Alright, well I am trying to get a graphics tablet so I can break into the digital art medium. I have been wanting to do this for a couple YEARS now but for whatever reason it just didn't happen.

This tablet has caught my eye. http://www.wacom.com/en/creative/products/pen-tablets/intuos/intuos5-touch-medium

However I am pretty inexperienced with these things as I am mostly just familiar with drawing with Charcoal, Conte, Graphite, Ink and Paint.

Is this a good fit for an entry point tablet? Is it too advanced? It IS expensive after all.

Would you recommend a different tablet?

What software would people who have used this tablet or things of a similar ilk recommend?

Does this display on its own or does it need to be connected to a PC/Mac? I am 90% sure the answer is that it can display on its own, but I am just not sure. By this I mean I can use it unconnected to a PC/Mac.

Any other advice would be appreciated as well.

I have the Intuos 3, A5 size (also medium I believe). It's just the pad, i.e. need to connect it to a PC/Mac, and it looks like the Intuos 5 is the same. It's basically a replacement for the mouse. It's the Cintiq ones that have the inbuilt screen. But it's easy to work with, you should find it comfortable enough to look at the screen while drawing on the tablet.

I find Wacom Intuos tablets good for entry level, not too advanced but not too basic either. Mine came with a pen and a mouse, the pen had different nibs, the tablet has buttons you can use with the pen for an easier workflow.

I never really got much into digital painting after I got it but have used it for photo editing and some drawing and I love it. It has also helped take pressure off my wrists when I had injuries and would often feel pain using a mouse.

Wacom have a "Bamboo" range aswell which is a fair bit cheaper than the Intuos, but not sure how good they are in comparison. I'd say the Intuos is a better bet if you're going to become more serious about it.

Mine came bundled with Corel Essentials which was fun to play around with for beginning. I think some bundles have some 'light' versions of PS - on that website it says PS Elements among others. If you're breaking in then the 'light' software should be enough to start with, or some freeware software. Since I never pursued digital painting much further, I can't really help out recommending pro software

Dammit...I kind of need the one that has its own screen... That is going to cost me. I am going to be traveling a lot and mobility is key. I need it to work without a screen.

[censored] [censored] [censored]...this is going to cost me...

Edit: Or NOT! $1,100?!? Holy crap! Thanks for the advice Aila, you might have helped me avoid a blunder. I hate doing research on my Iphone. I always miss important details.

Huh? You need it to work completely standalone? You're going to have to spend an incredible amount for that. The drawing tablets with a screen are still not computers. They still need something else to be running the software, they just have a display so you can see where you're drawing.

Careful - all graphic tablets connect to a PC, including the Cintiq! It just has a screen so you watch what you draw beneath the pen, so to speak, rather than watching the screen ahead of you.

I think, if you want to draw on the go, you'd want to look for some kind of tablet PC that you can use a stylus with perhaps. Not sure how good they will be for serious art though.

Or combine a laptop PC with a graphic tablet?

Edit: sorry if my post about needing to connect it to a PC was misleading! Wasn't sure if some of the Cintiq ones are wireless or not.

All tablets work off a PC/Mac in some way as far as I know. I meant that a graphics tablet in general needs to be connected to a PC (somehow), but the Cintiq ones have an inbuilt screen (in addition).