Well I don't know how committed you are to your new hobby....but I found an older HP TX 2514 convertible tablet for sale on a site that had a few refurbished models. At the time (about 3 years ago) it was quite a bargain for the model at $600. You could probably find a newer version of this (The HP TM2) for about the same cost. This model is the one that has a Wacom penabled screen so that you can draw directly on the screen. My particular model has some issues with heat after a while of use but I understand the TM2 has mostly done away with that problem.
If you take some time to do some research you may find a good price on one of the Motion Computing slates...which many are Wacom penabled devices. Wacom used to have a page on their site listing their partners to make it easier to search for a device in the Ebay market or on some other used tech site. I think they may have removed it because they never seemed to update it.
I'll get you started with the devices I know of which have Wacom digitizers built into them....but there may be a lot more that I either missed or don't know about: HP TX 1100 series, TX 2500 series, TM2 , Motion Computing (almost all of them), Fujitsu has several but I'm not sure of which models and Lenovo laptops but again I'm not sure which specific models.
I really do like my HP....it has the Wacom sensor, it looks nice, can be converted to a slate style device and is relatively portable though I think I may have to get a new battery soon. Some of the old HP slates (Tx 1000) can be had for under $200.
To cap it off....I believe that all of the older penabled devices have a downside to them...none of the sensors have tilt detection, which is standard in all Intuos tablets. The ability to draw on screen more than makes up for this to me personally. You will need to judge for yourself if one of these is something that will help you draw digitally.
Good luck!
Jon
Wizard's First Rule