Genius offers up G-Pen F610 pen tablet

Genius' latest digital pad (dubbed the G-Pen F610) does quite a bit more than just give users a medium for digitally penning their most favorite doodle ideas, as the 29 programmable hot keys will probably make your keyboard a tad envious. Furthermore, the two pen buttons can "also be programmed as left and right mouse buttons," further distancing you from your tried and true control combo. As for the tablet itself, it measures in at six- x ten-inches, plays nice with Vista and OS X, and features a pen with nearly one year of battery life. Regrettably, Genius has yet to open its trap in regard to a price.

[Via PCLaunches]

[XSportSeeker @ Aug 24th 2007 10:38AM]

This is nice and all, but I'm guessing:
1. Will be cheap;
2. Won't work as a Wacom substitute.

Given the previous versions on tablets from Genius and other "generic" brands (like Aiptek), the tablet is pretty much a mouse-in-a-pen that works not without glitches.
Also, no pressure sensivity. I hope they at least did some work on the surface of the tablet, since previous versions were not even close to feel like pencil on paper (felt more like plastic on plastic, which it really was).

But anyways, a really cheap tablet that probably won't work for most users. Still, good to see some competition against Wacom. Their products are nice, but too pricey (even doing all they do).

[Brian @ Aug 24th 2007 12:01PM]

Cheap, yes, but not as a Wacom substitute? I just bought a 6x8 MousePen tablet from them, for my sister. So far, the thing works very well. Simple driver install (a lot of options, more than I've seen on my Wacom), big board, bunch of little buttons to program, and the thing has double the sensitivity as my Wacom, all for half the price.

Actually, he only thing I can see that Wacom has over the pad is brand name, and the magnetic tip they use (the genius pen and mouse need a triple A battery). Genius seems to be doing a good job competing with Wacom in terms of features and stuff, but they need more marketing or something as I'd never heard of them till I moved here to South America (where EVERY input device is made by them :P).

[Fleiteh @ Feb 15th 2008 10:34PM]

No pressure sensitivity... man what are you talking about? there are 1024 levels of pressure, and OH MIGHTY Wacom has 512. I'm sure there were product details at the time of your posting.
I have this tablet and I'm very satisfied with it. I bought it for $84 on sale but usually its $105, which is still incredibly cheap for 6x10 drawing area (the cheapest Wacom i saw was Intuos3 6x11 for $370 on newegg). 29 programmable macro keys are a big plus, a nice looking design is very attractive: piano finish and slim - 4mm. It was mentioned that the pen does take 1 AAA battery, so far I'm on my first battery and I've been using this tablet for about 2 month. the only thing i see as a con is that there is no eraser tip on the pen... but nothing a little modding couldn't solve :p
Besides i don't think that alone is worth the extra $265.

[tom @ Aug 24th 2007 12:21PM]

pen requires a battery.... that's the deal breaker for me

[Firebird @ Aug 24th 2007 11:23PM]

No pressure sensitivity? Is that a joke? *Strokes his 6x11" Intuos 3 lovingly and tells it he'll never take it's pressure sensitivity for granted*

[tekdroid @ Aug 25th 2007 6:57AM]

is Wacom pricey? Yes.

is there anything else like them? No.

Would I buy a pen with a heavy battery in it? No.

[shana @ Aug 27th 2007 4:47PM]

There is pen senstivity - and two-buttons to control the sensitivity, and the price is $139.00 - ships in September. Works great!

[Alex @ Sep 25th 2007 4:11PM]

$109 at www.newegg.com
Awesome device, responds very well and works admirably with photoshop! Great sensitivity and a professional look, thin, light. Pen requires a battery, but what's the big deal? It works fine with it, I dont see why a triple A battery is a negative, not like it's heavy or anything.