I was curious if anyone has used the Graphire pen/optical mouse combination, and if it has proven to be worth the $99. I'm interested in a tablet, but don't really need one, and the Graphire appealed to me b/c of the optical mouse in addition to the pen and tablet for only $99. Comments please, thanks.

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Joseph

[graphics84]

Tablets rock!...

I have one for my desktop system and another for my laptop.... the laptop one doubles as a mouse pad on the road and the version your talking about is a great combo for $99 bucks....

I just got a graphire and I must say that I am very impressed. For my amateur artistic purposes it is perfect for CGing my sketches and for freehand drawinf on the 'puter(it even has a lift up transparency to aid in sketching). The mouse has completely replaced my hockeypuck(just got a 1999 G4...stupid mouse came with it).

I should note, however, that the mouse is NOT optical. I believe it uses the same technology as the pen, allowing it to be wireless, but requiring the tablet to function. However the mouse is ver nice.

BTW, the graphire says 4x5, but the whole tablet is functional, not just the 4x5 area in the center. Anyway, I highly recommend NOT spending $99 on it. Outpost.com has it for $89.99 w/ free shipping and a free game.

Hope this helps.

Well, I gave in and bought the Graphire from Outpost for $89, and I'm loving it. I didn't get the one with the free game, I got the Graphite one with the suite of applications. It came with Photoshop LE 5.0 Painter and Wacom's stuff. I've just started to use it and and figure out what all I can do, it's amazing, the seemingly endless possibilities that can be accomplished with this product. I'm a beginner, hoping to exploit the usefulness of these wonderful machines. Is there any place on the web, or what have you, where I can learn more about graphic editing and drawing whatnot? I'd rather have suggestions than search for myself.

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Joseph

[Jim Retzner]

Yes it's worth the $99! I purchased a rebuilt tablet for $59 to replace the ADB Wacom tablet I had for my 7200. I don't use the mouse but find the drawing capabilities great.

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[drfrank]

I currently use an Wacom (not Graphire) Intuos USB tablet and it is great. I do a lot of graphic work involving digital photo editing and web work and the Intuos is the only way to go for graphic work.

Frank

[Giles Booth]

I just got a Graphire tablet to go with my RevA OS8.6 iMac... I love it, but a couple of problems. When trying to assign the 'option' key to a pen button, I can't get the option key to register.

Also, I get an error message alot when using the brush in Illustrator - "-1336 Can't create a brush defintion point" - this doesn't happen, however, in Calligraphic mode. Anyone else experienced this? Any ideas what might be causing it?

Giles
(my review of the Graphire is at http://website.lineone.net/~giles.bo...erclipcentral/

[This message has been edited by Giles Booth (edited 09-18-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Giles Booth (edited 09-18-2000).]

[Giles Booth]

The Wacom FAQ has answered my query about the error message:

"A: Drawing curves gets message (in Mac Illustrator 6.0 only): CAN'T CREATE DEFINITION POINT.
SOLUTION: This is an Illustrator problem. If the pen is moved to quickly this message will occur. If the pen is moved more slowly the problem will be corrected. Adobe is aware of the problem and working on it. The problem has been fixed for Illustrator 7 and 8."

I'll just have to upgrade!

[andi*pandi]

Just got my Graphire last night from outpost. Very sweet! Easy installation, no problems... already the 4x5 seems small for mouse use, but the pen rocks.

Can't wait to find "constructive" use for this thing....