Solving problems with the Genius G-Pen f610 tablet. Genius G-Pen M712 – professional widescreen tablet Using Genius G-Pen M712

Help 23.03.2021

Help

A couple of months ago I finally bought myself a graphics tablet. I spent a long time choosing and settled on the Genius G-Pen f610. First of all, I was limited by the price. I think for my level of drawing such a tablet will be enough. He draws, there are degrees of pressure, and the rest depends on where the limbs grow from)) By the way, what I drew with his help.

UPD: This article is outdated, there is updated information on this .

The pen acts only on the surface of the tablet, and not at a distance from it.
This is the first problem I encountered when I connected my tablet. There were no pen distance settings anywhere. I found comforting information on the Internet - it turns out that this is not only true for me. But all the solution methods described there came down to dancing with a tambourine around a fire, as well as using white and black magic)) However, when I pulled the button out of the pen (I simply pryed it with a small thin screwdriver), I found a trimming resistor there. After twisting it a little I achieved the desired distance of 10 mm. You need to twist it as follows: turn the screw 10-15 degrees, try to draw - if the cursor moves only when the rod comes into contact with the surface of the tablet, then turn it another 10 degrees. And so on until you adjust the maximum height. I read somewhere that the pen can be adjusted to 20 mm. But it didn't work out for me.
By the way, once the settings went wrong for some reason. But either it was a driver glitch, or a glitch of the pen, but after configuration everything fell into place.
As I understand it, this problem does not arise for everyone, but only for those who are lucky. Most likely, at the Geniusov plant, they do not make precise adjustments, or some resistors change their values (this happens).

I bring the pen to the tablet, touch the surface with the rod - 0 reaction!
I think this is the power saving mode of the pen. In order for the cursor to start following the pen, you just need to press the pen on the tablet. This is not a glitch.

The degree of pressure does not work in Photoshop.
I once tried setting Pen Pressure mode for brush diameter in Photoshop, but nothing worked. Also, other settings that can be enabled for the pen did not work.
1. For the pen pressure to work, Windows drivers are not enough. You also need to install the drivers that come on the disk (or download from the offsite).
2. You need to launch Photoshop after connecting the tablet.

Some tips for Photoshop.
With a brush in Photoshop (Brush tool), you can give almost any parameters to the pen. For example, you can set the degree of transparency depending on the degree of pen pressure, or the diameter of the brush.
Other tools can be configured this way too. And this is where the problem arises.
I took the eraser, but it doesn’t erase the full diameter. Erasing occurs only in the very center of the eraser. I tried everything and it turned out to be simple. Select the eraser (or another tool that has a similar problem) and press F5 to bring up the brush settings menu. There we uncheck the box on the left Shape Dynamics.

Windows is terribly slow.
This is probably the second biggest problem. I even had to reinstall the OS. The thing is that Windows 7 installs its own drivers for the tablet and runs its own services for it (and quite a lot), but it only starts to slow down when you install the native drivers for the tablet.
Fortunately, this problem can also be solved (and not only by an expensive PC upgrade)). You need to disable all unnecessary services for the tablet.
1. Go to the Control Panel. There we select “Pen and touch devices” (This is for the seven)
2. At the bottom there will be “Pen buttons” - turn off the checkboxes.
3. Go to the "Gestures" tab - turn off all the checkboxes.
4. In the handwriting input tab, you can also disable “Auto learning”
We’re done here, now in the Control Panel we open another setting “Tablet PC Settings”
1. Click there "Go to Input Panel Options"
2. In the first “Opening” tab, turn off all the checkboxes.
Windows is sorted out. Now tablet applications. Exclude MacrokeyManager from startup. Firstly, it hangs in memory and wastes resources. Secondly, it will interfere with drawing. I was a little annoyed that when drawing, when I accidentally climbed over the edge of the screen with a pen, either Word or some other program that I didn’t need at that moment would open.

Also, before connecting the tablet, you must first install its native drivers.

