Recommendation for Digitizer?

I need to get one in order to be able to digitze raster images into vector CAD drawings with more eficiency.

But i have never had experience with any digitizer so i would need your help choosing one.

I see that wacom specializes in these products, but i have never heard of them.

Which manufacturers shall i look at, and which are the features that count? Is it better to get a tablet edition or the ones that have a whole 20+ screen? I guess the latter concern graphic designer mostly.

GTCO Calcomp digitizers have been my choice for years. My preference is for 12x12 size with the 16-button puck. The only other digitizer I ever used was a Summagraphics. Although I've seen and read about the Wacom tablets my personal feeling is that they are targeted, as you mention, more towards graphic design.

The one area of concern I have about the newer digitizers is not the hardware itself but the lack (from what I've been told) of appropriate drivers (Tabletworks) specifically geared towards the "digitizing" aspect of the product. That's why I am still running a Calcomp DB III with the last of the Tabletworks' drivers. Something about a lawsuit by the guy who wrote the program comes to mind but I'm not 100% sure of the particulars. I'm not sure how that is being handled with the newest digitizers. Pay a visit to the GTCO Calcomp website or give them a call to obtain further information.

I use a Drawingboard three also. Got a couple of them too. The guarnatee is like five or ten years, and finally had one go screwy after twelve years of use. Telephoned and they said would fix at no charge, but I had more to go through, so said nope.

Only bad thing on earlier DB's was the cord used to get snagged at edge due to being too thick.

Easy to load up software, and use driver. I used a MM for a while but overall was even larger framed, and hogged up too much desktop.

Wm.