VT Muse 12-Inch Artist's Professional Graphic Pen Tablet (Black)

I'm totally against the monopolization of Wacom, so I researched for three days until I discovered the VT Muse. I'm not an expert in tablets, I've only owned a Kanvus Artist 127 tablet before this (a great tablet that was, but unfortunately it was physically damaged and rendered nonfunctional). This is a pretty good tablet, worth its price. The active area is comfortable; the stylus/pen is a JOY to use, especially since it's battery-less and slim to hold; there are more express keys (the buttons on either side of the active area) than I need but I simply deactivated the ones I didn't need; the shortcut buttons at the top and wheel are awesome. You can't tell by looking at it, but the light grey of the tablet is actually a thin plastic cover, and you can slip pictures underneath the cover for tracing and whatnot, though I don't trace, so I don't really need it. I love the fact that the usb cable is detachable and that the tablet is quite sturdy, so you don't have to worry about bending it (if you lean your arm on it too hard while using it at an angle). I had to install the driver twice, but that was because I didn't uninstall my old tablet driver before installing this one, so that's alright.The main qualm I have with this tablet is that when I use it with windows 7, it often freezes on-screen when I place the cursor over the taskbar, and I have to move it off with my mouse. Sometimes it freezes when I lift the pen far enough above the reach of the tablet sensing the pen that the cursor just freezes wherever it is, and I have to move the mouse and have the tablet sense where the pen is over the surface again; otherwise it is responsive. A minor annoyance, but it happens often enough that I had to bring it up in this review. The pressure levels and expresskeys on the tablet and pen can be customized like my old tablet, so it was an almost smooth transition between the two tablets. It comes with two or three (I don't have the package with me so I forgot) extra pen nibs and a nice pen holder. All in all, a good buy!

I bought this about a year ago when it only had 1 review on it as it was brand new on the market. I dont really have anything to compare it to as I have never owned another tablet before. I bought this not for the price but because there was aspects of the wacom that I didnt like. I dont normally buy off brands when it comes to computer stuff but I was pleasantly surprised with this. As one other person had said, it feels very solid, well made. It doesent feel like its gonna break, which is something I greatly appreciate. One thing I did notice is that I could do with a smaller surface, this big surface is great and all but it makes u move your hand alot more and I assume can affect your brush strokes. It would make sense that if you have a smaller tablet then you would have to move your hand less to complete the same stroke as you would on a larger tablet. This can be a drawback in certain situations as I have come to realize. The edge of the surface of the tablet is the edge of the screen, keep that in mind. I have a 24" monitor so using this tablet with it works but if you had a smaller monitor and this large tablet, it might not be so great. It has settings for that with the software but I still dont really know what would happen on a smaller monitor. These are all just my ideas on it by the way, im no expert on tablets. Just something to keep in mind when your buying a 12" tablet. Also the software for it is very easy to use and ive downloaded updated drivers for it like 3 times in the last year i believe, so muse is still supporting it. Just keep in mind that it is large.Update - I love this tablet so much I came back to write a review and realized that I already did. Reading some of the negative reviews on it, these people are idiots. Most of their gripe was about the software installing. Anybody who actually uses the CD out of the box to install the software doesnt know a thing about computers. Why install the software from the CD and then have to update it when you can just go the website and download the updated drivers, makes sense right! I dont know if there was ever problems with the CD, I never took it out of the case, but its irrelevant if there was.