Pen pressure
Fortunately, I didn't have such a problem. But some people are less fortunate and the pen pressure is set very hard. And the pen sensitivity settings in the control panel do not help. There is a radical solution to this problem, but we must act very carefully (or not touch this issue at all). Some people had wires in their pens break as a result of this method. Therefore, I categorically do not recommend trying it. However, if it’s still burning like this, then here’s the solution: disassemble the pen and move the inductor a little closer to the rod (a very small distance of 0.25-0.35 mm).
But I warned you)))

UPD 07/09/2013:
A lot of time has passed since this post was written and many comments have been collected with questions about the tablet. Since there are a lot of comments, everyone is too lazy to read them. But in vain. Most often the answers have already been given.
Therefore, I decided to add to the post so that the same questions are not repeated.

1. There is a light at the top of the tablet that blinks constantly. This indicates that the tablet is connected to the computer. If it does not light up, then this already indicates that something is wrong.
When the pen touches the surface of the tablet, the light goes out, this indicates that the pen is charged and is transmitting information to the tablet.
If this happens, then information about the location of the pen must be transmitted to the computer and the pointer on the screen will repeat the actions of the pen. Since the pen is set to auto-shutdown to save energy, the pen turns off after a certain time. To turn it on again, you need to press the stylus on the tablet.
2. Problems with drivers often arise. Especially if you install the drivers that come on the installation disk. I do not recommend downloading drivers from the Russian site genius. Besides, they are not the freshest there. It is best to download from the official website http://www.geniusnet.com/. Please refer to the version date.
Pen pressure sensitivity varies by driver. If it is not installed correctly, then most likely the problem lies there. And also some applications do not work with pressure sensitivity. It should work in Photoshop and Corel Painter, if, of course, everything is installed correctly.
Makro Key manager also needs to be installed (in new drivers it seems to be already included in the installation). But then you can turn it off as unnecessary.
The service C:\Windows\system32\atwtusb.exe (User Mode Tablet Driver) is responsible for the operation of the pen, so it must be in Windows processes. If it's not there, then something might be wrong.
3. If you constantly disconnect your tablet from your computer, then you need to connect it before launching the application in which you draw. Connect your tablet to your computer => launch the drawing application.

4. Regarding the rods. I've been using it for over a year now. Not a millimeter off. Perhaps this is due to the fact that I immediately set the hardness lower.
At the very beginning I installed a very small one, but now there is this one:

No matter how much I looked for the rods on the Internet or in stores, I couldn’t find them. Although at the beginning, when I first purchased the tablet, I wrote to a Russian site, where they told me that there were rods, but they could only be sent within Russia. After a while, when I wrote to them again to order (in reserve), they told me that they do not sell rods. At the moment, if the refills wear out, the only option is to purchase a pen (as far as I understand, spare refills are included with it). If anyone knows where refills for the Genius G-Pen are sold in Ukraine or Russia, then write, I will be very grateful.
5. If you had another tablet before you bought a new one, you need to install the drivers again.

UPD 01/08/2015

For some time now I have been worried about the problem of the pen slowing down. Even if you press the pen firmly on the tablet a couple of times to turn it on, there is still a noticeable slowdown. And the most interesting thing is that this problem does not exist when drawing a line. When I draw a line along the surface, everything goes smoothly and normally.
And sometimes strange glitches began to happen, when the pen suddenly switches to some mode, when it works like an eraser o_O As if this was not provided at all in this model. Usually restarting the computer helped, but this time it did not help. I suddenly decided for some reason to climb up and twist the resistor, and maybe it would help. Spun it. And that’s it))) I mean, the pen stopped reacting at a distance from the surface at all. No matter how I twisted or tried, it was all to no avail. I thought, well, that’s it, I’ve got it all figured out)) I’ve already taken everything apart down to the last detail. Then I collected it. I'm sitting, thinking about buying a new tablet. And then a thought came to mind. I tried it and it worked. So...

