well, i think im gonna ask for a tablet for christmas this year. ive been lookin and i have been told to go with the Intuos2 6x8; but damn they are expensive.
i started using a graphire 1 a little while ago, and ever since ive tested it out with Alias SketchBook Pro ive totally given up on paper.
if i were you at this point, i would make it a mission to go out and try the intuos and compare its features and feel with a normal graphire only for price reasons, and you wanna make sure that you have enough money left to buy SketchBook, because no wacom tablet should be without one. you cant layer on paper
if you have the funds to get the intuos, go for it, but if i was buying it for you, id get u a graphire 3 and sketchbook