is there a alternative to wacom?

hi there,

i an wanting to get a tablet that i can draw straight onto the screen such as this wacom
-> http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/12WX.cfm

ill be buying in new zealand dollars so it will be roughly $1,850
-> http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspe [...] mID=362038

its alot of money to throw down for pc naviagtion so i was wanting to know if there was a smarter alternative?
there are other option that are stand alone pc/tablets for half the price.
-> http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers [...] 303896.htm
or -> http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers [...] 980690.htm

but im not sure if i can plug these into my core2duo machine and just use them as tablets and not have them processing anything.

also im not sure how they compare quality wise as i am using the tablet for detailed illustration. i need something that resembles the wacoms preformance interms of userbility.

does anyone no of anything that can compete with the wacom name?

thanks for any help you can give me =)