What size tablet for someone looking to get into digital art/photoshop work?

[The Judge]

I've wanted to get a graphics tablet for a while. I'd like to get into digital drawing/painting and so was wondering what is the best size for me. Obviously bigger is going to cost more. I'm not a pro and looking at the Wacom Bamboo range. I've read that the small version is probably a bit small for art and not too hot for bigger screens. Does anyone have any thoughts/experience with tablets and able to give some input? Thanks.

[Marc S]

well an A3 one is muchos £££ but its the best size,

A4 is about the perfect size for money & size, anything smaller and you lose too much resolution. i work with a bamboo A5, but the detail work i do is always doon at high zoom levels and the non detailed work is not precise enough to warrant a high cost tablet, but for illustration/painting, you need the size.

[Jason Cerna]

from experience on the medium intuos 4, don't get the small sized bamboo for drawing and painting.

[NickJames]

I use a Wacom with 8.5 x 5.4 inches (216 x 137 mm) of active area... Basically a piece of paper folded in half. For my purposes (photo touchup/design) it's perfect. I do not do any digital painting though so haven't tried it for that.

[Marc S]

^^ same as me, perfect for what we do, but digital paint you need the full size A4

[addwildchild]

I use the same Wacom tablet as well, and would have to agree.