I've been using a TourBox regularly since July of 2021. It's become required piece of equipment as I work on digital art. I have multiple drawing workstations each one has an individual TourBox device attached to it.
I originally purchased the TourBox NEO in November of 2020. I used it for about a month and then quit. It was very difficult for me to remember to use the device. I would often end up falling back to using my normal keyboard shortcuts. After a few weeks, I put it back in its box and left it there untouched for about 4 months.
After a particularly frustrating drawing session where I had to use keyboard shortcuts heavily, I committed to retraining myself on the TourBox device. I brought it out of storage, and made a concerted effort to make it part of my workflow.
I forced myself to not touch the keyboard
I read the user manual
I learned out to customize it
I tweaked the shortcuts in my drawing application to make it easier use the TourBox for some tasks.
After about six months my brain was fully trained to use the TourBox instead of relying on keyboard shortcuts. It was well worth that investment of time, because it made me much more productive.
Productivity
It has made me more productive simply be letting me not have to disrupt my flow by looking at the keyboard or remembering an obscure shortcut.
The TourBox Console app
The accompanying TourBox Console application is very user friendly. It is very easy to configure the device in general and to create configurations for specific applications.
A great feature of the application is it has an auto switching feature which you can enable or disable. This is very important because this means switch between windows, the appropriate configuration for that application will be used by the TourBox. You don't have to manually switch it settings.
The software is also updated quite frequently.
Connectivity
The TourBox NEO supports only a wired USB connection.
The TourBox ULTRA supports both wired and Bluetooth connection. One negative of the ultra for me is that it uses normal non-rechargeable batteries. So that's kind of irritating to have to replace them every now and then.
Importing / Exporting configurations
I have 2 machines - each with its own TourBox. One nice feature of the TourBox Console app is that it lets export the configuration for a specific app and then import it on another machine.
I wish the dials and wheels had a little more resistance to movement. I have this scroll wheel set to control my brush size. And sometimes I accidentally brush against it and change my brush size and I don't notice that until later. I don't use the large spinning dial at all. I had it set to rotate the canvas. However then I was accidentally rotating my canvas far too often. So now I do not use the dial it all.
Profile syncing
It would be nice if I could have the TourBox software automatically sync all my TourBox devices to have the same configuration without me having to go through the export/import process.
Limitations with Microsoft store apps
With Windows there's also an interesting limitation. It has to deal with apps like concepts which are not normal windows applications but are ones designed for the Microsoft Store. Apparently these applications are built differently. And the TourBox device cannot set a profile for those applications. An example of such an application is the concepts app. I really enjoy sketching with this application. But the TourBox cannot bind to it. So I cannot have an application specific configuration for it. I do not know if this limitation is because of the TourBox software or how windows works or a combination of both those factors.
Partial setup for Clip Studio Paint
TourBox (https://www.tourboxtech.com/) makes an input device that simplifies doing artwork with a drawing tablet. My notes on using the TourBox
Essentially the TourBox is like a keyboard/keypad that looks like a game controller - where the buttons are completely customizable. A single key or dial can even be set do perform different functions for different applications.
The key benefit of this device is that instead of using the keyboard while you are drawing - which frequently, you can use the TourBox instead to perform common actions like
zoom in / zoom out
undo / redo
change brush size
switch tools
There are three models:
TourBox NEO - this was the first version
TourBox ELITE - this is an improved version that supports some haptic feedback and has wireless support
TourBox LITE - This is a simpler version that is just as big as the NEO and ELITE and has fewer controls.
Brad Colbow review of TourBox NEO 2020/09/04
uricksaladbar review of TourBox NEO 2021/10/29
Todd Dominey review of TourBOX NEO 2021/10/17
Aaron Rutten review of TourBox ELITE 2024/04/03
Nadiaxel review of TourBox ELITE 2023/06/15
BoroCG review of TourBox ELITE 2021/12/02
PetaPixel revie of TourBox ELITE 2021/12/11
Todd Dominey review of TourBox LITE 2024/13/03
