With today’s modern computers, the medium in which we interact with them has grown from simple text to media rich compositions, serving to both entertain and to convey information on any myriad of topics. In fact, the medium has so outgrown the simple printed word that many of us find it advantageous to include charts, pictures, and yes even drawings and illustrations in our own works.
Modern laptops usually include a solid keyboard and a pointing device. While this works great for the typical requirement, it falls quite short as an input of choice when it comes to drawings, sketches, or fine illustrative control. For these instances, it is hard to beat the pen you can hold in your hand. The modern equivalence of this is the graphics tablet, which plugs into the computer and gives you a pen as the control device. A popular brand of graphic tablets is Genius, and they have quite a few offerings to satisfy the need. In this review we will focus on the Easypen i405.
The Easypen i405 in the box
The i405 is a small to medium size tablet, with an active area of 5.5” x 4”. The unit offers 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity, and tracks at 2540 lines per inch. The pen movement is reported at 100 points per second, making it a decently responsive unit. As shipped, it supports Windows and Mac computer systems. It is a USB model, making it convenient for most personal systems manufactured today.
The tablet itself is powered by the USB port, which means that you won’t be hit with a dead battery in the middle of work. However, we cannot say the same for the pen itself, which uses one AAA battery as a power source. Contrast this with similar tablets, such as the Wacom Graphire, which requires no separate battery for the pen. The Genius tablet is also more economical than the Wacom line, so there may be some differences in their approach.
What's in the Box
It is always interesting to note what is in the box when you purchase an item. In this case, you will find the following items:
- Tablet
- Cordless Pen
- 2 additional pen tips
- Tips tool
- Quick Guide Poster
- AAA battery
- Driver DVD with Software
For our uses we are going to install and use the tablet with a Mac running OS X Snow Leopard version 10.6.1. The requirements on the box state that the tablet is compatible with OS X 10.3.5 or later, so hopefully we are good to go.
Step 1: Install the software
The directions state to install the software before connecting the tablet to the computer, so we insert the trusty driver DVD and wait. The disc quickly mounts, and we click on the DriverSetup.app to get started. (Interesting to note, there is a Mac OS 9 directory on the disc, which would suggest that the tablet may indeed work on an older MAC).
The Driver Installation Dialog
Once the DriverSetup.app is launched, we are presented with a menu offering several types of driver selections. We click on the “EasyPen Driver Setup” and are immediately presented with a request to install Rosetta. (Oh well, at least we made it this far without looking back.) We let Software Update download and install Rosetta. Then we click on it again. The Vise installer runs through its paces and finishes. (One thing for Mac users to note – the additional software goodies listed are unfortunately only for Windows system users.)
Success - Driver Installed
After the installation I look at System Preferences, expecting to find the tablet driver settings there. Surprisingly, all I could find were the existing Wacom tablet settings. Okay, so it must be a stand alone app. Sure enough, when I look in the applications folder, I find a new directory entitled, “Tablet Settings”. Convinced that it at least looks correct, I plug in the tablet to an available USB port.
As soon as I plug in the tablet and wave the pen over the tablet the cursor moves. Success! A quick check of co-ordinates by lifting the pen up and down on different parts of the tablet confirms that it is working as a mapped tablet, not as a mouse. That is, if I bring the pen to the top right corner, the cursor immediately shows at the top right of the screen, and the same is true for the bottom left. Cool.
Step 2 – Using it
With the tablet installed, I pull up a handy graphics package that I am familiar with. In this case I open Pixelmator and create a new drawing. A quick check of tablet pressure support shows that the pen increases and decreases in size as I vary the pressure on the pen tip. I tried it on several other functions, and it would vary the drawing tool as expected with no problems.
A quick test of varying pen pressure in Pixelmator
Using the pen presented no unexpected movements or jerking, and the tracking was actually quite smooth. In order to stress test it a bit with real world usage I loaded up VirtualBox with an instance of XP running in the background as I tried it – the pen stayed true to my movements, with only a very quick and determined effort producing any kind of skip. For kicks, I even tried it in paint on the virtual XP session, and the pen worked quite well there as well (pardon the poor drawing, please).
Using the tablet in a VirtualBox XP running on Snow Leopard
A quick investigation of the tablet settings revealed options for adjusting the drawing area, screen ratio, and reserved edges, something that I like to experiment with as I get used to a tablet. The settings also had a pressure test area with an adjustment, allowing you to set up the tip sensitivity.
The Tablet Driver Settings Utility
One feature of the tablet that could prove to be helpful is the 28 distinct hot points (or “Hot Cells” as they are termed in the software) along the edges of the drawing area. You can select each of these to be a unique hot key, and you can selectively turn on or off each bank (four total – up, down, left, right) as desired. Once these are set up for your favorite graphics application it should make hitting the keyboard few and far between.
The Hot Cells are individually assignable to a keyboard command
Results
Overall, the tablet performed as well as you would expect for something in the price range, and seems dependable. The tablet is thin and easy to manage, and the pen works quite well without the driver overloading the OS. The Easypen i405 seems to live up to its name.
One feature that I do not like is that the pen requires a battery as compared with other tablets I have used. True. with all of my testing I never had an issue with the battery. but I am curious exactly how long the battery lasts under my usage habits. You do have to be very careful with how you store the pen, otherwise something touching the tip will run down the battery. I would suggest using the loop storage at the side of the tablet, since this should have the tip in a safe storage position.
A side loop on the tablet serves as pen storage
The tablet is rather sensitive, and adjusting the sensitivity doesn’t seem to get it quite right. But with practice it seems to be getting better. The pen, no doubt since it does hold a battery, is larger than some other tablet pens. In my hands it was not a problem, but at first it is noticeable. It feels more like a small marker than a pen.
The i405 pen as compared with a Wacom tablet pen. Note the difference in thickness and button styles.
The buttons on the pen are recessed into the body under the covering, and this makes them a bit harder to find than actual extending buttons. Again, with a little more time with the tablet this may be a non-issue, but I like the physical buttons found on other tablet pens.
The tablet is much larger that its drawing area. I know that part of this is for the shortcuts (if used), but I would like to see a smaller overall size for the unit itself. For the record, other tablets on the market seem to share this problem.
Final Conclusions
The i405 Tablet is economically priced and delivers what it says. The driver on the mac installed with no problems (outside of requiring Rosetta on Snow Leopard), and I did not experience any erratic behavior. The unit is sensitive, so be cautious if you keep the pen in the hand as you reach for the keyboard. I do like the 28 programmable shortcuts, and the form factor makes it quite easy to take with you. Just be sure to pack an extra battery for the pen after you’ve had it for a while. My overall score for this tablet is 3/5, with one point taken off just for the battery driven pen.
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