i saw the positive review of the monoprice writing tablet; i want to buy something here in beijing very cheaply, as i will probably wait out the iphone/ipad app development. i couldnt find monoprice. anyone in china using a very cheap but adequate device here - i only want it to practice skritter. thanks.

Go to any computer superstore and you should find one. Obviously, as with anything, you have two schools of thought: buy cheap, so that when it breaks and you buy a new one, you're really not wasting any money, or buy a bit pricier and know/hope it'll last you till the app comes out (at an as yet undisclosed time).

I bought my wife a "Hanvan Technology" brand one... think it was under 100RMB. Thing's about 5" by 5" or so. It's going on a year old now and works fine on her Win7 Starter netbook. The sellers should let you try it out with no problems and just plug it into one of their computers, although if you're fine with taking your own laptop around, I'd do that and try it out on your own hardware.

thanks chinajustin. ive never seen them used before, so am not sure exactly what to buy, but i think i will go cheap in anticipation to switching to the iphone app when it arrives.

Just make sure it's a graphics tablet you buy, and not a 'Chinese character' writing tablet you buy - you'd get lucky if the latter worked.

Hanvon = 汉王
I've got one like this
http://www.hanwang.com.cn/product/hwpen_xinxiaoxueshi.htm

@Neil - Yeah, that's about how my wife's looks... purple, not black, but doubt that makes much of a difference.

@Byzanti - Good point. I made sure it worked in programs like MS Paint, as well as just like a regular mouse/trackpad.