-Batteries in the pen and because of this the working part of the pen is lighter than the upper tip and it outweighs.
-Icons on the edges must be turned off while drawing, they are very disturbing. All the time, leading a long line, you cling to some ex-tree.
-the pen eats a battery all the time. Even if the tablet has been idle for a week, you may need to replace the battery, which, frankly, infuriates. You can't order inspiration to come when the battery is fresh.
-the pin on the pen does not make sense and only interferes.

19 0

Price, large work area, and nothing more.

The tablet sometimes loses contact with the pen, if you remove the pen, you have to tap on the working surface.
I can't say anything else bad. Perhaps only sometimes in win7 there are problems with the driver, but this can be solved.

Many people write shortcomings about the battery, the heaviness of the pen - well, I don't know. The battery has been working for a year now. The nib is slightly heavier than a regular pen. Not complaining.
I am a designer, I work for this device for several years. I use it quite often and I think that negative reviews are unfair.

Complain Did the review help? 4 0

Affordable price!
The working area is enough for the eyes!
It's enough to draw for the soul.

Why is there, the tablet is not professional!

The weight of the pen and battery does not interfere with your drawing at all.

Complain Did the review help? 11 1

-The main and main drawback is the pen. Together with the battery, it is quite heavy, with poor sensitivity and unnecessary buttons and a clothespin (I took them off).
-The tablet itself inside is a narrow strip of the board with a USB output, with a sensor film connected. It happened that the contact with the sensor was broken and the cursor began to jump. was treated by cleaning the contacts with an eraser.
- personally, I never found feathers for him on sale, although they last for a relatively long time.

If you remember these pens with a bunch of colored rods inside, then you can roughly imagine the ergonomics of the F610.
Personally, my battery lasts for six months, maybe I draw a little .. In general, a good option.

Complain Did the review help? 6 2

The price, the huge working surface, I think the pen is very convenient. The battery lasts for more than 2 years .. I'm thinking of changing, but not many AAA batteries are more suitable ..

I changed the rod, I started to react less, I have to knock on the surface, I am a little upset, it may be worth changing the battery. In any case, I am satisfied.

Since the photo industry does not stand still, but is constantly developing itself, like other sectors of our life, manufacturers are trying to follow the market trend and make adjustments to their structure. Therefore, today we will talk about the genius g pen f610 graphics tablet, which expands the possibilities of creating drawings and other graphic elements on a stationary computer using specialized programs.

Appearance

Technical requirements

Despite the fact that this is a rather complex technical device, it does not require such transcendental requirements for computers, for example:

1. To work, you will need a minimum: Pentium processor with clock frequency at 233 MHz and higher;
2. The computer must support USB devices;
3. CD-ROM must be installed - optional;
4. And the operating system is not lower than WindowsXP 2000.

Specification

The graphics tablet itself is available in sizes as small as 10 inches by 6.25 inches. At the same time, the main panel contains 29 programming keys for Office, Paint, Internet and others.

The manufacturer's website indicates that the working area is A5 size, but the presence of buttons, as mentioned above, expands the boundaries for work. Connect to desktop computer comes through a standard USB connector.

Pen for interaction

The sensitivity of the drawing pen is 1024, the positioning is + -0.42 millimeters, and the extension is up to 2000 lpi.

It is important to know that the minimum distance between the tablet and the pen surface is 10 millimeters.

The tablet weighs almost 600 grams, plus a manipulation pen - 22 grams.

Equipment

Factory complete set

The tablet is packed in a rather massive box, which contains its photograph and brief technical characteristics in 23 languages \u200b\u200band one complete in English.

The kit includes:

1. The graphics tablet itself;
2. Drivers for computer: for different types operating system, plus additional extensions for manipulating hot keys and pen settings;
3. Touch pen;
4. Two removable tips plus a dedicated extractor
5. Pen holder;
6. Various documentation and operating instructions.

In addition, the service life of each of the handpieces is designed only for a year and no more.

Setting up your tablet

It is worth noting that under the guidance of the Vista operating system, the tablet will work without drivers, however, on other operating systems, you should install the entire full-fledged application package, and we also recommend registering your devices on the manufacturer's website - get an account.

Pen program

As you can see, the application for customization is quite primitive and consists of two windows: the first is used as an instruction (you can also customize the shape and dimensions), and in the second, direct customization is already taking place.

Pen customization

The pen has two keys for setting in the program, they are used on the right and left keys of a conventional mouse. Since this pen tablet has its own pressure sensitivity, depending on the ratio, the pressure will be different - measured as a percentage in the picture above. By default, the pointing-pen is set for right-handed use.

Work surface program

The driver kit also includes a configuration program function keys on the tablet working surface. That is, you select a key and assign it a task that it should perform when interacting with it.

