If you do any kind of extensive graphics or photo editing, and still use only your trusty mouse, then smack yourself on the head a few times and run, don’t walk, to get yourself a pen tablet.  Although any pen tablet is better than none, Wacom is easily the market leader, and their products range from the consumer level Graphire series, up to the professional Intuous models.  If you’ve never used a pen tablet before, there will be a slight learning curve as you associate your motions on the tablet with what appears on your display.  However, once you’ve become accustomed to using a pen tablet, it will make your work much easier, far more precise, and more natural feeling.

There is something better than a pen tablet though, and that would be an interactive pen display.  Think of it as a Tablet PC on steroids, or better yet, an LCD monitor with a clear pen tablet layered on top of it.  Wacom’s newest pen display is the Cintiq 21UX and PC Magazine put it on their review bench for a little poking and prodding.  When finished, they came away rather pleased and had very few negative remarks.  The biggest problem with the 21UX is related to parallax issues, and it’s a problem that all pen displays share.  The parallax issue is caused by the thin layer of glass that separates your pen tip from the displayed image, but Wacom has included a utility that helps with the problem, even if it can’t completely solve it.  On the positive side, they loved the 1600x1200 resolution, the touch strips and the flexible design (no, not literally flexible). 

Over the years the various Cintiq models have been a popular, albeit expensive, option in Wacom’s lineup of editing tools.  The 21UX is arguably the best method for digital photo editing and graphics design, if you can stomach the $2,500 USD street price that is.