Aiptek Hyper Pen

The Aiptek Hyperpen 6000 is the latest addition to my fairly large PC collection. Over the months I have bought a new printer/scanner in one, digital camera, web cam, Mp3 player and now the Hyperpen.

The Aiptek Hyperpen 6000 is a graphics tablet, which allows you to draw pictures in the most natural way, rather then struggling with a mouse whose wires restrict you.

It comes with the actual pressure sensitive tablet itself, ...
...drive.

The Aiptek Hyperpen was very quick and easy to install and it came with very clear and easy to understand instructions for beginners.
Whilst your PC is switched off you plug the serial port connector into the com port. Then you unplug your keyboard and the keyboard connector on the graphics tablet is plugged into the keyboard socket on the PC and then your keyboard is plugged directly into the graphics tablet.
... more

The Aiptek Hyperpen 6000 is the latest addition to my fairly large PC collection. Over the months I have bought a new printer/scanner in one, digital camera, web cam, Mp3 player and now the Hyperpen.

The Aiptek Hyperpen 6000 is a graphics tablet, which allows you to draw pictures in the most natural way, rather then struggling with a mouse whose wires restrict you.

It comes with the actual pressure sensitive tablet itself, a cordless internet mouse, which allows full 360° movement, a cordless graphics pen and a suite of useful software.

The specifications of the tablet are:

1. The active area of the graphics is 4.5” x 6”.
2. The maximum resolution is 3048 Lpi
3. It has 512 pressure levels.
4. It has 12 programmable macro keys.
5. It is a standard serial port connection.

The minimum system requirements are:

1. Pentium PC 100 MHz or higher.
2. Available serial port.
3. Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP (128MB RAM).
4. Standard or PS2 keyboard port.
5. CD-ROM drive.

The Aiptek Hyperpen was very quick and easy to install and it came with very clear and easy to understand instructions for beginners.
Whilst your PC is switched off you plug the serial port connector into the com port. Then you unplug your keyboard and the keyboard connector on the graphics tablet is plugged into the keyboard socket on the PC and then your keyboard is plugged directly into the graphics tablet.
Now you switch on the PC and install the software, which is found on the CD-ROM and the one disc contains all the other useful programmes too.
The disc shows you a list of the drivers and software available and allows you to put a tick by the ones you require and then it installs the ones you choose.

The graphics pen and cordless mouse require one AAA battery each and these are also supplied with the package.

What can you do with the Aiptek Hyperpen?

The Aiptek Hyperpen 6000 is a fantastic piece of equipment if you are a budding artist. The whole concept of it is very good.
The cordless pen is the best feature and allows you to draw on your PC as if you were using a pencil and paper. It is natural and there are no difficulties with restricting wires and annoying roller balls on mice. It is suitable for complete beginners too!
It is very ideal for the person who wants to learn to draw as the pressure sensitive tablet has a thick, clear screen, which lifts up and enables you to place a picture underneath.
With a combination of tracing and using the excellent software provided, you will be drawing good pictures in no time.
Also the pressure sensitive tablet has 12 programmable macro keys along the top of it, (F1-F12), which proves useful when drawing on the tablet.

The Hyperpen is suitable for editing existing pictures with ease or completely drawing a new one from scratch.
The handwriting software also allows you to write all your word documents with the cordless pen if you prefer to.
The mouse provided can be used as a normal mouse for opening documents, scrolling pages etc and the pen can do this too.
The entire package can still be used with the PC’s existing mouse and keyboard at the same time.

What software do you get with the Aiptek Hyperpen?

Corel Art Dabbler 2.1.

Art dabbler is quite a versatile piece of software. When first opened it looks like a bog standard painting package but it’s not!
Once explored it offers many different features for the complete beginner to advanced drawers.
For the beginner, the tracing facility and art dabbler program come together very well. There is also the option for art dabbler to put a picture behind the sketch pad for you to trace and it allows you to use different features such as different pens/crayons/chalks/pencils etc so you can learn how to use them.
Also you get to learn how to draw/shade and colour in. The pressure sensitive tablet can give you almost any desired effect. The harder/lighter you press depends on what you get.

Another excellent feature on art dabbler is the tutorials. Again these are good for both beginners and the more advanced drawers. There is a whole range of step by step tutorials, which makes full use of the cordless pen and pressure tablet.
They teach you how to draw cartoons from scratch and animations and much, much more.
The tutorials allow you to follow easily with your pen. Once a step has been demonstrated, you simply move your pen onto the sketch pad and the tutorial will pause and wait for you to follow. Once you complete the step, you simply place your pen back over the tutorial screen to continue.

As well as painting and drawing in this package, you can bring your pictures to life by animating them and making little movies. This can all be learnt through the tutorials.

Hyperpen Manager.

This contains several different software packages, but they are all relatively small programs. It also contains the drivers for the hardware.
The software included is: Cadex digital signature recognition software, handwriting recognition software and Microsoft word annotation software.

The signature recognition software can prove very useful. It allows you to put your signature into any document/email. I think this is very handy and professional if for example you are applying for a job online or filling out an important form or email.
The other main use for this software is to protect your important folders/files. This is especially good if you share your PC with someone else.
Each folder/file you protect requires your signature to open it, making it almost impossible for anyone else to access it unlike the conventional method of password protection.
If you know a person well enough it is not too difficult to guess their password but copying their signature is an entirely different kettle of fish.

The handwriting recognition software and the word annotation software, allow you to write with the cordless pen directly into most windows programs.
You have to teach the software to recognise your handwriting through trial and error. For example, if you spell a letter and the software doesn’t understand you, it brings up a selection of letters to closely match what it thinks you wrote. You then simply pick the right letter and the software will remember.
The software allows you to write in uppercase and lowercase. It also allows you to draw symbols, write numbers and punctuation.

Price and availability.

I purchased Aiptek Hyperpen 6000 online from Serif at an offer price of £19.99.
The normal retail price is £24.99 and can be bought from all good electrical retailers/PC shops on the high street and online.

I bought the Aiptek Hyperpen 6000 to enable me to draw much easier and quicker on my PC. I do a great deal of picture editing, art work and T-shirt designing in my spare time and buying the Hyperpen has been a great buy for me.
It has proved to make my life much easier and much more fun as I could never draw a decent picture on my PC with just a mouse.

I would certainly recommend it to those who do a lot of drawing and to those who want to learn to draw, as it is a very useful piece of equipment, which takes up hardly any room and for such a small cost.

Most of the software is excellent as well, apart from the handwriting recognition. I find trying to write with a pen takes much longer than typing with a keyboard as I am a very fast typist. Also teaching the software to recognise your handwriting can be an awfully slow process.

On the other hand I didn’t purchase the graphics tablet to write with just to draw with, which is its main use, so I will not deduct too many stars as it does what is says.
My only other complaint is the cordless mouse provided. I think this is pretty useless and slow and I prefer and do stick to my own mouse whilst working.

Overall…
It was a fantastic buy, well worth £19.99. I would have paid that just for the art dabbler, so you get a lot for your money and it works very well.
It is compact, looks good, easy to install and very easy to use. I recommend it to anyone considering buying a graphics tablet.

Thank you for reading.
Maria Brooks.
 

...less