Review WACOM Volito 2 Tablet & Pen ... A6 Size Review ... !

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Following P-E's review HERE ... of the Wacom Graphire I decided to jump in and go for the Wacom Volito 2 A6 Tablet & Pen for WINDOWS users ... or ... WACOM Pen Partner 2 - PC/MAC for MAC users (thanx PeteMC) ... :shrug:

My logic being, if it turns out to be useless, or the more likely I am useless with it, then I have only really lost the £27 it cost me ... rather than the much bigger money I would have paid for larger Tablets of this sort. Although that is usually what I do ... :eek:

Anyway it arrived last week and didn't get unwrapped for 48hours ... :eek: ... because of business commitments etc., ... that's my excuse anyway ... :cautious:

And straight out of the box I had it up and running within minutes !

However, I did take the time to run completely through the well targetted and comprehensive video tutorial ... (only 15 minutes or so in all) ... on the accompanying CD and that was it ... no need to reference the manual and no further assistance needed.

Initial Thoughts ...

It is a very well put together and solid little tablet and the pen, although very light is a reasonably comfortable hold - with the clicky buttons sited so they can be used with a thumb or forefinger and left or right hand. They are in just the right position - even for the bigger clumsier type digits.

I have tried using the pen and tablet exclusively and it is so easy and well set up that you can completely disregard the mouse altogether within minutes almost.

The Pen ...

In use the pen is very sensitive to movement but that is simply because it is far more precise and accurate than using a mouse. The buttons are positive and you can add a 'click' noise just to be sure it is carrying out the functions as you do them. The buttons can be adjusted for operation to suit how one works. The Pen is pressure sensitive to provide for different brush types and strokes and the sensitivity can be adjusted too. The Pen does not need batteries.

Now then ... what caught me a little by surprise was the fact the pen only needs to 'hover' above the surface of the tablet and it will faithfully track your every movement form the tablet onto the screen - positively and instantaneously.

You do not even need to worry about where the cursor is resting on the screen ... because as soon as the pen tip comes within range of the tablet the cursor jumps to a point on screen relative to wherever the pen is on the tablet. Magic !

Initially a little disconcerting at first I found myself trying to use the pen as I did the mouse and physically moved it on the tablet to try and catch up with the cursor ... silly billy ! I am still doing this occasionally but I am sure, with practice this will cease to be a nuisance.

The cursor can be very accurately placed on any part of the screen and the A6 size doesn't seem to me to be a barrier to using it on any size screen.

The Tablet ...

The tablet appears very small initially and one wonders whether it will be any good with the monitor. But that was only a momentary worry - it easily covers the whole screen and provides very precise coverage to any part of the screen very quickly.

The tablet itself is no bigger than a mouse mat at just about 20cm square. The 'sensitive' bit is centrally placed on the tablet at approx 13cm wide by 9.25cm high. There is a pen rest at the top of the tablet to hold the Volito2 Pen. It has none slip feet at each underside corner and a one piece, shiny, protective coating to the non-sensitive surfaces. It is connected to the computer by USB and an orange neon glows when it is alive !

Conclusion ...

I have to say for the price this an extremely functional and useable piece of kit ... (y) ... and unless you really do need the fuller functionality and size of the bigger, far more expensive units you really cannot go wrong for this price ... £27.00 ... a real inexpensive bargain that actually delivers much bigger than the price imo ... :clap:

Any questions or queries I am happy to follow up on ...





:p
 
Following P-E's review HERE ... of the Wacom Graphire I decided to jump in and go for the Wacom Volito 2 A6 Tablet & Pen .. :shrug:
*snip*

The tablet itself is no bigger than a mouse mat at just about 20mm square. The 'sensitive' bit is centrally placed on the tablet at approx 13mm wide by 9.25mm high. :p

Do you mean cm ??? , 13mm x 9.25mm seems a litle small.....
 
Great review there Ven-master. I have the same and STILL, after 6 months, play the cursor / mouse catch up game :wacky: .

I find it invaluable with PS, but think i'd be better off with a bigger version - i have the type of broken, bucket-hands that a seal would turn its nose up at - something larger and less sensitive may be the key :)
 
HeHe ... well it is small ... but not THAT small ... :LOL:

Indeedy I did and now put right ... thanx MrG ... (y)







:p
 
Nice review Rog and glad you found the tablet " an extrmely functional and useable piece of kit" (y)
 
One glitch with this product imho. Windows only? In gods name why? Its 2007 for fracks sake. Its only a driver issue at best. Its really quite stupid that people have to pay over twice the price just to get Mac drivers. Just crazy. I do have a Windows PC on my desk so I can buy the £30 model, but I still think its incredibly stupid of them.
 
Thats crazy. Its a USB product, why are there 2 different ones? One for Windows and one for Win/OSX? Also, why is there a £60 A6 PC/Mac model? Weird.
 
Really don't know Pete ... is USB not good for MAC then ... :shrug: ... sorry if I appear ignorant but I know bugger all about MAC's really ... ;)






:p
 
Good review. I ordered mine two days ago from Amazon and I can't wait for it to arrive and try it out. At £27 it certainly seems a good buy as all I really want to do is trace outlines for photoediting in CS2.
 
Amazing value. Took me a a while to get use to it. After that, I really liked it a lot and when going back to the mouse, I found it difficut as th pen can also substitute for the mouse (if you configure it)

Also comes with a interactive tutorial.
 
After reading 'Vens" review I was going to do one on the Intuos3 A4 (mac) but decided as it seems a lot of people have experience of the concept just to add a few peneth worth of my own.
Pros: easy to set up, left and right handed set up, extremely accurate, comfortable to use,elegantly engineered, good looking, brilliant with PS and Paint progs, a Godsend for RSI sufferers (like me) who need to work more ergonomically.
Cons: could do with a few more buttons (shortcuts/commands etc.), a better shape for the mouse for those who use it.

Thats it I'm afraid. Conclusion: A very good bit of kit all round and will be on my desk from now on.
 
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