Genius EasyPen i405: The pen is mightier than the mouse.

Genius never ceases to surprise us with efficient, high-quality products with competitive features and prices. This time we will take a look at a very effective product for lovers of digital imaging, the EasyPen i405.

Introduction

A drawing tablet is becoming every man’s gadget. We believe it’s a fun and useful product both for consumers and professionals. Genius now offers us a tool that lets us digitize our artwork in design programs, the EasyPen i405 graphics tablet.

A graphics tablet is a device that lets you create art and designs by using a pen in place of the usual mouse. This gives artists greater control of their artwork and lets them express their ideas as easily as on paper.

First Look

The modest packaging simply shows the product itself. All you see is the tablet and the pen, which functions as a mouse.

The back of the box shows some of the ways in which the Genius EasyPen i405 graphics tablet can be used, from creating and editing drawings, to editing text, notes, and handwriting by hand. You can even use the tablet in MSN Messenger. There are also lists of the product’s specs and of what Genius includes with it.

Once you open the package, you see that the additional content is limited to a pen with its battery, a Quick User Guide, a CD, and a pair of replacement tips for the pen (something we don’t think will be necessary). We think an accessory for holding the pen would also have been very useful.

Here’s the star of the show, the Genius EasyPen i405 graphics tablet. It looks like a solidly built, high quality unit. The workspace is about 50% of the tablet’s total area, which is a bit more than the size of a DVD movie box.

The tablet’s workspace has a series of ovals that provide a type of margin. Some of them let you access preset functions, such as New, Open, Print, etc. Others let you add and customize the functions that you need.

On the bottom of the tablet are four rubber feet that keep it from slipping when you press on it as you work.

The pen isn’t as well made as the tablet. The silver part is made of somewhat rigid plastic, which looks like it could break easily. The black area is better finished, with better materials. It includes the “Grip”, a rubber covering that keeps it from slipping in your hands. It also includes two buttons, which correspond to the left and right buttons of a mouse.

Specifications

Results

As mentioned earlier, a graphics tablet lets you create, edit, and personalize drawings. To show you, here are some examples from a light overclocking session. (“Ya ganamos!!” means “We won!!”).

Chuck’s energy drink (secret recipe)

Our next president, alias Versork

Conclusions

As with most peripherals, the results of using a graphics tablet are subjective, depending on the user’s tastes. According to our very personal way of evaluating, the Genius EasyPen i405 is an efficient product that definitely does its job. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer anything beyond that. Its one outstanding point is its low price, compared to similar products from other brands.

We’d like to see a larger work area, higher quality finishing on the pen, and additional accessories, such as a box or cover for transport, and a base to hold the pen.

The EasyPen’s sensitivity let you easily create drawings. But it can be a little hard to learn how to use it to navigate on the desktop.

The included software lets you customize the tablet’s functions. It includes a detailed interactive tutorial which helps you get used to the product.

Its cost should generally be around $60-$80. This makes it accessible for lovers of drawing and the digital arts.

The final score is 82.5 out of 100 owls, and we give the “Genius EasyPen i405” our Recommended Award.

Author: Jorge A. Corona

Translator: Ed Winograd

The Genius HS-03U, a Versatile Headset.

Genius, known as a peripherals manufacturer, has reached out to video game players by offering a very interesting headset with an additional bass setting.

A Taiwanese company, Genius has offered fabulous, low-cost, high-quality peripherals for many years. It has now introduced a headset (earphones and microphone) which, along with being Plug & Play through the USB port, offers an interesting extra bass setting, which can create just the right mood for videogames.

Features

The Product

The package’s main colors are red and white, which are somewhat symbolic. It displays the product well. The front clearly lists the product’s special features.

The back lists the functions of the headset’s controller. Features are listed in many languages.

The photo shows the folded headset, which is relatively portable and compact.

Once the headset is fully extended, we see that everything has a comfortable size, except for the pads that cover the user’s ears. Small for an adult, they can cause discomfort and even ear and head pain.

Leaving aside the pain caused by the size of the earpieces, the materials are comfortable and isolate exterior sounds well.

