can anyone convince me that it is worth buying a graphic tablet, and what the benefits are...

What would be the advantages of drawing with a pencil over a mouse? A graphic tablet is "almost" as easy as drawing with a pencil. You have to get use to looking at the screen instead of your hand-paper, but once you get the hang of that it's wonderful. I don't use a mouse for ANYTHING. I use an optical trackball and a tablet.

it depends on what you do on the computer.

me... i love my tablets. got one for the office and home

:)
retrocity

PS: are you doing graphics? photomanip? 3D postwork? illustration?

I do a bit of everything. I'm thinking of getting one for use with photoshop and painter - but i would also like to use it with 3ds max and iluustrator, and was wondering if it would work, and if so, how? I know i sound a bit silly, but i've never used a tablet. Also, would anyone recommend how much to spend on one as i've seen that the price range is quite big. Is it worth shelling out a lot, or will any just do the job? Anyway, many thanks guys... M3

I hesitated for a long time before breaking down and getting one...I did OK with my mouse (or so I thought). Finally, I got one, just a small 4x5...but I LOVE it. Everything is so much faster, and the control is superb. I don't have a particularly top-of-the-line one, nor is it one of the newest models...but it works beautifully for what I need it for, which is mainly web graphics and some image postworking in Photoshop. I imagine there are ways to get a tablet to work in other applications.

I have a very old wacom serial 4x5 which I think is quite cool. It's great in illustrator, and makes photoshop & painter way more fun! I don't know about 3DS max, but I know with Bryce & Poser things get a bit screwy. Many basic movements are okay, but rotating 3-D objects and posing seem to work pretty crazily, so I go back to the mouse when I use those probrams. If anyone has tips on how to get around this I'd love to know. DL

I just got a Wacom Graphire2 and after 2 hours this is great using the pen rather than a mouse. I think I will really like it , no batteries no cord. So far so good

I'm also a proponent of the graphit tablet, so much so that I'm looking to upgrade and was wondering what the professionals use for there tablets?

I bought a wacom 12x12 for my comp at home and I love it.LOL I will say it is a little weird at first but man it is alot better for detailing your work. As far as what size or how much money to spend, when I got mine i tried to get a tablet that best represented the size monitor i have. My 12x12 almost matches my works space perfectly. I use a 22" screen. I would go 9x12 for 17" screen. HAHAH and then there is your budget to think about.

Has anyone used the wacom graphic 3 classic, graphics tablet ? Would like to here before i buy......well someone else is buying it for me for Christmas...I hope! Thanks