Tablets!

Synthesis

Okay, here's the deal.

I need to buy my mother a tablet. Nothing too complicated, she doesn't draw/paint (or rather, she wouldn't on a computer), just one that can work as an IME pad so she can more easily write in Mandarin through Vista. She doesn't have a Chinese-language keyboard, and she's stated that she'd rather actually write write the characters one by one, so I figure a tablet is the best option.

Problem is, I don't know shit about tablets, so I need some assistance. Only her laptop uses Vista, and she uses those on tables, so size isn't too much of an issue, so much as portability and cost. She wouldn't be terribly happy if I spent a lot of money, so middle/cheaper model would probably work. Above all, it should be reliable.

Anyone know what I'm looking for?

Visti

Wacom is the highend stuff that a lot of pro artists use these days, but they have a quite affordable line called the Bamboo out that is actually pretty sweet, not too big and kinda pretty.

I have a couple of Trust Tablets as well, if you wanna lower the price even more and I'm guessing they would be just fine in a non-graphical work-related setting.