A User Review of the Wacom Intuos Pro Medium (PTH-651)

Being a proud Wacom tablet owner since 2003 and having previously reviewed the Intuos Pen Small (CTL-480), I decided to go ahead and review the Wacom Intuos Pro Medium. I purchased this tablet in November 2013 and have been using it daily since. For the most part, it is a fantastic tablet that will not let you down, the best of its kind in my opinion, however it does have its quirks. Scroll down for more in-depth details about the pros and the cons.

Relevant Specs

Price: $349 USD (Often $305 on sale at Amazon)
Model number: PTH-651
Pressure Levels: 2048
Active Area: 8.8 x 5.5 in
Express Keys: 8
Touch Ring: Yes, with 4 customizable functions
Multi-Touch: Yes
Wireless Support: Yes
Release year: 2013
Warranty: 2 years in Canada and USA

Pros: Overall Precision, Comfort, Ideal Size, Pen.

Among the screenless tablets currently available on the market, based on prior experience using Wacom tablets and reading many peer reviews, I would award the trophy of best monitor-less tablet to the Wacom Intuos Pro without hesitation. Its precision under normal use is impeccable, and its 2048 pressure levels and tilt sensitivity leave me without a single complaint. The medium sized tablet is comfortable to use whether I work from a laptop or my 23-inch monitor. The pen is the standard Intuos Pro Grip Pen with eraser, coming with a stand and assorted replacement nibs. The tablet features 8 customizable Expresskeys for easy access to your favorite shortcuts, and multi-touch support. It’s easy to hold and a great fit for small and big hands alike.

Cons: Constant driver issues with Windows 7.

The only downside I’ve found to owning a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium are the endless driver issues I’ve encountered. Experiencing the ordeal of wobbly lines immediately as soon as I was done unpacking the tablet, I contacted the support team and they had me ship the tablet to their repair facilities in the United States for a lovely sum of $30 in shipping fees. The tablet returned two to three weeks later, supposedly repaired. Alas, the same issue persisted. After several hours of laptop and experienced the very same problem as on my own desktop computer. We both use Windows 7 Home Premium. Thankfully, the most recent driver update (late 2014) corrected the wobbly lines problem as long as the tablet remains plugged to the computer via USB. Unfortunately, this means I cannot use my tablet wirelessly without losing precision. To this day, I am still experiencing this bug and Wacom support has not been able to help me in this regard. My expectations for a bug fix are null.

Rating

4.5/5

Overall, the Wacom Intuos Pro Medium is a great tablet, the best of its kind. It features excellent precision, a comfortable size and a very accurate pen. It’s a fantastic tool with customizable Expresskeys. The only issue I’ve encountered has been a recurrent driver issue and, because of its lack of resolution, even after contacting the Wacom support team, I cannot review the tablet as flawless.