My kids love to draw and paint, but they also love their computers, and Wacom, known for their drawing tablets, offers tablets in a variety of sizes and feature sets. While the more expensive ones appeal more to professional graphic artists and serious hobbyists, the Bamboo series make the digital art pad available to families on a budget ($79 and $99, the cheapest Wacom tablets ever).

The Bamboo series come in 2 options, the Bamboo and the Bamboo fun. The tablets are compatible with Mac OS X and Windows, but and is compatible with both standard and wide screens. Installation went fine, but parts of the (flash animation) tutorial wouldn't work properly on an iMac G3/500. Anything faster will, I'm sure work fine.

They both offer 512 levels of pressure sensitivity, equal to the more expensive Graphire series, enough for all but the professional artist, but the Bamboo only offers 1 level of eraser pressure, while the Bamboo Fun offers 512 levels of eraser pressure as well. The Bamboo Fun also includes a wireless (and no batteries needed) 2-button mouse with scroll wheel. (Note that the mouse has a cloth bottom and keeps your tablet free of dust, but it collects all that dust and should be cleaned regularly. I found that a fingernail will clean most of it. It still works fine even when dusty, though.) The Bamboo Fun also comes in multiple sizes and 4 colors, but most importantly, it comes bundled with software, including Photoshop Elements and Painter Essentials. If you don't have a decent paint application (and no, AppleWorks or MS Paint don't count), the software alone make the Fun easily worth the extra $20. If you, like me, write faster than you type, the handwriting recognition comes in handy, using the built-in handwriting recognition systems of the Mac OS and Windows operating systems (not included in Vista Home Basic, so if you're using that system, handwriting recognition will not be available to you).

On a slower computer, the input sometimes lagged, which led to some frustration, but anything 700 MHz or faster handles it just fine with no lag whatsoever.

The Bamboo includes a PDF manual, but it's a bit difficult to find. Look on the install CD:Program Files:English for the PDF.

Recent Wacom tablets, the Bamboo series included, have added 4 "express keys," configurable in the Control Panel (Windows) or System Preferences (Mac). These keys can be assigned like extra FKeys so you can keep your hands on the pad and not have to reach for the keyboard when in the middle of a sketch. The tablet also includes a Touch Ring that functions much like the touch wheel on an iPod or scroll wheel on a mouse and works better than a mouse's wheel thanks to the fine control absent in most mouse wheels, the Bamboo Fun mouse wheel included. The wheel can also be configured like the express keys to zoom and scroll.

The included stylus takes some getting used to, not because it's unresponsive, but just because it functions differently than a mouse. The tutorial helps to explain this, but it still takes some time to keep from using it like a mouse. It has buttons on it that can be configured with a custom pop-up menu to include other items like favorite applications or other commands. These many options will keep your hands off the keyboard more than you'd expect if you really tweak the buttons, wheel, and pen to your frequent needs.

The stylus handles as well as any other Wacom pen. It's light, comfortable, and easy to use, and the pad has added just enough texture to feel like writing on a sheet of paper instead of smooth plastic, making the digital writing much easier to get used to.

My 10-year-old got the hang of this, and as our resident artist, really enjoyed it. Younger children may or may not be able to adapt to the pen, depending on the child, but if they have the patience to get used to it, they'll also enjoy it. Even the Bamboo can function as a standard mousepad to use with your preferred mouse, and the included stand is convenient, but not as convenient as the integrated holder at the top of other Wacom models, so if you have a spare USB port (or powered hub), you can connect this to the computer your child uses and always have it available. My daughter swaps the pad with her digital camera, since both use the same USB cord, and always keeps it handy. I highly recommend the Bamboo Fun to enable a child, teen, or adult to take on a new tool for self-expression that becomes very powerful (yet easy to use) with the included software. If you just can't afford the Bamboo Fun, get the Bamboo, and download Gimp to run with it. (The Bamboo Fun Medium offers a larger surface and is great if you can afford it, but it's double the price.) It's different from and no substitute for real pencils, crayons, paint, and chalk, but it's rather one more artistic medium to encourage creativity for anyone. And cleanup is nearly instantaneous.