Mouse Reviews

After using the keyboard extensively, I can't say anything bad about it...it's a solid performer with no quirks or hassles. The mouse is a bit on the basic side, but for the price the two combined is not a bad deal at all.

If you can afford to put down a little more cash, I would recommend the same keyboard with a Wireless Explorer mouse or even better the Logitech Freedom Pro Optical keyboard/mouse combo.

Definitely worth getting. I love all the short-cut buttons. Looks great and works great.

Microsoft's customer support has been incredibly well. I called regarding the mouse breaking and in a week, I had a brand new mouse.

I would recommend this package to anyone who's looking for a mouse/keyboard. If you have a big hand, look into their Microsoft Optical Explorer Mouse.

This keyboard/optical mouse combo is an extremely good deal. Your keyboard comes equiped with 2 USB ports, after you use one on your computer, and the mouse, while at times was just slightly confusing to install, works great after everything is setup. I noticed a suddle increase in smoothness while using the mouse, which I really enjoyed, and the keyboard with its "hot keys" makes it easy to utilize the components of your computer at the push of a button. If your purchase this combo pack it will be worth your money. Not to mention the rebate you recieve from Microsoft. Very good deal. Think about it!

I really enjoy having this controller attached to my OS X iMac - the blue glow is very cool, and everyone who sees it says "Wow, what's that for?".

However, it's not as useful as I hoped it would be. I like to use iMovie and Final Cut Pro a lot, and hoped that the Powermate would work as a jog-shuttle contoller for quickly selecting frames and edit points. Well, the Powermate control software does allow mapping of keys to the left/right movement of the Powermate, but it's not quite enough to make it super useful. You can't set edit points for example, and the frame advance and rewind isn't very fast or easy to use.

Yes, it does make a great volume control for iTunes. BUT the nature of the Powermate is that it controls either the entire system or a specific application depending on how you have set it up, so it's possible to get confused and start scrolling through a webpage rather than adjusting the volume as expected. And don't forget that iTunes and the computer as a whole have separate volume settings - which one are you adjusting?

After a month or so of use, I find I use the Powermate to do these things:

1. Wake up my iMac when it's in Sleep mode
2. Impress friends with it's pulsing blue glow.
3. Er, that's about it.

It's still cool, but if you want a shuttle controller for video work, buy a dedicated shuttle controller, not the Powermate. If you enjoy having a lump of machined metal that glows on your desk (like I do) the Powermate is still worth getting.

Note: the driver software for the Mac was recently updated to version 1.5, which addresses some issues I listed above. For example, it's possible to make the Powermate ONLY work as a volume control, and avoid some confusing behavior.

I have a Wacom Tablet and just bought a powermate w/ the last drivers.It worked perfect with windows xp until i restart my computer.the powermate didn't work and i have to unplug and replug wacom to make powermate work.
Need a solution!

So many people are probably baffled by this device. They think it is just a knob that does nothing but look cool, but these people are WRONG. You can do so much with this device. It has per-application settings, so you can have one setting for iMovie and another setting for the Finder, etc... You can have this device alter your sound volume, scrub through movies, perform commands. For example, you navigate through your iTunes library. The software is so open-ended, you can have a click simulate a key combo. The software even distinguishes between click and "long click."

I am no computer whiz and have just replaced an 8 year old computer with a new, modern one. That meant getting rid of the old keyboard and mouse. I wanted to start fresh. Before, I had an old style, rolling ball mouse. I thought it worked okay at the time, but after I bought this one (it's optical, and not a rolling ball one), I was surprised by how much more stable this mouse kept the arrow key on the screen. The scroll down wheel on the top of the mouse is a wonderful extra. Instead of having to click and stay on that darn bar on the right side of the screen when you want to move a page up or down, you just roll the wheel on the mouse with your finger and it does it for you. I will never get a mouse that doesn't have that feature again. This one also has a neat feature of having two little buttons on the sides that act as your back button and your forward button. So when you want to go back to the page you were just at, you can click it with your finger instead of dragging the mouse to the back button on your screen. Super convenient and handy. There are mouses twice the price of this, but I can't imagine them being any more nicer to use. Plus I got mine on sale, so I am very satisfied with it.

