Wacom Graphire

Mice might be ideal for dragging files from A to B on your desktop, but if you ever try to draw a picture with one, you'll soon realise their limitations. That's where graphics tablets come in - these let you draw onscreen by dragging a 'pen' across their surface. Wacom is probably the best-known name in this market. Its latest Graphire graphics tablet is sophisticated enough to keep digital artists happy, but cheap enough for everyone to have a go.

The attractively designed mousemat-sized tablet has an active area of 128 x 93mm: running the supplied pen over this controls your onscreen pointer. The pen can be used as far as 5mm above the surface, which is great if you want to trace a picture placed underneath. The tablet itself is available with either serial or USB connections, the latter version works with Windows 98 PCs or Macintoshes.

The pen feels comfortable, and unique to Wacom, it doesn't require a cable or batteries. The nib is used for drawing, while a button located under your index finger can be set to perform actions such as double mouse-click, or a change of brush. At the back of the pen is an eraser to rub out mistakes. Both nib and eraser are pressure-sensitive, which means different things happen the harder you press - most graphics software creates darker or thicker lines with pressure, just like drawing or painting in real life.

While you can use your existing mouse with the pen and tablet, Wacom supplies its own in the package. It's a standard three-button design with a central roller for scrolling up and down documents. Like the pen, it's wireless and battery-free, and there's no ball to get clogged up with dirt.

Wacom has also thrown in a fair amount of software, including Painter Classic, a set of Photoshop-compatible 'plug-in' effects, and a utility that lets you sign your name on Office 97 and 2000 documents, and even use your signature as a screensaver password.

Contact: Computers Unlimited, 0181 358 5857

Minimum requirements: Windows 98, Pentium 133MHz, 16Mb of memory, 5Mb hard disk space, CD-ROM drive, USB port