I was recently asked in an email to identify this picture which is on the top-right corner of the www.digitizersworld.com logo...
Here's my response...
It is a special type of monitor that allows you to write or draw directly on the screen. You can buy these tablets from Marv at Marvelous Creations. His toll-free number is 1-877-593-3535 and tell him you're interested in the Wacom tablet for digitizing. They are priced a bit over $1,000 for the 15" size.
The same company (Wacom) makes tablets that you can draw on but that don't have the monitor built into the tablet. Those are much cheaper but they still require you to look at your monitor in one place while drawing with your hand in a different place. They don't do anything to improve digitizing speed or accuracy but they are cheap as in $150 to $300 typically. We've bought that type of tablet before and ended up throwing them away. On the other hand, we've bought several of the ones like you see in the photo and they are extremely valuable.
The only caution I would say is this... If you're already a digitizer then you'll find the table cuts your digitizing time in half. On the other hand, if you don't know how to use the software you already have, it won't make it easier to learn digitizing or solve the basic problem of not knowing how to digitize. So, if you don't know how to use your software already then you would be much better off spending the money on digitizing tutorials. On the other hand, if you know how to digitize, you'll find the tablet to be a Godsend.