(...) I tried marble mouse (don't like the feel) & microsoft basic optical mouse. I wanted logitech for sure (also have elite keyboard - best one). After looking at size (small for my hand but works great) thought let's give it a try. It has 3 additional button apart from middle wheel & two click buttons.
It is perfect in all area. If you want bigger size go with MX 500 or MX 700 if you like to spend some more. Otherwise this is great for price. My wife can use this without any problem because of size. Buy it.

This mouse is the overall the "Best" mouse you can get. I put quotes around it because i know there are people out there where they buy like these 200 dollar mice and its like totally awesome, but if your using this just for like regular computer use it is the best and cheapest one you will get. And i suggest that you dont buy L0giteCh products thats under the price of 50 dollars cause i have a wireless keyboard and mice from l0gitech and although it was "Smooth" and "Easy to operate" the ball would get dirty really fast so your mouse would studder and once in awhile the keyboard and mice would lose connection to the reciever(especially if you have a sucky comp). <br /> *********************NOTE_NOTE_NOTE********** *****************<br /> <br /> For all you gamers out there this mouse gives you awesome quality! it has everything you need from the scroller to MOUSE3.<br /> Ive tested this mouse for Counter-Strike, Starcraft, Warcraft,and SIMS. If you play one of these games and dont wanna spend a whole lot o money for a mouse this Mouse is definetly for you.

I purchased the Wireless Intellimouse Explorer w/ Tilt Wheel because I LOVED how the wheel scrolled. I was not thrilled with the price (I mean really - it's only a mouse!) but I spent the $50 anyway even after denying myself a new mouse for many months because this was something I just couldn't go home without.

The tilt wheel (for side to side scrolling) is nice, but not a huge selling point for me. The feel of the regular wheel scroll (up and down) was way cool though (very smooth feeling), I liked how the mouse looked, and most of all I liked that it was wireless. It is also a lighter mouse, weighing in at 5.25 oz with batteries in it, and the ergonomic design fit my smaller hand better than some of the other ergonomic mice. (Note: I had the three button version first, - Wireless Optical Mouse w/ Tilt - but returned it in favor of this five button version - Wireless Intellimouse Explorer w/ Tilt. The back and forward browser buttons on the Explorer mouse are very convenient, and the three button is scalloped for the thumb a bit differently which made it uncomfortable.)

So I bring my new mouse home and install the software, got everything hooked up very easily. (God bless USB!) I go to define my wheel button to "delete", same as I had on my plain and simple Microsoft Wheel Mouse, and WHAT'S THIS? No button definition for delete? Are you kidding me? It was just on the last version of the Microsoft mouse software! No way to define your own keystroke either! I depend on my wheel button as "delete" because I go through so much spam, so I was a bit panicked. $50 for this mouse and I can't make my second-most used button do what I want.

I spent two hours researching on the net how to define that button but alas, they have deleted the delete option. And from what I read, you can't define different keystrokes for different programs anymore either (not that I ever used that, but apparently it was an option before). All the other options are still there... you can set any button to copy, paste, enter, autoscroll and half a dozen other useless things, but you are limited to the keystrokes Microsoft has already defined and you get no more.

I kept the mouse for use on my Macintosh since strangely enough you CAN define any keystroke to any button with this mouse on a Mac, just not on a PC (thank you Mactopia! Apparently you're the only smart ones in GatesLand!), but I ended up buying the Logitech MX700 for my PC instead, so now I'm out $100 on mice and while the Logitech is nice, it was not my first choice.

i bought this mouse and was impressed. other reviews claimed that logitech was a better manufacturer but i tried all of the logitechs and none felt as good as the intellimouse. the usual complaints of bad install didnt hit me and setup took less that 5 minutes. i have had the same batteries for a month and the provided battery sensor is still reading full batteries. the mouse's ergonomics are excelent but my 6 year old sister complains of it being too big. i am 6foot tall with fairly large hands and i think it is almost small but is still very comfortable. wonderful features and easy software make this mouse a great pick and for the amazon price it is well worth it.

