Acecad hopes that the Acecat is a budget graphics tablet that will have artistic PC users purring with delight. You use a pen to draw on the pressure-sensitive tablet; the set is designed to work alongside your mouse, and it does this without introducing any awkward driver conflicts.

The driver and the Corel Art Dabbler software are very quick to install and within minutes you're drawing pictures. The settings box is basic and there is a very gentle learning curve when getting to grips with the device.

Art Dabbler is a very apt package to bundle with the tablet because the Acecat is geared towards the dabbler rather than the fine artist. It sports a host of impressive features including distortion effects, a tracing paper effect and a wide range of brush styles.

The tablet itself comes with a transparent flap, under which you can slip small pictures in order to trace them. This is an excellent feature but it also exposes the main limitation of the tablet - its small active area.

The active area is the part of the tablet that responds to being written on with the pen. On the Acecat, the active area is only about 9cm by 13cm and this can feel a bit restrictive as you draw. However, you can use the zoom tool in Art Dabbler, or any other art software package, to make the most of this limited area and draw in fine detail.

The pen and tablet look suitably artistic, particularly the tablet with its transparent green cover, but we're not convinced that the product is built to last. The tip of the pen fell out a number of times, which is not a good sign. It's a pity because the three-button, pressure-sensitive pen is comfortable and easy to use.

Serious arty types might want to look at spending a few extra pounds, but for most users, a graphics tablet and pen set at this price makes the Acecat the cat's whiskers.

Contact
Euro Tech: 0870 458 0011 www.euro-tech.co.uk

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Reviewed in Computeractive, Issue 91.