Genius MousePen 8 x 6-Inch Graphic Tablet for Home and Office Reviews

• beware of negitive reviews

  
  By A2ZFWCSUF9QBUL on 2008-02-09
  I was searching for a less expensive version of a wacom. If youre reading this odds are you are 2. I read many reviews on the genius tablet. some good, some bad. For 50 buck I could afford to risk it.
  
  Its a good thing i did, because I love this device.
  
  Lets start off with the cons: Alot of the reviews i read said the pen didn't work out of the box. Well, neither did mine. However, I replaced the battries right off. Since the originals were preinstalled i figured on a slow power drain to be the root cause.
  
  second, alot of bad reviews said the drivers were old, and sucked. I took their word on this and went to the website. a driver search revield 2 drivers available. the first one had "vista" in the file name dated 2007. And another one dated 2004. Since my search was winXP specific. I downloaded the newer 2007"vista" file. It works flawlessly.
  
  A little tip for you xp installers. after install you reboot. after reboot, plug in the tablet. If it doesn't work restart the pc again. this time unplug your mouse. (once you get the hang of the pen, you'll never use it again anyway. it should work just like a mouse on your desktop.
  
  photoshop complaints. My biggest concern about the tablet was the photshop complaints I read. Again I don't completely trust reviews (good, or bad). so i visited the website (before i used the tablet!).
  So, heres the deal with pressure sensitivity and photoshop. You need to set your brush to the largest pixle brush you intend to use. The max pressure you use on the pen will be that brush size. Don't set you brush at 9 pix and try to push harder on tablet to make it bigger. I played aroud with a 300 pix brush and was able to make very fine lines with the slightest pressure.
  
  There were a few reviews about dead spots in the tablet. I'm not sure if those people realize that there is a hotkey section all around the edge of the tablet. that area on the is USER PROGRAMABLE. That right, you can program the tablet (if you used the driver version i told you too, it'll be in the system tray, control panel, and in your start menu, You choose)So yes those areas will not do anything until you tell it to. (these areas are clearly marked as little boxes around the perimiter of the tablet.
  
  Ok, so its not a WACOM. Who cares. This device works great (once you get use to it). It does what it is designed to do, and do it well. Best of all it's only 50 BUCK!!!!!!
  
  Highly recommended
  
  

• Great product!

  
  By A2TJDPN85SC2Y8 on 2007-10-18
  This is the first tablet I've ever had. I purchased it because of the low price, thinking that I would just deal with the defects inherent in buying a cheap product. However, I have yet to encounter any defects! It works perfectly with my existing programs, the stylus is comfortable to handle, the tablet is light, easy to transport and plug in, and the pad is very sensitive. Definitely worth the money and I would recommend it to any first time tablet user. It's incredibly easy to use. My only complaint is the hot buttons on top all look the same, but I solved that by putting little stickers above the ones I use the most often to differentiate between them!
  I can't imagine what more a person would want from a tablet, to tell you the truth, and why buy a $100+ one when you can get this?
  
  

• Decent Tablet for the price

  
  By A1YW03TD02IT9R on 2007-11-15
  I have both the WACOM tablet and this Genius tablet. The WACOM is a better quality tablet for the professional artist and designer. This tablet is great though for those just starting out and don't want to spend the extra cash. I guess with these tablets you do get what you pay for. Works great with WINDOWS XP. Not sure about Mac or Vista though. Cursor does jump sometimes... be warned. Also, I'd never get any tablet larger than the 8x6... really no need for it. A small footprint works great. Good Luck!
  
  

• My best buy this year

  
  By A2IUE6MH5ESDJL on 2007-09-06
  After using my sister's tablet a few years ago I wanted to have my own, but could never afford it... Until now. I ordered one for my birthday and couldn't wait to get it, and there was no disappointments when it arrived. It was bigger than I thought it would be, which is prefect because I thought it would be kind of 'dinky'. I love that it's plug and play if you don't want to install the drivers right away, but you won't get the varied pressures until you do, so be warned. It also works in many image editors like Paint shop Pro, Gimp, Photoshop products, Open Canvas and of course, Microsoft Paint and it even lets me use it before I log in to Windows. My only complaint is that is lags slightly in Open Canvas at times, but not enough to bother me much. I know I got a good deal for a great price. I'm going to buy another one for my boyfriend because he keeps trying to borrow it.
  
  

• I like IT!

