Wacom has been making pen and tablets for more years than I can remember. In fact I remember Wacom boasting that its pen had over 2000 pressure levels, but that’s a long time ago now – it has had 8,192 pen pressure levels for many versions now. So what’s the latest?

When I opened the Wacom Intuos Pro M (it comes in three sizes, Small, Medium and Large), I was impressed with the thoughtfulness of the new package, especially the pen. Not everyone adapts to a pen easily, but with the new model, it comes with two different pen sleeves (depending on how you like to hold your pen), an adjustable weight unit which will balance the pen when it sits in your hand, and you can adjust the button configuration on the pen as well. And still no power is needed for the pen itself!

So, I like the new pen, what about the tablet? The medium size includes 10 ExpressKeys and two dials, but you may end up using just half of them (depending on whether you’re left or right handed). With the dials, you can use them to enlarge the image or enlarge the brush size (as examples); with the ExpressKeys, you have a number of ways of allocating functions to them, and the functions change depending on the application you’re using. Once set up, these really streamline the use of the tablet and limit the need to interact with your keyboard. I find the ExpressKeys especially useful in conjunction with actions I use in Photoshop.

The medium tablet is slightly smaller than an A4 sheet of paper and almost as thin – well, not quite, but at 4 to 7 millimetres, it’s very portable and light.

To connect to your computer, you have a choice of USB and Bluetooth, with the thoughtful addition of offering two separate Bluetooth channels, one for your studio computer and the other for your laptop. A nice touch.

The Wacom Intuos Pro M retails for $599. (Disclosure: I am a Wacom Ambassador.)