What do you use?

[SDX]

When working on Illustrator/Photoshop etc. on a design do you use the mouse or a graphics tablet and why do you use what you do. At the moment i use a mouse, though my birthday is coming up and may get a graphics tablet, can anyone suggest any decent ones.

[RedEye]

I was just playing around with one a co-worker owns the other day in both Freehand and Illustrator. To tell you the truth, the tablet seems so clunky after having used a mouse for so many years. If you get one I would prepare yourself to devote a lot of time relearning how to draw on the computer.

I think they are good for working in Photoshop and in creating "fine art" type effects in a painting and sketching mode, but I didn't like it in working with vector images.

[andrewharrington]

like anything, you're going to have to learn the tablet if you've always used a mouse, and if you've used a tablet for many years, you probably think the mouse is cumbersome.

[DelayedPenalty]

I use a mouse, always have. I tried a graphics tablet a few times, but like you said it seems cumbersome and awkward. A funny thing is though, I bought a wireless mouse for my iMac (not the Mighty Mouse, that was out of my price range), but for working with Photoshop and Illustrator I found the 2 button mouse to be very hard to control, the standard 1 button Mac mouse is a lot easier to hold and control when drawing or painting, and for detail work as well.