcuts or key combinations, etc.

Digital Tablet Testing

The Wacom Bamboo Fun digital pen tablet was tested using graphics software, office software and in day-to-day usage. First and foremost, the tablet functions in both Windows XP and Windows Vista simply by plugging the tablet into the computer. You can't customize the buttons on the tablet itself or the pen, but the fact that you can use the tablet out of the box is certainly interesting.

The digital pen tablet was tested on a computer with the following specs.

• Intel Core 2 Quad, Q8300
• 8 GB, OCZ DDR2 800 memory (4x 2GB)
• EVGA GeForce 9600GT
• Windows Vista Ultimate, 64-bit

My first impression of the Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet was that it seemed somewhat small. When you look at it, 5.8"x3.7" isn't that large. However, after using the tablet for a while, I found that the smaller area wasn't too much of a hindrance. Drawing on the tablet rarely required large, sweeping motions that would span the area of a letter sized piece of paper. The tablet itself is quite thin. This is nice because it makes the tablet very unobtrusive for drawing. It feels like you're drawing on a thin pad of paper. Moreover, because it uses a standard mini USB port, you can easily toss the tablet into a work or laptop bag with any generic USB cable for easy transportation and use elsewhere.

Moving the cursor around with the tablet is interesting. The tablet uses an electromagnetic resonance technology to let the pen and tablet communicate. Wacom describes the technology as such:

"Weak energy is induced in the pen's resonant circuit by a magnetic field generated by the sensor board surface. The pen's resonant circuit then makes use of this energy to return a magnetic signal to the sensor board surface."

In practice, the tablet will sense the pen's position as it hovers above the board. You control the position of the cursor in this fashion by moving your pen above the board and finding the proper placement. You then tap the active area of the board with the pen nub for a mouse click. You can hold the pen on the surface which functions just like holding the mouse button down.

By default, the pen is set to "pen" mode. I found this mode to be rather difficult to use because I have a 22" LCD monitor and a 17" LCD monitor in dual setup. The cursor will move a great distance on screen with a short distance on the active area. A pen mode works very well when you use a tablet with a screen on the active area, such as Wacom's Cintiq line or notebook tablets. I, on the other hand, preferred to use the mouse mode of the tablet. By doing this, I could easily move the cursor around like I would with a mouse. Moreover, I can customize the cursor sensitivity settings, giving me better control of the cursor.

Digital Pen Tablet Experience

I had to turn cursor acceleration off when using mouse mode. The acceleration of the cursor makes it difficult to draw circles and other curves as well hand write notes. The acceleration moves the pointer at different speeds depending on how fast you move the pen. So, even with a stencil, I couldn't draw a circle. Once I turned acceleration off, I could draw a circle with a stencil (and free hand). There's no right or wrong mode and it's entirely personal preference.

While using the tablet in graphics programs, such as Photoshop Elements or Corel Draw Essentials, the cursor would move smoothly while painting or drawing. With some tablets, the cursor placement precision could be off, causing the cursor to move in erratic paths. While drawing, I found the cursor to be very stable giving me good control. Good control is imperative when drawing, sketching or even just making hand written notes. The one area of control that is a little difficult is double clicking with the pen.

The pressure sensitivity, which is advertised for the Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet as 512 levels, requires calibration in some programs and may be somewhat difficult to get used to in others. It was easy enough to utilize in Photoshop Elements and Corel Painter Essentials, but, sometimes required I press much harder than I expected to achieve the full effect. Though, it's important to note that the surface of the tablet is a plastic as is both nubs. So, pressing too hard on to the tablet can scratch the surface. So, it's wise to not press too hard, or consider a screen protector of some sort.

Pressing the pen harder changes different attributes depending on the brush used. Some brushes may increase the flow whereas other brushes may increase the size. How you set the pressure sensitivity depends on your own personal style. Some people may prefer to remove pressure sensitivity altogether, such as for the pencil tool in Photoshop Elements. Others may live by it for airbrush painting that has to be just right.

The pen's eraser nub can function exactly like the writing nub in most programs in Windows. However, programs that take full advantage of the Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet, like Photoshop Elements, will transform the cursor into an eraser allowing you to erase parts of your image without selecting the eraser tool from the menu. This is certainly helpful for people who are used to drawing with pencils.

