I own a Grahire and I love it, I got it because it was in my price range and I use both the mouse and pen. The difference between the 2, the Intuos has more what you might call range of pressure off of the pen. But that is about it. The Graphire has 512 different pressures on the tip, so you can make approximately 512 different lines for an example, from the very faint to the very very thick. That is about it, if you are a beginner you should try the Graphire, if you like it but need more range other than 512, then by all means go for it. I am not a beginner and I love the Graphire because it does all that I expect. Hope this helps. Sharen:)