  
  By AEN7MKBBS47GE on 2007-08-10
  I bought this for my embroidery program because it has a freehand drawing tool, and it's kind of hard to draw with a mouse. Wow this Graphic Tablet is great, makes my life so much easier. After reading many other reviews I was a little scepticale about what I was getting. I have to say that this meets my expectations, I am very happy with it. If your a beginner like me start with this tablet, installation was a snap and it's easy to use.
  
  
• Who needs a Wacom...
  By A17MJV24M8S2DC on 2007-08-23
  ...when you can get a Genius for half the price? I will admit that the pricier ones are nice, but the genius tablet works great for only costing $50 bucks. It's smooth, you change the settings, though sometimes I wish I could make it a little more sensitive, that's the only thing that really bothers me about it. It always works, always senses the pen/mouse. And if you have vista, your computer will automatically recognize it so you don't even have to download the software.
  8x6 is the perfect size, not too small, not too big. It sits nicely on my desk without taking up too much room.
  It's great. Perfect for professional stuff or just for messing around. It's my new mouse for my laptop.
  
  
• Great Pruduct- Great Price!!
  By A1SGAPH5JZ6J3W on 2007-11-28
  This is my first and only experience with a graphics tablet EVER, that said, I am very happy with it (I've only had it for three days).
  The first thing that struck me is how thin the unit was, (about an eighth of an inch in the front, and maybe a half inch in the back. It is pretty light, yet not at all flimsy. I found the drawing area to be larger than I had expected, and since the drawing surface represents your entire screen I think a much larger area would make it awkward when using it as a mouse (meaning, to go from the upper corner to the bottom of the screen, you have to do the same on the drawing area.) This is just how all pads work when using them as your mouse.
  And speaking of the mouse, at least one reviewer had called the included mouse "useless" and I mostly agree. While the mouse works okay, it must be used on the surface of the pad, and it's a little frictiony (is that a word?) when you slide it around, which made me worry about unnecessary wear to the drawing surface. Really, if you already have a good optical mouse that you're comfortable with, you will want to skip the included mouse altogether.
  I used the pad with "The Gimp ver 2.2" which is an open-source graphics program (i.e: FREE!) and it worked seamlessly with the Genius MousePen Tablet- Like they were made for each other! It came budled with Adobe CS3 Extended, and Corel Painter X (Trial versions) I have yet to check out, but it's nice they are included.
  All of the buttons along the top of the pad (new, open, save, print, exit, cut, copy, paste, undo, back, forward, e-mail, and www) worked perfectly with no set up whatsoever. I was pleased when the "www" button launched my browser with a tap of the pen.
  One little tip, you'll want to keep the pen mostly straight up and down when you are drawing, as the tip is pressure-sensetive and works badly if you slant it too much. HAVE FUN!!
  
  
• Dead on arrival
  By A37W68RNMKDNED on 2007-12-26
  This one totally bombed. The software is a throwback to the 90's, the mouse wheel does not spin, the pen movement is jerky and erratic, so much so that even drawing something as easy as a smiley turned out to be a daunting task. The manuals where also written by someone who obviously doesn't have a command of English. I work in IT and usually have more patience with gadgets than most folks, but this one was packed up and ready to be sent back in all of 2 hours. The price might be tempting, but I won't have paid $5 for it if I knew the performance would be so bad.
  
  
• Top quality graphic tablet
  By A3U58R4QD9YNB9 on 2008-01-10
  I bought this product first off because of the price ane the pressure sensitivity. its twice the amount of a wacom product so I thought I would try it out. I do graphic arts and cg in photoshop so I needed a much bigger one tablet for my stroke lines when inking and coloring my art. I have also owned a smaller wacom tablet as well that cost twice as much. i would say the quality was is at the same level. if you need to save money pick this one. It has about a one week learning curve. After that you will find yourself writing emails and doing photoshop projects like a pro and wonder how you could have ever lived without it.
  
  
• Not suitable for modern Windows computers
  By A2PKBJ4GY5EYRY on 2008-02-06
  I really wanted this item to work. But the 5-year-old drivers with no updates from geniusnet.com made it impossible.
  
  The drivers crashed my Windows XP HP desktop with the dreaded "Windows has recovered from a serious error" message. After downloading replacement drivers from the manufacturer's website with the same result, I did the uninstall (followed by a registry purge using JV16 to remove 3 remaining fragments) and had it back in the box for return within the hour.
  
  Only good thing about it was the nice packaging which made the return easy. Sort of a waste of good packaging, though, for a product that doesn't work.
  