p.s. sorry about grammar, the caps keys dont work and the keyboard is the next thing to go

This is worth the money. The cordless factor is excellent for use with laptops. Keep in mind, though, that the base unit has a cord, (it is not one of those ones that looks like a USB key) which may become annoying if you want to pick up your laptop and go without disconnecting your mouse. Also, since this uses 2 AA batteries, it is heavier than the average mouse. I like this, but it does take some getting used to. The backwards/forwards thumb buttons work great for surfing the web, and the scroll wheel works better than others as it is smooth, not jerky. Truthfully, the side-scrolling feature is pretty useless for most people, but if you work with large picture files and high resolution images, it is extremely helpful. All 5 buttons are easy to assign and change around. Finally, I have had absolutely no problems with the connection, though several other reviewers have complained about this. All in all, an excellent buy, especially for laptops.

Both Logitech and Kensington mice used. Comparable quality. Incomparable software support.

This particular model earns a 3 only because of specific button placement issues. Overall a fair mouse, but not the best to buy whether shopping Kensington or any brand. I recommend their wireless optical mice, and their trackballs (****). For mouse with tails, check out a few Logitech (*****), again be just as picky, or many Targus mice (**** & 1/2), especially for USB (friggin' awesome)

Kensington overview:

*** Pluses: Great Hardware as a rule, with extremely few exceptions. Usually very esthetic and ergonomic. Good quality Devices. This particular mouse is not as great as others. I picked up their Wireless Optical Mouse (model #K72219) and it is awesome.

** Minuses: Problems with software (driver) support, mostly attributed to Microsoft and not Kensington. Windows XP Pro SP1 on my HP was missing essential drivers that are extremely common. Still working out that situation :( (remember, though...software support has to be attributed to all parties involved, not just the hardware manufacturer...this is an OS maker's failure. XP seems to be missing dozens of often used, even essential drivers. Small frustrations easily overcome with a little help from a friend.

Customer support (***stars): Respectful and mostly sincere, prompt, but limited. Answers are directed toward the clueless and towards small errors (though this does resolve 80%+ of issues and should always be the first step to troubleshooting, it is comparable to asking me to do a hardware reset of my cable modem 5 times in a row...after 3 f**k it and try actually solving the problem;)

Software support (***): Software not included with my product, though easily downloaded from the site. Software is very direct with many useful options and good design. Detection of hardware was an issue at first.

Hardware (****.5stars): Awesome designs, quality hardware peripherals. Probably some of the best on the market, save a few Targus mice and probably 3 or 4 Logitech mice.

Overall features (****): Symmetric [ambidexterity], very ergonomic (other models), wheels (usually) smooth, good quality optics and decent plug-and-play detection.

My recommendation, don't buy this particular model. Shop around for other Kensington and Targus mice, never ruling out Logitech for their good support and good quality. Buy optical usb, if wireless be prepared, but do not expect, minor "wrinkles" in installation. PS/2 mice usually work fine, too. Wireless tends to work fine, don't be scared, just have a backup (old PS/2). Window shop in store or at conventions to actually feel the mice. Read reviews. Make sure software support is available. Good luck and I hope your hands are happy :)

I went looking for another Kensington mouse since I needed another multi-button mouse for my work computer, and since I currently own a "Thinking Mouse" (an old pre-scrollwheel 4 button Mac ADB Kensington mouse) and a "MouseWorks" (pre-optical 4 + scroll wheel USB mouse), I had high hopes that I would like the Optical Elite as much as I like my other Kensington mice. I would still buy this mouse for the Kensington software if nothing else, but I find the thumb button and the other side button very annoying and much harder to use even after several months of use than their previous mice which had all four button on the top of the mouse. Overall its a pretty good mouse and the precision is great, but buttons 3 and 4 are hard to use.

