Wacom Bamboo 2 review

Hot on the heels of Wacom's recent updates to its professional Intuos tablet comes version 2 of its consumer Bamboo range.

Far more than a mere incremental upgrade, the new tablets add major user enhancements, the most significant being that the tablet now doubles as a finger-powered multitouch pad.

The tablet, the first to combine pen input and multitouch, detects when the pen is lifted from the surface and responds to finger input. It's sensitive enough that you can still hold the pen in your hand while using your fingers to perform multitouch functions. This removes the need for a separate mouse, as all the functions can now be replicated using touch alone. There are many innovations here, as well as several features you'll recognise from both the iPhone and the multitouch trackpads in Apple's MacBook range.

To perform a single click, either tap and then tap again with a second finger to the left of the first, or just tap once - the preference can be set as you want it. For a right-click, tap with two fingers, or tap with one finger and then tap again with another to the right of the first. It's intuitive, easy to remember and easy to accomplish. The Bamboo can also now be set for right- or left-handed use, via a Preference option.

As on the iPhone, pinching and spreading two fingers will cause an image to zoom in and out. This works in all applications that support zooming. Rotating a twofinger touch will rotate an image 90° in Preview and will freely rotate the canvas in Photoshop. Dragging with two fingers pans an image around within its window, or drags through a folder full of previews in Cover Flow mode. You can optionally set click lock to be available, so a click in a Finder window, for example, will select the window or item, which can then be dragged around with a single finger until another click is made. Clear animations in the Preference pane show exactly how all these clicks and gestures work.

Four customisable keys built into the tablet surround can be set to perform a wide range of functions: navigating forwards and backwards, scrolling a page up and down, launching applications and so on. The only shortcoming here is that the Bamboo driver can't be set to recognise different settings for different applications.

The pen has two buttons located beneath the index finger, which can also be customised to perform a range of tasks such as undo, click lock and so on. One of the buttons can be set to trigger a pop-up menu, which will produce a list of commands or keystrokes that you specify.

With up to 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity, the pen is fine for detailed graphics work. It feels a little cheaper and less ergonomically styled than its predecessor, but it still fits comfortably in the hand and is light and slim enough to work with for extended periods. The old pen stand has been replaced by a fabric sleeve attached to the side of the tablet.

The Bamboo is available in five models. The basic Bamboo, at £74.99 (£65.20 ex VAT), has an A6 active area (147mm x 92mm) with pen and multitouch technology; the Bamboo Fun adds Photoshop Elements and Painter Essentials for £89.95 (£78.21 ex VAT), and is also available in a larger A5 model for £170 (£148 ex VAT). Two other models are the Bamboo Touch at £59.99 (£52.16 ex VAT), which offers multitouch but no pen input; and the Bamboo Pen at £49.99 (£43.47 ex VAT), which has pen input but no multitouch.

Multi-touch input is certainly the addition of the year, and many Mac Pro owners are envious of those with MacBooks that support this navigation system. By building the technology into their graphics tablets, Wacom offers a simple, straightforward and comprehensive pen-and-finger combination that will appeal to graphics users and business users alike. The only thing missing is the ability to set controls independently for different applications: this aside, Wacom has a sure winner on its hands.