a tablet is good for drawing, but not for general work. a mouse is still best for menus, moving, and almost anything else that isn't shading or drawing. the tablet i have right now is the intous medium, its wireless which is nice. but i hate the button arrangement, the one i had before arranged them better. i'm always hitting the wrong one because they are all the same shape. they have braille lines on it, but i never feel the differences. i like the "wheel" in the center. don't like the chalk board like surface they gave. though while i polished an area smooth, there is a lot left.
a tablet is a good investment, i suggest a 6x8 surface, the smaller ones aren't as high res, and the larger ones your arm moves too much. there is a learning curve to using these however, they don't work like a mouse, they work like a pad of paper. if you want your cursor to the far right, you need to move your arm and pen to the far right. once you get the hang of it, it's easy. a bit of a pain to program though.
---Mike Savad