I agree with everyone else. I've had my Wacom Intuos for two years and it still works phenomenally... I did have a couple of little software issues where my system keeps "losing" the drivers... so i have to reset them from time to time, but it's a simple work around and totally worth it for the quality of the wacom!
A graphic tablet is the best way because you can get so much more detail, but, if you have the patience for it, you can do quite a bit of drawing hair with a good hair brush set and the pen tool.