What to do if the pen does not want to work at any distance from the surface, and adjusting the resistor does not help:

1. Place the pen vertically and press lightly on the tablet (light pressure) so that the cursor reacts on the screen.
2. Without releasing the pressure, make a slight turn of the adjusting screw.
After this everything should work. If not, try turning it again.
By the way, my problem with braking has disappeared. The pen began to work perfectly. But I still don’t recommend turning the resistor unless the situation is extreme.

Since the photo industry does not stand still, but is constantly developing on its own, like other sectors of our life, manufacturers are trying to follow market trends and make adjustments to their structure. Therefore, today we will talk about the genius g pen f610 graphics tablet, which expands the possibilities of creating drawings and other graphic elements on a desktop computer using specialized programs.

Appearance

Technical requirements

Despite the fact that this is a rather complex technical device, it does not require such exorbitant requirements for computers, for example:

To operate, you will need the minimum: a Pentium processor with a clock frequency of 233 MHz or higher;
The computer must support USB devices;
CD-ROM must be installed - optional;
And the operating system is not lower than WindowsXP 2000.

Specification

The graphics tablet itself has dimensions such as 10 by 6.25 inches. At the same time, the main panel contains 29 keys for programming for Office, Paint, Internet and others.

The manufacturer’s website states that the working area is A5 size, however, the presence of buttons, as mentioned above, expands the boundaries for work. Connection to a desktop computer occurs via a standard USB connector.

Feather for interaction

The sensitivity of the drawing pen is 1024, the positioning is +-0.42 millimeters, and the expansion is up to 2000 lpi.

It is important to know that the minimum distance between the surface of the tablet and the pen is 10 millimeters.

The weight of the tablet is almost 600 grams, plus the manipulation pen is 22 grams.

Equipment

Factory equipment

The tablet is packaged in a fairly massive box, which contains its photograph and brief technical specifications in 23 languages and one complete one in English.

The kit includes:

The graphics tablet itself;
Drivers for computers: for various types of operating systems, plus additional extensions for manipulating hot keys and configuring the pen;
Touch pen;
Two removable tips plus a special removal device;
Pen stand;
Various documentation and operating instructions.

In addition, the service life of each of the tips is designed only for a year and no more.

Setting up your tablet

It is worth noting that under the guidance of the Vista operating system, the tablet will work without drivers, however, on other operating systems you should install the entire full package of applications, and we also recommend registering your device manufacturer on the website - getting an account.

Pen program

As you can see, the configuration application is quite primitive and consists of two windows: the first is used as an instruction (you can also customize the shape and size), and the second is where direct configuration takes place.

Pen customization

The pen has two keys for setting in the program; they are used for the right and left keys of a regular mouse. Since this is a graphics tablet pen has its own pressure sensitivity, depending on the coefficient, the pressure applied will be different - measured as a percentage in the picture above. By default, the manipulation pen is set to work in the right hand.

Work surface program

The driver kit also includes a program for setting up function keys on the working surface of the tablet. That is, you select a key and assign it a task that it should perform when interacted with.

If something doesn’t work out, there is a Russian-language manual, both in electronic form and on the manufacturer’s website. All drivers are also available on the manufacturer's website.

It is important to know that the manufacturer’s warranty is 3 years - please note that sellers do not have the right to set a period shorter than stated.

Testing in Paint

As practice has shown, using the pen for purposes other than its intended purpose, that is, the graphics package is very, very tight (search on the Internet), all the same manipulations with mice are done two or even three times faster and easier.

But there were no complaints from the specialized programs; of course, it took time to adapt to the pen (work for mice is given as a sign), but all the expectations were not in vain. The sensitivity is very good, with a pen you can imitate any size of strokes from pencils to markers - it all depends on the degree of pressure, you will not be able to do this with a mouse in your life, it is not so functional.

Some brakes in data transmission were noticed, that is, there was some delay from pressing to action, but no pattern was found.

In principle, the device is suitable for beginner artists and nothing more.