The two buttons on the pen are situated about where a person normally places their hand to write. This can be both good and bad. It's good because it's easy to move your fingers slightly to press the buttons when you need to. One is set, by default, to right click and the other is set to pan/scroll the screen, which is very helpful to move around a canvas quickly. The downside is that by placing buttons near the fingers, it's easy to accidentally press them.

The custom control buttons at the top of the tablet function just like any custom buttons. No real problems or hang-ups with the buttons or the control software that is used to customize their function. The touch scroll button functions two-fold. If you touch the up or down arrows with your finger or the pen, the page will eventually start to scroll and accelerate. Moreover, you can rotate your finger or pen around the button to scroll up or down the screen, much like an iPod wheel. A clear plastic ring surrounds the scroll button, which lights up when the unit is plugged in, indicating that it's on. The light isn't particularly bright until you turn the lights off. So, those who have their computer in their room should be warned that the tablet's light can be a little bright while sleeping.

The included mouse is ambidextrous, so it can be used by both lefties and righties. While the lack of a trackball or optical sensor is pretty keen, the active area is quite small to effectively use the mouse. The buttons are a bit stiff, requiring some work to get used to it. It feels a bit like an afterthought. The mouse is included with the package in order to replace a pre-existing mouse, but given the limitations of the mouse, I, personally, will my current mouse. A larger area may alleviate this problem, so it's certainly something a person has to get used to.

Bamboo with Photoshop Elements

The included software is perfect for the beginner to learn how to draw, paint and manipulate photos. Adobe Photoshop Elements is a consumer variation of their popular Photoshop line. It provides a large portion of the same functionality as Photoshop with a few features removed, others simplified and some features added (such as red-eye correction). In Photoshop Elements you can open your photos, edit them and paint and draw on them as well. For the total newcomer, it can feel somewhat massive, but there's a wealth of literature that specifically targets Photoshop Elements.

The Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet comes with Photoshop Elements 6 for both OS X and Windows. At the time of writing, the current version of Photoshop Elements is 7 for Windows and 6 for OS X. It's out of date, but version 6 was probably the newest version when the Bamboo was released.

Corel Painter Essentials is also a consumer variation of the professional painting suite, Corel Painter. Where Photoshop Elements is mainly for manipulating images, Corel Painter Essentials is mainly for drawing. The video tutorials included with the program provide a lot of information on tracing and painting images, but it's also used for sketching, drawing and painting on a blank canvas. The Bamboo Tablet comes with version 4 which is the most recent version at the time of writing.

The last piece of software included with the tablet is Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0. Color Efex Pro is a plug-in for Photoshop that manipulates the colors in photos and images. Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 has separate plug-ins it uses that have different effects. It only comes with three different plug-ins: "Brilliance/Warmth", "Color Stylizer" and "Contrast Only". The regular professional package comes with 30-50 different plug-ins, depending on the version you purchase. So, you're getting a limited amount of plug-ins in this set. I, personally, didn't use them that much as I achieved similar effects from within Photoshop.

Aside from Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0, Corel Painter Essentials and Photoshop Elements retail for $86 and ~$90, respectively, at Newegg.com. So, getting both of them as bundled software with a tablet that costs about the same as either is certainly a good deal. However, this is mainly a hardware review, so I can't fully describe the software and their pros and cons.

Who's This Product For?

Unlike other input devices where the intended user base is already aware of the types of devices and how they're used, the digital pen tablet's uses aren't well known or widespread. The drawing tablet is frequently relegated to a drawing artist's toolset and frequently remains in that niche. However, the tablet is useful in any situation where writing with the hand is useful.

For instance, in many cases, taking notes is easier by hand than by keyboard. Sophisticated note-taking software, like Microsoft Office OneNote, gives the writer an ability to create and share notes that they write by hand. Math equations are also difficult to type when they use a lot of greek letters, squiggly lines, and a plethora of non-standard letters and symbols. The ability to write, by hand, a math equation, either as a note or as a demonstration, can certainly make life easier, especially when collaborating with other people.

