Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Very disappointing. I decided it was time to upgrade from my Wacom Intuos 3 which I had used for many, many years and love it. I stuck with Wacom and got this one, the Intuos Pro. I had read some reviewers saying that the surface of the tablet was wearing down their pen nibs quickly and I thought they couldn't be true; after all, my Intuos 3 never, NEVER had worn down any of my nibs in the years I had it. It turns out the reviewers were right. After hardly even an hour of use, the nib on the pen had a flattened edge on it. I was very disappointed, and very frustrated, and I hesitate to use the pad until I can find a solution to this problem. Some people say the solution is to keep using the pad how it is and replace the nibs, but that's not a solution. Wacom shouldn't get more business because they provide parts that degrade quickly, they should have realized from the start that texturing a drawing surface was a bad idea. The developers, Wacom, claim that the texture is to give drawing a more natural feel, like writing on paper. It does, but to the extent that drawing on it is truly like writing on paper: your pen nib will file down to a point and you'll need to "sharpen" it by replacing it. The tablet comes with the latest generation pressure pen, which feels and looks nice; and a housing for the pen which also hides about 10 replacement nibs (6 plastic and 4 felt) which is very cool. The tablet can even detect touch controls if you choose to turn those on, and charges an internal battery so it can be used wirelessly. It's a neat tablet, but it was designed to wear down pen tips which are essential to using it, and I cannot agree to that being a wise thing to do so I'm leaving the product 2 stars. I really want to give it more, and I really would, but they need to change the surface. Wacom sells "texture sheets" separately which will alter the surface of the pad. Why didn't they keep the default tablet as smooth as the Intuos 3 pad was and give people the chance to add texture later? The sheets come in Rough, Medium, and Smooth, but even the Smooth option has grit to it which does not stop the tip wear but merely prolongs it. The surfaces all act like sandpaper for the plastic nibs, just in various grades. I can only imagine how long a tip would last on the Rough texture. I'm disappointed Wacom! The smooth texture was perfect on the older models, why did you put a texture on the base product?? Now I'm left with no choice but to try other products until I can find a solution for this one. I want to use this tablet, but I'd sooner put a sheet of acrylic over top of it before I needlessly file down my pen nibs. Pen nibs shouldn't be like lead in a pencil, or ink in a pen. I shouldn't have to change them often (after mere hours of work!). I should have to change them when I need a different experience, when the tip that's in doesn't feel quite right for what I need. Not because the surface I draw on wears them down. Not because bits of them get scraped off like graphite on paper. I can only believe that Wacom knew what they were doing, knew that their customers would need to keep replacing their nibs, when they released this tablet.