If something does not come out, there is a Russian-language manual, both in electronic form and on the manufacturer's website. All drivers are also present on the manufacturer's website.

It is important to know that the manufacturer's warranty is 3 years - please note that sellers do not have the right to set the period less than stated.

Testing in Paint

As practice has shown, the use of a pen for other purposes, that is, a non-graphic package is very, very tight (search on the Internet), all the same manipulations with mice are done two, or even three times faster and easier.

But there were no complaints from the specialized programs, of course it took time to adapt to the pen (work for the mice is given in signs), but all the expectations were not in vain. Sensitively very good, with the pen you can simulate any size of strokes from pencils to markers - it all depends on the degree of pressing, you cannot do this on a mouse in your life, not so functional.

Some brakes were noticed in data transmission, that is, there was some delay from pressing to action, but no pattern was found.

In principle, the device is suitable for novice artists and nothing more.

A quick tour of an inexpensive graphics tablet

For beginners, we work and draw in a new way

The tablet ended up with us, by and large, by chance, for the company with mice. It is the tablet tests that should be done by a person who uses them in his daily work and has the ability to compare with each other. Our activity is far from drawing and graphics processing. However, graphics have to be processed from time to time, and we have known graphic editors in general terms for a long time. And it was always interesting why data entry with a tablet is so good. Therefore, a representative of this separate large class of devices for organizing a machine-human interface, who accidentally found itself in the hands, was immediately connected and tested in operation. The review was not planned at the beginning, but the idea arose that there are not so few such PC users, and some of them are also looking at tablets from afar, and this material was written for them. That is to say, a fresh and unclouded lamer's look. Our lamerism is illustrated by a reproduction of a famous painting - the best we could depict. With a pencil on paper, it would have turned out about the same.

Tablets are devices for entering information into a PC, built on a principle similar to the principle of operation of a mouse. The main difference is that if the mouse transmits its relative coordinates for display, the reference point of which is selected each time based on its current position and the cursor on the screen, then the tablet works in absolute coordinate space, that is, each point exactly corresponds to a certain point on the monitor ... Based on this, you can imagine the working plane of the tablet as a kind of sheet of paper that has an absolutely exact copy on the PC screen. The next big difference is that data entry is carried out with a pen, which is much more natural for a draftsman who is accustomed to a pencil or a brush than "poking around the table with a soap dish." Professional skills are used to the fullest, which significantly increases labor productivity.

Of course, you can draw on paper or canvas, and then digitize the image, for example, using a scanner. But the main disadvantage of this approach is not even that an extra stage is added that slows down the overall process, but an artificial limitation at the first stage of the range of expressive means. The power of modern graphic editors is such that it allows you to significantly expand the toolkit already at the stage of entering the initial image, and not only significantly modify it in the process of further processing. Therefore, the stylus of the tablet can be a pencil, and pastel chalk, and a felt-tip pen, and an incredible set of brushes in real life, and an eraser.

The only unpleasant feature is that the image is applied to one surface, and appears on a completely different one. This is surmountable, the combination of a tablet and a screen is not difficult to implement technically, but so far either for a lot of money, or with a quality that is limitedly suitable even for amateur use.

The device under consideration today belongs to the middle class, both in size and in technical characteristics. Its peculiarity is that the manufacturer clearly positions it not only (and not even so much) for working in graphics packages, but also for managing the OS interface and the widespread use of handwriting in ordinary office programs. It is not for us to judge how justified it is, we type much faster and, most importantly, more legible than we write with a pen, but all people are different and, perhaps, it is more pleasant for someone to write letters by hand. And there is also such a tendency in the modern world - since with the help of a computer everything can be done beautifully, harmoniously and intricately without much effort, hand made, even simple and naive, but complete spirituality ... So a drawn curved face may well replace a smiley from punctuation marks in correspondence, especially a personal one. Expressive possibilities and emotional coloring will only become brighter from this.

Another consideration about the undoubted benefits of having such a device on the market is the spread of computers for children to the masses. Drawing with hands is much more useful for the younger generation than blunt shooting of monsters, both in terms of the development of fine motor skills and creative thinking, and in terms of mental health. Ideally, it would be necessary to teach kids at the same time to communicate with a PC using several input devices, in order to develop a variety of alternative stereotypes for performing approximately the same actions. That is, the simultaneous development of the keyboard, mouse, tablet, joystick and steering wheel is certainly useful for a child. The rationale behind this claim is extensive and beyond the scope of today's article. The lower age threshold for a child's access to a computer is run by parents, we believe that under five years old they should not look at the monitor at all.

