Are they just plug and play? As in plug it in, turn on Illustrator or PS and select pen/brush and away you go or not?
Depending on the tablet/pen there are various options on buttons, touch pads etc. that you can tune to each application if you want to so it's worth installing the Wacom s/w for this, but IIRC it still works as a basic mouse without that.
I'm using one at the moment without any Wacom software; Vista sees it as a mouse.
Funnily enough I bought one (Bamboo MTE 430 or 450?) last week.
Plug and play on my Vista Business PC (for use as a mouse etc), but had to manually enable tablet recognition in Services to get things like Vista text recognition/Office 2007 "start inking" tools. Had to do a bit of Googling TBH.
Tried on my Vista Business laptop, but it's not liking it thus far. Haven't tried on the MBP yet.
Standard Bamboo s/ware is okay - Dock is quite funky, if not gimmicky. Currently having a play with ArtRage 3.
The reason I mention the Business version of Vista is because I believe some versions don't have some of the functionality.
I got a Wacom Bamboo at the suggestion of Rudeboy/Elfin, though initially I was very suspicious of its small size, but having tried a bigger tablet, I found that very inconvenient as it took up to much room and required more hand movement than I found convenient, and now I think the Bamboo is about right
SFB, does your Bamboo "feel" like paper too? Bit off-putting at first, but becomes kind of natural after a while.
Sure takes practice to be "accurate" and "flowing" though.
Windows will see it as a mouse and let you plug & play, but IIRC if you want it 'mapped' to the screen to use in pen mode, it needs the drivers. Especially if you have multiple monitors and only want to use it on one.
I've got an Intuos, just popped on the drivers and away I went.
SFB, does your Bamboo "feel" like paper too? Bit off-putting at first, but becomes kind of natural after a while.
well, it has quite a nicely textured finish, like rough card under the pen, but I soon abandoned trying to use it to draw, as, with a pen or pencil you look at the tip as you draw, not somewhere else, so it's very hard to get the line to go where you want 🙁 However, it's excellent with pressure sensitivity turned on for retouching in Photoshop!
i've got a wacom intuos 4 and its really good. Bamboos are good for the money. It's worth installing their driver i find as it retains the pressure sensitivity and calibrates the screen area to the tablet area properly.
Inspired by the posts on here I've downloaded the latest Wacom drivers and lo and behold my tablet now works like a pen tablet, pen-flicks and all, with no restarts or configuration needed. Not sure what benefits this gives me but it's nice to have something on Windows that appears to just work without lots of fiddling!
The main advantage is if you're the kind of person to sketch/render straight into something like Photoshop, you can get really nice styles and stuff
with a pen or pencil you look at the tip as you draw, not somewhere else, so it's very hard to get the line to go where you want However, it's excellent with pressure sensitivity turned on for retouching in Photoshop!
Do you not do a ruff sketch place it under the opaque matt and draw over it.
I use a Bamboo Touch and Pen with my Mac. I'm not sure if I even had to install any software.
In Photoshop, it opens up a whole new world of creativity; you can make your own brushes and stuff, and the umpteen levels of sensitivity meant some very subtle or very striking effects can be achieved. It's also useful in Illustrator, and the button controls can be configured to suit your way of working. Excellent bit of kit, and that's only the 'budget version'.
I've got an Intuos 3 and it's great but keeps losing it's settings in Win7 64bit. A quick log off/on sorts it. Despite having the latest drivers I have to have the mapping set to 'mouse' which is a bit gay. In aswer to your question, I'd get the driver installed.