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[Pineapple]

.

[Landshark RAWR]

I got a wacom bamboo for $100 and I am pretty satisfied with it

[Hangedman]

Yes. Cheap or fancy. Start cheap and upgrade is usually best.

Bamboo Pen.
Not Pen&Touch, because it can have weird hardware screwups that lead it to be a giant useless touchpad.

[ink.inc]

I got a wacom bamboo for $100 and I am pretty satisfied with it

I got mine for 65 usd at Fry's. 

[Landshark RAWR]

ok i looked it up and it was 87.99 at future shop

[Nate Kling]

Yeah Bamboo is a great tablet. Go for it. Do not get anything other than Wacom.  Unfortunately wacom has a total monopoly on the tablet industry, but fortunately their products are really good.

[:^)]

I have one of those older design bamboo tablets, before Wacom came out with the Pen&Touch.

Totally the bomb.  

Small. Simple. If you have Windows/Mac it works pretty swell. It lags a bit on my Linux running pc though.

But, still totally the bomb.  

[Sakar]

Yeah, definitely get a Wacom tablet. Bamboo's are cheap.


Also offtopic, but I voted the third option because it happens to be my favorite plant

[BlueSweatshirt]

I have an old school Bamboo as well.

The USB cable wears down easily, from what I've seen. Be careful winding that thing!! 

[Helmeted]

I don't want to discourage you, if the price is decent and you've got the cash to spare then go ahead. But my own experience with tablets has been mixed.

I never fully acclimatized to the disconnect between my hand and the lines I drew on the screen. My drawings with the tablet were always clumsy as hell. I didn't have the control I was used to, it was almost like drawing with my off hand or after falling to the floor drunk (If I can still stand, I draw pretty good).

Eventually, I got a baby Cintiq, which has totally changed my life.

[:^)]

Oh heck yeah. If you can afford a Cintiq, get that.

[Konidias]

I don't want to discourage you, if the price is decent and you've got the cash to spare then go ahead. But my own experience with tablets has been mixed.

I never fully acclimatized to the disconnect between my hand and the lines I drew on the screen. My drawings with the tablet were always clumsy as hell. I didn't have the control I was used to, it was almost like drawing with my off hand or after falling to the floor drunk (If I can still stand, I draw pretty good).

Eventually, I got a baby Cintiq, which has totally changed my life.

Story of my life. I bought a wacom tablet way back in the day and I just assumed I'd be able to sketch with it like I do using pencil and paper. The disconnect was just too much and I still don't use tablets to this day. I'd much rather draw directly on the screen. I'll have to consider getting a Cintiq one of these days... maybe if there is a price drop or a special or something... It's not something I *need* but it would be nice to have around.

[mankoon]

The jump from no tablet to tablet is HUGE. It really is a life changer. However, when I made the jump from tablet to cintiq it wasn't as big of a deal. I have the 20 inch model so I can only speak for that one. The nice benefit from a hand held tablet is you can maneuverer through interface with only a wrist movement. On a 20" cintiq, it's a large arm movement...

 One other thing to note about cintiqs is that they attract cats because they generate so much heat. Sort of like the way bowls attract cats...

[PowRTocH]

Bamboos are a bit annoying because they don't have buttons. At least I find that a bit annoying, because I'm used to my other super old Wacom which I could undo and redo with simple clicks. It's a nice thing to have.

[JoGribbs]

I have a Bamboo which is great but unfortunately I cannot draw. I maybe should have thought about it longer or I should practice my artings more, but I don't like doing either of those things.

[Jad]

I have an intuos medium size and it is the best thing. It just is the best thing.

Buy a tablet.

[Konidias]

Update: Coincidentally, my work was having an IT Tech day today and had the largest version of the Cintiq set up to try out. So I got to play with it and I'm really loving it. I don't think I'd need the biggest size (I think it runs $2k). I'd be happy with a notebook sized Cintiq. Definitely on my wish list though, if I have some spare cash floating around.

I don't think anything beats actually drawing directly on to the screen. But I guess if you're on a budget, a tablet would be okay. Just not for everyone.

[ink.inc]

I don't think anything beats actually drawing directly on to the screen. But I guess if you're on a budget, a tablet would be okay. Just not for everyone.

For some reason I was under the impression that a tablet was a touchscreen. What should I get if I do want to be able to draw directly onto the screen?

Also, my budget is fairly expansive. However, I would definitely be hesitant to buy if the device costs more than $150.

The cheaper Wacom Tablets are not touchscreens. They are merely input devices, like a mouse. There's no screen on em. You draw while looking at the monitor. There's a bit of a disconnect first, but you get used to it pretty quick.

If you want to draw directly on a screen, those are a bit more pricey.

The Wacom Bamboo (roughly 70 USD)


The Wacom Cintiq (1000 USD+, depending on size)


As others have said, buy Wacom only. All other brands, however few there may be, are crap in comparison.

[ink.inc]

Yep.

[emacs]

If I had the money, I'd get a Cintiq.  Right now I'm using a medium Intuos4 and carry a last year's model Bamboo around with me for my laptop.