Now we will complete the extensive introduction and move on to specifics. Clarifications on the quality of photographs and repetitions in the text.

Contents of delivery

Large white and red box, decorated with product images and detailed description on english language... In 23 other languages, including Russian, only brief technical characteristics.

Upon opening, we find the tablet itself in a non-woven bag, a pen, an AAA battery, two replaceable nibs and a stand for it, two sheets with hot-key icons in Windows XP and Vista, and a short installation guide (available in Russian), with See attached Vista UAC disabling instructions ;-)

In addition, there are three disks, the first with Mac drivers. The second one with drivers under Windows Vista, XP, XP 64 bit, 2000 and programs for these OS: Macro Key Manager (for reassigning active interface elements), Free Note (for organizing virtual "yellow stickers"), Office Ink (support for manual input in MS Ofice) and Power Presenter RE (add-on for MS PowerPoint that allows you to easily draw and manage presentations in it using a tablet). It has more detailed manual user in many languages, including Russian. The third disc contains the graphics editor Ulead PhotoImpact 12SE, serial number on the envelope. As you can see, the set of programs is sufficient for all cases of handwriting input.

Design

Black, flat, less than 5 mm thick tablet measuring 26 x 30 cm, the frame is rounded at the bottom, thickened at the top, glossy black. The reverse side is equipped with five rubber feet, it is held securely on the table. On the right, in the upper part, a blue indicator, blinking during operation, is next to a thin cord in plastic insulation, one and a half meters long with a USB interface, fixed through a damper. The working surface is covered with a transparent matte protective film, under it you can put a sheet of paper with the designations of the active keys. Includes two sheets with pre-configured sets for XP and Vista.

The pen looks like a regular pen, but contains a rocker button on the side, which acts as the two main mouse buttons (by default, the lower one corresponds to the right). Rubber tip, includes two spare and tweezers for extracting the worn out. For placing the stylus on the table - a stand made of soft black rubber, enclosed in transparent plexiglass, stylish. There is a clip for attaching the pen to the pocket.

In general, the kit will not spoil appearance any desktop, but naturally requires a lot of space for its placement. The cable is too short to work on the lap, but this problem can be easily solved by using a USB extension cable that did not change the operation of the device.

Specifications

The size of the working area for drawing is 6 x 10 inches, or 159 x 254 mm. The declared format is A5. At the same time, one centimeter from the top and from the sides is reserved for active keys, up to 29 in number, and there is also an inactive frame on the sides, so the overall dimensions are larger.

The interface is a regular wired USB with a maximum port polling rate of 125 Hz. Tablet weight - 570 grams, pens - 22 grams.

Cursor positioning accuracy ± 0.42 mm, 1024 gradations of pressure sensitivity, resolution 2000 lpi. The maximum height from the tip of the pen to the surface at which it interacts with the tablet is 10 mm.

Control software

Under Vista it works without drivers, under XP it is required. But it is better to install both the drivers and the "active keys" manager - they allow to use the tablet much more efficiently. We installed the rest of the programs for informational purposes and we can only say that they work quite stably and predictably, the interface is simple and clear, and the functionality is primitive and logical. Each program has a Russian-language manual in pdf format.

Pen Pad Control Panel Applet

Essentially a device driver. It has two tabs with simple settings. The first simply toggles the type of pen tracking. Or in absolute coordinates (pen), or in relative (sliding mouse).

On the second tab, the buttons on the pen are reassigned, the choice options: right, left or middle mouse button. And the most important thing is the calibration of the pen. The "almost touched" position is regulated, here we were quite satisfied with the automatic settings. And pressure sensitivity, 30 steps. Here, the default value of 4 seemed completely underestimated to us, we had to press hard on the pen to get the result. However, when setting the value to 10, everything returned to normal, the movement of the cursor smoothly and tactilely turned into drawing a thin line, and in turn, in a convenient way, small changes in the pressing force adjusted its thickness.

Macro Key Manager

Use to customize active application controls, most closely resembling additional buttons on a multimedia keyboard. Despite the presence in the set of two sheets with the designation of these controls, there are four presets in the program. In addition to the XP and Vista interface, there are customized templates for the included graphics editor Ulead PhotoImpact and Adobe Photoshop Elements, which is well-known and often found in the delivery kits of cameras, scanners, etc. The pre-configured buttons in the presets cannot be changed, but there are several unassigned in each of them, and, in addition, you can create your own fully customizable set.

The choice of actions for each button comes down to launching an executable file or emulating a combination of any key with any set of modifiers. The only thing missing is the assignment of standard actions for HID devices, as in mouse and keyboard drivers. Moreover, a template for printing your own linings with the designations of the active keys.