Brief review of an inexpensive graphics tablet

Oleg Tatarnikov

Today, no one is surprised by the power of modern graphic editors. With certain skills, you can use them to create real masterpieces. But, unfortunately, interaction with the graphic editor using traditional input means - keyboard and mouse - cannot be called convenient and effective. Of course, a keyboard and mouse are sufficient for simple basic operations, but what if you need more subtle photo retouching or want to do computer painting? For this, of course, you need special drawing tools - graphics tablets. What can I say - try, for example, to reproduce your signature in a graphic editor using the mouse! Happened?

KYE Systems Corp. (owner of the Genius brand) recently introduced new tablet models with a wireless pressure-sensitive pen.

Artists and designers are intended for models with a resolution of 4000 lpi (lines per inch) of the M series - G-Pen M712 and M609, and for a wide range of users - ultra-thin portable models of the F series (F610 and F350) with a resolution of 2000 lpi.

The wireless pen of all these tablets has a pressure sensitivity of 1024 degrees, which allows you to precisely control the shape and thickness of lines when drawing, as well as the degree of use of some other editing tools. In addition, the pen is equipped with two programmable buttons that can be used as mouse buttons.

A distinctive feature of the devices is the ability to work with a screen of any size, and panels specially allocated along the edge of the work area act as hot keys (including user-configurable function buttons), providing quick access to the most frequently used applications, such as Office, or multimedia functions in Vista OS, or Internet navigation capabilities. By tapping these panels, you can quickly scroll through text, zoom in on an image, move a photo, etc.

However, the principle of operation of a graphics tablet is known and, unlike, for example, manipulators such as a mouse, it is closer to our usual drawing with a pen on paper, so it is more convenient for creative people to use such tablets in their work, which for some people replace not only a mouse, but also keyboard.

Moreover, we especially note that before the release of Genius brand products, there were, of course, graphic tablets that met the requirements of artists, but they were very expensive, so not everyone could afford them. Now, thanks to Genius products, the price of graphics tablets has dropped significantly: compared to other solutions of a similar level and with the same working field size, these devices are almost half the price - the manufacturer's recommended price for the most expensive professional graphics tablet, Genius G-Pen M712 is set at $250 (about 6 thousand rubles), and the miniature G-Pen F350 is already on sale in Russia at a price of about $50 (1100-1300 rubles). And if you consider that the G-Pen M712 also includes such software as Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 (all other models are equipped with the Ulead PhotoImpact 12SE graphics program), then even the price of $ 250 will not seem excessive (remember that Photoshop Elements was previously sold by Adobe for $100, although a new version 6.0 has already been released, but it can be upgraded from version 5). Thus, G-Pen tablets are fully equipped for the full-fledged work of an artist or designer, and the M712 comes with one of the most popular programs for image editing and photo retouching.

In addition to drawing programs, the CD with software for G-Pen tablets contains Macro Key Manager/E-manual for Vista/XP/2000, Power Presenter RE/Free Notes & Office Ink for XP/2000 and all the necessary drivers for Mac (under running OS X 10.2.8+) and PC (running Windows Vista/XP/2000).

In addition to the Adobe Photoshop Elements program, the Genius G-Pen M712 tablet is distinguished by a wider range of multimedia panels for quick access to the most frequently used applications, as well as the presence of round volume controls (each of the digitizers is equipped with a set of hot buttons, but their number is different - for example, The M712 has 34 such buttons, while the F350 has 22 and no round controls). These macro buttons (as well as the special “wheels” symmetrically located in the upper corners of the M712, which by default adjust the speaker volume) can be assigned to various functions. Let's say, if you often perform operations such as copying, pasting or saving a file, then it is reasonable to assign these actions to hot keys - then to perform these functions you can simply touch the corresponding panels with the pen (by the way, the pen is triggered at a distance of up to 1 cm) . Hotkeys are configured using the Macro Key Manager program, which is installed along with the tablet drivers.

