get a wacom bamboo. It's a good starter tablet and they last a long time. Wacom is about the best you're going to get from a tablet. My old graphire 4 is the precursor to the bamboo and it's over 10 years old, still works just fine. I upgraded to an Intuos pro med. last summer just cause I wanted a bigger work area and more pressure sensitivity. You should find Bamboos at best buy or just about any other electronics store for around $100. Can get them on ebay used for less. New ones usually always come with free software like Photoshop Elements, or Corel Draw, etc. 

You wont get the same features from a $50 tablet that you will in a $500 tablet. 

How much better is a pencil or a paint brush compared to a mouse?