When it comes to graphics tablets there seems to be only one name that rises to the top: WACOM. Although their products are top notch, you pay dearly for the best. So the question is, are there any products out there for those of us that aren’t great at Photoshop but may want to use some of the tools the pros use without having to pay the price? Well, Genius seems to think they’ve got a solution.
The Genius PenSketch 9×12 Graphics Tablet is a big tablet without a big price. But does it still perform? Let’s find out!
What’s In The Box?
The Genius PenSketch 9×12 comes with manuals of course, in a number of languages. This gives it the illusion of being full of information, but it’s fairly thin in that respect. You’ll find two software CD’s with drivers and some graphics programs from COREL, albeit rather old ones.
Also included is a three button mouse and a two button stylus. The mouse is battery free, while the stylus requires one single AAA battery to power it. There is a holder for the stylus and two extra nibs that are replaceable in case the original one gets worn out.
Features and Specifications
As denoted by its namesake, the Genius PenSketch 9×12 measures 9″ x 12″ and provides a whole ton of space for you to stretch your creative muscles. The tablet offers up 2000 lpi of resolution and 1024 pressure points. Initial impressions of the tablet appear to be good as the unit is both well weight to prevent it sliding all over your work area and is quite sturdy. You’ll notice a row of programmable “hot cells” in the top area of the tablet that are customizable to your needs. Unlike their WACOM counterparts, there are no buttons on the tablet.
The PenSketch 9×12 also comes with a two button wireless stylus and a three button mouse with a scroll wheel. If you quickly compare these two pieces to WACOM equivalents, you are missing the “Eraser” on the end of the the pen and you lack the extra buttons on the side of the thumb. These aren’t really make or break items, but those are the first things that kind of popped to mind as I’m somewhat familiar with WACOM’s INTUOS products.
The PenSketch 9×12 supports both Mac OSX and most flavours of Windows out of the box, but based on the age of the included software, you should definitely download new ones from their website before getting started. The tablet will require one USB port on both platforms.
Setting Things Up
As mentioned, the software discs in our unit were ancient so it’s best that you head to their website to download the latest software drivers. Unfortunately, none of the included software had any updates on their site so you won’t be able to use any of the extras with a modern OS. I downloaded the latest Mac OSX drivers and plugged in the tablet and we were ready to roll.
Once installed, you’ll have access to a utitlity which allows you to customize the “hot cell” area of the tablet as well as pen pressure. You can even customize the effective area of the tablet to match your screen ratio. Another tab allows you to customize the buttons on even the pen itself.
The PenSketch 9×12 and my Feeble Photoshop Skills
Sometimes the measure of a products greatness is how well it enhances ones skills with a particular task. In this case, let’s see how well this product makes up for my feeble Photoshop skills…
The mouse itself was small, but I found it fairly comfortable for most things. People with really large hands may beg to differ and I’d understand that. I actually found myself using it as the main mouse a lot, treating the tablet itself as the mouse pad. One thing that was rather annoying was the lack of forward and backward buttons and the the scroll wasn’t really a true scroll wheel. It just clicked back and forth.
The stylus was, for the most part, comfortable in my hand and the rubberized grip did provide sufficient slip resistance. The buttons on the stylus, however, were difficult to activate accurately as they are actually one small single long button with a top and bottom portion. I’d often hit the wrong button as the clicks are just so close together. When I pulled it apart to put in the new battery, the construction was just a bit on the flimsy side and I was worried about breaking it when reassembling.
The stylus itself does provide replaceable tips just in case you wear them out. They are replaced by using the tool built into the pen holder. I just wish the pen holder hat rubber feet or just a bit more weight. It’d often end up somewhere I didn’t put it.
For the most part, the combination of the mouse and the stylus did work well together. But you can’t have the mouse on the tablet when you want to use the stylus, making it necessary for me to remove the mouse each time I needed to use the stylus. This is where a set of buttons on the tablet itself would actually come in handy. It wasn’t horrible, but definitely inconvenient to have to break my creative flow (or lack thereof).
What About The Tablet Itself?
The best built part of this package was the tablet. It was well weighted, never slipped and was very sturdy. I’m also pleased to report that the tablet surface has put up well with my chicken scratching and looks as good as the day that I started using it. I’ve only used a microfiber cloth to clean it and after abusing it for a few weeks, there has yet to be a scratch developed in the surface.
When setup properly to the aspect ratio of the screen, the tablet was like a natural extension of the screen itself. I also really liked how I could program the “hot cell” buttons to take on functions and shortcuts that I normally use in addition to standard file commands.
Although the resolution of this surface isn’t quite as high as the INTUOS units from WACOM, it still held its own with its 2000 lpi surface and 1024 pressure points. I was able to broaden and lighten my pen strokes with ease and it really felt fairly effortless to write on. I would describe it like drawing with a thin felt marker while the higher end WACOM tablets like the INTUOS feel more like a fine tipped felt pen. It’s definitely not bad and it’s worlds better than trying ot use your mouse to try to trace fine lines and draw things with.
Final thoughts and Conclusion
The Genius PenSketch 9×12 Tablet was a real surprise to me mainly because I didn’t expect much from it. At about a third to a quarter of the price of its high end competitor, the WACOM INTUOS 9×12, it’s nearly impossible to fault it especially at such an affordable price. It was a lot of fun to use and really improved my Photoshopping. It was even useful in programs like Soundbooth where it was necessary to trace around noises to remove them from audio tracks. The durable surface really stayed put and the resolution and number of pressure points on the tablet were sufficient for my amateur needs.
Although there is a lot to like about this tablet, there were some minor annoyances. I really disliked the button on the stylus as I would always end up hitting the wrong portion of the button. the holder was also far too light for its own good. Combined with the lack of rubberized feed for traction, I’d always have to end up looking for it when I needed to put my pen away. I also discovered that build quality was a little suspect but considering a WACOM stylus costs nearly half the price of this tablet, I can somewhat overlook that. If they could tweak it a little and add an eraser on the end, I think it would be a great little piece. Other wish list items included buttons on the tablet itself and maybe a back and forth button the mouse to make it a little more useful as a stand alone mouse.
Overall, at around $125 – 150 bucks on the street, it’s probably one of the best values in a graphics tablet out there and the benefits definitely outweight the little annnoyances that I found. It’s pretty much a no brainer for anyone that wants to start getting serious about Photoshop or other graphics programs.
Pros
- The tablet is durable and doesn’t slide around
- Tablet is easy to setup, from aspect ratio to hot cell area
- Very enjoyable to use and takes your graphics skills up a notch
- You simply can’t argue with the price ($125 – 150 street)
Cons
- Stylus buttons are difficult to use and the durability is a little suspect (the holder is also a flyweight)
- Lack of buttons on the tablet itself make some functions cumbersome
- Outdated software package
Overall Rating: 8.0 / 10.0
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