Wacom Intuos3 4 x 6-Inch Wide Format Pen Tablet (PTZ431W)

First of all, I have to say that this Intuos is the first tablet I have ever used, and I am already loving it just after the first hour or so of usage.I learned Photoshop the old fashioned way (with mouse and keyboard), and the thought of switching to a tablet never actually crossed my mind until I started doing vector images in Illustrator (and digital paintings in photoshop). The mouse is great for image adjustments and casual modifications in Photoshop, but when it comes to making vector images (which involves a lot of tracing) and digital painting, the mouse just can't provide the level of smoothness and gradiation the tablet offers.I did quite a few vector images with a mouse before, but I have to say that the experience was painful at best. It usually takes somewhere around 20 or so hours to finish a character vector (w/level 15 posterizaition), but with the Wacom tablet, I was able to do finish 1/4 of the same project in little under 25 minutes, with MUCH better results.The biggest concern I had (aside from the price of the tablet) was the fear that a tablet may be difficult to adjust to. However, to those with the same fear, DO NOT WORRY! Not only does the Wacom come with tons of tutorials to help you adjust, it is also one of the easiest things to adjust to. It literally took me 15 minutes from never-used-a-tablet-before to this-is-the-easiest-thing-to-use. The tutorial included in the owner's manual (the one that trains your hand-eye coordination my making you draw dots, X's and circles) is perhaps the most helpful of the tutorials...definitely try that one out, you'll be greatly rewarded.The navigation may seem strange at first, since unlike using a mouse, where you move the mouse relative to the cursor on screen, wacom works in such a way that the cursor actually moves relative to the whole screen. It takes a while to adjust to, but after you do, you'll be amazed at just how easy it is to navigate with a tablet. However, if you absolutely have to have the cursor-relative way of navigation, Wacom does offer the Mouse Mapping Mode in the control panel, so it's really up to you. Oh and one more thing, the tablet's default settings are a bit too sensitive for me, so I suggest altering the Firmness and Clicking Threshold to fit your needs.I have to say that I have never tried other tablets before, nor have I tried other Wacom tablets such as the Bamboo or the Graphite, so my review is solely based on my personal experience with the Intuos3 4x6, and if you have any questions regarding my review, please don't hesitate to contact me.Final Verdict:If you are serious about productivity and efficiency, then this tablet is for you. Since I have never tried other tablets before, all I can say is that this tablet works great, it is intuitive, easy and fun to use!

I bought this and tried it on my winXP PC and the mouse would not work with IE to select items unless I would enable active X and I don't normaly surf with active x enabled. The problem with the mouse is major to me since I use my mouse a lot on the internet and otherwise. The logitech mouse I have would not work at all when I had this tablet installed and with the tablet mouse being basically useless for me I feel that this is a major flaw. I have a wide screen monitor and the tablet did not work well with it, it would not reach all areas of the screen and would default back to the side of the screen every time I lifted the pen. I can do better using my logitec mouse thatn with this so I sent it back for a refund.

This works for what it's supposed to do. It doesn't merit five stars, of course, since it's so old and there are many Wacom products better than this. But it's a classic, and a cheap alternative to the latest and greatest.I bought this used and it had a bunch of dirt and grime in the edges and corners. Ewww, is it too hard to clean items before reselling them? Minus one star!

Wacom Intuos 3 4x6"There's already so much written about this, so I will just say a few things about it.Takes a little getting used to, but got the hang of it after about an hour or two. I don't use the mouse that came with it. The mouse must be used on the tablet and 4x6 is a little too small for a mouse. That's ok, I didn't buy it for the mouse.I spent so much time worrying if 4x6 would be big enough. I have a wide screen monitor, and I thought I should probably get a tablet with the same proportions, but the 6x11 is over $300. I didn't know if I should spend so much on something I didn't know if I would even like. Turns out 4x6 is just fine. I am glad I did not get a larger one. A larger one would just mean having to move my arm around more to reach different parts of the screen and it would be less portable.I wish they would say somewhere a little more prominently that the drawing pad it SUPPOSED to only be attached along the top edge to make it easier to replace once it gets worn. I saw the bottom corners of mine were sticking up slightly, and was so disappointed thinking that I would have to return it. But I looked on the wacom web site and it says it is supposed to be like that. They say it's to make it easier to replace.Only things I would like different are having a 3rd button on the pen. I would also like to be able to adjust how close you need to put the pen to the tablet before the cursor starts moving. They say it's 1/4" in the instructions, mine is about 1/2" and that's a little too much. But I haven't been able to find any place to adjust it. I also wish the cord could be unplugged from the tablet. I think the Bamboo tablets do this, but not the Intuos.I am giving this 5 stars because it works so well and feels well made.