We especially note that all tablets can work with any screen size. Thus, a distinctive feature of the G-Pen M712 is the ability to quickly switch the screen from standard display mode (3:4 aspect ratio) to widescreen (16:9) and back - the dimensions of the active area can change from 241.3x184.2 to 304 .8x184.2 mm. Depending on the video monitor you are using, you can select the desired mode and switch between modes by pressing the desired button on the tablet. Next to the mode selection buttons there are small blue LEDs, which, after switching, indicate the selected mode. Switching the functions of the control wheels is also indicated on the panel (Scroll, Zoom, Volume, Wide/Standard).

Connecting the tablet to a PC does not raise any questions - you simply connect the device to a free USB port, the operating system finds a “new USB device”, and the blue power indicator on the tablet begins to blink, indicating that the tablet is ready for use. The tablets are also powered from the USB port, so all connections are made with one cord. Then you need to install drivers, the necessary utilities (for example, Macro Key Manager for assigning hot keys or a small program called Free Notes, which functions as a notepad with the ability to draw and save the result as a handwritten picture) and drawing software. Everything necessary for this is on the CDs, and, in fact, this is where the preparation of the device for operation ends. By the way, Windows Vista recognizes the tablet and starts working with it even without installing drivers and software, but, unfortunately, only in multimedia mode, when recognizing navigation gestures and in simple drawing mode (without pressure sensitivity). So you can walk around with your tablet and connect it to other computers without any installation (for example, when giving a presentation or video conference).

As for graphics software, the functionality of Ulead PhotoImpact 12SE and Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 is approximately the same, but the latter package is more popular and, in our opinion, more suitable for the work of artists and designers. And the imitation of traditional painting tools allows you to create vibrant works that combine styles and techniques that cannot be combined on real canvas or paper.

The use of graphics tablets is especially important not only for fine and precise drawing, but also for photo editing. For example, it is quite difficult to retouch and tint the eyes so that the picture becomes expressive, and not touch the wrinkles around the eyes using a mouse, since the positioning of the cursor there is not as precise and accurate as on a tablet, and the adjustable degree of pressure allows you not to be distracted by changing such parameters such as the size of the brush or the rigidity of the tool used.

So even if you don’t draw and don’t want to paint, but just take photographs with your family, it’s not very convenient to edit pictures without a tablet.

And finally, in the small program Free Notes, which expands the functions of a standard notepad, you can quickly draw some handwriting diagrams and save the result as a picture.

This is useful both when making presentations and during group discussions, say, in video conferencing. You can, for example, quickly transfer a map or diagram from paper directly to a computer by placing the paper under the celluloid backing of the tablet's working area.

And Power Presenter RE/Free Notes & Office Ink, combined with a digital pen, makes it easy to add handwritten notes, comments, illustrations, and signatures to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.

In addition, like any tablet, the Windows operating system can provide a number of multimedia functions, such as navigation control, handwriting recognition, or control using a mnemonic system, as is usually done on pocket PCs. Thus, having mastered this simple graphical control system, you will be able to do without a keyboard and mouse.

The Genius tablet can certainly be considered a very successful purchase, not only for artists and designers who will be able to save significantly on this professional toolkit, but also for a wide range of users, many of whom can finally afford these useful computer accessories today.

Genius G-Pen M712 is the flagship of the Genius line of graphics tablets, which has an impressive working field and high technical characteristics (resolution and pen sensitivity). It can be safely recommended to professionals in the field of computer graphics and photo retouching. Most home users don't need such a large tablet - they can easily get by with the inexpensive, portable and super-thin Genius G-Pen F350 tablet just to draw in their free time or edit their photos. In general, the Genius line of graphics tablets has models for every taste, and their affordability allows, for example, to make a good gift for friends and acquaintances, which may help popularize this useful computer tool and allow it to be widely used for creating presentations, handwritten taking notes, editing photos and graphics.

If you still doubt the need to purchase a graphics tablet, then we assure you that these tools should be available to everyone who at least occasionally uses graphics editors.