  
  
• Extradinary with the right programs
  By A3C494QSE0PNC8 on 2007-12-01
  I have really enjoyed this tablet. I am a college student, and I've been able to use it in my classes to draw diagrams and to copy notes onto Microsoft OneNote. Using it, I can do my homework and save it electronically without hassling with the paper. I have very bad hand-writing, but Vista's handwriting recognition is almost perfect.
  
  Having a tablet also opens up the world to many other possibilities. MS Paint is a lot funner. Be sure to download Microsoft's free Powertools Suite (especially the Font tool). Using it and my tablet, I created a font with my own hand-writing! Even though you can't export the fonts directly, you can save them onto your desktop and than copy them to C:\Windows\Fonts .
  
  The button shortcuts are handy, although the tablet writing area might be a little too large. The entire tablet is super thin, though.
  
  With that said, there are a few drawbacks. The mouse is worthless. If you don't write for a while, the tablet shuts down and you have to click the buttons on the pen to turn it on again (to save the battery in the pen, I suppose). If you have Vista, you will need OneNote to use your tablet to write in Word (First you write in OneNote, and than you copy and paste over into Word). For Vista users, the PenSuite will not work, which is partially compensated for by Vista's plug-and-play tablet programs. You will also have to download drivers from the Genius website. Tech support is horrible!
  
  Becoming proficient on this tablet takes time, but if you want do bridge the gap between paper and electronics, go for it!
  
  
• Didn't work, No support
  By A2MVOH8TSSPQ2N on 2007-12-30
  I purchased this tablet a few days ago, and it is already on its way back to Amazon if that tells you anything. I was not able to get either of my systems to recognize this tablet. None of the websites listed in the documentation exist according to DNS, so I was not able to contact them for assistance. The documentation is written in broken english that is difficult at best to read and was not helpful resolving my problem.
  I'm going to give the wacom BambooBamboo (Small) Pen Tablet with Pen Only a try and see if it works better. I guess if it works at all, that will be better.
  
  
• I confirm other negative reviews
  By A1891C1IPYBCBU on 2008-01-26
  As others mentioned, the software is positively antique. Upon installation, Windows XP gives dire warnings that the software is not XP approved/certified and could cause system instability. I went ahead and installed the drivers, and the system worked fine. However, the pen stopped talking to the table after less than a week, similar to the experiences of other reviewers.
  
  
• These folks are behind the times....and support is lacking
  By A2YHVZ52FRPAOR on 2007-10-30
  Genious? You have got to be kidding! They have not figured out that Vista is a factor in the market. The tablet works with Vista......but had to ferret out the problems myself as tech support was incapable of offering any suggestion. In addition, the software shipped with the product will not work with Vista and the only response I got was "have to check with Taiwan"......and Taiwan must not have e-mail connection to their own U.S. offices...as there has been no follow-up of any kind. Buy from these people at your own peril........they have shown incompetence and no interest in supporting what they sell. Don't buy this unless you want to be totally on your own. Disgusting!
  
  
• Spend a little more and buy something that actually works
  By A1B1HD852J8TIL on 2008-01-17
  As soon as I received the product, I returned it. MS Paint probably works better than this junk. Pen does not work properly, you have to really press the pen hard on the surface to make it work and even then it works with a delay. You press it hard, after a few seconds something appears on the screen that might resemble what you actually intended to write. Maybe for drawing it might work if you press it hard but if you want to write with it forget it. Software that comes with it is clumsy and too simplistic, saving your work doesn't work most of the time and even if it did you are saving it on a pad that only works with their software, you can not save it on MSWord for example. My advice is, spend a little more and get something that actually works.
  
  
• Not to shabby
  By A16D49DMO0GJIR on 2007-11-01
  It is what the price tag it as but with plus! Big drawing area to work with, little shortcuts icons on the board to play with, and have almost everything the a wacom graphire tablet has. Although there are cons like the cheap mouse which is sometime hard to use, the pen does not have a eraser like the wacom, and both mouse and pen requires battery to operate. All in all, I would suggest this to a beginner who want to learn and have fun with it.
  
  
• Great for Vista, not XP
  By A2SRVDDDOQ8QJL on 2008-07-04
  I need to begin this review by saying that I tried the tablet software on my Windows XP computer and things went so wrong that I had to do a System Restore. In the install process under XP you need to install more than one unsigned driver and these inevitably cause problems. I STRONGLY advise people running Windows XP to avoid this (if i had to base this review on my XP experience it would be 0 stars).
  