In general, the software package can be assessed as quite sufficient for a wide range of applications, and the drivers - as convenient and powerful. The crooked Russification, in general, characteristic of the company's products, does not interfere with the assimilation of the meaning of the interface of programs and instructions. Given a high-quality Russian site with an authentic language on it, such a pitiful translation of the drivers seems very strange and illogical.

Support

There is a Russian-language website dedicated to the company's products. The descriptions are laconic, but they contain both a general idea and technical details, although not all. There are photos, but small ones, I would like a few pieces in relatively high resolution and from different sides. Although, in general, you can get an idea of \u200b\u200bthe products. Drivers are easy to find, downloads quickly.

This particular model was not yet available on the Russian mirror at the time of testing, but it was presented on the English home page. We had a test, pre-production sample.

The manufacturer gives a three-year warranty for all its products, but when buying this issue must be agreed with the seller. Although they do not have the right to give a guarantee for the product less than stated by the manufacturer, this happens with us, so be careful. Receiving services under the manufacturer's warranty when the seller's warranty has expired is often associated with a significant number of additional gestures.

Exploitation

We did not like working in the interface of the operating system and non-graphical applications. Any action using the mouse is much faster, and when working with the keyboard and using key combinations, it is much faster. However, while working in graphic packages, the use of the command interface of the program with the help of a pen did not cause any negative emotions or internal bias. So personal habits and preferences are important.

It was not easy to get used to the keys on the stylus, but basic operations do not require pressing them, and double-clicking can be performed in the same way as on the touchpad - by double-tapping the surface with the tip of the pen. Touching the surface is accompanied by a sound signal, which we could not turn off. I didn't really want to - it only increases the convenience of interacting with the device.

The only serious complaint about the work is the sometimes slow response to user actions. It really got in the way. But it manifested itself only from time to time, and the patterns of the phenomenon remained incomprehensible.

Drawing itself was limited only by the lack of ability for this occupation, there is no difference in writing on paper and on a tablet after a little getting used to the device. Photo processing is easy and natural, but again, to fully reveal the potential of this method, you need own a line ... As a result, it turned out to be easier to work with the mouse, although a lot of effort was spent on getting used to it.

The main advantage of the pen over the mouse is its pressure sensitivity, which results in variable line thickness as you drag. In principle, it is impossible to imitate a felt-tip pen or a soft brush with the mouse, but here - please. In general, we think that if you have at least minimal drawing skills on paper, using a tablet to draw in digital form is fully justified.

There is one more thing that interferes with the work somewhat - you draw on the table, and the line appears on the monitor perpendicular to it. Our level of abstraction is quite high, and we did not experience any practical inconveniences from this. But here all people have different ways, it is difficult to guess in advance. We can only say that tablets with built-in monitors (or vice versa - monitors with integrated tablets) are now so expensive that it is completely pointless for non-professionals to look in this direction.

In general, we recommend trying a tablet (this or another) for those who have been looking closely at them for a long time, know how to draw, and from time to time draws or processes photos on a computer. Chances are, the end result is convenience rather than frustration. If in doubt, don't hesitate! ;-)

Availability

At the time of this writing, the price of the tablet was around $ 100, which is comparable to the price of a good mouse. In our opinion, it will not become a serious barrier on the way to expanding the fleet of input devices for graphics lovers who are constrained in expressive means by one mouse. But for a spontaneous purchase (saw - took!) Too much. The table shows a tablet in Moscow that is relevant at the time you read this article:

findings

The middle (and not the initial) class in terms of technical characteristics is combined with good performance, excellent equipment and stylish appearance. If you start your acquaintance with tablets, then approximately from such a device that will not disappoint, and will allow you to grow and improve to the level until the user's qualifications outgrow his technical capabilities. The impressions are generally favorable. A child can look at something easier as the first one, anyway, most likely, it will break in the learning process, so as not to regret ... :-)

Advantages

• Quality materials, quality assembly
• Stylish appearance
• Rich functionality
• It performs its functions well
• Customizable active interface controls
• Good technical characteristics
• Sufficient software package

disadvantages

• Sometimes does not immediately respond to user actions

Features:

• Wired interface
• Strange Russification of drivers
• Explicit addressing for home user who has this first tablet

Oleg Tatarnikov

Today, no one is surprised by the power of modern graphic editors. Possessing certain skills, they can be used to create real masterpieces. But, unfortunately, interaction with a graphical editor using traditional input means - keyboard and mouse - is by no means convenient and efficient. Of course, for simple basic operations, a keyboard and a mouse are quite enough, but what if you need more subtle retouching of photos or you want to do computer painting? This undoubtedly requires special drawing tools - graphic tablets. But what can I say - try, for example, to reproduce your signature in a graphic editor using the mouse! Happened?

