"Powerful."
"Flexible."
"Comfortable."

These are words and phrases scattered across the Wacom website, used by the industry-leading company to describe its line of Bamboo pen and tablet products. If you have been living under a rock - or haven't made it to a DMAG meeting yet (cough, cough!) - then you may not be familiar with Wacom tablets. Essentially, they allow you to draw directly onto your computer screen, using an inkless "pen" that you hold in your hand, and a paperless "tablet" that transfers your strokes to your digital software.

Now, I've used a lot of pen tablets before - and although they're fun, I must be honest: I haven't really seen an increase in my workflow, efficiency or capability of creating particular visual effects. So, when I tried out my new Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch tablet for the first time, I was skeptical. I figured it would be another techie toy that would quickly lose my interest, something that would be "cool" from an artistic standpoint but not really useful in my professional career.

After spending just a few minutes playing around with my new tablet, I was eating my words. More accurately, I was replacing them with buzzwords like "increased productivity" or "improved workflow" or "added efficiency" until the only word I could even articulate was "WOW!"

Straight out of the box, and after a quick installation, this product does everything it promises to do. As a designer, an artist and a digital illustrator, I had new freedom and new alternatives for essential processes such as right-clicking, moving objects forwards and backwards, rotating images, dragging and dropping, zooming in and out, and more.

And then there was writing. Because the tablet includes a pen, no longer do you have to go through the tedious processes of scanning or creating your own fonts to mimic your handwriting. Now you have something that IS your own handwriting, directly on your computer screen and in real-time.

Adding to the value, it comes bundled with digital software and other goodies. We're not talking about some free hit-or-miss product you've never even heard of. Wacom chose worthwhile products to accompany its Bamboo hardware. If you shell out the (very reasonable) money for one of these tablets, expect to get trials of Photoshop Elements and Corel Painter 4 to help make it worth the money!

Now, I'm not even going to pretend to know everything there is to know about this tablet. That would be an insult to the pure genius that is Wacom. They make powerful products that should not be underestimated. I am still learning my way around with this tablet, and figuring out all the cool features it is capable of. I figure, if the digital animators at Pixar use it, you know it has to be the real deal. Now I understand why!

If you spend time working with the hardware, reading tutorials, and testing out your new products, you will see as I did that they are truly worth the money. In fact, I'm shocked after using this product that the price is so affordable! For instance, I remember purchasing a tablet years ago for roughly $80, and it didn't do nearly as much as this one does. Today, you can expect to pay just $49 for the Bamboo Touch, and the Pen versions start at just $69. Not bad at all! Just cut out one Starbucks coffee each month for the next year, and you've paid for your tablet. Save money. Cut calories. And improve your ability to create stunning designs.

Here is an example of my very first image created with help from my new Wacom tablet:

Sure, it's not my greatest work of art. I probably won't win any awards for it. But here's the impressive thing: I was able to completely color in this image in MINUTES. The traditional coloring methods without a tablet, or even with older tablets I've used in the past, would have taken days, maybe even weeks, working for hours each day! I also noticed that I was able to create more realistic variations of color and texture. Did you know that these tablets are sensitive enough to recognize and respond to pressure? Anyone who has a traditional drawing or painting background will appreciate that the tablet knows how dark or how "hard" to make the strokes based on how much pressure you apply as you illustrate.

I could keep raving about how awesome this tablet is, how much it is "full of win" as the cool kids might say, but I'm so impressed and inspired by its abilities that I think I'll have to cut this review short to go practice some more. I have a feeling that it only gets better from here...