I haven't had any experience with the Bamboo. It always struck me that they're oriented more towards "casual" use as a replacement mouse rather than a serious drawing tool. Still, it might be worth it to get one on these cheap, just to start getting the hang of the hand-eye coordination learning curve. Just have a mind towards upgrading to a bigger Intous model, it will really opens up what you can do as far as detail and gestural line.
I started out on a Wacom Graphire 2, had an Intous 2 6x8 in college, and have used Intous 3's, Cintiqs, and currently rock a 12x12 Intous 2 at my current studio. I like Wacom stuff a lot.
That said, regardless of if you pick up the tablet or not, I'd say use this time to really learn the ins and outs of Photoshop. That vector line tool can do incredible things, especially on the inking scanned drawings front.
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