Wacom is a good brand to go with for reliability, in my experience; while they are pricier than other brands might be, their products are generally good. I'm using a Cintiq 21UX, which is 10 years old by now - and it works just as well now as it did the day I bought it.

If you want a tablet just to try it out, and especially if you're new to the whole thing and don't know if digital art is for you, I'd recommend going with a smaller Wacom Intuous or a Wacom Bamboo, which are cheaper than, say, any of the Cintiq models. If you are able, I'd suggest going to a store and actually trying out a display model first, so that you can get a feel for it, and decide which size works best for you.

I've heard people who bought the Yiynova-brand tablets who are happy with their choice, and they are certainly cheaper than Wacom's stuff, but I haven't had any experience with them myself, so I can't say either way.

I personally use a combination of Paint Tool Sai (mostly for sketching, because I'm used to it) and Manga Studio 5 - aka Clip Studio Paint (same program, different name). I've never been able to get comfortable with Photoshop for anything other than converting files to CMYK for print, but this is entirely up to you - which program you want to work with is very much a personal preference.

I think a Intuos Pen Small28 should be pretty good. It's the smallest and cheapest right now. It doesn't have the "touch" feature. You're welcome to get one of the slightly pricier ones, like Intuos Manga, Intuos Pen & Touch Small, or Intuos Pen & Touch Medium. The whole Touch thing isn't really that necessary as all it does is act as like a laptop touchpad(I find it troublesome, personally lol) and the small size shouldn't be a big deal as you can learn to adapt to it.

I wanted to recommend the Wacom Bamboo at first but I'm now puzzled by the Wacom website because now they only seem to sell Bamboo styluses (and zero Bamboo tablets)...?

Edit: Almost forgot about the drawing software question. I mainly use Clip Studio Paint (just recently upgraded to EX but, PRO is all you really need and it's cheaper). Photoshop isn't bad either. There are tons of tutorials on DeviantArt and other places for Photoshop users. I hear Sai is good but I've only used it at work. There's Fire Alpaca which is free. There's also another neat free drawing software called Krita -- Meromaru6 of Hey Sister! uses it to draw and the quality of her comic is stunning.

Both my tablets have been Intuous and they have treated me like a king. Though I have heard Bamboo is good for beginners.

If you are a starter/just drawing for leisure I don't recommend a Cintiq. They are very expensive and it isn't a good investment if you're only drawing some of the time. (Or if you're like me where you press 30 keyboard shortcuts to draw...)

I have a Wacom Bamboo and in pretty satisfied with it. It is not too big nor not too small and not as expensive as the other models. I've seen that many people start with Wacom Bamboo too.

What people are calling the Bamboo doesn't exist any more, I believe. The current Bamboo range is aimed at business use, and instead the Wacom Intuos line now has the cheaper hobbyist tablets. I just upgraded from an old Bamboo to the Intuos Pro Medium, and I would happily recommend the Intuos Small as a beginner tablet. Their tablets are very sturdy, and the lower end ones aren't too expensive. You don't really need the touch features, but I would recommend looking at the wireless kit they also sell, especially if you don't have a lot of desk space.

Adobe's software works well with the tablets, so unless you were thinking of switching software anyway, you should be fine with what you have.

What @gateofselidor said - Wacom changed their product names recently so what most of us knew as Bamboo is now Intuos, and what we knew as Intuos is now Intuos Pro. I'd recommend going with an Intuos, they're reliable and get the job done. Size depends mostly on what you're comfortable with and your workspace, I have a small desk so I work with a small Intuos, and it works perfectly!

I got an intuos Pro, the biggest one.
Before, it was an intuos 3 (kept it for 10 years). I'd recommend an intuos ; there are cheap and good intuos now that won't make you run out of money (the intuos pro is the most expensive but it worths it).
And also, if you want a Cintiq one day, don't just go and buy it. i'd recommend to really, really TEST it before, like a whole day if you can.

I'd avoid everything that isn't Wacom, because I got a Aiptek and another one at the time where stylus required battery, and it was just horrible. Those bad days made me decide to only use wacom.

I'm using Photoshop and it's quite comfortable.

i would recommend using a bamboo wacom tablet, it was my first and its a great way to get started using and getting use to drawing on the computer directly.
plus mine was very cheap it was only $200 (sorry if your from another country the price would varied i think)
i was using it with adobe creative suite as the program, i personally was not very good but its a start.