KYE Systems Corp. (Brand owner Genius) recently introduced new tablet models with a wireless pressure-sensitive pen.

Artists and designers are intended for the 4000 lpi (lines per inch) M-series G-Pen M712 and M609, and for a wide range of users - the ultra-thin portable F-series (F610 and F350) models with a 2000 lpi resolution.

The cordless pen-manipulator (stylus) of all these tablets has a pressure sensitivity of 1,024 gradations, which allows you to precisely control the shape and thickness of lines when drawing, as well as the degree of application of some other editing tools. In addition, the pen is equipped with two programmable buttons that can be used like mouse buttons.

A distinctive feature of the devices is the ability to work with a screen of any size, and panels specially highlighted along the edge of the working area act as hot keys (including function buttons that are customizable by the user), providing quick access to the most frequently used applications, such as Office, or multimedia features in Vista, or the navigation capabilities of the Internet. By tapping these panels, you can quickly scroll text, zoom in, shift a photo, etc.

However, the principle of operation of a graphics tablet is known and, unlike, for example, manipulators of the "mouse" type, it is closer to the usual drawing with a pen on paper, therefore it is more convenient for creative people to use in their work just such tablets, which some replace not only a mouse, but also keyboard.

Moreover, we should especially note that before the release of Genius products, graphic tablets that satisfy the requirements of artists were, of course, but they were very expensive, so not everyone could afford them. Now, thanks to Genius products, the price of graphic tablets has dropped significantly: compared to other solutions of a similar level and with the same working area, these devices cost almost half the price - the manufacturer's recommended price for the most expensive professional graphic tablet Genius G-Pen M712 set at $ 250 (about 6 thousand rubles), and the miniature G-Pen F350 is already on sale in Russia at a price of about $ 50 (1100-1300 rubles). And if you take into account that the G-Pen M712 package also includes software such as Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 (all other models are equipped graphics program Ulead PhotoImpact 12SE), then even the price of $ 250 will not seem excessive (recall that Photoshop Elements was previously sold by Adobe for $ 100, although it is now out a new version 6.0, but it will be possible to upgrade to it from the fifth version). Thus, the G-Pen tablets are fully equipped for the full-fledged work of an artist or designer, and the M712 comes with one of the most popular image editing and photo retouching programs.

In addition to drawing programs, the CD-ROM with software for G-Pen tablets contains Macro Key Manager / E-manual for Vista / XP / 2000, Power Presenter RE / Free Notes & Office Ink for XP / 2000 and all necessary drivers for Mac (under running OS X 10.2.8+) and PC (under windows management Vista / XP / 2000).

In addition to the Adobe Photoshop Elements program, the Genius G-Pen M712 tablet has a wider set of multimedia panels for quick access to the most frequently used applications, as well as the presence of round volume control knobs (each of the digitizers is equipped with a set of hot buttons, but their number is different - for example, The M712 has 34 such buttons, while the F350 has 22 and no knobs). Various functions can be assigned to these macro buttons (as well as the special “wheels” symmetrically located in the upper corners of the M712, which by default adjust the speaker volume). For example, if you often perform operations such as copying, pasting or saving a file, then it is reasonable to assign these actions to hotkeys - then to perform these functions you can simply touch the corresponding panels with the stylus (by the way, the stylus works at a distance of up to 1 cm) ... Hotkeys are configured using Macro Key Manager, which is installed along with the tablet drivers.

We would like to emphasize that all tablets can work with any screen size. So, a distinctive feature of the G-Pen M712 is the ability to quickly switch the screen from standard display mode (in aspect ratio 3: 4) to widescreen (16: 9) and vice versa - the size of the active area can change from 241.3x184.2 to 304 , 8x184.2 mm. Depending on the video monitor used, you can select the desired mode and switch between modes by pressing the desired button on the tablet. Next to the mode selection buttons there are small blue LEDs, which, after switching, indicate the selected mode. Switching the functions of the control wheels is also indicated on the panel (Scroll, Zoom, Volume, Wide / Standard).

Connecting the tablet to a PC does not raise any questions - you just plug the device into an available USB port, the operating system finds a “new USB device,” and the blue power indicator on the tablet starts blinking, indicating that the tablet is ready for use. The tablets are also powered from the USB port, so all connection is carried out with one cord. Then you need to install drivers, necessary utilities (for example, Macro Key Manager for assigning hotkeys or a small Free Notes program that performs the function of a notepad with the ability to draw with saving the result as a handwritten picture) and drawing software. Everything you need for this is on CD-ROMs, and, in fact, this is where the preparation of the device for operation ends. By the way, Windows Vista recognizes the tablet and starts working with it even without installing drivers and software, but, unfortunately, only in multimedia mode, when recognizing navigation gestures and in simple drawing mode (without pressure sensitivity). So you can walk around with your tablet and connect it to other computers without any setup (like giving a presentation or video conferencing).