Background

I bought this mouse for $19.99 to replace a Logitech MX500 that got lost while I was moving to another state. In the past I've used both Logitech and Microsoft mice and this is the first Kensington input device that I have ever purchased.

What I liked:

- Very good price: rebates aside, you can't find another 5-button optical mouse at this same price
- Light and comfortable to use: The black rubber-like material is especially nice.
- Good tracking: I've had no problems with skipping or jittering
- Very good drivers: the included software allows you to easily customize the button functionality

Some problems:

- Button placement: Like the other reviewers, I found it difficult ot reach the far side button which is placed such that it is against the middle of my pinkie.
- Scroll wheel: The scroll wheel is fairly resistant and it "clicks" more than I like.

Conclusions:

The Optical Elite is a good mouse if you are looking for an upgrade of an existing non-optical or non-5-button mouse. It's a great value and you won't be disappointed. However, the saying "you get what you pay for" applies here and it is simply not as good as comparable 5-button mice from Logitech or Microsoft. In particular, I think Logitech's MX series feels more comfortable to the hand and I have heard that they are far better for gamers due to their superior tracking (I've noticed no difference in everyday usage). Keep in mind, however, that comparable Logitech or Microsoft mice cost $10-30 more and are with the exception of the MX310 for right-handed people only. Therefore, take these considerations into account when purchasing.

I purchased this item several months ago after a lack of keyboard and mouse wrist support left my wrists in braces for a while. Along with this item, I also purchased a Fellowes wrist rest for the keyboard. Using the two wrist rests together, I have not had any new carpal tunnel flare-ups.

I have an optical mouse at home, so I was used to having the entire surface of my desk to use as a mousepad. Switching from that to a more limited space took some getting used to, but this mousepad offers more space than most others that come with a wrist rest. I also like the way the gel part slides around with my hand when I'm moving the mouse.

The reason I gave this item 4 stars instead of 5 is that the gel is a little hard, much harder than my keyboard wrist rest (made by the same company). It's a little less comfortable than it would be if the gel were softer, but it's far, far better than having nothing at all.

Thanks to a major flare-up of CTS recently, I found myself in the market for things to ease the stress of daily tasks. I traded my mouse for a trackball, but the angle was still rough on my wrist, so I invested in this item, and within minutes I felt a difference. My wrist rests on a well padded pillow. Mouse users should note that this pillow area swivels easily so you're not always having to readjust your wrist. It holds my hand at a perfect angle for avoiding more damage to the carpal tunnel as well as for using the complicated trackball system I've installed.

The only drawback I see here is that it's very large for my desk as it's set up. I have a shelf which holds keyboard and mouse, and it rolls out for use and back in when I'm finished. On the pad, the trackball is just a bit high for complete clearance so it scuffs the bottom of the desk. And when I'm using it, I have to pull the pad up over the lip of the workshelf in order to have free movement for my fingers. I don't see this being a huge drawback for me, but it bears thinking about before you invest. Personally I think it's well worth the bit of extra trouble not to have numb fingers or pain in my arm all day.

Assuming this item holds up to heavy use, I'd say that it's probably one of the most useful things I've purchased in ages.

I've never really believed in wrist/mouse pads, especially after switching to the MS wireless optical Intellimouse. However, I've been doing a lot of computer use lately, and a lot of coding and mouse use. I started getting pains in my mousing arm, and decided to give a wrist pad a shot.

The Fellowes Easy Glide is excellent. Its wrist pad moves with you but stays fixed to the pad. This forces you to continue using it, and gives you great support. I would recommend this to anyone that does a lot of computer work, BEFORE you start getting wrist pains.

Nice mouse with a compact reciever and a clever design for storing it inside the mouse. But it burns through batteries. Even taking them out at night, only got ~10 days use. And no off switch!