The least expensive model, which you can get refurbished.

Wacom Intuos Manga ("Bamboo" doesn't exist anymore) is not so expensive and works very well for a newbie (like me). And Wacom tablets last for years, even decades (if the drivers support your model through the years ), with no problem.
If you are a beginner and don't need to use it for professional use, avoid (Wacom) Cintiq, fantastic but expensive if you only want to have some fun or aren't a professional... I see a lot of people buying it for its awesomeness, and then they left it in a corner...
I use mine with Photoshop and Illustrator CS6.
Avoid "Trust" brand. They're cheap but have less sensibility and precision. A waste of money.

Yeah, Wacom is a good brand. Since you're a starter, Intuos Pen should be good. If you're gonna be drawing a lot, getting a bigger tablet is recommended.

I'm using Clip Studio Paint EX and I LOVE IT. Painting is smooth and I really like the pens (I hated doing lineart but now I'm happy). PRO doesn't have some features that EX has but it is cheaper.

My parents got me this for this last Christmas: http://www.amazon.com/Turcom-TS-6580B-Graphic-Drawing-Capture/dp/B008Y40DQU7 and it's working fine for me so far. I learned how to use a tablet on a wacom, but this one is working fine. I dont use it very heavily though, so im not sure how quickly it would wear down

If you're looking for cheap and easy to use, Monoprice makes some sturdy tablets that are easy to use and generally really cheap. Mine works like a dream with pretty much everything even after being thrown at a wall twice, and it cost me somewhere around 50-60$. It doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but it does what it needs to, and I'd honestly argue it's better to have something simple and reliable than expensive, complex, and easy to break.

And I'm personally fond of Sai. As other people have already said, it's a good program. Simple to use, has a good number of options, some of the cleanest lines I've ever seen in a non-vector program, and isn't particularly expensive. Firealpaca is pretty okay as a substitute if you want to experiment with it a bit for free, though I'd still argue it isn't a perfect replacement.

I use a really old skool tablet. Prolly time to upgrade me thinks.

9

I use a medium Wacom Bamboo Fun and think it's pretty good (apparently the Bamboo line got renamed but not sure what the new name for this model is... it looks like this4)
It's technically my second tablet, since years before that I had a tiny Wacom... however, I never got used to it and it was just too small to properly draw lines, so my current one was the first one I actually started properly using. So I'd personally recommend against small tablets (even if they're cheaper), though some people find them okay and easy to use so it's up to you (if possible, see if you can try it before you buy?)

As for programs... I draw my comics in SAI, with text from GIMP and frames from Cloudalpaca (though I might possibly switch over fully to Manga Studio now if I like it)

I love SAI, it's great for drawing, and not too expensive compared to many other art/image programs. I love how it's easy to edit and play around with brushes, and it has tons of brush settings. (Some people say it's "hard to learn" or "looks too complicated" but this is not my experience at all, it didn't take long for me at all - if anything, I consider Photoshop to have an annoying interface) Though, just a note: the biggest flaw about SAI is that it doesn't have a text tool... so if you're gonna make a comic, or just add non-drawn text to your picture, you'll have to add the text in another program. (What I do is open the picture in GIMP, adding text, then saving just the text layer and pasting that into SAI again.) SAI 2, which is currently in beta and still in development, has text, but it can only save as bmp and the program-specific format for now, and takes forever between each new release...

I also recently got Manga Studio 5/Clip Studio Paint, and while I haven't actually drawn anything more than sketches and brush tests, it seems pretty good. It also has a bunch of comic-specific tools like frames and bubbles, and features like poseable 3D models and background effects. (It's actually on sale for just 15$ currently!)

I've tried some Photoshop but never got into it, and I don't really like it for drawing (better for actual image edition)

When it coms to free stuff, I've tried Cloudalpaca/Firealpaca and GIMP. (Plus a few others, but I don't really have a lot to say about those)

Cloudalpaca (which is now known as Medibang Paint and is the same thing as Firealpaca but with extra comic features - love the frame tool!) is pretty good. Text tool is... kinda clunky and annoying (instead of just writing directly on the image, you have to write the text into a pop-up box and change all settings from there...) but at least it has a text tool.

Gimp is... decent but not great. Also, I've had a bunch of issues with my tablet in Gimp (while it works fine with any other program), and according to Google I'm not the only one. For example, it lags a lot unless I use a small window... I haven't really used it in years except to add text.