For beginners, we work and draw in a new way

We ended up with the tablet, by and large, by accident, in company with the mice. Tablet tests should be carried out by a person who uses them in his daily work and has the opportunity to compare them with each other. Our activities are far from drawing and processing graphics. However, graphics have to be processed from time to time, and we have been familiar with graphic editors in general terms for a long time. And I always wondered what was so good about entering data using a tablet. Therefore, a representative of this separate large class of devices for organizing a machine-human interface, which accidentally found itself in the hands, was immediately connected and tested in operation. A review was not planned at the beginning, but the idea arose that there are not so few similar PC users, and some of them are also looking at tablets from afar, and it is for them that this material was written. So to speak, a lamer’s fresh and unclouded view of excess baggage. Our lamerism is illustrated by a reproduction of a famous painting - the best we could depict. Pencil on paper would have turned out about the same.

Tablets are devices for entering information into a PC, built on a principle similar to the principle of a mouse. The main difference is that if the mouse transmits its relative coordinates for display, the reference point of which is selected each time based on the current position of it and the cursor on the screen, then the tablet works in absolute coordinate space, that is, each of its points exactly corresponds to a certain point on the monitor . Based on this, you can imagine the working plane of the tablet as a kind of sheet of paper that has an absolutely exact copy of itself on the PC screen. The next big difference is that data entry is carried out with a pen, which for a draftsman accustomed to a pencil or brush is much more natural than “scraping around the table with a soap dish.” Professional skills are fully used, which significantly increases labor productivity.

Of course, you can draw on paper or canvas, and then convert the image into digital form, for example, using a scanner. But the main inconvenience of this approach is not even the fact that an extra stage is added that slows down the overall process, but an artificial limitation at the first stage of the range of expressive means. The power of modern graphic editors is such that it allows you to significantly expand the toolkit already at the stage of entering the initial image, and not only significantly modify it during further processing. Therefore, a tablet stylus can be a pencil, a pastel chalk, a felt-tip pen, an incredible set of brushes in real life, and an eraser.

The only unpleasant feature is that the image is applied to one surface and appears on a completely different one. This is surmountable; combining a tablet and a screen is not difficult to implement technically, but so far it will either cost a lot of money or with a quality that is limitedly suitable even for amateur use.

The device we are considering today belongs to the middle class, both in size and technical characteristics. Its peculiarity is that the manufacturer clearly positions it not only (and even not so much) for working in graphics packages, but also for managing the OS interface and the widespread use of handwritten text input in ordinary office programs. How justified this is is not for us to judge; we type much faster and, most importantly, more legibly than we write with a pen, but all people are different and, perhaps, for some it is more pleasant to write letters by hand. Yes, and there is also such a trend in the modern world - since with the help of a computer you can do everything beautifully, harmoniously and intricately without much labor, hand made acquires special value, even simple and naive, but complete spirituality . So a drawn crooked face may well replace a punctuation emoticon in correspondence, especially personal ones. Expressive possibilities and emotional coloring will only become brighter from this.

Another consideration about the undoubted benefit of having such a device on the market is the spread of computers for children to the masses. Drawing with your hands is much more useful for the younger generation than stupidly shooting monsters, both in terms of developing fine motor skills and creative thinking, and in terms of mental health. Ideally, it would be necessary to teach children to simultaneously communicate with a PC using several input devices, in order to develop a variety of alternative stereotypes for performing approximately the same actions. That is, simultaneous mastery of a keyboard, mouse, tablet, joystick and steering wheel is certainly useful for a child. The rationale for this claim is extensive and beyond the scope of today's article. The lower age limit for a child's access to a computer is determined by the parents; we believe that under five years old they should not look at the monitor at all.

Then let’s complete the extensive introduction and move on to specifics. Explanations regarding the quality of photographs and repetitions in the text.

Contents of delivery

A large white and red box, decorated with product images and detailed descriptions in English. In 23 other languages, including Russian, only brief technical specifications.