When you remove the pads that cover the earphones, you can see the filter that’s designed to keep air that gets trapped between the earphone and the ear from being pushed strongly toward the ear. This avoids damaging your eardrums and improves the quality of the perceived sound.

On the other side of the earphone, we see the Genius logo, surrounded by a green hoop and a protective mesh.

One of the most interesting special features of this product is the polymer used in the microphone extension. It has a memory, so it will remember the shape that you give it.

On the front of the control unit are buttons to raise or lower the volume, and one to silence the microphone. The unit is finished in matte black, with details in green.

At the top is a switch that boosts the bass. This unit would have no problems making your ears vibrate, without much loss in the quality of sound.

Conclusions

Genius has done a good job with this headset. There are some details that could be fixed, but not everything is lost.

As we’ve mentioned, the headset design is comfortable, except for the small size of the pads over the earphones. The unit’s ability to boost the bass provides a better environment for games, especially auto games and shooters.

The memory polymer used in the microphone extension lets users put it exactly where they want, an excellent feature.

Since this headset offers USB Plug & Play, it’s a snap to use (no drivers required). You can use it on almost any PC or notebook without any problems.

One thing that could have been added to this product is software to control the audio, so that users could balance bass and treble to their taste.

The price should be around $25-$35. That’s relatively low for this type of product.

The final score is 87.5 out of 100 owls and we give the “Genius HS-03U Headset” our Recommended Award

Translated by Ed Winograd

Written by Jorge Alberto Corona

With one of the products that put them in the Mexican market and made them well known, Genius has launched a highly portable mouse, which promises to be a great product.

A huge Taiwanese company specializing in peripherals, Genius seeks to satisfy everyone’s peripherals needs. It now presents a product focused on portable computer users, the Micro Traveler optical mouse.

When it comes to mice, Genius has always created fairly ordinary products. However, as time has passed, it has considerably improved their quality and performance. In the case of the Micro Traveler, it tracks at 1200 dpi (dots per inch).

Because of its small size, this mouse is not very comfortable for those with large, robust hands. However, it is well made, with a retractable cable and Plug & Play compatibility.

Specifications

Interface support – USB

System support – Windows Vista/XP/2000, Mac OS X or later

Number of buttons – 3 buttons (left, right, and middle button with scroll)

Resolution (dpi) -1200 dpi optical engine

First Look

The packaging is a blister pack, a simple design that clearly shows the product. It also indicates the product’s compatibility with Windows Vista, XP, and 2000, and with Mac OS X. You can also see its retractable cable.

On the back, the product is described in various languages. Unfortunately, it doesn’t state clearly that it’s a 1200 DPI optical mouse.

Here, we see the mouse out of its packaging. It has a classic appearance: left and right buttons and one scroll wheel (the third button).

On the back, we can see the pads that let it slide easily. We can also see the optical sensor and the retractable cable, with directions for unrolling it. The cable has a full length of about 65 cm (25.6 inches).

We can see here how big the mouse is…if you can say “big” for something that is only about 7 cm (2.8 inches) high, the size of two 10-peso coins and a 1-peso coin.

Conclusions

As many readers have probably realized…there’s not much you can say about a mouse. So, we’ll explain what we experienced with this product.

With the Micro Traveler, Genius has given us a clear example of why it’s one of the world’s most popular mouse manufacturers. This mouse not only is portable and well constructed; it also has excellent performance for its class, including in video games.

The experience of playing games like Call of Duty 4 and Left 4 Dead has been almost completely to my liking, except for some slight discomfort because of the unit’s size. The action of the buttons, and of the scroll wheel, is excellent.

It has a classic appearance, but in pocket size. Speaking of pockets, it costs about 200 Mexican pesos (about $15), an acceptable price for a product of this quality.

Unfortunately, one of its faults is not mentioning all its features in the packaging, as well as the lack of additional items such as a small case.

The final score is 89 out of 100 owls, and we give the “Genius Micro Traveler” our Recommended Award.

Translated by: Ed Winograd

Written by: Jorge Alberto Corona