My Dream

I have been a long time fan of Wacom, and in the past couple years, have been watching news about them pretty closely. Ever since I was a teenager, I dreamed of a Cintiq that could be held in the hand, that also housed the computer itself. A decade later, and the Cintiq Companion showed up.

I was ecstatic.

The problem was, of course, that I could not afford a device such as the Cintiq Companion. I also did not believe that the technology had gone through enough generations for Wacom to get enough of the kinks or design flaws out. After all, before these devices, Wacom had never made computers before. Don’t get me wrong, if I had the disposable income, I would have bought the Gen 1 or Gen 2 Cintiq Companions in a heart beat. The problem is, that I don’t, thus it didn’t seem worth the investment into devices that didn’t feel up to par of the costs yet.

So my search for a portable alternative began. I eventually settled on the Thinkpad Yoga 12, after getting a Surface Pro 1.. I don’t like the styli that come with tablet computers, so I researched and found the Wacom Bamboo Feel Stylus.

The Stylus

The Wacom Bamboo Feel Stylus is a light weight stylus with a cap, 1 button and no eraser button on the end. I feel like I’m actually holding a pen. Sometimes I wish it were a little thicker at the grip, with some sort of rubber there to help with comfort. I get tired holding this pen a lot quicker than I do the Cintiq pens. This may be a consequence of being used to the size of the Cintiq Stylus. I can’t imagine carting around a stylus the size of the Cintiq, however, as my Wacom Bamboo Feel Stylus easily fits into my bags pen slots with all my other pens and pencils.

The pressure seems pretty good. I wish the range was a little wider and more precise in the pressure levels, but I feel I keep making comparisons to an actual Wacom Tablet/Screen paired with it’s associated Stylus, rather than comparing to the built in pens,

On the side of the pen is the single button this Stylus has. It is flush with the side of the pen, which has frustrated me many times. It is hard for me to locate the button by feel alone. I usually have to stare at the pen while rotating it in order to find the button. While I didn’t have to do this every time I used the button, pens tend to rotate over time when I use them. Since I use this button as an eye dropper, I’d find it frustrating when suddenly pressing down would reveal that the pen rotated,and I couldn’t tell just by feel alone.  I wish there was a second button, whether next to the first, or on the eraser end. I’ve become accostomed to being able to easily switch between brush and eraser using the stylus alone, that it slowed my process by quite a bit needing to switch by other methods.

The Thinkpad Yoga 12 stylus is tiny and uncomfortable compared to the Bamboo Feel.

I used the Wacom Bamboo Feel Stylus for both the Surface Pro 1 and the Thinkpad Yoga 12. For both devices the stylus was above and beyond that of the stylus that came with each device. I found the built in styli uncomfortable and hard to draw with. The Feel just…felt much better.

Overall I recommend the Wacom Bamboo Feel Stylus if you are still using the default stylus of a device.  I find it overall better in performance. My wish list for the pen: A second button, the buttons to be raised slightly, and a grip.

Overall Rating