Some of you asked me to write a review about the new Wacom Graphire Classic XL Table...
Well here it is... and for all that don't know what I am talking about, Wacom have these awesome Tables you can draw direcly on the PC, a lot of Comic artists and Editor use it to edit draw and ink comics and other art.
The Almighty or simply God dude is a Character I drew first on the Table, overall it took me way to long but I'm getting there.
The review is long if you don't like it I suggest you shut your fucking mouth and gracefully ignore this thread.
After a long time of research and negations with my soon to be wife I finally got my first Wacom Graphire Classic XL ... Spending the money was easy the negotiations was the hardest part, try to explain and convince somebody who has no computer knowledge what so ever why it is extremely necessary to edit your drawings in that box we love to call computer, combine this with a heavy price tag of 250+ Euro and you have your work cut out, at the end I guess her love for me and what I love to do won and maybe my persistency to explain to her that I could draw her much better on that table thing
Anyways after a short delivery time I finally got my first Wacom Graphire Classic XL table.
Here are my first thoughts...
Package:Graphire4 pen tablet
Graphire pen
CD-ROM with quick start guide, tablet driver software, online user manual (in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch)
Bundled software:
Corel Painter Essentials 2 CD-ROM (in English, German and French)
General Look:The table as such looks extremly sexy, it has that apple look to it (at least that's what I think)
http://www.wacom-europe.com/int/products/graphire4/index.asp?lang=en&pdx=12It has a small blue LED on the top (I'm a sucker for small Blue LED's)
Installation:Easy as piss (excuse my French) simple pop the CD and install, or better go to the Wacom page and download the newest drivers.
After that simply plug the Table in a free USB port and your system unless you run Win 3.11 should find the table automatically.
Open Photoshop or Coral and draw away.
Active Area or size:The active area is around the size of an A5 paper, and trust me it's big enough, it's important in my opinion to not over do the whole thing and get yourself something that will cost you $2k some table that is bigger than your table and all, too small is also not good since you most likely grow tired and simply upgrade sooner than later and spend more money.
The XL A5 size is in my humble opinion perfect for Computer editing drawing and so forth.
The Pen:I never used a table and was very anxious about the feel of the Pen we all know how important the pen to paper feel is for the drawing process all together.
I was very positively surprised how much the Pen feels like an ordinary marker, due to the pressure sensitivity it really feels like you can press harder or just float over the paper.
That's the best I can describe that.
Photoshop and other Programs:I have read on other reviews that some very view had some issues with the Pen or lagging but I have never experienced these issues by myself, Photoshop and Coral never complained once and use the Pen like a mouse....absolutely no issues there.
The Package included Corel and of course not Photoshop what would cost more than the table itself
To bring this to an end here are my general thoughts so far working with the Graphire Classic XP:
The first couple of hours drawing I'll be honest I was nearly sure that I made a mistake, it felt really awkward to draw and look at the screen, in general it felt strange not to look at the point were you want to continue drawing seeing your pen, but having to move (hover) the pen over the table (like a mouse) to get to the area you want to continue drawing.
Between that and now I had to go to Riga and spend a week getting my wedding ready (I'm marrying a beautiful Latvian and anybody old enough of sound mind and single should give that country a go (no I'm not talking about mail order brides :rolleyes:) Latvia has the most beautiful intelligent woman on this planet, but that is beside the point, fact is I had 7 days I could not use the Table and strangely when I came back (my head full of ideas and plans) I had a complete new experience, the table felt wonderful, I now use the pen and table like a mouse and more or less (at least when I work with Photoshop) don't use the mouse at all.
I still learn, and sometimes it's hard to draw a single line... but it feels so much better than the begging did.
So was it worth the money? Absolutely yes, it's phantastic and I can 100% recommend anybody getting one.
Now I know there are a lot of very young people here and their monthly allowance would maybe never cover a Table for yourself (unless you are a Hilton offspring) but don't give up there is Christmas and Wacom always reduces the prices... so keep on hoping and planning.
For all you grown ups who have money... BUY one now... it's simply awesome.
I hope I haven't bored you to much peace out.
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