Mice are the most comfortable pointing devices by choice for most people. They're comfortable, ergonomic and extremely easy to handle. But ask any professional graphic designer worth his mettle and he'll tell you how much he prefers a good Wacom tablet to any mouse.

The kind of precision and control that graphic designers need from their pointing devices can only be provided by a good quality tablet. And when it comes to quality tablets, the first name that comes to mind is Wacom.

Intuos2 is the latest in the series of Wacom tablets. Let's check out what the fuss is all about.

The Looks
The tablet base is sized at 406 x 361 x 14 mm with an active area of 304.8 x 240.6 mm, so it does take up a significant amount of desk-space. The base is extremely sturdy and with its 1.6 kg weight it definitely will stay in place as you move your hand over it. The base connects to a standard USB port through a 2.5 m cable.

The active area of the tablet has a thin but hard plastic layer on it that's left open at the bottom so you can insert a picture for tracing if you need to. This especially helps while drawing cartoons on the tablet, as you can get some great precision with a reference drawing. The top of the pad has a few helpful commands in the form of easy to tap buttons that help a great deal during Photoshop work.

The cordless Intuos Grip Pen is a little thicker than an average tablet stylus, but with the firm rubber grip, it's pretty comfortable to hold for a long time. On the opposite side of the tip of the pen is a blunt plastic protrusion that acts as an eraser.

For people who prefer using a regular mouse for regular applications, there's a 4D Mouse provided with the tablet. The mouse is neither optical nor a ball-mouse, instead it has a soft cloth base that glides smoothly over the tablet surface with great precision.





The overall quality indicates in every way that the Intuos2 was built to take damage from even the most manhandling user.