Bamboo or Bamboo Fun?

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Cybeat
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Bamboo or Bamboo Fun?

#1 Post by Cybeat »

What's the difference between Wacom Bamboo and Bamboo Fun? I see price difference, but I see no difference between the two tablets. Someone told me it's just marketing.

I'm trying to decide which one I should get.
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Samu-kun
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Re: Bamboo or Bamboo Fun?

#2 Post by Samu-kun »

I think Bamboo Fun comes bundled with Photoshop Elements and a (lame) mouse, has a different looking tablet with a touch pad zoom function, and a bit more pressure levels.

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Re: Bamboo or Bamboo Fun?

#3 Post by Samu-kun »

Nevermind, I lied about the touch pad zoom and the pressure levels. Both of them have the zoom circle and the same amount of pressure levels, but Bamboo fun has a slightly bigger tablet.

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Re: Bamboo or Bamboo Fun?

#4 Post by Samu-kun »

But an additional clarification... By a "bigger tablet," I mean the size of the actual tablet and not the active area. Bah, you know what, just read this because I'm not doing a good job explaining right now. XD

http://www.wacom.com/bambootablet/bamboo_tech_specs.cfm - Bamboo
http://www.wacom.com/bambootablet/bambo ... _specs.cfm - Bamboo Fun

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Re: Bamboo or Bamboo Fun?

#5 Post by Cybeat »

Thanks. So there really is no big difference between the two. I guess I should just go for Bamboo. I already have CS3 anyway. Still, all the guys in the stores like Best Buy keep telling that Bamboo Fun is more accurate (and made for drawing) and if you hover the pen over the active area, you can see where you're going to draw on your monitor.
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Re: Bamboo or Bamboo Fun?

#6 Post by monele »

if you hover the pen over the active area, you can see where you're going to draw on your monitor.
Don't all tablets do that? ^^;... It'd be quite bad otherwise.

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Re: Bamboo or Bamboo Fun?

#7 Post by Cybeat »

I didn't know that. The man at the store said only bamboo fun does that. Haha....I never used or touched a tablet before, so I have no knowledge.
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Re: Bamboo or Bamboo Fun?

#8 Post by Ren »

Which should make you consider whether you should really listen to that man's advice..... :P
If you don't mind me intruding, I'll throw my two cents in:
when I bought my first tablet, my policy was "buy something cheap(not too much though) so that if you're not good with it or it doesn't work well for you you won't regret it much!".
If I recall correctly you started asking about Cintiqs, which are incredibly expensive and certainly not something I'd recommend to an amateur, really.

If the active size, pressure levels and software you don't need are the only differences, go for the normal one.

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Re: Bamboo or Bamboo Fun?

#9 Post by Jake »

Ren wrote: Which should make you consider whether you should really listen to that man's advice..... :P
I'd certainly agree with that. Bear in mind that the guy in the shop is there to make you spend money, and so he's going to be more interested in getting you to buy the more-expensive unit.
Ren wrote: when I bought my first tablet, my policy was "buy something cheap(not too much though) so that if you're not good with it or it doesn't work well for you you won't regret it much!".
When I bought my first tablet, that was the approach I took as well, and I think that's probably not a bad approach... so long as you pay attention to the 'not too cheap' part. The first one I got wasn't really good for much past handwriting recognition, and it wasn't very good at that. Sticking to Wacom is probably a good plan. ;-)
Ren wrote: If the active size, pressure levels and software you don't need are the only differences, go for the normal one.
Hm. If the pressure levels and software you don't need are the only differences, go for the normal one - it seems to me that the only real difference between the Bamboo and the small Bamboo Fun is that the Fun comes with a different styling, comes in different colours, and has a mouse included. My experience is that very very few people ever use a tablet mouse unless they have to, so it's probably not worth the extra $20.

On the other hand, active area is an issue which really comes down to personal preference, so the best solution would be to try the tablet out first if you possibly can. Personally, I've tried A6, A5 and A4 tablets (the Volito - precursor to the Bamboo, an Intuos 1 and an Intuos 3 respectively) and while I could happily use either an A4 or A5 size to draw, I couldn't use something so small as the A6 one. The other thing about the Bamboo Fun line is that they do some in larger sizes, and larger active area means more discretely-recognised points on the tablet surface which means more accurate drawing across your screen. So while your sales guy is lying if he says the small Fun is more accurate, he's not if he says the medium Fun is.

So really, it comes down to balancing your budget against your desire to future-proof your investment. If you think you're going to take off and do a lot of art on the thing, I'd recommend at least trying the larger sizes if you can. If you're not so sure, then the smaller one is probably safer 'cause it's less money spent if you don't like it, and it's still a pretty capable piece of hardware.
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Re: Bamboo or Bamboo Fun?

#10 Post by Bakamoichigei »

I would have to agree with Jake on the 'not too cheap' tablets... I got a cheap Taiwanese tablet, an Aiptek, ages ago... It was only $100 for 12x9"... Of course, it didn't work worth a damn. And the whole time I thought it was me, so I gave up trying. The best way to see whether or not you can use a tablet well is to try a decent one. Anything less is liable to give skewed results. (And besides, it takes a little bit of practice anyway.) Stick to Wacom and you should be golden.

About the Bamboo: My understanding was along the lines of the Bamboo being more of a 'paperless office' tablet, and the Bamboo Fun being the true graphics tablet... But the specs are basically the same. The Bamboo Fun comes in more sizes though. Of course, people have told me that the Bamboo line isn't worth the money.

..I wouldn't know; being a consumer whore, I dropped the money for an Intuos3 9x12 Special Edition. I was seriously considering getting a Cintiq, but I thought I'd play it safe. (You only NEED one kidney, right? Right? Guys?)

I would have to say that if you can spare the patience or money, you might save up, or go looking for refurbished or used Intuos3 tablets... The smallest one, retail, isn't terribly much more than a medium Bamboo Fun. But the smallest Intuos3 is...tiny.

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