My Wacom tablet from seven years back was still going strong, but the tip was a problem. The rubberised grip had melted - from grime and what have you - and I was struggling to get it replaced. I was walking around Mid Valley last weekend and came across a store doing sales for the Wacom tablets.
I browsed around to sample some of the low-end versions. They were good, and did the trick week, but I noticed that the ones which responded to stylus and touch were still expensive. A few extra hundred would get me one of the higher-end ones, which were bundled with softwares such as Adobe Photoshop Elements that were going at the App Store at around USD80. I might as well get the more expensive one then.
I went for the Intous5 Touch, the smallest size. The price was very reasonable with the discounts, and add to that the softwares - including the budged version Nik Color Efex Pro - I was really pleased. Setting them up on the Mac was easy, and I was really enjoying it now. It would keep the smudges of the glass-paned touch pad on my MacBook Pro.
Some of the custom gestures took a while to get used to, but once you mastered them, it was a doodle to use.