As for the graphics software, the functionality of Ulead PhotoImpact 12SE and Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 is about the same, but the latter package is more popular and, in our opinion, better suited for the work of an artist and designer. And the imitation of traditional painting tools allows you to create vibrant works that combine styles and techniques that cannot be combined on real canvas or paper.

The use of graphic tablets is especially important not only for fine and precise drawing, but also for editing photographs. For example, it is quite difficult to retouch and tint the eyes so that the picture becomes expressive without touching the wrinkles near the eyes using the mouse, since the positioning of the cursor there is not as precise and accurate as on a tablet, and the adjustable degree of pressure allows you not to be distracted by changing such parameters such as the size of the brush or the hardness of the tool used.

So even if you do not draw and do not want to paint, but simply take pictures with your family, then editing pictures is not very convenient without a tablet.

And, finally, in the small Free Notes program, which extends the functions of a standard notepad, you can quickly draw some handwritten sketches and save the result as a picture.

This is useful both for presentations and for group discussions, say in video conferencing. You can, for example, quickly transfer a map or diagram from paper directly to a computer by placing the paper under the celluloid backing of the tablet working area.

And Power Presenter RE / Free Notes & Office Ink combined with a digital pen makes it easy to add handwritten notes, comments, illustrations, and signatures to word documents, Excel and PowerPoint.

In addition, as with any tablet, in the operating room windows system you can hang up a number of multimedia functions such as navigation control, handwriting recognition or mnemonic control, as is usually done on pocket PCs. Thus, having mastered this simple graphical control system, you can do without a keyboard and mouse.

The Genius tablet, of course, can be considered a very successful purchase, and not only for artists and designers who can significantly save on this professional toolkit, but also for a wide range of users, many of whom are finally able to afford these useful computer accessories today.

Genius G-Pen M712 is the flagship of the Genius line of graphic tablets, which has an impressive working area and high technical characteristics (resolution and pen sensitivity). It can be safely recommended to professionals in the field of computer graphics and photo retouching. Most home users do not need such a large tablet - they can easily get by with the inexpensive, portable and super-thin Genius G-Pen F350 tablet to just draw in their free time or edit their photos. In general, the Genius line of graphic tablets has models for every taste, and their affordability allows, for example, to make good gift friends and acquaintances, which may contribute to the popularization of this useful computer tool and will allow it to be widely used for creating presentations, handwritten notes, editing photos and graphics.

If you still doubt the need to purchase a graphics tablet, then we assure you that everyone who uses graphics editors at least occasionally should have these tools.

June 26, 2008, Sloutsker Vyacheslav 14

On a modern computer, you can create the most real masterpieces. More and more often, paintings by talented designers go under the hammer for incredibly big money. What previously could only be done with a brush on canvas is now available in electronic form using computers and devices such as tablets. And today we will consider a very interesting multifunctional inexpensive novelty of the professional tablet market - Genius G-Pen M712.

With the advent of the 21st century, from a sufficient number of creative people began, I'm not afraid of this word, persecution of the modern computing technology and everything connected with it. Here, for example, is one of the arguments from their side, which, most likely, everyone heard - they say people, especially young people, have practically stopped going to the theater and concerts, and instead they watch movies on a computer, and listen to music on MP3 iPods, museums are also visited much less often, books are read more and more in electronic form, and even if they read.

It turns out that not everyone likes the global arrival of "numbers". After all, for a creative person to create something unique standard means modern PC is quite difficult - first you have to tinker with paper, and then digitize and edit on a computer.

So, especially for creative people, and in particular for artists, engineers or graphic designers, there are special devices that allow you to draw lines with a pen on a tablet, and not with a mouse on a rug, which is quite inconvenient. For example, try in the same Paint with the mouse to draw a wavy line from the upper right corner of the screen to the lower left and see how smooth it is, and then try to do the same, but with a pen on paper and, as they say, feel the difference. From which a small conclusion should be drawn - a mouse, of course, is a convenient thing, but not everyone can draw with it.

The principle of operation of the tablet is closest to how a person draws on paper, which, in fact, makes it a very successful tool for all kinds of creativity. And therefore, the already mentioned wavy lines drawn on a tablet and on paper will be very similar.

As you probably already guessed, today we will talk about tablets, or rather about the company's new product Genius -tablet Genius G-Pen M712... The first thing to note is G-Pen M712 -really is a novelty, since at the time of testing it was not yet on sale. Secondly, I will immediately mention that the device should be of interest not only to amateurs, but also to professionals, because, due to its characteristics, it has not so many analogues. Well, as they say, closer to the point.

