Wacom Bamboo Fun Medium review

Modern mice may be increasingly ergonomic.

but when it comes to fine detail, you still need a spotless desktop and a Zen-like state of calm to control the cursor precisely. For tasks like freehand drawing and image editing, nothing beats the comfort and accuracy of a graphics tablet. Unlike a mouse, the tablet provides a fixed area representing your screen, and the pen transmits an absolute position within it.

Traditionally, graphics tablets are either large and aimed at designers and photographers with deep pockets, or cheap but pitifully small. The Bamboo Fun has been created by Wacom, the leading brand, to bridge the gap. With a usable A5 area, it's available silver, blue, white or black, so you can integrate it with your home d?r, or your iPod. Aside from the cosmetics, the build quality and materials are top notch. The tablet area itself is much smaller than that of the Genius G-Pen M712 (see page 74), but what the Bamboo lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. The batteryless pen feels pleasantly rough on the tablet, like drawing on paper, and you can turn the pen round and use the other end, like the rubber on a pencil, to erase or to apply a secondary effect.

Once you get the hang of it, a good graphics tablet is addictive, and the Bamboo's touch sensitive zoom wheel and scroll button give you total control over your editing. Photoshop Elements is bundled with it, and it's when touching up photos that the tablet really comes into its own: for example, the diameter of your brush changes depending on how hard you press down. You can apply the most intricate highlights or shadows, or paint a picture from scratch, without having to stop and adjust the brush size all the time. Despite having only 512 levels of pressure sensitivity compared with the 1024 of the Genius, we found the Bamboo Fun offered more than enough freedom.

If you're a keen image editor, the Bamboo Fun should be at the top of your wish list. A smaller A6 model is available for around £60, but the A5 tablet is a luxury that's worth the asking price.