Well, I guess it depends on how serious of an artist you are. Wacom is still the best and that's pretty much hands down however there are some competitors recently but I can't speak for them. A lot of hobbyists use the relatively inexpensive Bamboo tablets to very good result. Most professionals I would guess use one of the Wacom Intous line of products. Then you have the Cintiq series but those are really getting pricey. Still, if you want as near to using pencil and paper those are probably the best.

I have an Intous4 that I use when I'm at my desk on my PC and a Cintiq Companion that I take with me everywhere, even sitting in bed I'm fortunate I could afford such things but I did have to save up for both of these and it's taken a few years to get them.

I expect you haven't had any quick replies on this yet because there hasn't been enough change to the industry. I keep wishing for more Wacom competition because that's good for us but so far there hasn't been much.

I do know there have been some good reviews for the Microsoft Surface machines and you can probably use them just fine unless you really want to have the tilt pen settings and all the fancy stuff that comes along with a Wacom product. I think Noah Bradley did a comparison but when I was looking about a year ago the Wacom was still the best...if you could afford it.

And if I'm wrong, please somebody let me know so I can start saving money on my next purchase, LOL.