Haha likewise, you have some nice stuff too!

Trademe is good, you might be able to get something a bit cheaper, other options are in stores, I think some computer stores will have some, I'm still scribbling away on my intous 3, and it's in ok condition after 5 year? Must mean I'm not drawing enough!

ps. as nice as drawing on BIG tablets are, nothing wrong with say a medium/small wacom. Some may even prefer it, cause you won't have to move your arm as much.

I should also put in the warning about intous 4/ bamboo pen/manga... er what ever else they are calling those things,the nibs wearing out really quickly, so either have a stash of nibs, or look for something else! For other people might be ok, but if you are going to be doing A LOT of drawing, those will wear out REALLY quickly. (TRUST ME)

I haven't mentioned other brands, cause, well I don't know what they are like.

so, in summary (this is turning out to be longer than I expected)

Bamboos are your entry level tablets, they are pretty good. Cheaper, and you won't notice much of a difference compared to say the intous.

Intous are your next level up, and would be recommended for you, but obviously more expensive, better tablet adjust options with the drivers, and should have a higher pressure sensitivity than bamboo, so gives a more natural feel to how you draw.

Cintiq, don't go there, end of story.

Hope that helps!

Ello Quinton????

It's been a while! (assuming you are who I think you are)
As with photoshop versions, the latest is CS6, and it has some nice new things compared to say cs3-5

Since I personally don't worry about much except brush and eye dropper, it really doesn't matter which version of photoshop I use.
Honesty, if you know the basics of photoshop, you can adapt pretty quickly to any version.

I don't know how much the price difference is, or where you actually might be able get older versions. So after all that, you might only be able to buy cs6 from the shops.

Glad you hear you are getting back into drawing!

ah good to see you here too

oh wow, there were some very nice entries. Feel very honoured to have won ^_^