Graphire4

reviewed by Daniel MacKenzie, November 2006

Whenever you want to draw something on the computer or do some advanced photo editing it can be kind of hard to do. I’ve had that problem until I tried this tablet. You couldn’t make a good drawing for a school project on the computer because it looked horrible. Now I can make something decent.

The Graphire4 tablet comes in two sizes; 4X5 and 6X8. You can also get the 6X8 in Bluetooth. All tablets come in three colours; silver, white and metallic blue. The package includes a wireless mouse that doesn’t require batteries.

You have to use the mouse on the tablet to get a response, but it comes in handy. Then you have your pen. This pen is also wireless and doesn’t need batteries. It comes with it’s own little pen dock for you to hold it while it’s not being used. The pen has two buttons on one side, which you can program to do whatever you want it to do. The tip of the pen is pressure-sensitive, so whenever you use a drawing program, you can change the thickness of the line by how hard you press on the pad. Also, if you flip the pen over, it has an eraser on the other end. If you need to make a quick change, just flip the pen over and you have your eraser. To go back to the regular pen, just flip it back over and write with it again. Each tablet comes with it’s own cover, which you can attach with slots that are built in to the bottom. The tablet is compatible with both Mac and Windows, so everyone can use it. A software package comes with it, which includes Adobe Photoshop Elements 3, Corel Painter Essentials 2 and others, which work with both platforms.

The installation of the driver was easy enough and worked almost seamlessly and the software installed well. After the installation, it’s literally plug and play. The System Preferences gives you a panel to program the tablet just the way you want it. Also, another tab shows up every time you plug your tablet into your Mac. It’s called Ink. Ink is used to recognize you hand movements to execute a command. If you make a specific movement, it will copy or paste. It’s really neat. You can set up all of these features yourself. You don’t even need it on for the tablet to work.

Now, as good as this product is, it’s really pricey; the 4X5 is $99.95 USD, the 6X8 is $199.95 USD and the 6X8 Bluetooth is 249.95 USD. Not to tell you not to buy it, but you should consider the purchasing of this product. I think it’s based for designer businesses, but those of us who are consumers can still get a great deal of use out of this. If you are a photographer, this would be perfect, or as Christmas is coming, it wouldn't make a bad gift.