Introduction

Creativity and imagination is in every one of us. Some are very creative and some not so much. These two important senses could be trained and when it comes to tools, our next product might be a great aid. I would like to say thanks to Wacom from providing us with this item for a review. Today we are going to be exploring one of the most userful tools for every graphic designer. Bamboo Pen & Touch is a multifunctional unit which provides its users functionality a long with a way to practice your creativity and imagination. Lets us take a close look at this unit and see what it has to offer to an average user like myself.

About the Product

Following information is taken from Wacom website.

Overview

Bamboo Pen & Touch combines the benefits of Multi-Touch with the comfort and precision of Wacom's ergonomically-designed pen. The result: a powerful new way to work with your computer.

With Multi-Touch, you use simple hand gestures and finger taps on the tablet's surface. And because the active area is larger than traditional mobile devices and laptop trackpads, it's comfortable and natural to use. Easily move around your desktop, scroll through documents, navigate the web, zoom in and out of photos, and rotate images.

Need precision? Pick up the pressure-sensitive pen to edit photos, create personal greetings, make sketches, and mark up documents in your own handwriting.

Using Bamboo is easy—even if you're new to the touch experience. The included tutorial will teach you how to use simple hand gestures to move around your desktop, make selections, and complete other tasks on your computer. You can even customize your Bamboo experience by assigning your own shortcuts to the four ExpressKeys™.

Bamboo works with your existing computer: desktop or laptop, PC or Mac. And it's an incredible value with the included software: Adobe® Photoshop® Elements and Nik® Color Efex Pro™. Sleek and black, the tablet makes for a stylish addition to your workspace. Attach Bamboo to a standard USB port, set it comfortably by your keyboard, and let your intuition guide you.

Features

• Two sensors for precise pen and Multi-Touch input
• Use a single finger for navigation and multiple fingers for gestures
• Simple gestures make it easy to scroll, zoom, rotate, move backward or forward
• Pressure-sensitive pen tip for natural pen and brush strokes
• Battery-free, ergonomic pen with two switches
• Textured work surface for a pen-on-paper feel
• Quick access to user-defined shortcuts with four ExpressKeys™
• Attached fabric pen loop conveniently stores pen
• Easy USB connection to Mac or PC, laptop or desktop
• Interactive tutorial helps you learn gestures and make the most of your Bamboo
• Included in the package with every Bamboo Pen & Touch:
  • Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 7.0 Win/6.0 Mac for editing, retouching, enhancing and sharing digital photos
  • Nik® Color Efex Pro™ 3.0 WE3 for selectively applying lighting and photo enhancements with the pen

What's Inside

Included in the Bamboo Pen & Touch:

• Bamboo Pen & Touch tablet
• Bamboo pen
• Quick Start guide
• Installation CD (includes driver software, interactive tutorial, and user's manual)
• Software DVD (containing Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 7.0 Win/6.0 Mac and Nik® Color Efex Pro™ 3.0 WE3)

Specifications

Now that we got basic information out of the way, lets take a closer look at Bamboo Pen & Touch.

Overview

Front Shot		Rear Shot

Bamboo has arrived in rather large box. I wasn't expecting the packaging to be this big and was kind of surprised. I said to myself "Holy Cow! If the box is this big, i wonder if the actual unit is the same size." Soon enough we will look at the actual unit and discuss the size. On the front and back of the packaging we found a number of colorful pictures and well it certainly looks like a graphic designer has spent some time making all the images and colorful backgrounds. Very impressive. If you never had a touch panel like this you might want to look at some features and specifications on the box to see if this is something you can actually use.

Side Shot		Americas Only

From sides of the box we found very little descriptions of the item inside but plenty information about the features and specifications of Bamboo Pen & Touch. Bamboo Pen & Touch is available only for Americas so if you are looking for one of these and you are outside of the Americas the best place to look for Bamboo Pen & Touch would be e bay.

Nicely packed		Out of the box

Opening the box was very easy and everything in the box stayed in place while shipping. Now i can see why the box is so big, the cardboard cutout protects the actual unit from moving and or any accidental damage while shipping. Very impressive packaging. Bamboo comes with a set of installation and application cds, pen and replacement pen heads and of course the actual touch pad.

Step by Step		Installation Guides and Software

Before actually connecting the touch pad it is highly advised you run trough the installation process as described in the instruction manual. The software dvd comes with some great applications for both Windows and Mac. (Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 7.0 Win/6.0 Mac and Nik® Color Efex Pro™ 3.0 WE3). If you are a Photoshop freak, then all of your applications are already ready to be used with Bamboo.

Bamboo Pen		Bamboo Tablet

Bamboo pen is pretty much like any other pen you might have around your house. It is very light and has couple of buttons on the side. You do not have to use the pen with the touch pad, you can use your finger to navigate around the screen.

Size comparison		Helpful Buttons

Size of the actual touch pad is about 4 times the size of a laptop touch pad so you have plenty room to get from one side of the screen to the other without lifting your finger. Bamboo automatically adjusts itself to the resolution of your screen, a great feature. On the right side of the Bamboo are four easy access buttons which could be set up for easy access.

Four rubber feet		Bamboo

The whole unit sits on four rubber feet which securely keep Bamboo in the place. On the side of the unit is a fabric holder for the pen, so you don't have to worry about losing the pen. The whole installation take about 15 minutes, this is including the guides on how to use this particular model of Bamboo. The guides teach you how to use pinch technology, how to move and drag items. Since this unit is a pressure sensitive there are some guides on that too.

Testing

We have used Bamboo with Photoshop and just regular windows. I am not going to lie, it takes some time to get used to this method of operating a computer but after about 20 minutes things start to sink in and everything comes in to place. I am not an artist but i did had fun with Photoshop and Bamboo. The pressure sensitive functions of Bamboo helps out dramatically. There are a set of features which are very valuable here such as multi touch, gestures make it easy to scroll, zoom, rotate, move backward and forward.

Conclusion

Rather impressive unit we have here. Wacom did an excellent job on this unit and it looks like lots of people in both Americas will be able to enjoy this multi touch product. Bamboo Pen & Touch was designed for pretty much any kind of application and windows and mac environments. It takes some time to get used to this unit as it introduces new methods in controlling your computer, multi touch input and pressure sensitive surface. What is important to mention here is that this is rather stylish unit which provides great traction of movement and functions for its users. If you are in to graphics or just want to doodle on the computer, Bamboo Pen & Touch is for you. We have tested this unit for few days and it is definitely makes it easy to manipulate items on the desktop and in Photoshop. It gives me a great pleasure to award Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch with our highest award. 10/10! Great job guys! Truly amazing product!

Some pros we found:

Multi Touch and precise pen system.

Easy to use and install.

Great software package.

Sensitive and precise.

Four Express Keys.

Some Cons we found:

None that we could find.