Genius EasyPen and MousePen graphics tablets play on both sides of the fence

Genius, a regular purveyor of cheap and cheerful technology, has today announced a pair of "dual platform" tablets that play nice with both Windows and Mac OS. The EasyPen i405 comes with 28 programmable hot keys, a software bundle, 4 x 5.5-inches of real estate and a $79 price tag. This is trumped by the MousePen i608, which throws in an optical mouse, a 6 x 8-inches working area and -- best of all -- one more hot key to program. Bargain hunters out there might want to prick up their ears, as the MousePen is already available at Amazon and Newegg at prices south of $60, far below its suggested retail price of one Benjamin -- hey, it's no Wacom, but it certainly won't dent the wallet too bad.

[yuriythebest @ Jul 8th 2009 5:45AM]

I have a genius pensketch 9x12 and it's totally amazing- the wacom tablet of equivalent size costs 3-4 times as much.

[ratchetnclank @ Jul 8th 2009 5:50AM]

You get what you pay for.

Wacom > this pile of crap.

[joe23521 @ Jul 8th 2009 10:07AM]

I'm honestly looking to know what kind of difference you get with a Wacom over something like this. Any experiences to share?

[Twenty5 @ Jul 8th 2009 11:43AM]

-Built quality
ie. The pen (I bought a Genius F610 the other day and the pen was horrible... you really had to hold it and draw with it to know what im talking about, plus the way you put the battery inside the pen is horrendous. (pen feels really really cheap) For a graphic designer/artist/etc this is really important....
-Software (UI friendliness)

[Twenty5 @ Jul 8th 2009 11:47AM]

2) Software (UI friendliness): This is probably the most important aspect (especially if you are a Mac user like me...)
ie. The software that came with my F610 was not compatible with leopard. When i bought it, it did have a Mac compatible logo on the box so I assumed that it would work with my MBP. After 2 hours of googling I found out that the software for a newer tablet worked for the F610 (How was i supposed to know that?!) so I had to go and download that and then blah blah blah.....
3) Shortcuts
ie. For a tablet (that does not have a display on it (like the cintiq)) shortcuts on the tablet are an amazing time saver. For my F610, shortcut buttons didnt work unless you had a secondary program active and I never understood how to change the shortcuts either.

Plus, the Genius F610 tablet user manual had absolutely NOTHING about the tablet itself. Only thing it had was how to install the driver in like 76 languages. I had so many questions about how to set up the shortcuts, how to change the pen nibs, how to clean it....

Im never going to buy a Genius tablet ever again....
Im so gald i got a intuos4 instead...

------
Sorry about the post above...

[Kip HT @ Jul 8th 2009 12:09PM]

This is so old! I bought one of these a year and a half ago...

[Bob @ Jul 8th 2009 12:26PM]

For any mac users looking at these, don't bother, they have the WORST drivers I have ever used on anything, they usually crash on book and need force quoting in activity monitor, when they do work it's badly.

[joe23521 @ Jul 9th 2009 1:56PM]

Thanks for the info, guys. Very helpful.

[bublik @ Jul 8th 2009 5:52AM]

*now one thing I have to DO is just learn how to draw...

[polo @ Jul 8th 2009 7:10PM]

I can draw but I also wouldn't mind being able to write text and view pdf files...do any of these tablets offer that or can you add on software so they can???

[brandonlindquist @ Jul 8th 2009 6:02AM]

Purchased.

[AndyG @ Jul 8th 2009 6:06AM]

Sounds ok, but better off just getting a Wacom Bamboo from eBay for $40.

Worked for me.

[polo @ Jul 8th 2009 7:12PM]

Can I write text and read pdf files on it? If so I'm sold!

[dsteve303 @ Jul 8th 2009 6:15AM]

I played both sides of the fence in highschool. It was interesting.

[tadmorbid @ Jul 8th 2009 6:16AM]

@ratchetnclank a tad unfair calling em a pile of crap, I got one of the earlier models to replace the "pile of crap" Wacom entry level tablet I wasted my money on and didn't regret it in the slightest.

Yeah, they're not as good as the Intuos range, but mine worked perfectly, good pressure sensitive, good resolution, accurate, reliable and worked just fine with all my software,
Probably wouldn't buy one if I was a commercial artist, but for hobby it's perfect.

[richb93 @ Jul 8th 2009 6:34AM]

Genius still exist?

