graphics tablets

My GF is into painting and drawing, she has really been wanting a tablet, and well her birthday is coming up. I just have no clue what to get her, there are a lot of options and I don't want to make a mistake and get the wrong thing.

Max Budget is $200 but would prefer to be much less if possible.

She has never used a tablet before, I guess I am wondering what you guys recommend for a first time tablet?

I have been looking at the Wacom Graphire 4 Series; seen in link.
http://www.wacom.com/graphire/4x5.cfm

is the 4X5 to small, should I step up to the 6X8?

Or should I look on ebay for a higher end one but used to stay in budget, something like this?
http://www.wacom.com/intuos/6x8.cfm

other info:

What kind of work can you do on a 6X8 tablet?

Should I look at another brand altogether?

Thanks for any help from those knowledgeable about tablets.

P.S admen's if wrong area feel free to move thread...

 

Well, I have a Trust tablet. It's not that high quality but I use it for 1 and a half year now and I replaced the (AAA) battery only twice and it's very durable. There are better tablets but this one works fine! I have no complaints. The big advantage is the price, it's not as expensive as Wacoms are. I have the Trust Wireless Tablet 1200 (too big for me but there was no smaller one). This one will probably cost less than 100 dollars. It's fun to work with it!

 

How necessary is the “Nik Color Efex Pro™ 2 GE for selectively applying photo enhancements” software? I can save $30 bucks by purchasing on newegg.com but it does not include that software?

P.S I have posted on other forums too, and so far the "graphire" and "intuos" series have gotten even votes, any other voters?

 

I have a Graphire4, but if you want it mostly for graphic work, I have hear from most people to go to the Intuos series. If you plan to draw, go big. If this matters to you, the graphic artists that are making Halo 3 (think big budget) were using large intuos pads to make that game.

 

I have the 4x5 Graphire and it is a nice, inexpensive tablet that performs well for what I need. If she is going to be using it a lot a larger input area will allow finer control of the the pen motions without having to zoom in. I say try that one for starters and see how she likes it. You can certainly step up but without knowing how she'd use it it is tough to say whether she would have trouble with the smaller version.