  However, the story on my Laptop (running Vista Ultimate) is completely different. On this computer the installation was simplicity itself. I just plugged it in and it was working. I installed from the disk too just to get the extras. For the price I think I've gotten a very good value. The touch sensitivity is very good and I find that I can draw on the tablet ALMOST as accurately as I'd draw on a sheet of paper. In addition, it supports recognition of variable pressure in Photoshop (and probably other programs).
  
  If I needed something that could support the same sensitivity as drawing on paper I'd probably get one of the other tablets that are far more expensive. If you don't need quite that level of sensitivity then this is a good choice. However, do bear in mind that the software that comes with this program is very basic. You're buying, for the most part, just the input device. You do get 5 pieces of software that have some cool functions (too much to describe here) but if you really want to do serious art or image editing you'll need additional software.
  
  
• Well, it's not the best...
  By A2DBWBDIOU4NNQ on 2007-05-07
  I've used a friend's tablet, and I have to say Wacom is still the best. This one is pretty good. It hasn't caused any problems or damage to my computer, yet, but it is hard to control. This makes it almost impossible to create your own font or make a picture with lots of fine detail without training yourself to use it for a long time. I think it's an alright product, though. It's great if you are looking for a mouse for your laptop and are also looking for a tablet, but I think lots of tablets come with them, any road.
  
  
• Good Tablet for beginners
  By AB4AXT3RHYZQY on 2007-11-10
  I'd been entertaining the idea of buying a tablet for at least a year. After all, I was coloring my work with mismatched color pencils dating back to when I was in elementary school, and I can't afford the pricey prisma colored markers/pencils and certainly not copic markers.
  
  I always thought tablets would be super expensive, but I broke down and started looking for a tablet here. I found this tablet pretty quickly but I was skeptical that a fifty dollar tablet would work well, especially since it's not a Wacom. However, I figured 50 dollars wouldn't be too big a loss and went for the plunge after reading the other reviews here and on other sites.
  
  I received my tablet quickly and went about following the instructions to install it. After some trial and error, I got the tablet working and it works surprisingly well. Once everything's installed properly it's pretty simple, it just takes some getting used to drawing on a tablet and looking at the screen.
  
  I won't say this tablet's perfect. My installation didn't work like the instruction book said it would, I had some glitches I had to work out. And then the instructions said nothing about having to disconnect and reconnect the USB cable from the computer. On the first day my tablet kept giving me this blue line and making sounds but that disappeared by the following day. That and I have to start up Photoshop *with* the tablet in order for photoshop to recognize that it's working with a pressure-sensative pen, but that's not a big deal at all.
  
  Anyway, it's got a few things that aren't great, but it worked out great for me in the end. I think it's a pretty good little tablet to start out with. I'd never have found a Wacom this cheap.
  
  
• Glad I went with this one
  By AMB020BVDWWA3 on 2007-11-17
  I too have never owned a tablet. I did a lot of research on them, but ultimately it was the price that was going to make the deal. I ripped this puppy open as soon as I received it and plugged it in. It was very easy to get it going. I have only used it in Illustrator with great results. One day, my toddler got a hold of it and I was freaking out, thinking it was surely going to be broken. Even after being roughed up, this thing still works great. I almost went with a smaller one for the same price because I had heard the quality might be a little better, but I really wanted more drawing space so I went with this one. Since I have only owned it for a few months, I can't tell you how long it will last, but everything looks good for now. I'm very happy with it and the price is great.
  
  
• Do not waste your time or money
  By A1FILQ16H8R52T on 2007-12-10
  This is the most buddy POS I have purchased from Amazon. It may be useful for a kid but has no professional purpose what so ever. The mouse is erratic and neither it nor the pin can be used with precision. The software that comes with it looks like something from windows 98. Do not waste your time.
  
  
• Bummed
  By A3JN5Q5BX9Y77V on 2007-12-21
  After such wonderful reviews I was excited to receive this product. However, after just three uses, it no longer works. The mouse still works, only because I tried it out (I usually dont use the mouse) to see if it was the pen, tablet or what. I don't know what's up, but the connection to the pen and tablet is kaput. I used it for just a weekend and barely got the hang of it before it went out on me.
  Good luck to all others - it looks like you've got a lot of good reviews to work with.
  
  
• Spyware infection thanks to this product..
  By A26S4GJY4A87 on 2008-03-14
  I picked up the 8x6 as a cheap tablet for my home pc. When it arrived the pen and mouse didn't want to function. I headed to the Genius web site and when I arrived at their US site, a window appeared looking to run an application. I said no and it still installed WinReanimator (Russian spyware) causing major havok. Be warned!
  
