Wacom Tablets Opinions

I'm thinking about purchasing a tablet to edit photos and play with digital painting. Can I ask how many here use tablets and those that do your recommendations? I've been looking at the Wacom Intuos4 Medium. Are tablets worth the expense? What brand and size works for those who use them? Thanks in advance for taking time to comment.

Russ
http://www.AlpineGalleria.com

I've used the Wacom 6x8 for years....couldnt do without it. Of course, a lot of my retouching is portrait.....stilll, all my landscape is done with it, too. There is a "getting used to" period where you have to force yourself to give up the mouse, but, once that is done you will wonder how you ever got by without it. Money well spent for me.
Joe Rogers

Joe, thanks for the reply. I like the price of the small but even the size of the medium, 6x8 I think, seems small. I guess it will take some getting used to. Wacom seems like the top manufacturer, any reason to check out other brands?

Russ
http://www.AlpineGalleria.com

Wacom is still the choice of most retouching pros. I've had the 4x5 and it's too small. Larger than 6x8 takes up too much desk real estate. From my experience 6x8 is the Goldielocks size and I do retouching daily. The Wacoms are highly customizable to fit the type of work you do and speeds up your work considerably. If you do small area cloning work and use a lot of selections for masks, ect, what is downright difficult with a mouse is a snap with a pen. Using it sounds intuitive, but, there is a learning curve simply because you are so used to using a mouse. You almost have to unplug the mouse for a couple of weeks and force your brain to program your hand to the pen. Once that part is over, you will never look back. Like most users I still have my mouse connected because there are some tasks that it fits better. With both you will turn into a wild man. I suggest finding someone who uses one and sit down and give it a whirl,...it may take a couple of sessions. Hope this helps.
Joe Rogers

Russ,

Just FYI: I picked up a used Intuos3 tablet for a good price, wanting to try it out... and then found that the older pens can be hard to find and a bit pricey. I just got the pen, so I'll know in a couple weeks or a month if it was worth it. Good luck!

Another vote for Wacom. It's really essential for fine retouching (scenics or portraits).

Couldn't live without mine. I have the large one (have a very large desk) and would recommend the biggest one you can fit in.
It will take a bit of practice if you're used to a mouse, but the fine control for editing is about a 100,000x better.
You won't regret it.
Enjoy!
Sandy

I have a Wacom...love it!

I use a PTK-640 with my laptop and a PTZ-930 at my desktop. I find that I use the pen, most of the time, reduceing the effects to my tendons when using a mouse.. I would vote yes to purchasing the Wacom device if it does not hurt you financially.
MacMall/PCMall had them, prior to Christmas in a reconditioned version for much less. I bought my Wacom for my laptop there on sale and it is perfect, with the full warrantee etc.
I does take a bit of practice to get control of the pointer.

Another Wacom Intuos 4 6x8 user...LOVE it. I think the 6x8 is perfect.