The Graphire Mouse & Pen Set by Wacom

The Graphire Mouse & Pen Set from Wacom consists of an A6 size tablet, a cordless mouse and pressure sensitive pen. Bundled software includes Painter Classic from MetaCreations and Wacom's own PenTools collection of PhotoShop plug-ins.

We evaluated the serial version for the PC, but the more popular USB version supports both PC and Mac. iMac users will delight in the choice of five fruity colours to match their machine, but the serial version only comes in a more conservative blue.

The tablet draws power from the USB or serial port, leaving both mouse and pen free of both cords or batteries. This gives a light freedom of movement which is immediately apparent. The longer term benefit is that, with no moving parts, neither pen nor mouse will ever need cleaning. The continual build up of dirt in the balls of traditional mice is a source of universal frustration.

The mouse follows the now standard design set by the Microsoft Intelli- mouse, with two buttons and a central scroll wheel that acts as a third button. The action is very smooth as the mouse glides across the hard surface of the tablet. Resolution is 1000 dpi: double that of a standard mouse.

However, depending on what software was running at the time, we noticed a definite lag between the physical movement of the mouse and the resultant movement of the pointer on screen. We called this phenomenom "mouse lag". The annoying result was that we would often overshoot when trying to position the pointer.

Unlike the curved Intellimouse, the Graphire design is symmetrical - as is the tablet. This makes it equally comfortable for left- or right- handed users. Anyone suffering repetitive strain injury will also appreciate the benefits of being able to give their dominant hand a rest.

The pen rests in a detachable pen holder that clips onto the tablet. A tap with the pen or just light pressure on the tablet is equivalent to a single mouse left click. There is also a small rocker switch at the side of the pen: squeeze forward for a right click, squeeze back for double click. You can also double tap the pen for a double click, but it is easier to use the rocker switch.

We found the pen worked well, without the lag noticeable with the mouse. With a little practice, the two step procedure of "point and click" becomes a single continuous action of "sweep and tap". It is both faster and more accurate than a mouse.

Some of this improvement is down to absolute positioning: for example, place the pen on the top right corner of the active area of the tablet and your cursor appears on the top right corner of the screen. Compare this to the relative positioning used by a conventional mouse.

The electromagnetic resonance system used by the tablet also helps. It detects the pen at a height of up to 5mm above the surface of the tablet. This allows you to sweep the pen through the air above the tablet without actually making contact. This gives a delightfully light feel to the movement.

While the pen can simply replicate all the functions of the mouse, it comes into its own with graphics software. With packages such as PhotoShop, the pen allows you to use pressure sensitive tools. Increasing the pressure on the pen increases the "flow of ink" to the tool or the thickness of the line created. Flipping the pen upside down lets you use its built in eraser. The eraser is also pressure sensitive. All very handy.

There is also a transparent overlay covering the surface of the tablet. Slip a piece of artwork under the overlay and you can use the pen to trace over its outline.

The pen & mouse buttons are fully programmable. Wacom's control panel software lets you customise the performance of both devices for specific applications. For example, the pen's rocker switch can changed from the double click function to "grab-a-hand" in PhotoShop to move an image.

You can also switch from absolute to relative positioning for both devices, resize the active area of the tablet, reduce pen pressure sensitivity, change the scroll rate of the mouse fingerwheel and so on.

Overall we rate the Graphire highly. The "mouse lag" is the only drawback, although we would offer an additional caveat to users of Microsoft Access 2.0, Microsoft Project 4.0, Quark Express and QuickBooks Pro 5.0. Using the pen to click within a field in any of these packages causes the screen cursor to freeze. The only way round this problem is to retain your PS/2 or serial mouse (you can in fact use both mice side by side).