http://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-10X6-25-Inches-Graphic-Drawing/dp/B003ZZXXLK
"Professional" tablets like the Intuos or the super high end tablets like the Clintiq series will run a buyer anywhere from $200 to $2,000 dollars, and while they're regarded well and worth their weight in gold to a working professional artist, amateurs like me who want to use it as a tool to produce some good work but perhaps other, simpler functions, need something functional that won't cost an arm and a leg. Having owned a Wacom before at the suggestion of a friend I was frustrated by the combined factors that the screen size was so small (the active area being only 8.5x5.4 inches), and that the usb connector cord strained so quickly that it had difficulty keeping electric signal and eventually just died within a handful of months. I've been perpetually using the Monoprice tablet for over a year and the cable has proven far more resilient on a solid black plastic tablet that has a more agreeable 10x6.25 inch screen (and with art sometimes canvas size can make a whole lot of difference). If I had to point out a downside compared to the experience with the bamboo tablet though, it would be in the pens. The Wacom pen didn't require batteries and would run presumably as long as the tablet lasted, while the Monoprice pen requires a AAA battery which lends itself to unexpected death during a project, but in over a year I've only had to replace the battery twice, so happy to say it is nicely conservational on its energy.
Additionally there are other features the tablet can perform that I wasn't even familiar with because as of yet I don't use it for much outside of artwork and sometimes replacing the mouse with it, but features I haven't even tapped into yet which would lend themselves nicely to classroom presentation is a split-screening control function that allows you to use your computer as though it was a digital whiteboard, with the pen of course acting as the controlling stylus. The video below goes into detail on those functions, as well as gives the tablet a fairly positive review.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=komd1bHqPag
The nib replacements are VERY cheap, which is good as I tend to grind pen nibs into the dirt and dull them up quickly, so replacements are not difficult to obtain as a set usually costs no more than $2 for a bag of 5 nibs. The affordability of the tablet and its durability is also encouraging for any classroom scenario that might want to purchase them in bulk for a classroom setting, they won't be too difficult or expensive to replace. All around they're very agreeably priced and sturdy, but there is a software issue that has come to light which hopefully can be corrected down the line, because it only affects me and not my wife who also bought a tablet for herself.
My tablet, which I only use on my laptop as that's the only personal computer I own, sometimes loses connection to the driver software installed on my laptop and therefore loses pen sensitivity, erasing the brushes and the pen pressure settings. I have to reboot my laptop to get it to work properly again. My wife has never had this problem, so clearly it's a technical snafoo between my tablet and the laptop, but that's somewhat encouraging in the event that in a classroom full of tower computers being used the tablets would perform just fine.
So there you have it. I would heartily recommend the Monoprice drawing tablet for either beginners or someone wanting an affordable entry into design tablets, because for the money it's remarkably handy, and has been quite an asset to my personal work.