Upon opening, we find the tablet itself in a non-woven bag, a pen, an AAA battery, two replaceable nibs and a stand for it, two sheets with icons of “hot keys” in Windows XP and Vista, and a short installation guide (available in Russian), with attached instructions for disabling Vista UAC ;-)

In addition, there are three disks, the first with drivers for Mac. The second with drivers for Windows Vista, XP, XP 64 bit, 2000 and programs for these operating systems: Macro Key Manager (for reassigning active interface elements), Free Note (for organizing virtual “yellow stickers”), Office Ink (support for manual input into MS Office) and Power Presenter RE (an add-on for MS PowerPoint that makes it easy to draw and manage presentations using a tablet). It also contains a more detailed user manual in many languages, including Russian. The third disc contains the graphic editor Ulead PhotoImpact 12SE, the serial number is on the envelope. As you can see, the set of programs is sufficient for all cases of handwriting input.

Design

Black, flat, less than 5 mm thick tablet measuring 26 x 30 cm, the frame is rounded at the bottom, thick at the top, glossy black. The reverse side is equipped with five rubber feet; it stays securely on the table. On the right, in the upper part, a blue indicator blinks during operation; next to it, a thin cord in plastic insulation, one and a half meters long, with a USB interface is attached through a damper. The working surface is covered with a transparent matte protective film; under it you can put a sheet of paper with the symbols of the active keys. The set includes two sheets with pre-configured sets for XP and Vista.

The pen is similar to a regular pen, but contains a rocker button on its side, which acts as two main mouse buttons (by default, the bottom one corresponds to the right one). The tip is rubber, the set includes two spare ones and tweezers for removing the worn-out one. To place the stylus on the table, the stand is made of soft black rubber, encased in transparent plexiglass, stylish. There is a bracket for attaching the pen to your pocket.

In general, the set will not spoil the appearance of any desktop, but it naturally requires a lot of space for its placement. The cable is a little short for use on the lap, but this problem can be easily solved by using a USB extension cable, which did not cause any changes in the operation of the device.

Specifications

Drawing area size 6 x 10 inches, or 159 x 254 mm. Declared format A5. At the same time, one centimeter on top and on the sides is reserved for active keys, up to 29 in number, and there is also an inactive frame on the sides, so the overall dimensions are larger.

The interface is a regular wired USB with a maximum port polling frequency of 125 Hz. The weight of the tablet is 570 grams, the pen is 22 grams.

Cursor positioning accuracy ±0.42 mm, 1024 gradations of pressure sensitivity, resolution 2000 lpi. The maximum height from the tip of the pen to the surface at which it interacts with the tablet is 10 mm.

Control software

It works under Vista without drivers; under XP it is required. But it’s better to install both drivers and a “active keys” manager - they allow you to use the tablet much more efficiently. We installed the remaining programs for informational purposes and can only say that they work quite stably and predictably, the interface is simple and understandable, and the functionality is primitive and logical. Each program has a Russian-language manual in pdf format.

Pen Pad Control Panel Applet

Essentially a device driver. It has two tabs with simple settings. The first one simply switches the type of pen movement tracking. Either in absolute coordinates (pen), or in relative coordinates (sliding mouse).

On the second tab, the buttons on the pen are reassigned; the options are: right, left or middle mouse button. And the most important thing is pen calibration. The “almost touched” position is adjustable; here we were quite satisfied with the automatic settings. And pressure sensitivity, 30 gradations. Here the default value of 4 seemed to us to be quite low; we had to press hard on the pen to get the result. However, when setting the value to 10, everything returned to normal, moving the cursor smoothly and tactilely logically turned into drawing a thin line, and in turn, conveniently, small changes in the pressing force adjusted its thickness.

Macro Key Manager

Serves to configure active application controls, most reminiscent of additional buttons on a multimedia keyboard. Despite the presence of two sheets with the designations of these controls, there are four presets in the program. In addition to the XP and Vista interface, there are customized templates for the included graphic editor Ulead PhotoImpact and Adobe Photoshop Elements, which is well-known and often found in the packages of cameras, scanners, etc. Pre-configured buttons in presets cannot be changed, however, there are several unassigned in each of them, and, in addition, you can create your own completely customizable set.