Specifications

Characteristics Genius G-Pen M712 were tabulated:

This tablet can rightfully be called the flagship of the company's tablet line. Genius... And it's not just about the technical characteristics, it's also about dimensions. This tablet is simply huge, judge for yourself - the width is about 40 cm, not every workplace can accommodate it, a keyboard and a tiny mouse. However, the more space for "drawing", the more accurately the image will be transferred to the computer - isn't that the main thing for a tablet? One of the unique opportunities Genius G-Pen M712 is the ability to switch between widescreen and standard operating modes, and this is done by pressing just one key. Thus, the tablet is suitable for both 4: 3 and 16:10 modes.

Undoubtedly, this is very convenient due to the widespread use of widescreen monitors. Apart from this, it is worth mentioning the very high resolution - 4000 lpi ("Lines per inch" - lines per inch), and do not forget that the pen is capable of distinguishing 1024 levels of pressure, which allows you to accurately control the shape and thickness of lines when drawing. By the way, the pen's operating time from one AAA battery is just under a year! Impressive?

How does a tablet with a cordless pen work? In words, everything is, as always, quite simple - an antenna is located in the tablet, which emits electromagnetic pulses, which in turn are received by the receiver located in the pen. Then the pen sends out a response electromagnetic pulse, thereby allowing you to determine your position relative to the tablet working surface.

Genius G-Pen M712 Package Contents

• The tablet.
• Cordless pen with AAA battery.
• Two spare pen tips.
• Pen stand.
• CD with drivers and utilities for Windows and Mac.
• Corel PhotoImpact 12SE.
• Adobe PhotoShop Elements 5.0
• Installation instructions.

The box has a small carrying handle, and if the box were not so colorful and bright, then it could be recognized as a huge case. On the front and back of it there is information about the tablet in different languages \u200b\u200band, of course, images of the tablet and pen. The box is framed in standard for the company Geniusred and white, so you shouldn't dwell on it in detail, though I remind you - the size is impressive.

The central element of the kit, which is located in the box, as you might guess, is a tablet. Actually, he is the culprit for the large box size. The tablet looks in one word - great, I would even say - majestic. This majesty is especially noticeable when he finds himself at the workplace (completely occupying it).

It is immediately obvious that the designers Geniusdesigned a tablet for designers, because it looks very attractive - smooth, black, all lines are slightly smoothed, in a word, the thing is very, very nice. In the upper corners, two wheels are symmetrically located, on which you can "hang" various functions, for example: adjusting the sound, scaling and scrolling.

True, I was very surprised that both wheels perform the same function at the same time, that is, there is no way to adjust the sound by one, while the other at that moment to scroll across the page or enlarge the picture, although, in fairness, it is worth noting that the mode switching buttons for them are located nearby ... Most likely, this unusual solution has two reasons: caring for right-handers and left-handers, as well as ensuring a symmetrical appearance of the device. Well, both are commendable.

Besides the tablet, the pen is quite interesting. It is packed in a separate box, in which, in addition to the pen, you can find a battery, replaceable attachments, a small instruction on changing attachments and installing batteries, as well as special tweezers for changing attachments.

The pen is made in a style similar to the tablet, the only difference in design is a silver strip along the nib. The pen looks very stylish and, moreover, it is quite comfortable in the hand, which is quite an important factor, since, in my opinion, it is much more pleasant to create with ease.

Unlike the usual pens for us, the feather is rather narrow at the top and, so to speak, rather puffy at the bottom - which, together with the silver stripe, makes the feather look like a killer whale.

Closer to the bottom of the pen, there are two buttons that exactly repeat the actions of the right and left mouse buttons, which for some reason are made of transparent plastic and therefore slightly expose the electronic filling of the pen. Of course, the designers of the company Genius you know better what buttons should be on the pen, but, in my opinion, transparent buttons look a little out of place, besides, they wobble slightly when pressed, which is also not particularly pleasing.

Since a feather is a rather fragile thing, it is not good to allow it to lie, do not understand how and where. Therefore, the set includes a special pen stand with a large logo Geniuswhich looks great again.

For greater stability, the bottom of the stand has a rubber lining, which will not allow it to "ride" on the table. It is worth noting that when the feather is installed on a stand, this composition looks very serious and from the side it resembles a small obelisk.

So, the main elements of the kit have been considered, let's go directly to the process of using the tablet.

Using Genius G-Pen M712

Connecting the tablet to a PC shouldn't cause questions - thanks to the USB bus. Once connected, a blue light starts blinking friendly on the tablet to indicate that the tablet is ready for use. Then you need to install drivers and utilities. This is done in a fairly standard way, and everything you need for this is on the disks. Actually, this is where the preparation of the device for work is over, you can safely start creating without customizing anything, however, there are some useful options that can facilitate the creative process.