  
• Works fine, loaded with spyware
  By A3UZ17HANZ9F1E on 2008-03-14
  I was only looking for a basic a tablet. I think this serves the purpose. It doesn't look very sturdy. I don't find the pressure tip very comfortable. To put it simply, it doesn't feel like writing with a pen at all.
  
  What really annoyed me was the fact that the software that it came with was loaded with all kinds of spyware. Almost made my PC grind to a halt. Be very watchful with what you install from the CD. I think the drivers were clean, but I think the free software was the trojan horse.
  
  
• Very Pleased
  By AM19CF6DTQBJN on 2007-08-15
  I am very pleased with my new Graphic Tablet. It's a real pleasure to use.
  
  
• this is a good choice
  By A36OAL8G3T2KD0 on 2007-08-23
  if you want to buy this product please keep in mind that you are buying something very useful, according to this price(under $50),
  this tablet works very well in XP but sometimes be a little confuse in Vista, i'm not using mac so i don't know about it, doesn't have tilt, but it has a very good pressure that for sure you can't find it in graphier you can program the tablet to use the short key for different softwares, i am using many different software and it works well with all of them,
  
  
• Best Buy
  By A3G4USHZ233LIS on 2007-10-26
  If you're looking for a graphic tablet and you don't want to spend too much money on it (like Wacom tablets) and still get good ratio of gained and invested, this is the tablet for you! It requires some time to adjust to it's use, but once you get the hang of it, it will become invaluable tool for artists, designers and even casual use! High recommendation for this product!
  
  If you want to see what this tablet can do for you and what potential it has, the best example is the art of Nico Di Mattia and his art fusion, the speed painting. (he is using this tablet as well)
  Check the details on www.speed-painting.com!
  
  
• Perfect starter-tablet for those who want to dabble!
  By A68HI7WYKPP2P on 2008-02-03
  It may not be a Wacom, but darn it, this is amazing for the price. I'm a linux user and by following a tutorial at the ubuntu forums, I found installation to be very easy. The tablet mouse is a bit small, but tablet mice in general may always be a tad smaller than a normal mouse, so I can't really complain.
  
  It's got the 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity that any professional tablet has. It doesn't have tilt sensitivity, but I'm guessing the inclusion would have lead to a price higher than what this currently is. The size, for me, is perfect as I'm kinda' used to drawing with small strokes. For someone looking for a 9x12 tablet from Genius, there is one for I think $125 or so, which isn't that bad.
  
  As I said, it may not be a Wacom, but if you or anyone you know has interest in graphic design, do check it out. For fifty bucks, it's an amazing deal. I've had no problems so far and I'll be practicing more once I'm more adept at drawing on paper. In fact, I and anyone in the field of digital art will recommend that you learn drawing skills, whether it be figure drawing, scenery, cartooning, anime, or whatever, first. Then, once you're good at that, make the leap to the digital world.
  
  This is one of the best purchases I've made. I would give this 4 stars since it doesn't have tilt sensitivity, but I'm too happy with this to let a minor quibble get in the way.
  
  Oh, and if you haven't gotten triple-A batteries in a while, start getting some. The stylus and mouse each take one. Also, keep the stylus away from pets =)
  
  For anyone who uses open-source software such as Gimp, Inkscape, and the wonderful animation program Pencil, I highly recommend this.
  
  
• NOT FOR MAC OX S + Bad Customer Service and Cheap Product.
  By ARHFO5WU3L205 on 2008-02-18
  I bought this to use for a new Mac. Once it came not only was the product cheaply made and not "solid" like other pen tablets, the US Customer service was not very helpful (the product and company is Korean I believe). They did not supply a driver for the new Mac and when I called they said "oh our Mac here in the office is a few years old, so we don't know if it works on newer Macs". They did not have the expertise to show me how to get a driver, nor did they seem to care. For Mac people using this for CS3 stay away!
  
  
• Great, especially for a beginner
  By A1MIVA5HJ431E on 2008-02-20
  This is a great product for those who want a tablet without spending much. It's good quality, and is just a step down from WACOM. If you have a child who wants a tablet, but there's the risk that they lose intrest (as children do) then the low price is perfect. Or if you're just starting out with getting into Flash, or other animation, then it's a good tablet to get used to the feel without making a big hole in your bank account. It works great, is a good size, and the price just can't be beat.
  
  

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