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The pen :::...
The pen is an unspectacular looking, but none-the-less impressive piece of kit. While stowage is supplied in the back of the tablet for traveling, a small, clear plastic desk stand is supplied for when you get there.
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Desk Pen Stand |
The pen is made from the same silver.grey metallic plastic, but unlike the one supplied with the new Volito 2 there's no rubber grip near the nib.
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The Pen |
A two-way rocker switch is provided and its functions can be set using the supplied configuration software.
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Pen Rocker Switch |
The nib is manufactured from hard-wearing plastic and, though the mechanism hidden inside, is responsible for translating up to 512 different pressure levels into electronic signals and sending them back to the tablet's receiver along with positional data.
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Bundled Items |
On the opposite end of the pen, the eraser, though much larger, works in precisely the same way as the nib.
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Bundled Items |
Where WACOM have a definite advantage over many of their competitors is with a technology known as "Penabled". In a nutshell, Penabled means that WACOM's pens and mouses operate entirely without the need for their own power source, so they need no batteries.
Of course short of a tiny hamster running on a wheel or a micro-generator there needs to be a power feed to the pen, and there is.
The fine grid of wires in the tablet that are uses to sense the pen's position flip between receive mode and transmit mode every 20 microseconds, or if you prefer every 20 millionths of a second. When in transmit mode, the waves cause a coil in the tip to resonate which generates power. This is then used to detect the switch status and nib pressure and, during the next receive mode, transfer that data back to the tablet. It's not quite that simple but you get the idea.
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Pen Technology |
The mouse operates in exactly the same way, and both begin to resonate, and are thus detected by the tablet, when they get within about 5mm of the surface. The advantage, with the mouse at least, is that the entire unit can be sealed and the workings kept free of dust and grime.
Not needing batteries means both the pen and mouse can be kept compact and styled for form and not just function.
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