Electronic Product Review: Wacom Accessories for Intuos5 Medium Tablet

Electronic Product Review

WACOM ACCESSORIES

par Mademoiselle Haras

17 janvier 2013

★★☆☆☆

Warning: Note to new readers, please go to my About Me page to see more information about my computer specs and note that I review all items on a Macbook Pro for all of my reviews unless stated otherwise. My review for a product may not fit your personal computer specs so please always make sure your computer specs are above the requirements of the product before buying them. Thank you.

Today I will be reviewing the Classic Pen, Wireless Accessory Kit, and the Intuos Medium Carrying Case from Wacom. My overall review of the three products are in the following video, however this post will have the fine details and go in-depth for each product. Thank you!

Classic Pen

★★☆☆☆

As the website states, this pen has the exact same features as the grip pen but only lighter and without the rubberized grip for a slimmer figure. From the first moment I picked up the pen, I felt like I had picked up a feather. It is extremely light and comfortable to use for hours on end. I love using the pen because it is easy to wrap my fingers around it. As usual, it came with a pen stand and the nibs that Wacom provides as replacements or specialized nibs. Unfortunately there are a few issues with the pen. The pen has a slight lag to it that I especially notice when I first begin using it after turning on my tablet, but it does go away after it settles down. I have also noticed that the pen's pressure sensitivity is not on par with the Grip Pen. I am having issues with the pressure sensitivity when trying to draw as an example: eye lashes. I personally draw the lashes thicker at the base and lightly wing them out. However, I literally cannot wing out my lines at all and they refuse to be anything but blunt lines. I cannot finish coloring with this pen due to the pen lacking any sensitivity and only producing blunt lines/brushes. I am having to use opacity levels at 5-20% to attempt layering on color and they still come out blunt in color. Overall use I will continue to use this pen. However I do plan on re-buying the Grip Pen in the future due to these issues that I have stated. For just drawing and sketching, it will do its work just fine. Coloring wise due to the pressure sensitivity issues, it is just near impossible. Unfortunately with this pen, as much as I love the lightness and shape of it, it just simply does not outweigh the negative issues. Price: USD $69.95 directly from Wacom

My current work in progress all done on the Classic Pen. I had separate layers for the eyelashes and these are the lower lashes (I can't even look at the upper lashes, no matter how many times I draw them, they end up as horror lashes). You can also see immediately I had issues with my blush. I had shaped the face and colored in shadows on the sides of the face, but even on extremely low opacity, it was just impossible to not cover it up.

Wireless Accessory Kit

★★★☆☆

I can tell you immediately that if you have an Intuos5 medium tablet, it does not last the advertised 9  hours of use. I have at 100% battery, a good 2-5 hours of use (for working nonstop and taking no breaks). It takes around 6 hours for my tablet to charge from a 20% battery to 100%. It seems I cannot use my tablet further than under 20-30% because it just randomly shuts down. I keep checking the status of the battery and it always happens around 30%. It will turn back on, however, by the time you get right back into working with it, it turns back off and refuses to turn on again after.

I do enjoy using the wireless over the cord. I bought the wireless kit due to the USB on the tablet refusing to charge through the cord unless the cord is dangling down by gravity. While working there are no issues and it works nicely so I will continue using it for the no hassle process that comes with cords.

If it would last longer than 2-5 hours of use at a time, I would definitely be giving it a higher review. However, with the way it is working currently (and that the power button is sensitive to any push), I do have to down grade heavily on the score. I recommend this for those who are using the tablet as a hobby. If you are working professionally in graphic drawing I do not recommend using this for long periods of time (because frankly, you honestly can't).

Price: USD $39.95 directly from Wacom

Intuos Medium Carrying Case

★☆☆☆☆

When I first opened it, I cannot express the disappointment I felt when I saw it aesthetically. It does not look like the pictures on Wacom's website and instead has a cheap look to it. On the picture from Wacom, it looks like the side part is leather and real which made it look professional. However in real life it is more of a plastic like, fake leather. The Intuos that is imprinted does not look pleasing and is hard to notice unlike the picture.

In the inside it is covered with a soft lining with two pockets and a loop for your pen. Although I trust that it can protect my tablet if I put it into a backpack, I do not trust putting my pen into the loop. It is a soft case so I shouldn't complain since these are obvious issues, but it being the only option I had for a case, it was such a disappointment.

In the future, I plan to make a safer and sturdier, personalized case for myself (and I will make a how-to for it also). I also am going to make a hard case for my pen to put in for travel use, so wait for that in the future!

Price: USD $29.95 directly from Wacom

This is the product picture from Wacom directly. If you watch the video, you can see dramatic changes in how it looks in real life compared to this photo. It really is a disappointment.