The Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch should be the ideal graphics tablet for expressing your own creativity. Above all, beginners and hobby graphic artists should be addressed with the device. In our test, we examine the strengths and weaknesses of the Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch in the medium edition. Is the device really only suitable for beginners or can professionals also make friends with it? We found out.
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Packaging and scope of delivery
The packaging of the Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch is very high quality. From the outside in, we first find the box on which the device and some details as well as the individual possible uses are shown. We find references to the touch function , i.e. operation with the fingers, but also references to the performance in the drawing and painting area .
Inside the box is another box that is equivalent to packaging for a laptop. The Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch will also arrive safely during shipping. All in all, the standard set includes the device itself, the pen with replacement tips and tools for replacement , a connection cable (USB), the driver CD and a quick guide .
Processing & design
The front makes a very noble impression and may be able to deceive the user as to the extent of its use. Because the large silver surface cannot be fully used for drawing and operating. Rather, the approximately A4-sized area has delimitation points where this is possible. These result in an A5 area .
In addition to this little trick of enlarging, there are four freely assignable buttons on the front next to the work surface. On the other side of the device is a tab into which the pen can be inserted. The back has two compartments – for the battery and the radio transmitter . Because the device can also be used wirelessly. The corresponding hardware set can be purchased separately.
installation
The installation is very simple. The programs supplied on the driver CD are installed on the computer and ensure that communication with the Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch works. If you are connected to the Internet, updates for the drivers can also be downloaded.
In addition, the medium version of the Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch also comes with three free programs that can be downloaded: Photoshop Essentials , ArtRage and Corel Paint . This means that beginners are also well catered for in the software area. The people at Wacom also thought about that. And we have three new programs.
Features and functions
The touch function of the Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch is very well suited for everyday use, even outside of graphics applications and the like. With a little practice, we were able to navigate , scroll , switch between windows and manage folders in browsers and other programs . The four buttons on the device help.
Use with the pen is also very good. Of course, we also had to get used to this for a short time, then our own and the new download programs could be used extensively. In addition to the lead (1024 pressure levels), the pen also has a switch for an alternative function and a virtual eraser at the other end . The only thing missing is a pen holder, because you don’t always want to use the flap to put it away for a short time (no protection against rolling away!).
Ergonomics & ease of use
The design of the Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch made us ask a question even before we bought the device: What about the left-handed? Because the device is always represented with the buttons on the left and the pen tab on the right. However, it can also be configured for left-handers with the driver software and just one click .
Otherwise, the Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch itself offers a great surface for working, both in graphics programs and in browsers and in the OS. Only the pen is very light in the beginning, at least in comparison with similar devices. We had to get used to that – something harder wouldn’t have been bad.
precision
When using the fingers in our test, there were hardly any problems in terms of precision. A little practice was only required when rotating or zooming images with two fingers. There was much longer training periods when using the pen. The reason was – as already indicated – the weight.
Especially with fast movements, it was sometimes the case that the line on the drawing was longer than planned. We couldn’t fully test the pressure sensitivity in the shallow steps either, since the weight of the pen was hardly sufficient for light or thin strokes. Subtle pressure and a lot of practice are possibly two pointers that we can give patient users.
Little tips
There are a few small tricks that we can use to compensate for the weaknesses of the device that we felt and pointed out. On the one hand, the driver software deserves a certain amount of attention. Because with it it is not only possible to solve the left- and right-handed problem, but also to adjust the sensitivity.
How fast should the cursor move? How is the touch function configured? What should happen when the button on the pen is pressed? All of this and much more can be set individually. And if you make sufficient use of this option, adjust everything, try it out and readjust it again, you can certainly conjure up a work of art with the Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch.
benefits
+ Good and stable workmanship of the device and the pen
+ Can also be used wirelessly with the extension package
+ Comprehensive driver software for setting all the subtleties
+ Left-handed setting is possible
+ Free graphics software to download
+ Download and use of Bamboo Apps possible
+ Replacement leads for the pen
+ four buttons on the device for frequently used commands
disadvantage
– No roll-away protection or holder for the pen (except for the tab on the device itself)
– Relatively light pen, to which the user behavior has to be adapted if heavier pens have been used up to now
– Action button on the pen is relatively high, so that it also takes some getting used to can be
Conclusion
Every user has his own needs. For some, the Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch may be too small or the pen too light. But we think that beginners in particular will get along with it particularly well. If this device is the first or second ever, you will be more likely to cope with the light pen than with a pen that is too heavy – and nobody gets lost on the A5 surface.
In addition, the positive sides of the device predominate. The processing is in no way inferior to the elegant packaging. The application is simple and can be fine-tuned using the drivers. With the included programs you could start immediately – ideal for all graphic artists , draftsmen , virtual painters and those who want to become one. We give the top grade: 5/5