Ive also been using Wacom for years in my sign making business. I have a Bamboo Fun, but since upgrading to the 27” iMac it doesn’t work so well, I am planning to buy a later model, Intous5 is recommended by Wacom.

I used an A4 for about 6 years, moved to an A5 for 4 or 5 years, then back to an A4 a few years ago. The advantage of larger, is you don’t have to zoom so much to work at the same level of detail. Other than that, people used to always say … buy the one that suits the way you draw. If you are at ease with large brush strokes go for the larger. I don’t know anyone other than CAD people that use an A3 though. The original advantage of the A3 used to be for tracing.

I would definitely go for the ‘touch’ models, especially if you don’t have an Apple Trackpad. 10.7 is already heavily geared towards touch and the next version will only be even more so. It’s very handy not to have to set the stylus down to pick up a mouse and I suspect that people with the A4 touch will be using both hands to work, which is very natural.

Joseph, the Radial menu and buttons are a very neat way of working. It takes a looooonng time work out how to set them up and make them to your liking, but once you’ve done so, the keyboard is hardly ever used and you can just be comfortable doing everything on the Wacom. Most people I know never bother to set them up though, so they’re wasted, but it really is worth the time. I probably spent 2 or 3 days overall in the end, just understanding and working out a good system. You can assign pretty much anything to them in >10.6 via Services. Applescripts/Workflows for example. I have the pen button set to bring up the Radial Menu and then can quickly tap through sub-menus to access a ton of things.

I just picked up a Wacom Bamboo Capture. It’s part of their entry level line of pen tablets. I absolutely love it and wonder why I hesitated for so long. It’s not as feature packed as their Intuos/Cintiq, but it has touch and pen based input and now rarely goes unplugged. It makes a lot of my workflow more fun and often quicker, once I got over the learning curve.

I have had a Wacom Bamboo (pen and touch) for some time and use it instead of a mouse when working on photos, but have to pick up the mouse when I need to use the keyboard. Is there any way around this?

I have been using Wacom stylus tablets for years.
Currently using the Intuos 5 Touch Medium PTK-640 (6 x9 woking area)with touch controls.
I use it in leau of a mouse for the most part. I keep the stylus in my hand as I use a Uniball tracking device and the keyboard as well. (I don’t use the included mouse)
The pad has 8 buttons and a radial touch control that I use to rotate images while editing.
I do a lot of background clipping in my workflow.
It is set to track across three monitors in a single pass.( 66 inches)
It’s very precise and indispensable in my work.
I travel with the CTE-440 (4 x5) for my lap top.
Get at least a 6x9(medium) you are going to like using it so why buy it twice.
My Wife has a Bamboo that works OK, but there is no comparison.
John