From Sue Chastain,
Your Guide to Graphics Software.
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Wacom is the most widely-known pen tablet manufacturer, and has a fine reputation which is well-deserved. In 1989, Wacom introduced the first cordless, battery-free, pressure-sensitive pen, and in 1999 they debuted the Graphire line of personal pen tablets with the first sub-$100 battery-free pen, mouse, and tablet. The new Graphire4 is the fourth generation of Wacom's personal line of graphics tablets.

Description

Graphire4 includes a pressure-sensitive pen, ambidextrous and cordless mouse, and a bundle of photo editing, creative, and digital-inking software. Graphire4 comes in two sizes - 4x5 or 6x8, and in three color choices - silver, white, or metallic blue.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Good on-screen tutorial included on the installation CD.
• Inclusion of a mouse eases the transition for new tablet users.
• No power cord to get in the way (tablet is USB-powered).
• No batteries to change. Pen and Mouse are cordless and battery-free.
• Seamless button design on the mouse reduces potential 'gunk' build-up.
• Photo frame overlay has a built-in pen holder to help keep the pen from getting lost.

Cons

• Scrolling with the mouse wheel is "bumpy" rather than smooth.
• Pen is not as comfortable or easy to operate as the Intuos pen.

Note: Initially, I had issues with EverNote and JustWrite Office:
EverNote: cursor flashing, trouble selecting tools in full screen, cursor jumping.
JustWrite Office: cursor trapped in a small portion of the page and I could not break out.

Since posting my review, I discovered this was a result of having both Intuos and Graphire drivers installed at the same time. Installing one driver at a time resolved these issues.

Features

The Graphire4's battery-free pen features a non-slip grip and a recessed area with two programmable side buttons. The buttons can be set to perform mouse clicks, generate keystrokes, run programs, or pop up a menu of additional functions.The Graphire4 pen supports 512 levels of pressure sensitivity for both the tip and eraser.

All Graphire4 tablets also include a ball-free, cordless and battery-free 3-button scrolling mouse. They say the mouse offers 4 times the resolution of an optical mouse, though I couldn't tell a difference. The mouse can be used with either the right or left hand.

Along the top edge of the Graphire4 tablet are two programmable ExpressKeys and a scroll wheel. The ExpressKeys are preset for forward and back page navigation, but they can be reset to perform mouse clicks, keystrokes, or other functions.

The Graphire4 also features a full-surface, clear photo frame which can be removed for inserting photos or drawings. Underlay samples and templates are included on the CD. A pen storage compartment is built in to the photo frame, and a separate transparent pen stand is also included.

Software

The Wacom Control Panel allows users to customize settings for the tablet, pen, and mouse. For the pen, users can adjust the eraser and tip feel, set button functions, fine-tune double-click distance, define tablet area mapping, and choose whether to hear a click sound. For the mouse, users can set button and wheel functions, and define mouse speed and acceleration. For the tablet, users can set ExpressKey and wheel functions. Users can also set up a pop-up menu of user-defined commands which can be assigned to any of the tool buttons or ExpressKeys.

Wacom Graphire4 tablets are Macintosh- and PC-compatible and come bundled with the following software:

• Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 for photo-editing and enhancement,
• nik Color Efex Pro 2 photographic enhancement filters,
• Corel Painter Essentials 2 for painting and drawing,
• EverNote Plus for handwriting recognition and jotting notes (PC only), and
• JustWrite Office 4 to annotate Microsoft Office documents (PC only).

On a Mac, Graphire4 is compatible with the digital-inking capabilities of Apple Inkwell. In addition, both Mac and PC users can take advantage of the new digital ink annotation features in Adobe Reader 7.

In Conclusion

Less-expensive graphics tablets are available from other manufacturers, but Wacom is clearly the leader in this field. Wacom's technology, technical support, software features, and longevity as a company are unequaled. There's a certain peace of mind you get when you buy from a company which has specialized in one thing for as long as Wacom has. With a Wacom, you'll never have to worry about changing a battery, and the chances are slim of ever being stuck without a compatible driver for your tablet when a new version of Windows or Mac OS comes out (a situation I've observed all too frequently with other tablet users).

Although I personally prefer the more-advanced Intuos3 tablet for myself, the Graphire4 is ideal for home users, students, educators, and frequent travelers who are looking for a better alternative to the mouse for photo-editing, drawing, making notes, and other everyday computing tasks. As noted above, I had some problems with the EverNote and JustWrite software, but I don't consider that a big factor to the audience of this site.