This mouse is perfectly great. Like the other have said, it is accurate, easy to maneuver (great for gamers), and battery conserving. It automatically switches to conserving mode when you do not use it for some time (like screensaver of the monitor), it blinks instead of continuous emitting light. In case, you want to conserve even more energy, plug the receiver back and it would be turned off.

The in-the-mouse receiver is an innovative design. Absolutely great for all those who use laptops. People who use desktop would also love the idea of turning off the mouse while keeping the receiver ready in place in case you need to dash out of the house.

I have a desktop and a laptop and all what I have to do is to plug in the receiver. When I finish just turn it off and in the morning I am ready to go again.

About the battery, it is true that all wireless optical mice consume lots of batteries. However, a charger would solve the problem nicely. Make sure you have 4 AAA batteries so that when you charge 2 you have 2 other to use.

This mouse is awsome. The dpi is good....battery life is great and you don't misplace the receiver when traveling; because it GOES INSIDE THE MOUSE.

Ben (one of the reviewers). You put the wireless receiver inside the mouse to turn it off.

Anyway...good mouse for traveling

I've been a trackball user for over 5 years now. The last one I had was Kensington's one with the big clear blue ball. It lasted a good 4 years before the lil rubber rollers gave out. So I decided to replace it with an optical trackball. I chose this one because it had the same layout and left/right click capabilities as my previous one. I am pretty pleased with it. I am amazed at how little I have to work to move the ball... I never realized how much effort I needed to move the old non-optical one. There are only a few design issues I wish I could fix.

1) My old one you could turn the whole thing upside down and the ball wouldn't fall out. On this model the ball has no locking-in device. I use this with my laptop and have to search for the ball at the bottom of my bag every single time.

2) The lil indent the optical lense is sitting in is a prime place for dust and crap to settle, disrupting the performance. They should cover it up and make it flush with the rest of the interior.

3) I wish the buttons were moved a lil more towards the front. It's the fine for clicking with your thumb... but a lil too far back to click on the otherside with your pinky or ring finger.

This is my 3'rd trackball and it is very good - fast, smooth, very silent and easy to point. I like this better than the K64226 because of its quietness. I bought this to use with my laptop and the trackball is much quicker and easier to work with than the pressure pad.

K64226 Orbit (2nd) trackball -My wife & I both like this one.She was a mouse user but finds the the ball much better for the same reasons that other user-reviewers have touted.Particularly, no more sliding, lifting, banging the mouse around on the table or pad.

K64210 Turbo Mouse with 4 buttons - my first trackball - is also very good.The larger ball does provide better pointing, however slowing down the pointer speed will improve pointer accuracy.

Feel /Touch-wise, both Orbit trackballs are about the same - fitting the hand comfortably (mine are not large). The center rubber-like strip does provide a wee-bit more traction for the hand to rest on. Which Orbit to choose? Basically which look do you prefer? These 2 orbit trackballs would be the ones to go with if you are looking for a mouse replacement or for on-the-go laptop use. Both work well, works like a mouse using the pc's given mouse controls and zips me thru my excel, word and graphics applications - cut, paste, edit, crop, enhance, etc.

For the turbo mouse, if you like having 4 buttons to control menu functions (via the free Kensington download software) that is fine too. I have tried earlier versions, but left and right button functions are more than adequate.

I have tried the L-tek t-balls. They are much smaller to carry but the control via the thumb is not very good vs. index & middle finger movement. Other slimmer models with the ball in the center are too narrow. One still has to curl one's fingers to trigger the buttons. With all of the Kensington's, you just rest your hand on top of the trackballs and your fingers will naturally fall onto the trigger buttons. No gripping, just clicking.

Get a Kensington. Dare I say that you will have a "ball":)

Note : I am right-handed but use my left hand to use the track-ball - the ring finger triggers the left click button while the thumb bangs the right click button. Frees up the right hand to input numbers via the 10-touch keypad, scroll or quickly bang on the enter key. Muscle fatigue in one arm and wrist is reduced since the right and left hands share the workload.

