Bamboo Fun
Rating: 
Considering that I haven’t used any other tablet before, save for perhaps five minutes on my sister’s Wacom Graphire, my rating is based solely on what I expect from a tablet and my satisfaction with this tablet.
(I will provide pictures in the future; I just decided to write this review instead of pushing it off. ) The tablet is very thin, which I really like. It’s quite nice to look at–a sleek and very flat surface to write or draw on. The pen is also quite nice; it has padding where a person holds it, so it helps with grip. Also with the package is a hollow plastic holder where one can place the pen if the pen is not in use. This is one aspect that I don’t like about this package; in the past Wacom Graphire, there was a space on the tablet to put the pen. I think that’s more convenient, since if I decide to bring the tablet somewhere, I wouldn’t have to bring my pen holder separately. The mouse works perfectly for me–there isn’t much to say. It works like a mouse.
I don’t get the pen on paper feel when I draw using the tablet, but that’s fine by me, since I’m not looking for that. The tablet does have the pressure sensitivity, so the strokes change with how hard one presses with the pen. Sometimes, I press very hard on the tablet to make a continuous dark stroke. Fortunately, the tablet withstands all the pressure and it doesn’t seem to be damaged in the slightest. One example of this sensitivity is in the sketches:
The pictures were drawn in Adobe Photoshop CS3. The darker pictures are all done with a 19 pixel brush, whereas the girl is drawn with a 3 pixel brush. Any differences in stroke was created with different pressures.
However, sometimes, I get the problem that the pressure sensitivity stops working. I have no idea what’s the problem. Sometimes, this is fixed by going to the Tablet Preference File Utility and clearing all my preferences, but this does not always work. I have the suspicion that this is just my computer and not the tablet, so this doesn’t really affect my rating.
Otherwise, the tablet is all I ever wanted. It’s very affordable, at $99 for a small Bamboo Fun. If you don’t need a mouse, a pen eraser, software DVD (you already have graphics software), and a package of 3 replacement pen nibs, you can cut $20 from the package and just buy Bamboo, which I would suppose is just as good.
Thus, I highly recommend this tablet! It’s great for any uses! If you’re an artist, or you’re in college and you draw diagrams in your electronic notes, this is a great tool!
10 Responses to “Bamboo Fun”
November 12, 2007 at 8:22 pm
^ My mother actually has one of those handwriting pads to write Chinese. I have no idea why anyone would use one, because it takes a much longer time than writing using the Microsoft language bar…but I guess it is good if the person does not know Pin Yin (my mom gets mixed up in it, but I find it funny since she was brought up learning Pin Yin…). But, how are you drawing with that pad? The one my mother has can only write; it does not work with actual graphics programs, unfortunately.
O..I was way off for the name pronouncing. I thought it was rhymed with “thin” but with a R. And yeah, Americans usually stress words or the wrong parts of words. But I take French in school, so it does not really affect me, since in French, you have to stress a lot of the words but be short too 
November 14, 2007 at 6:30 am
Hey Yingna!
I have no idea either. The website said that it could do “basic graphics” and serve as “a backup mouse”, just in case. Eitherway, I think it would still be better than a lousy mouse.
Anyway, I’m starting to think that Photoshop is a bad program for doing CG. I recall some deviantartists blabbing about how much they loathed it. I just don’t like the edges of the default brushes, personally. My friend says that Corel Painter (not sure about the name…) has uber cool brush effects, but I’m not too sure.
November 14, 2007 at 8:35 pm
^ Oh yes, Bamboo Fun comes with Corel Painter! Two versions, too. I just haven’t installed it on my computer because there are so many problems….
November 17, 2007 at 8:25 am
I think I’ll add this to my wishlist! The price is cheap and for a beginner like me, it would be better to see if I can actually do basic drawing before I invest further.
December 16, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Hi I was browsing around the internet since I was thinking of getting a Wacom Bamboo. But I wanna know the differences between the Bamboo and the Bamboo Fun. It seems like you know something about the Bamboo and I was hoping you could tell me if the difference between the two is (besides the look) just the bundled software?
Can the Bamboo do pretty well most of the things Bamboo Fun can? Plus I didn`t want to waste my money if they are both the same lol
Hope to hear from you! Thank you very much. =3
December 26, 2007 at 11:11 am
I have the same problem with my Bamboo Fun…pen pressure sensivity and the eraser function does not seem to work at all…I’m getting flat uniform lines no matter how hard or soft i push the nib on the tablet..frustrating….
January 17, 2008 at 10:51 am
Omigosh! Thank you so much for the review.
Originally I was going to get the Wacom Intuos3 but the price in Australia is significantly more than buying it in US.
It’s USD$329.95 on the US website and it’s AUD$569 on the Australian website…when it should be around AUD$375 after conversion…
I went looking at the Bamboo Fun…and honestly the site doesn’t promote it as a tablet you could use for digital art so I was a bit wary.
So I looked at a bunch of reviews which lifted my spirits and hope but I still wanted something visual. Then I found this! It actually has a piece of work done by Bamboo Fun.
Your picture is really good and I’m sooo glad you gave an example of what it can do.
So now I’m hoping on getting a Bamboo Fun =D
Thanks again ^__^
April 14, 2008 at 11:45 pm
I am thinking of getting the Bamboo Fun tablet for my daughter learning chinese (cantonese). Does anyone know any software that she can use to help her write the chinese characters and gives her the meaning and pronounciation in cantonese?
November 12, 2007 at 6:22 am
Thanks for the review! I’ll try to get Bamboo Fun. It seems much cheaper than the other graphics tablets there are out there.
For the meantime, I have bought myself a $9 handwriting pad that connects to my computer and can convert my handwriting into Chinese/English text. It’s like a graphics tablet in a way, without the pressure sensitivity! *Giggles* I’m a cheap Asian. I’ll see how it goes before I get a graphics tablet.
Regarding your comment (thanks!), Trinh is pronounced rather easily. Pronounce it how you think you would, but in a “light” way, so that there’s sort of less emphasis on the second half of the syllable.
Like, for Western people speaking Cantonese/Mandarin, you often think that they’re putting too much emphasis into the syllables (especially the endings).
Similarly, for Vietnamese, you do the reverse — say the syllables very lightly. “Trinh”, though easy, can sound forced, so say it quickly and “lightly”. (I.e. say it how you usually say it, but with 50% less of that “een” sound.)