have 2 Wacom Intuos 2 tablets.  9x12 and a 4x5.  I may buy a 6x8 here soon.  Kinda The Three Bears.  9x12 is big and you have to make large movements with the wrist.  4x5 is soo small for me but it's great for small detail work.  6x8 is what everybody told me to get and I did not.

You can find good deals on NEW Wacom tablets on Ebay.com from reliable dealers, just look at the number of sales they have and if it's in a retail box.

Since Adobe and Corel both support Wacom and the features of those tablets I would not buy one of the cheaper tablets by other maufactuers.  I have and got rid of them quickly and went with Wacom.  Could have saved a lot of money if I had just saved and got the Wacom tablets in the 1st place.