I've used Kensington Turbo Mouse trackballs at work for years with a great deal of satisfaction. I especially like the solid feeling and control of the billiardball-sized trackball in my hand. But I recently bought a laptop, and wanted an input device that is more portable than the Turbo Mouse. I tried a co-worker's Kensington Orbit and hated it. The bearings seemed cheap and unresponsive and the trackball felt clunky in my hand. So it was with some trepidation that I decided to try Kensington's Orbit Optical trackball. It is everything that I had hoped and more.

Appearence: It is smooth silvery plastic with an elegant sculpted shape. A matte black, slightly rubberized texured area runs down the middle. Beneath, and easily visible from the sculpted sides, is a translucent plastic that allows the varying-brightness of the red optical light to shine through -- lighting up the desk surface like a Close Encounter mothership coming in for a landing. The trackball itself is a grey-black marblized plastic ball about an inch and half in diameter.

Comfort: It feels great in your hand. Can be used left or right handed. The black texure and shape of the casing orient your hand so you always find the sweet spot immediately. The two generously sized buttons are always where you expect and have a positive click for both feel and sound. Even using the Orbit Optical all day, your hand, wrist and arm are neither tired nor strained.

Accuracy: The trackball feels every bit as accurate as the best full-size mechanical turbo trackballs that I've used. I make my living as a professional computer artist. I have no time or patience for inferior products. The Orbit Optical does the job in spades. The accelerating cursor flies when you want to cover some serious real estate across the screen, and yet will slow down to pixel-by-pixel accuracy when you need to bear down on fine detail. Kensington's simple-to-use Mouseworks software allows you to infinitely tailor the speed and sensitivity of the device to your individual needs and preferences. Mouseworks also lets you program each button for custom clicks, drags -- even launching programs and visiting websites. Works with PCs and Macs (including OS X).

Portability: It's relatively light and small but without feeling delicate or fragile. Tucks into my backpack without a bulge. I considered some cordless models, but ultimately decided that the USB cord takes up little space, weighs next to nothing and is more bulletproof reliable than cordless. I keep most of it permanently wrapped up -- allow about 18 inches to unfurl to sit the trackball next to my PowerBook.

Price: Although it is among the least expensive of Kensington's line and a bargain among other trackballs too, I am more than satisfied with its performance. Pretty cool-looking, too.

Overall: If you're tired of pushing around a mouse, or find carpal tunnel calling, you'll likely be very pleased latching onto one of these babies. Kensington hasn't done a great job marketing these gems and their copywriting doesn't do the Orbit Optical justice.

I bought this joy stick because I really liked its design and ergonomics. The installation was a snap and the profiler software it comes with is easily configurable. However, it became completely unplayable after a few minutes (I was playing Grand Theft Auto) because it's calibration messed up. Now, I know my way around computers, but there is nothing I could do to fix the calibration, aside from unplugging/re-plugging the damn joystick every few minutes (not acceptable). I tried the newest drivers/software, removing the profiler, doing manual re-calibration, but I never got it to work properly. If you search the net, you'll see that many people had this problem, but Logitech never formally responded to it (bad customer support from my point of view). I have Windows 2000 professional installed, so I don't know if this is OS specific problem (again based on my research it seems to happen on other platforms as well). My advice, stay away from this Joystick and get something better (I got a Saitek controller and it works great). Oh, and, of course, do your research before you buy.

Ive had this stupid stupid THING for about a year.Every time i play IL-2 the calibration gets all messed up.Im so PISSED.

I'm a big logitech fan, since they tend to deliver solid, quality equipment that won't let you down. This joystick is a great example - simple, sturdy and versatile.
I don't play many top-end flight sims, but I can imagine if you did you might find that a more complex, button-riddled stick may suit you more. However, for all you amatuer fighter-pilots this 6-button stick (with built in throttle) should be right up your exhaust - smooth and solid to handle (I hate sticks which feel too loose), with a nice heavy base to keep you on the desktop when the MiG's start buzzing too close.
Naturally you can customize the buttons for different games, and the base-mounted throttle is easy to reach and smooth to operate.

