Wacom Forgets Hong Kong Exists
Posted by SpikeFeb 18
As I’m starting to plunge into Photoshop, it’s clear that a pen tablet will be more than just a nice-to-have. Wacom’s Intuos 4 seems to be the front-runner in the field. And their web site will proudly tell you that “Adobe Photoshop is specifically designed to be used with a Wacom pen tablet. Photoshop has more than 20 customizable tools that perform at their best with a Wacom pen.” But which to get? Bamboo or Intuos4?
So I went to Wacom’s web site. They want you to pick a territory to see details on products and distributors within that territory. Reasonable enough.
Except that their Asia Pacific site covers Australia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam.
So over to their China web site, only offered in simplified and traditional Chinese. Go to the search for a dealer page and there are two drop-down boxes. Select Hong Kong in the first box and the second box (where presumably you should have the option to select HK, Kowloon or NT) never populates, so when you press the search button all you get is an error.
So first of all, they don’t even offer an English language option for Hong Kong. And then the Chinese option for Hong Kong basically doesn’t work. (Or do any of my Chinese-fluent readers have better luck with this than I do?)
So maybe it’s time to figure out what other companies’ products I should consider.



8 comments
Comment by NK on February 18, 2010 at 10:13 am
Wacom Hong Kong Limited
(852) 2573-9322
Email: support@wacom.com.hk
(I just tried wacom.com.hk – pretty much identical to .cn but had their contact details on the front page)
Comment by Spike on February 18, 2010 at 10:34 am
Interesting that the site exists but they can’t be arsed to actually link to it from their global site (unless I somehow missed the link?)
Comment by yopy on February 18, 2010 at 11:46 am
Very true. Their hong kong section does not have english. For pen tablet, they are the one.
The closest competitor is a product called P-Active. http://www.xp-pen.com/ or http://www.yutron.com.hk/products/p-active/index.htm (the former is english and the latter is chinese).
Wacom dominates the industry…I used Bamboo Fun. Intous 4 is out of my budget list.
Comment by Spike on February 18, 2010 at 11:55 am
Thanks Yopy and nice to find your blog. I think I’ll need to compare the Bamboo and the Intuos before I decide which one to go with. Budget is an issue for me too.
I see you’ve been to PASM – did we meet?
Comment by Jonathan Stanley on February 18, 2010 at 2:16 pm
You should be able to try both Wacom tablets from either the main Wan Chai (next to MTR) or Mong Kok Computer centres.
As for Hong Kong and computer hardware/software manufacturer websites… it’s rather schizophrenic. I’ve seen Hong Kong (aside from lumped with mainland China) also lumped with Singapore (English version) and Taiwan/ROC.
Comment by Spike on February 18, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Thanks. Actually I just struck a deal for a used Intuos4 and picking it up later this afternoon.
Comment by yopy on February 18, 2010 at 3:33 pm
PASM – I was there during the Grand Opening. I left around 7pm. I don’t think we have met each other.
I hv not been to the PASM monthly get-together because I am just a beginner photographer. You guys are way up there…
Don’t worry, we will bump into each other. It;s a small town.
Comment by Spike on February 18, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Hope to meet you there in the future. I find that the other photographers have all been very generous in sharing great tips with me. The photos on your blog are nice – I don’t think you are just a beginner.