I'm looking at prices for good tablets and programs so that after the tax rebate comes in I can throw in the rest of my birthday money and ask (beg) my parents to buy it for me. So far I've come up with a Genius Mousepen 8x6 tablet [link] that from what I've read in the reviews, seems pretty good. I'm not so sure about the painter program that comes with it, though, so I'm searching for a good one.

We already have Photoshop 7.0, but it's only on my mom's computer, so I'm trying to find an alternative, unless someone knows how to transfer the program without having the original disk, 'cause I have no idea where it came from. We're waaaaay too poor for Photoshop. x_x; -trying to find it cheaper- OpenCanvas seems like a pretty good program, but I want y'alls opinions. What do you guys use for digital art, and what cheaper programs do you think would work for me?