Gaming Peripherals for Tiny Hands - Wacom LP-180 Pen /for use with Intuos CTL-480 Tablet [Review]

Good evening everyone, you heard that right- I'm writing a review for a pen! Tonight's article is about why this is my favorite of all writing/drawing instruments, and what I use it for. This is a review for the Wacom LP-180, for use with their CTL-480 tablet... AKA a tale about a gamer girl with really small hands.

Shopping Choices

I recently ordered a new one in the mail, since I had lost my original pen moving a while back. I had looked online on how much it would cost to buy a new artist tablet altogether because the pen was already going to be $42, thinking;"maybe I should be getting everything new". What I found shocked me. Although this is for a 2013 model tablet, the current price for one of them now is more than some of their current releases. Believe it or not, there isn't an artist community for them but rather, a gaming market for this tablet. The cheapest I could find was $162, instead of picking up latest models for $79.

I decided to buy only the pen instead, because I really like how it feels.

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I sat it on my desk, and I refused to open it for a couple of days, until I had a sufficient amount of time to play with it. Shipped from Korea in a somewhat huge package, slightly suspicious if I had been shipped the correct item.

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After opening up the crudely taped down outer layer I was greeted by a big sheet of bubble wrap, so thick I couldn't see what was inside. Curiosity welling up inside of me I carefully removed the wrapping.

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I was excited to see an official box, and as I opened it, there was a small compartment with 5 replacement nibs. When you are using a drawing tablet the tip used to draw wears down over time from regular use. This model has detachable nibs that you can replace.

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There is also a secret compartment on the back of the tablet where 3 bonus nibs are hidden. I had my tablet for two years, using it regularly and didn't know about this. My roommate showed me last week, and was amused by the astonished look on my face.

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The Curse of Small Hands and Giant Controllers

I can't open jars without assistance, and this is what took me a long time to get into PC gaming to begin with. Whenever I would try to play at a friends house, everything would feel too heavy, and I would use too much force to make the simplest of movements. Looking back now, I wonder if this may a contributing reason as to why there aren't more girl gamers. There are a host of bulky peripherals in existence. This was very off putting for a long time, I had spent most of my time using membrane keyboards, and Microsoft default mice. This eventually changed as I learned that there were products designed for every audience.

Because I have rather small hands, I use an Orion G610 instead of a Razer brand mechanical keyboard, because I use slightly less force when pressing keys. This board uses Chrerry MX brown switches, so that I can press with the normal amount of effort but maintain accuracy. Many gaming keyboards have heavier switches, and this one makes a click, not a KA-CHUNK sound. I also use a Logitech G303 mouse because it fits snugly, and I can pick it up or rock it while I'm moving it. Being able to find the right controllers for my hand size is important, in both above cases they don't feel too heavy or light but "just right".

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Products Made with Consideration

The Reason this is my favorite pen, is because it facilitates the way I hold real pens and pencils. I write at half-width of a line, but like to be precise in my movements. To accomplish this, my comfortable holding position is very close to the tip. Many of my friends say that this is weird to hold it too close, but again... small hand problems. The LP-180 has a reasonable circumference, not like a dinky stylus, and the grip covers over 50% of it's surface making it comfortable to use for long periods of time. There are two keys on it for left and right clicking, sports 140 pressure levels, and responds up to an inch away. When you're using image editing programs, this will emulate how hard or soft you write, just like an analog pencil.

I could have bought the LP-190E, but paying an extra $10 for an eraser didn't sound too tempting for me.

This Pen is Made for Gaming

I am mailing the extra 5 nibs over to a friend, who actually uses this model to draw art. You see, my pen never actually touches the surface, because I use it to play video games instead. The technique of hovering is essential to having clean motions, and can be trained through repetition.

I hope no one reading this is disappointed to hear that this is what I use it for, considering that I also enjoy making art. However, I may flirt with that idea coming up because digital drawing sounds fun! When this tablet was released back in 2013, it was advertised and marketed as a manga/comic drawing tablet. Many people who have them, actually use them with Photoshop or paint tool Sai to draw anime characters.

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The "Standard" Controller

Most of the people who own this tablet however, use it to play a fast-paced rhythm game called Osu!. This particular tablet is regarded by most players as the best possible controller to use for the game, as later models have input lag and driver issues. So many people have bought this tablet, that when it stopped being made the price rose to meet the sheer need for them. I was losing my mind seeing these go for $200+ for a 4 year old model. The pen and the tablet itself are very good though.

This is very similar to the difference of buying a third-party, or Wii generation controller, instead of the official Game Cube release. The people who love this game play it for 8 hours at a time, and the CTL-480 always comes up when people ask which tablet to buy. This makes me wonder about products in general... I'm sure you've had that with a product somewhere in your life time, where new may not always be the upgrade you are looking for.

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Thank you for stopping by my article today, and I hope you learned something really cool. I'm really excited to get back into playing, and my IGN is in the screenshot below if you want to add me!

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