I was going to say that Intuos 4 medium would be a good investment if you are just starting up with the tablets, but after talking to Arrangemonk who baught the second gen bamboo, I'd say, try both and see which one will be good for you. I bought this tablet so I can learn the digital arts until I get my hands on cintiq.
I've been hearing good things about the wacom's competitors. Enough that for my next tablet I'd seriously consider going with them. Especially so since the competition's price is much, much lower for similar quality/experience. For all the good people talk about WACOM, I should point out that Wacom has some poor support.…