You might find the slider-throttle tricky to reach in a hurry if you prefer to play flight game's with both stick and keyboard; but for the most part its a great addition, and saves you having to splash out on a seperate throttle or to keep a finger over those + and - keys all the time ;) I find the two base mounted keys ideal for mapping to the left and right yaw in flight games, and plus this keeps your hands over the throttle.

Junior top gun's will enjoy the easy setup and installation through the USB port, and the simple attractive design will go great with that bomber jacket and aviator shades. Kick the tires and light the fires...

The Wacom Graphire tablet is a mouse-pad like device that connects into the USB port (or serial port if you don't have USB.) A special electronic stylus comes with it and you can draw on the pad as you would on sketch paper. The Graphire tablet is for home use and is distinguished from other Wacom tablets in that it also has a cordless mouse. It comes in a choice of kid-pleasing colors (well, I like colors too, I must admit. I bought a clear purple keyboard recently, so who'm I kiddin'!)

Now, this tablet-mouse pad is a darn clever idea. Both a graphics tablet and a mouse are "human interface devices" or pointing devices for the computer (how you move around and click on items on the screen.) So having a combination mouse/pen pad is nice as you can eliminate your regular mouse. And I can tell you, cordless mice are the way to go. Much more comfortable than mice with cords.

I prefer my Logitech cordless mouse to the mouse on the Graphire as it isn't as smooth as the Logitech, and I also use an ergonomic mouse pad to prevent wrist strain. You must use the Graphire mouse on the Graphire pad--that's how the electronic connection is made, through the tablet. Still, this is a wonderful interface especially if you have kids. They can draw and paint on the computer. What a great idea. And this is wonderful for creating digital art for your webpage. (ok, who'm I kidding! I'm the one who uses the pad and draws for the website and sends pictures to my mom in email.)

Wacom sells their Graphire tablets with a copy of Painter Classic. Great idea as this helps you get a lot out of the tablet. Painter Classic is a cut-down version of the powerful Painter sold by Corel and developed by Metacreations. It replicates the look and feel of real art media like oils, watercolor, chalk, crayon and pencil. For the home user (maybe doing some homepage graphics, someone wanting to dabble in digital art, or for kid) it's simply great.) The art you create can be saved as a .jpg, gif, .tif, .bmp files, put on your page, used as screensavers or sent to Grandma in email. If you want to know more about what Painter does, check my reviews about it and Painter Classic.

Check out the Wacom website http://www.wacom.com . You can find out more about Painter at http://www.corel.com .

I finally decided to invest in my own personal graphics tablet, but couldn't yet afford one of the larger models, of which I've grown quite accustomed to at work. By trade, I am an Illustrator/Animator, so a tool such as a graphics tablet can be quite valuable, especially if you draw directly onto the computer. The model I use at work (is much more), which would be a MAJOR investment. I decided to take a chance on the 4x5 Graphire version, which priced about 60% less than the next size up. The price was a relief, but I didn't know if I would be getting what I payed for (cheap) or if that size was even workable? Well, I just recieved it and have been EXTREMELY satisfied and relieved. It works very smoothly and accurately, and seems to me to be a more convenient size than those other monster tablets. Included are several programs, including Painter Classic, which enables you to take full, immediate action of your pressure-sensitive pen. A cordless mouse is also part of the package . . . it has great features such as the scrolling wheel, but is a little annoying to use on the tablet (running off edges or bumping into the pen holder). I'm sure it takes practice, but it isn't really a concern. The real star of the package is the pressure-sensitive pen, which was the only feature I was interested in for drawing purposes. The pen glides smoothly across the surface and the scale of the workable area doesn't even seem to be a factor. The size is NOT a problem and I HIGHLY recommend!

just got the wacom tablet/with mouse.it installed easily and works great.if you do not have any graphics programs the adobe le and corel painter(included) is all you need to start out.the tool is easy to use and the price is right.i recommend it for anyone that is interested in doing artistic or graphic type work.