Wacoms (namely Bamboo Fun)

OK, I've been really interested already in a WACOM. The Bamboo Fun seems to be the most loved, I'm getting one for mommy's day...which I am aware it was yesterday...we just are trying to, with no luck, to find a store here in Alaska that carries em,and we now have decided to order offine, anywho, do these replce your mouse basically when doing a layout? What does it generally make the difference on? Is it WORTH the buy? Or do you generally forget to use it or only use it for certain things? Give me a heads up. What would you say are the pros and cons for those that have one?

Mine has completely replaced my mouse. It will feel awkward at first, but if you put your mouse away and force yourself to use just the pen within a few days you won't want to go back to the mouse. The tablet is much better for drawing, extraction or any other detailed work. Additionally, I always had repetitive use pains with my mouse, but since I've switched to the tablet I haven't had any problems at all. The only disadvantage is my husband uses the mouse, so after he uses the computer I have to hunt down the pen which he insists in throwing in the pen draw rather than setting it in the nice little holder next to the keyboard. But I love him anyway.

Ditto what Misty said.
Actually I used to have a regular Wacom tablet before my dog chewed the cord. In the regular Wacom, when the cord was chewed, the whole tablet was ruined.
In the Bamboo Fun, which I have now, the cord is detachable so that if it gets chewed or somehow severed, you can just order the replacement cord. But thats really the only difference between the two tablets, for me. I don't really see how the Bamboo Fun is any different in use than the regular Wacom.

I have one, and I use it instead of a regular mouse, but I use the bamboo's mouse, for a mouse, not the pen. I guess I just haven't ventured into pen land out of sheer mouse habit. Never gone to the trouble to get used to it. I do use the pen on occasion, like to draw elements, write or doodle, but for mousely duties, I use the mouse and it's exactly like a regular mouse, except the pad's a tad bit smaller.

I've been using a Wacom tablet for years, and it quickly replaced my mouse. One of the biggest things for me was I had to have wrist surgery, and using a mouse was really hard on me. Using the Wacom pen made all the difference for me and I could again use the computer pain free. When I became interested in playing around with photoshop and computer graphics in general, I found a mouse extremely awkward. I remember reading the perfect analogy when I was researching pens back when I bought my first Wacom... using a mouse to do computer graphics is like trying to draw with a brick. Even if you're not doing actual drawing &/or designing, I just find working with the tablet makes working in Photoshop such a joy. It's so much easier and intuitive to do selections for extractions, for example, but I find everything so much easier to do.

I should note that there are a few people who find they just don't like using a pen. I really feel that if they gave it more time they'd end up loving it, but some people just can't seem to get past those first few days of adjusting to it. My advice is that you put away your mouse and force yourself to use it for everything. Doing that, I'm willing to bet you'll soon wonder how you ever lived without it.

my DH bought me one for x-mas (thanks to a certain designer here at SSD's insistance - thank you again ) Anyway - I love mine. Honestly, I've no aspirations of being a designer - so I basically just use the pen when I'm needing brush.
Though I did put away the mouse (that it comes with) away for the first couple of weeks - just to get used to the pen. While I'm quite comfortable with the pen, I'm still not one of those women who can use it for my own handwritting yet - lol (maybe someday!)

Ok, about the included mouse. I have a mouse though that I already love, and while I intend now to put the mouse away, will I be able to use my OWN mouse when I pull one back out? Mine has buttons I like. Lol. The mouse included looks a bit plain. I imagined the pen would be second nature...not the whole get used to type thing. How accurate is the pen? And don't get me wrong, I can already do cut outs, but I use my mouse right handed and I'm left handed. Maybe they'll work out well as a combo then for me?

We have both the Wacom and our regular mouse hooked up and can use them both at the same time.

EDIT: I should clarify... they are both always hooked up, and I can switch back and forth between one or the other quickly and at any time. If you try to actually use both of them at exactly the same time, the poor cursor gets all jiggy, lol.

I just meant switch off...though I can imagine how that would be for a cursor! Being tugged in 2 directions at once like that. Mines not gonna know what the deal is as it's a laptop, so between the touch pad thing, the mouse and soon my WACOM. Poor cursor guy.

Is there a wireless bamboo? I have my laptop and just got a wireless mouse and LOVE it!!! I am interested in getting a bamboo fun but not sure if I want all of those extra wires.

I LOVE mine!! I won it in a contest here back in February.