Genius MousePen 8 x 6-Inch Graphic Tablet for Home and Office
by Genius
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List Price: Our Price: $59.95 You Save: $40.04 (40%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $50.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Genius MousePen 8 x 6-Inch Graphic Tablet for Home and Office
Customer Review: Pleasant surprise
Summary: 5 Stars
I'd been wanting to try a tablet for quite awhile, I do a lot of utility graphic design. Most of the people I talked to and the reviews I read said that this was a nice tablet for the price.
The biggest complaint has been about the pen. I had no problems putting in the battery or setting up the software. Now I've only had it for a week so I can't speak to reliability, but usability is excellent. I've pushed my mouse off to one side, I rarely ever use it. Doing graphics seems so normal, and I don't understand what the more expensive pads could have that this one doesn't.
The buttons on the pen take some getting used to, especially since one of my programs switches them middle for right. The 8x6 area is actually more than I use, but the software can be configured to operate on a smaller portion of the pad or if you need the accuracy you can quickly change it and change back.
I suppose the mouse that comes with the pad works okay but right now it's sitting in a drawer. The pen is easier to use and if I get stuck I can always grab my old mouse. It operates nicely along side the pad if needed.
One misgiving I had was the look of the pad. If someone were to see it for the first time I could probably convince them I spent 4 times as much if I wanted to. From the pictures it looks like a toy, but when I removed it from the box I thought they had shipped me a more expensive pad by mistake. I had to get back on the website to verify that I had the correct one. It definitely is not a toy nor does it look like one.
I'm sure the add-on software programs are fine, but since I have better graphics software already on my machine I never even bothered installing them.
I was a little nervous about buying it but I can say that I have no regrets. Even if it were to only last six months it will probably have paid for itself 10 times over. I've owned many products made by Genius and they are a good and reliable company that generally make good products.
David
Updated: Nov. 6, 2010
I don't have a lot to add except that it's been six months and the pad is still going strong, I don't use it in place of the mouse anymore but anytime I need to draw I have it right there and ready to use.
I'm still very happy with this product.
Customer Review: Great tablet
Summary: 5 Stars
This was my first tablet and it far exceeded my expectations. I'm really happy with it, best purchase I've made in a long time. I think most has already been covered in other reviews.
The tablet and pen itself work superbly. I haven't tried the included tablet mouse, however it seems all but useless since a regular mouse still works normally while the tablet is connected.
I'm using Windows XP and use it primarily in Photoshop. In short, it works great. Works with everything else just like a mouse does, the pen pressure may not work in programs not designed to take advantage of that feature (such as mspaint). I've experienced no jerkiness at all. Make sure the battery is good, it doesn't hurt to try a new battery if you aren't sure.
If you've never used a tablet before(like I hadn't), the basics of it are that you tap the tablet once with the pen to activate it then you can hover over the pad to move the cursor. You only make contact for actions. Positioning the tablet itself is important so it feels natural.
Most important, as others mentioned the included disk is not very useful. This is the cause for the majority of the bad reviews and why some couldn't get it working I think. I installed the drivers off the included disk(don't worry about the drivers not being signed etc) then plugged in the tablet. This doesn't make it work tho. Immediately after it's plugged in, windows will say it found new hardware etc and ask if you want to look for/install new drivers/software. Let windows do its thing and after that it will work perfectly. You may or may not have to reboot.
If you are computer literate and know what drivers and such are, you should have no problem with getting it up and running in minutes. If you are not so handy with computers, just do what i did and it should work. If it doesn't work, it's not because the tablet itself doesn't...it's because something isn't installed properly.
no clue if this does or doesn't work on linux/osx, sounds like it should work in vista.
Customer Review: If you are not a world famous artist (which means every one on amazon pretty much) THIS IS FOR YOU!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This product is perfect for any one that wants to draw or paint on the PC.
PROS:
Cheap - it was only 29.99 when I bought it.
Quality - Very high quality for the 30 bucks you lay down for it. I would think it is close to Manufactures cost since it is such high quality.
Color - Its a very good color aka does not clash with anything in your studio or room.
Slim - From the picture it looks like a very weird tablet, but it is extremely thin and not stupid looking!
Accurate - the POP (Points of Pressure) is very accurate and I would say I prefer to use then an actual paint brush.