The tablet can also be used as an alternate to a mouse for those who feel comfortable with a pen. Given proper settings, the pen makes navigating a GUI quite easy. With mouse speed up and mouse acceleration on, it's easy to go from edge to edge of the screen without lifting the pen up to place on the opposite side of the active area. This can be especially good for people who find the mouse wearing out their wrist.

Of course, the tablet is mainly geared toward people who have some desire to be creative with their computer. The tablet and included software make it very easy to edit photos, draw, paint and be artistic with your computer. Professionals will be drawn to the Intuos series from Wacom because of the greater functionality and high precision, but the Bamboo series is definitely where the amateur will begin their foray.

Bamboo Fun Tablet Final Thoughts

The Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet is definitely a great place for someone to start experimenting with art on the computer. The tablet retails at around $100 at most retailers, depending on color (at the time of writing, Wacom is offering a $20 mail-in rebate). As I previously mentioned, the price of the software alone pays for itself, so $100 for a tablet, plus $180 worth of software is a great deal.

Wacom also offers two other Bamboo tablets: a Bamboo Fun Tablet in medium size, which retails for about $200 and a regular Bamboo tablet that doesn't include the mouse or graphics software, which retails for $60. The regular Bamboo tablet retains the same features as the Bamboo Fun Tablet including the same sized active area, pressure sensitivity levels and 2-nub pen design. It's mainly geared toward the user who doesn't need graphics software and a new mouse, like a business man or someone in a technical discipline. The medium sized Bamboo Fun Tablet is the same as the small tablet, save for the larger active area, measuring at 8.5"x5.3" which offers more than twice as much working area. Of course, the professionals will move on to the Intuos and Cintiq lines.

The Bamboo Fun Tablet is definitely one of the most fun pieces of computer hardware I've happened upon in recent memory. While I've had some interest in drawing, I've not had much of an outlet, until recently. I constantly find myself doodling on the pad in Photoshop. The pad is a great piece of hardware and will be an invaluable tool for the budding artist, but just like any instrument, the device itself won't make you any better without practice.

Wacom CTE450K Conclusion

The Bamboo is a well-packaged and nice looking device. While it can be used for a multitude of tasks, it's most certainly geared toward the artist with its pretty box and sleek look. The information provided on the back is certainly enough to convey the purpose of the tablet. On the inside, the components were well wrapped to protect from bouncing around.

The product itself is very nice looking. It has a stylish look combining glossy buttons and a matte finish. The light on the finger scroll button looks pretty, but it can be awfully bright, which can be a concern for people who sleep near their computer. The thin size of the tablet is definitely a big plus, as it makes writing and transport very easy.

The tablet is made of a fairly sturdy plastic material. It's strong enough that you can place the tablet into a bag on the go without worrying about problems. The active area and nub are both plastic, so the potential for scratching the surface is there. The pen and plastic are both sturdy enough for long term use. The set comes with multiple thin nubs for eventual replacement.

The tablet performs very well. The major concerns with graphics tablets are sensitivity and tracking. The tablet senses the movement of the pen very well and tracks the pen without problem. You can draw a straight line without worry of a deviation from problematic tracking. Curves are no problem either. The active area is large enough for smaller sketches, but too small for use with the mouse.

For those interested in using a graphics tablet, be it for drawing, photo manipulation or any other artistic endeavor will find immense value in this tablet and the software that comes with it. People who are interested in using Microsoft OneNote or the like may find a greater value with the Wacom Bamboo tablet (non-Fun version), but the value of the tablet is undeniable for people who are interested in drawing or writing on their computer. NewEgg sells the Wacom Bamboo Fun for $99 ($79 after rebate). At about $100 for the tablet and $180 worth of software, the tablet is a steal.

Pros:

+ Great tracking and movement
+ Comfortable feel
+ Thin size is good for travel
+ Great for the beginning artist

Cons:

- Blue light is very bright
- Active area is a bit small for mouse use
- Active area is susceptible to scratches from the pen

Ratings:

• Presentation: 9.00
• Appearance: 8.50
• Construction: 9.00
• Functionality: 9.50
• Value: 10.00

Final Score: 9.2 out of 10

Excellence Achievement: Benchmark Reviews Golden Tachometer Award.

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