As already mentioned, the tablet is capable of working in two modes - normal and widescreen. Therefore, depending on your monitor, you should select the desired mode. You can switch between modes by pressing the desired button on the tablet, by the way, next to the mode selection buttons there are also small blue lamps, which at any time allow you to understand which of the modes is currently selected. In addition to the format switching buttons, there are three more buttons on the tablet that are responsible for switching the functions of the left and right wheels. There are also blue lights next to these buttons, so you won't be able to forget the wheels in response.

Specifically, in order to make the tablet as functional as possible and capable of performing some operations that are more convenient to do with the keyboard or mouse, along the perimeter of the tablet working area (with the exception of the bottom) are located 34 hotkeys, on which you can "hang" any action, such as paste, copy or save. Agree, this is very convenient, but remembering the assignments of all 34 keys at once is rather difficult, if not impossible. Hot keys are configured using the program Macro Key Managerthat is installed along with the drivers.

So, having set up the tablet, you can start creating. In order to simply move the cursor around the screen, you need to move the pen over the tablet at a height of up to 1 cm, respectively, to perform an action similar to the mouse cheek, you need to click on one of the buttons on the pen, or just quickly press, I would even say, "click" pen on the tablet. As for drawing, drawing with a tablet is quite simple, since this process is very similar to drawing on paper - press the pen and move - the result is a line on the screen. Isn't it easier than ever, however, even to such simplicity you have to get used to.

Where to create? Well, for example, in a small program Free Notes, which is installed with the drivers and acts as a notepad, drawing in which, the result can be saved as a picture.

You can also use the program Office Inc, which is again installed with the drivers and allows you to draw or take notes, say, right on the desktop. However, these programs can hardly be used as a professional means of creating graphics. And besides, why do you need a pen that distinguishes 1024 levels of pressure, if you use a program that is not able to reflect the lines, drawn with different levels of pressure and with functionality that does not even match MS Paint.

In order to realize the full potential of such an advanced tablet, professional graphics packages are needed, at least those that are included with the Genius G-Pen M712 - Corel PhotoImpact 12 SEand Adobe PhotoShop Elements 5.0 (lightweight and slightly outdated versions of professional applications). I note right away that the functionality of these solid graphics packages does not differ much, and therefore it is already a matter of taste which one to use.

True, with largely similar functionality, it is worth noting that PhotoImpact less picky about system resources and, as a result, works a little faster than the product from Adobe... As for the rest, describing the possibilities for creating and editing images of these programs, and this is their main task, is a very lengthy exercise, the result of which can be a separate article, or a book, therefore I will only describe what only a tablet can do and no You can't do that with a mouse.

And we are talking about drawing - it is here that it is noticeable that the pen is very sensitive to pressure and distinguishes 1024 levels of pressure (in fairness, it is worth noting that your humble servant, with all his might, could not check this figure, since he himself does not have such a level of sensitivity ).

It's easy to draw, select the desired tool and the harder we press on the pen, the thicker the line is. Thus, by combining the pressure and the various types of brushes and effects that the mentioned packages offer, you can have the imagination to create masterpieces, and do it right away in digital form.

findings

Undoubtedly, the G-Pen M712 is the flagship of the Genius tablet line, and therefore one of the most outstanding tablets in terms of its characteristics. It can be safely recommended to professional artists and designers, as it was made especially for them, but most home users are unlikely to need such a "giant" to just paint in their free time.

And the point is not only that for him, due to its dimensions, it would be nice to have a separate workplace - it's a matter of price. Approximately 6,000 rubles - this is how much the Genius G-Pen M712 will cost (and this is far from the highest price for devices with similar dimensions and functionality). IN currently on sale you can find a simpler tablet model that will cost 4 times cheaper and can fully satisfy the needs of amateurs.

Interestingly, the Russian tablet market is rather poor and does not strive to develop much. Judge for yourself - there are about four manufacturers on the market, which all together offer about 20-30 models (this is taking into account all sizes) - here the eyes clearly cannot run away when choosing. And all this, in my opinion, is rather strange, because a tablet is a convenient and useful thing, moreover, it is a pretty good gift for a child, allowing him to develop his computer skills not with the help, but with the help of, say, painting.

In the meantime, we can only hope that in the near future, tablets will become more widespread and cease to be exotic.

Pros:

• High quality workmanship of the tablet and pen.
• High sensitivity.
• Support for normal and widescreen modes.
• Large work area.
• Nice appearance.

Minuses:

• Not detected during testing.