Fast - I have this thing plugged into a keyboard (so its not even directly connected to pc, which usually makes things slow) but this is still fast! any lag you will have from this is your PC and it will be from the software! so just upgrade your pc and stop blaming this tablet!
Cons:
Pen - the pen has cheap buttons for clicking with, but for the 30 dollars you paid for quit your crying!
READ THIS IF YOU BOUGHT ONE!!!!
Setup: if you accidently plug in the tablet because of pure excitement and try to install the drivers it will not work!!! (if you did this, like i did lol then this is what you do)
Step 1: Go to your start menu and find the folder called "PEN TABLET" and click on it
Step 2: Click uninstall (make sure you have the tablet unplugged by now)
Step 3: Restart your computer
Step 4: Download the newest drivers from [...]
Step 5: Click Setup
Step 6: When it says plug it in, thats when you plug it then, then click next and click yes I want to restart. (Dont lallygag around, do this kind of fast, or windows will try to install there own drivers over it)
Step 7: You should jump for joy, it should be working!
Customer Review: Great Pruduct- Great Price!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first and only experience with a graphics tablet EVER, that said, I am very happy with it (I've only had it for three days).
The first thing that struck me is how thin the unit was, (about an eighth of an inch in the front, and maybe a half inch in the back. It is pretty light, yet not at all flimsy. I found the drawing area to be larger than I had expected, and since the drawing surface represents your entire screen I think a much larger area would make it awkward when using it as a mouse (meaning, to go from the upper corner to the bottom of the screen, you have to do the same on the drawing area.) This is just how all pads work when using them as your mouse.
And speaking of the mouse, at least one reviewer had called the included mouse "useless" and I mostly agree. While the mouse works okay, it must be used on the surface of the pad, and it's a little frictiony (is that a word?) when you slide it around, which made me worry about unnecessary wear to the drawing surface. Really, if you already have a good optical mouse that you're comfortable with, you will want to skip the included mouse altogether.
I used the pad with "The Gimp ver 2.2" which is an open-source graphics program (i.e: FREE!) and it worked seamlessly with the Genius MousePen Tablet- Like they were made for each other! It came budled with Adobe CS3 Extended, and Corel Painter X (Trial versions) I have yet to check out, but it's nice they are included.
All of the buttons along the top of the pad (new, open, save, print, exit, cut, copy, paste, undo, back, forward, e-mail, and www) worked perfectly with no set up whatsoever. I was pleased when the "www" button launched my browser with a tap of the pen.
One little tip, you'll want to keep the pen mostly straight up and down when you are drawing, as the tip is pressure-sensetive and works badly if you slant it too much. HAVE FUN!!
Customer Review: Genius MousePen 8 x 6-Inch Graphic Tablet for Home and Office Review
Summary: 5 Stars
It's very nice and good its for Vista, Mac, and Windows 7 too I don't know the rest but, this tablet is very sensetive for example your mouse pointer still moves even though your tablet pen doesn't touch the pad. It's quite slow but it's still worth it. Its comes with Adobe Photoshop extended Trial and Corel Painter Trial program in one disk. Also you have to install it but, it takes a few seconds to install it's pretty fast.You need the Pen tablet series CD to install the tablet. Its quite hard to use the tablet. It comes with a mouse with no cord on it. You just grab the mouse and put it on the tablet. Also, their are boxes on the top of the tablet. You just drag your pen on it then the mouse pointer goes on the box if you don't understand me, then go to your program called Paint and click on it. Then drag your pen to the New box on the left top corner on your pad then the mouse pointer goes on File on Paint. Its same with the other boxes but Paint doesnt have the same name boxes on the pad same with other paint programs. The boxes on the right and the left is that if you click one of them it scrolls down or up. Plus theres a instuction book that tells you how to download it (for Mac and Windows). For Vista, put in the Pen Tablet Series CD in and then a popup warning should show up and says if you want to open it and click on the button says you trust it. Then the tablet install thingy should show and click on Tablet Programs and then click on Ok and then it takes a few seconds to install and then click on exit. If a popup says it didn't install correctly then click on install it using recommended settings. And then BAM! Your done and you can use it. People say it isn't good and blah blah blah but this review can help you. Sorry for my bad english if you don't understand me. It's hard to use but after a couple days or more should fix it and very worth it.