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Help buying a pen tablet

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Viseroid:
My brother wants to buy a pen tablet so he can draw stuff on his computer. I have little to no knowledge of these things and was wondering if you could toss me a few good brands or entry level models. How much should he spend? After a quick inspection it seems they are priced at about 200 USD and above.
Thanks!

shabutie:
I have a Small Bamboo-Fun.  Pretty good for a starting one (my first one)


Works well, priced at 100 americano  (And its on sale right now @ Amazon!)


I occasionally have some problems with the pen in photoshop (wont register it as a pen and not activate the pressure sensor) but that's the only problem I've had with it.

erious:
Wacom is pretty much an industry standard - and I can recommend it from personal experience.
Important thing to keep in mind is size - smaller sizes make it harder to adjust for the difference between monitor size and the tablet's active area. So I'd really avoid something too small - it might be ok at first, but as you gain experience and use the tablet more, it might quickly become insufficient. Something sized like Wacom Intuos Medium would be probably good - but if you have the cash to spare, Large is much better - just to avoid having to upgrade in the future.
Also, if you want to save some money, getting the previous generation(Intuos 3), even used, is a good idea.
I know that there are some cheaper brands, and if your brother isn't serious about his art it might be a good idea to get one of those - but I don't have any experience with them, so I won't be able to help you there.

fohfoh:
Wacom is the way to go if you go over a certain size.

Smaller size, Bamboo is the most cost effective. (But higher size, pay higher for wacom)

iindigo:
If it isn't a Wacom tablet, you don't want it. Wacom is the only tablet producer that has fully pressure-sensitive tablets that make use of wireless, batteryless pens. Why? You can thank the US patent system.

Anyway, I've had a couple Wacom tablets through the years. I started out with the entry-level model of the time, a small-medium tablet known as the Graphire2. It was nice, but its drawing area was small and its pressure sensitivity wasn't the greatest. After a year and a half or two years of that, I got a temporary job as a graphics designer for a company and thus had a surplus of cash, allowing me to upgrade. I bought an Intuos3 9x12 tablet and have been using it ever since (about four or five years).

The tablet has held up extremely well. Despite my abuse, both the tablet and the pen work as well as the day I bought them and I can't imagine doing any serious graphics work without it.

So yeah, the smaller tablet will work and is definitely better than just a mouse, but if your brother is going into this with any degree of seriousness, tell him to get something bigger. He won't regret it.

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