The choice of actions for each button comes down to launching an executable file or emulating a combination of any key with any set of modifiers. The only thing missing is the assignment of standard actions for HID devices, as in mouse and keyboard drivers. And even a template for printing your own pads with symbols of active keys.

In general, the software package can be assessed as quite sufficient for a wide range of applications, and the drivers as convenient and powerful. The crooked Russification, which is generally characteristic of the company’s products, does not interfere with the assimilation of the meaning of the interface of programs and instructions. In the presence of a high-quality Russian website with an authentic language, such a pathetic translation of drivers seems very strange and illogical.

Support

There is a Russian-language website dedicated to the company's products. The descriptions are concise, but contain both a general idea and technical details, although not all. There are photographs, but they are small; I would like a few in relatively high resolution and from different angles. Although in general you can get an idea about the products. Drivers are easy to find and download quickly.

This particular model was not yet available on the Russian mirror at the time of testing, but it was presented on the English-language home page. We had a test, pre-production sample.

The manufacturer gives a three-year warranty for all its products, but when purchasing this issue must be agreed with the seller. Although they do not have the right to give a product a warranty that is less than that stated by the manufacturer, this happens with us, so be careful. Obtaining services under a manufacturer's warranty when the seller's warranty has expired often involves a significant number of additional steps.

Exploitation

We did not like working in the interface of the operating system and non-graphical application programs. Any action using a mouse is performed many times faster, and when working from the keyboard and using key shortcuts, it is an order of magnitude faster. However, while working in graphics packages, using the program’s command interface using a pen did not cause any negative emotions or internal prejudice. So personal habits and preferences matter a lot.

It was not easy to get used to the keys on the stylus, but the main actions do not require pressing them, and double-clicking can be done in the same way as on a touchpad - by double-tapping the surface with the tip of the pen. Touching the surface is accompanied by a sound signal, which we were unable to turn off. I didn’t really want it - it only increases the ease of interaction with the device.

The only serious complaint about the work is the sometimes slow response to user actions. It really bothered me. But it appeared only from time to time, and the patterns of the phenomenon remained unclear.

Drawing itself was limited only by the lack of ability for this activity; there is no difference in writing on paper and on a tablet after a little getting used to the device. Photo processing is easy and natural, but again, to fully realize the potential of this method, you need to own the line . In the end, it turned out to be easier to use the mouse, although a lot of effort was spent getting used to it.

The most important advantage of a pen over a mouse is pressure sensitivity, which results in variable line thickness as it draws. It is impossible in principle to imitate a felt-tip pen or a soft brush with a mouse, but here you can. In general, we think that if you have at least minimal skills in drawing on paper, using a tablet for digital drawing is completely justified.

There is one more thing that somewhat interferes with the work - you draw on the table, and the line appears on the monitor perpendicular to it. Our level of abstraction is quite high, and we did not experience any practical inconvenience from this. But here it is different for all people, it is difficult to guess in advance. We can only say that tablets with built-in monitors (or vice versa - monitors with integrated tablets) are now so expensive that it is completely pointless for non-professionals to look in this direction.

In general, we recommend trying a tablet (this one or another) for those who have been eyeing them for a long time, know how to draw and from time to time draw or process photographs on the computer. The end result is likely to be convenience rather than disappointment. If you doubt it, don't doubt it! ;-)

Availability

At the time of writing, the price of the tablet was around $100, which is comparable to the price of a good mouse. In our opinion, it will not become a serious barrier to expanding the fleet of input devices for graphics lovers who are constrained by expressive means with one mouse. But for a spontaneous purchase (I saw it, I took it!) is a bit much. The table shows the tablet in Moscow, current at the time you read this article:

conclusions

The middle (not entry-level) class in terms of technical characteristics is combined with good performance, excellent equipment and a stylish appearance. If you start getting acquainted with tablets, then it will be with a device that will not disappoint, and will allow you to grow and improve to the level until the user’s qualifications outgrow his technical capabilities. The impressions are generally favorable. For a child, you can look at something simpler for the first time; anyway, he will most likely break it during the learning process, so as not to regret it... :-)