Wacom Drawing Tablets: An Excellent Ergonomic Mouse Replacement

If an ergonomic mouse is too large, or doesn't offer enough comfort, try using a Wacom tablet instead.

For people with carpel tunnel or wrist pain caused by computing usage, the available choices of pointing devices narrow considerably. The only real options are ergonomic mice (such as the Logitech MX Vertical), trackballs, or for the Top Gun inclined, joystick-shaped mice.

While ergonomic mice are the most commonly used option, they are rather large and are not the most compact, nor travel-friendly. There are some people who may even find that ergonomic mice don't angle their wrists high enough to help to mitigate their wrist pain.

In these cases, a Wacom tablet may be the answer. Despite being designed for drawing, drawing tablets function perfectly well as a mouse substitute.

Why a tablet offers amazing ergonomics, and the experience of using a tablet to replace a mouse

Holding a pen is much more comfortable than holding a mouse, as a pen aligns more naturally with how our hands grip things. A stylus helps to reduce hand and wrist fatigue, significantly increasing comfort. If anything, a pen offers the best ergonomics, given how normal it is to hold one and use.

Using a tablet in place of a mouse is also very easy, and it will take you an hour or so to adapt. Tablets maintains the same click and drag paradigms that you're used to. In essence, hovering the stylus above the tablet moves the mouse cursor. A subsequent single, or double tap, has the same as one or two clicks on a mouse. Scrolling up and down involves pushing a button on the pen, then dragging up and down. Pointing accuracy is also similar to using a mouse.

Unlike styluses such as the Apple Pencil, the Wacom stylus uses no batteries, so there's nothing to charge. They are comfortable in the hand and are very light, weighing between 9-15g (0.3-0.5 oz). The cheaper, more basic models tend to use the lighter ones, while the more pro (and more expensive) ones are slightly heavier. Holding it feels like any normal ball point pen, with the addition of a few buttons on the side and a non-ink tip.

The tablet also comes with replacement tips, and they're generally stored within the unit itself. They will wear out after a while, and should be swapped over to prevent damage to the tablet's surface. Higher end models will also come with pens with greater levels of pressure sensitivity. However, as we're using this primarily as a mouse, that really won't make any difference.

Portability

The great thing about a tablet is that it is flat, compact, and can easily be slotted into a backpack’s laptop slot. It also won't add much weight to your bag, important if you often carry around your office in a backpack. The small Wacom Intuos tablet seen in this article weights between 230g-250g (8.1-8.8 oz), depending on whether it has Bluetooth or not. It is admittedly heavier than the Logitech MX Vertical which is 135g (4.8 oz), but the tablet is as flat as a slim notebook, while the MX Vertical more resembles the dimensions of a large tennis ball. The Wacom is simply much easier to store when carrying around. You could even slip it into a folder.

Software

Wacom’s software allows you to customise the tablet the way you like it, so it will be relatively easy to dial in preferences. I did find the default settings to work well, so it is a plug-and-play experience.

One thing that may take getting used to is using a tablet on a system with multiple screens, because the more screens you have, the less space that you have on the tablet to control each screen. As such, I would recommend a small Wacom tablet for 1-2 screens, and a medium sized tablet for 3-4 monitors. You can certainly use a small tablet for 3 screens as well, but you have to be more accurate in your movements and pointing. This is because small movements will have greater impact on how far you move the mouse cursor, scroll, and so on.

The screenshot below shows the tablet configured to work on three screens. This set up happens to have three different sized screens, hence the rather odd layout.

Given the supreme customisability of the software, you could also have the tablet only work on one main screen as well, as seen in the screenshot below. This rather defeats the purpose of using it as a mouse though, but it is an option if you need it.

Price: more affordable than you think

While Wacom tablets can be expensive, they have entry-level products which are priced very competitively especially when compared to the cost of ergonomic mice. The Wacom One small tablet is priced at USD 65, but there are regular discounts which brings it down to USD 40. The medium tablet is priced at USD 125, but with discounts can be ~USD 65. This is comparable to the Logitech Vertical MX, which fluctuates around USD 65-90.

If you wanted to save some money, Wacom tablets often come up for sale second hand on places such as Facebook Marketplace. It's very unlikely that you need the latest and greatest Wacom has to offer (which may not be much given the tablet is a fairly mature product offering), and so you could probably grab an even better deal with a pre-loved unit. If you're still on the fence on whether a tablet is for you, a second-hand unit is an excellent way to dip your toes and give it a go, without spending a lot of cash.

Connectivity

All Wacom tablets can be connected using USB. Not all models offer wireless though, as that tends to be limited to middle to higher end models, which offers Bluetooth connectivity. I own an older Intuos model which offered a separate wireless module for purchase if so inclined, which would then slot into the back of the tablet along with a battery.

On a side note, the photo below also shows how the four extra nibs are stored.

Overall

Using a Wacom tablet in place of a mouse is an excellent choice if ergonomic mice don't give you the comfort you need, or are too big for your bag. A tablet is slim, travel friendly, relatively affordable, and given it's like using a pen, offers a very natural way of interacting with your computer.