I started out on a Wacom bamboo create [CTH670]. It worked pretty good, but they discontinued making them awhile back. Then after a few years of rough use the cable jack stopped working and I had to buy a new tablet.
After that I bought a Monoprice 10" x 6.25" tablet [10594], which since I tend to break things was the best new tablet I could find on the cheap end ($45-$55). Other than the lack of tilt sensitivity, I would consider it comparable in use to the Wacom Intuos4, which I guess they've now made into their Intuos pro line. Had it for at least five years now; in that time I bought their pen replacement/upgrade and some new nibs, still works great otherwise.
So yeah, if you're looking for a cheap, functional tablet with a larger drawing area, check out the Monoprice/huion tablet.