Bamboo Tablet

Bamboo Tablet

Wacom just released a new entry level tablet, the Bamboo Splash, and I had an opportunity to put it through its paces. The Bamboo Splash tablet is designed for the amateur or beginner digital artist. It’s perfect for kids and teenagers, allowing them to experiment with digital art without having to spend a bundle to do so. Best of all, even though it lacks the bells and whistles of the more advanced tablets, it doesn’t sacrifice much in performance. As I draw syndicated editorial cartoons almost every day, I wanted to see if I could still get real work done using the Bamboo Splash, rather than with the medium sized Intuos5 that I use every day. The Wacom Intuos5 is a professional tablet. With the programmable Express Keys, the Touch Ring, high end pen, and the onscreen customizable features, not to mention the larger size, it’s unfair to compare the two tablets as they are designed for different skill levels. As I’ve been doing this for a living for many years, I’ll admit that the Bamboo Splash isn’t tablet enough for my daily needs, but then again, it isn’t meant for me.

The Bamboo Splash tablet was simple to set up. Plug it in; install the drivers from the CD, restart the computer and it was working flawlessly. Visiting the preferences utility, I found that very little aside from ‘Tip Feel’ was changeable. For a beginner, that’s ideal. It’s ready to go, out of the box, nothing confusing.

Bamboo Tablet

Bamboo Tablet

Bamboo Tablet

Bamboo Tablet

Bamboo Tablet

Bamboo Tablet

Bamboo Tablet

Bamboo Tablet

Bamboo Tablet