Wacom is overpriced, truly. It's name brand and everyone wants it--and that's the only reason it stays at the top. : )

If you can just get used to not having a mouse mode, you could really explore other options. Mouse mode with a tablet really is just a wacom thing. You're really narrowing yourself off.

I, too, was a sworn WACOM ONLY user for years until Jennuh got me my HUION.

Man I love the darn mouse mode though. Its so hard to switch to pen-mode because the tablet will never perfectly fit the ratio of my monitor. I tried my friends Huion and just found it super duper frustrating. That and getting the drivers installed were also a huge pain.
I've used mouse mode for like 6 years, its really gonna suck if I have to switch, I really dont want to have to. OTL.

I'm not even going to lie to you, HUION should've made an american version driver on their website to make it easier than it was. It was pretty much hell on earth doing it in another language from some page with 20 links to what seems to be the same thing (?) all together in another language. With no help.

I like the convenicne of easy instillation and mouse-mode with the wacom tablets, but yeah they are much more expensive than a number of other brands.
I just had such a huge fight with Huion & Intuos 3 drivers last time I was considering a replacement.
Which is why I bought 3 of this same model, I swear Id take this tablet to the grave with me if only the pens weren't getting so darn hard to find.

You know what, Mono. I had the very first EVER released Wacom Bamboo tablet. It was released in 2007 and I got it in 2009 for $250 refurbished.
Here it is

I've had it for EIGHT YEARS refurbished and the thing is now what Jennuh uses. I took such good care of it and the tablet, the surface, that absolutely everything still works as it should. It was my first big purchase ever as a young adult. And I totally agree with you--I'll never get rid of this tablet. I'll take it to my grave with me. I absolutely adore the thing. It's so old, it's only got 548 levels of pressure! But I don't care.

Watching my wife use it now is just a wonderful experience. It's still getting used and it still works. She's my sturdy stand-by. : )

Oh my god! I had the same one! My bros gave it to a friend. I'm sure it'd work, but the drawing space is too small for me now. I bet it still works, that was a good model! I loved it too!
My highschool teacher gave me the 9"x12" monstrosity that is my largest GD model so Ive been spoiled with a much larger surface. I moved down to 6"x8" but I dont think I could stand to go any smaller cause I'd be hitting the edge of the thing constantly otherwise.

The one I had was a 9x12, not the 6x8.. : ) So it was pretty big. I didn't get the smaller one because I knew it'd cramp my hand. I had to draw on something large. And my HUION is also 9x12, so it's good.

For the intuous3, there's no setting to fool around with for line smoothing?

You could try an intuous4, which I think is just called "Intuous Pro" now.
Otherwise, you could try these other brands: Ugee, XP-Pen. They're both fairly cheap and have 2048 levels of sensitivity. Some of the pens need batteries (I never had a problem with a pen with a battery, personally), but usually they lack some features, like tilt sensitivity or the eraser thing.

I don't have any experience with those two brands, but I did have another brand, Genius G-Pen, which I'm not sure is still in business. Anyway, it had the mouse mode (every tablet should... assuming mouse mode is what I think it is), and these other brands look very similar to Genius.

Nothing really ever topped the amazingness of intuous3, though. You might've just had a driver conflict going on.

It was a fight to get the Intuos 3 drivers working, so I'm sure I was having some conflicting stuff going on that caused the jittery lines but no amount of Googling seemed to help resolve the issue. I tried several different versions of the drivers but then the pressure sensitivity would not work, period.

My friend has a Yiynova tablet monitor, but I was uncomfortable drawing on it when I used it for a while so I don't know if I'd be up to switching to a tablet monitor like the Yiynova or Cintiq (atop their hefty price tags)

Ugee and XP Pen aren't tablet monitors, though. They're entirely different "off brands." Try looking up some of the specs on Amazon and see if it's worth it to try out. Of course it's always better if you have a friend you can just borrow it from, but these tablets are literally so cheap it might be worth it to just buy and try.

My G-Pen was like 9 x 13 and $50. It did have some issues but for that price and size it was well worth dealing with. Biggest problem I had was only 1024 levels of pressure. Ugee and XP Pen both have 2048 so you shouldn't run into that issue.

Right, I am going to give you my honest option as I used almost all the Wacom tablets with my past jobs, along with what I have got now.

So I have worked the Bamboo, all the Intuos tablets and most Cintiq's. Depending on what you WANT to use, will define which you will get.

Option one (Hobby Artwork): Intuos Pro Special Edition
Reason being, is if you are use to drawing on a non-screen tablet and want really good quality. That one is for you, I normally say to use these if you want to do art as a hobby or taking College in Art.

Option Two (Freelance/Work): Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 OR Cintiq 22HD
Reasons for either one or the other, is that the "22HD" is an old classic Wacom tablet now and great to work with, although feels a little cheap using plastic nibs, it be best to get the fiber nibs for your pen to remove the cheap feel. Most companies have these for Artists and Designers, so it's the Industry standard tablet for Freelance/Business work. However, the "Pro 16" is a little smaller, it has it's huge improvements and fanatic to work with! The only issue is the cost of it, as it will be a Bomb to your wallet to get. The colours are great, no lag on the pen, it's just the perfect tablet for myself so worth the investment, although companies aren't using it due to costs.

What I use: Cintiq 22HD
I was gifted this tablet, as my Bamboo tablet died on me some time last year, and I was doing Art/Design work for cilents and companies. So this fit the bill for myself, It's really good however you need a DVI connection on your PC as I mentioned before, it's an "Old" classic it, as in... The outputs haven't changed since it was first made.

So overall, if you have the money to splash and going for business/freelance stuff, PRO 16 would be your tablet. If you're doing art for Fun and not bothered about making money. Go for the Intuos Pro Special Edition.

I really hoped this has helped. XD Sorry it's a lot to read, but it's best I tell you a little about what tablet, along what to go for if you want it for one of the two reasons.

Oohh, thank you so much for all the information here!
I do a lot of art commissions, and just about every moment I am sitting at my computer I am drawing in Photoshop CS5 or Clip Paint Studio.
I also do a bit of 3D Modeling as a hobby, so my desktop is pretty much a dedicated art machine as I spend much more time drawing than doing anything else.

I have a decent amount of money saved so I could purchase just about any sort of tablet.
My only real reluctance with upgrading to a tablet monitor is that I am unsure as to how comfortable it will be to work at.
I don't want to be hunched over the monitor, sitting with very poor posture or having my wrist bent at a strange angle and end up really sore from drawing so much.

I'd type more but I'm on my phone now and I can't see my text past all the advertisements at the bottom of the screen