I made myself go out and buy a (relatively) cheap one as soon as I got started with Skritter a few days ago. I'm finding it very enjoyable.

You mean like a Wacom?

I'm not sure what a Wacom is, but basically a plastic sheet that detects the location of a pen you hold over it

Was talking about:

http://www.wacom.com/bambootablet/bamboofun.php

Yeah they're great. I like how one holds a pen, so I learn how to write characters with a pen, which is more realistic than a mouse...

I manage to go one better and use a tablet / surface PC. I wouldn't recommend buying a tablet just for Skritter, but it was certainly one of the ways I could justify the extra expense on the tablet PC.

It depends on how much you intend to use Skritter. But if you are doing upwards of 1/2 hour a day, a tablet is a much nicer tool to use. It links more closely with the motor actions of actual hand-writing, which I think is probably useful, and it also just feels a lot more elegant. I don't use my tablet for much else, but it's massively helpful for skrittering.

I have been really curious about what the experience of writing directly on the screen with a pen for Skritter would be like. I bought a Wacom table specifically for Skritter and I could not imagine using Skritter any other way. That said, I started using Pleco as my mobile Chinese dictionary on a Palm Treo (pen based) and said I could not imagine writing with my finger, but now that Pleco is available for iPhone / iPod Touch I have started getting used to it. I'm not sure if I would want to do a lot of flash card practice that way though.

I couldn't imagine using Skritter without a tablet! My tablet is about the same size as my laptop, so when using Skitter, I put the tablet right over the laptop keyboard and use my laptop as a pseudo-tablet PC.

Now, if only Apple would integrate Flash into the iPhone OS (wishful thinking, I know) or Skritter is ported to the iPhone OS, then I would be able to justify getting an iPad and practice on the road as well as at home. :)

I was starting to get an aching arm from using the mouse so I bought a Wac om Bamboo. It is great.

I got a Bamboo Fun for this site and iSketch (an online Pictionary-like game). After I bought it, I found out it's also very useful for writing Chinese and Japanese on the computer, since Windows Vista has built-in handwriting recognition for both languages that activates once you install a graphics tablet.

Not only does writing with the tablet remove the need to choose between homophones all the time, it also forces you to remember all the characters you need to use. I no longer type in Pīnyīn/Rōmaji.

@ Levi wow, no longer type? that is some dedication...

I agree that inputting pinyin is a bit of a crutch, and I have considered learning wubi which is at least based on stroke order and such (or so i am told), but I can't imagine handwriting everything in english much less chinese...

@OP yeah I am also one who bought a wacom just for Skritter... worth it to me.

I bought a Hanvon tablet a couple of weeks ago (汉王小龙女手写板, 189RMB), specifically for use with Skritter, and am pretty satisfied.

I'm interested in the 汉王 tablets. How big is it? How's it's quality? Did it come with any sweet Chinese handwriting input software?