[Cy Starkman @ Jul 8th 2009 8:44AM]

Yeah I know, how did they manage to survive the great purge of the 80's tech icons.

Anyone bagging Genius over that -too full of themselves- Wacom needs to go do some research.

Anyway, I will continue to wait for the fabled coming of screen based tablets that don't require your first born in exchange.

[Wwhat @ Jul 8th 2009 8:55AM]

Almost every damn computer supplies shop in europe sells genius mice, would be weird if they would go under with a setup like that.

[Kelmon @ Jul 8th 2009 6:55AM]

I can't help feeling that they didn't need to provide the optical mouse with the larger tablet - the customer almost certainly already has a serviceable (or better) mouse and not providing one would have kept the costs lower. Still, apart from that it looks fine to me for anyone in the market for a cheap tablet.

[Twenty5 @ Jul 8th 2009 7:00AM]

I recently bought the F610 and let me tell you what a piece of crap that was...

Next day i went back to the store and exchanged it for a new Intuos4. Short review: AWESOME tablet.

You get what you pay for. Sad to your wallet, but true.

[Wwhat @ Jul 8th 2009 8:59AM]

Clever trick, buy a $90 genius tablet and exchange it for an intuos worth several hundred bucks.

[joe23521 @ Jul 8th 2009 10:10AM]

@Wwhat,

What the hell are you talking about?

[Twenty5 @ Jul 8th 2009 11:49AM]

@joe23521:

Its ok. Just ignore him. Thats what im doing :-)

[Sanskrit @ Jul 8th 2009 9:00AM]

Okay, I'd like an opinion from someone who's familiar with them: I've recently decided to replace my aging Wacom, and I've been looking at the primarily at new Wacoms and XP Pens (I've had a previous XP Pen that was crap, but I've heard that they've massively improved since). With the information regarding this one, I might be willing to look at it as well if it's worth the recommendation. I have heard, however, that Addessos aren't worth the boxes they come in.

The tablet is primarily for artwork and as a backup mouse (in case something goes wrong).

[allannguyen @ Jul 8th 2009 9:17AM]

wait why is the bigger one cheaper?

[crescentdavid @ Jul 8th 2009 11:53AM]

I've used wacom tablets and I'd agree with tadmorbid- if you don't do semi-serious graphics work (or better), there's absolutely no reason why you'd require a Wacom, let alone an Intuos. Wacom took a look at the market and came out with their own cheapie ... the bamboo. Same deal- it's not for serious or semi-serious artists. As always, it depends on the application. The Genius comes with many more programmable buttons, and twice the pressure sensitivity. It also has a larger working area.

So the deal might be ... has anyone compared the bamboo to the genius and the answer is no ... because it hasn't come out yet.

[Nailbunny @ Jul 8th 2009 5:01PM]

Your picture scares me.

[Barrett @ Jul 8th 2009 1:20PM]

Wacom Bamboo FT(cheap)W.

I paid $60 on eBay for my last two.

(one I left in rural Ghana with a computer lab we set up...I wanted the kiddies to play with it)

Some guy on this page says you can find them for $40 on eBay.

[iRoc @ Jul 8th 2009 4:10PM]

If you are going to do ANY kind of art just save yourself the head ache and get wacom. If you're just surfing the interwebs a cheap tablet will work. It all depends on what you wish to do with it. Let me warn anyone wanting to do art these pads are extremely hard to get used to. They do not provide a natural feel. The pen skates over the surface like ice on Teflon, and learning to look at the screen while drawing will take some considerable time to master. 99% of people WILL become frustrated and give up before mastering it. I've been a professional artist for 20 years and it still can be frustrating at times. I've used a intous 3 for four years and it still feels unnatural. Using the pen instead of a mouse helps the learning, but you can't just rotate it to get the propper wrist movement for the required line. The Cintiqs are a tad better, but the surface slickness is 1000x's worse.

I guess I'm saying if you get an art tablet be prepared for the frustration, and be willing to put in the time to learn to use it. For it will take some time.

[Nate DiDonato @ Jul 9th 2009 1:05PM]

I have a Genius on my PC and love it (paired with a 3DConnexion Space Navigator), but seriously...

If you're going to shell out the money for a Mac, why the hell would you NOT buy a Wacom?!?!?!?

I have a Wacom sitting around to eventually use with my laptop, because it's so small, but I agree that the build and quality is far superior.