I'm really needing a new graphics tablet.  Mine is a Wacom Intuos, but it is first generation, and I'd like to upgrade it.  I really can't afford what the 3rd and 4th generation Intuos are going for.  

Has anyone tried theWacom  bamboo series?  Are they even worth looking at?  I know they have about half the pressure settings of the Intuos, but I'm not looking to do full on digital painting.    Are there any other recommendations?  

I have the A5 size Bamboo black. The eraser on the white version is better. the black looks better.

I wish there is half a pressure point between 734 level and 735 level...ha, just kidding. It has 1024 levels of pressure point and that is more than enough acupressure points I need to use at the moment.

Recommended.

Laurence C

 I have the Black one...first generation and am happy with it...I work mainly in PhotoShop® and Terragen 2® and no real problems have cropped up.. ...

 Thank you for the advice  :)  I'm checking them out on Newegg now.

The Intuos gives you control on the brush angle that the bamboo doesnt have. Otherwise its a good choice. I have the Wacom Graphire tablet which is a bit older.

I've got the second generation Bamboo and I'm really happy with it. The black A5 one, pen & touch. I really do like the addition of the touch features. Combined with the pen it works great. Works well with 3D apps and paint /drawing apps.

The cool thing about it is that you can switch very quickly between touch and pen. The touch thing actually works quite well. With the gestures, you can scroll up/down and sideways, zoom, rotate. When browsing you can go back and forward between pages very quickly. When in a drawing application, you can use the pen for drawing, but touch for menus and such. Once you get the hand of it, it's great.

I can only recommend it. I don't even use a mouse anymore, everything with the bamboo. With my old tablet I used to switch a lot between mouse for regular work and pen for drawing. Somehow annoying. With the Bamboo touch & pen, that's something from the past now. No need to revert back to a mouse anymore, everything in one device.