Well, I just got back from an international trip, so... yeah, I've been gone!

But I come bringing some (hopefully) useful information. My old 8x10 Wacom Intuos tablet was finally starting to glitch out after 11 years of use. That was daily use. Heavy daily use. I had worn off the coating in the center of the tablet years ago and had gone through many, many replacement nubs for the stylus. I knew it wasn't giving as smooth a line as it used to, but I stuck with it until it finally started to have outright errors in pen placement now and then.

After reading some positive reviews, I gave a refurbished Intuos 3 tablet a shot. The low price (I went through Academic Superstore, so that was another price drop) meant that I was able to move up to a 9x12 size, which was an immediate benefit. But then I was a little worried about whether the quality would be up to par.

I shouldn't have worried. It was like taking a brand new tablet out of the box. Not even a fingerprint.

If you're considering getting a tablet, I've been VERY satisfied with the Wacom brand (11 years of daily use, no lie) and this decision to go refurbished has thus far looked to be all upside.