Since the only difference between the 1000 and the 1000 S seems to be the lack of a Wacom pen, why would I not just buy the 1000 base, save 100 Euro, and buy a Wacom pen later (which retails at around 30-40 Euro)?

I don't think it's the pen, I think it's the TABLET that senses the pen.

The pen just reflects the signal from the Wacom screen, so just using a Wacom pen on 1000 wouldn't work, just as the stylus from my tablet PC is blithely ignored by a regular laptop. :shrug:

My first car came with a radio without a clock. I saved money by not buying the clock. Pretty funny when you think about it. At the time the clock might have been the highest tech gadget available. In any case every now and then when I turned on the ignition the image of the clock appeared. It seemed as if the clock chip was never removed. They probably never enabled it.

I suppose the Wacom guts is expensive and isn't really present. But what if it is there and all one needs to do is enable the function.

I'm pretty sure that they'd charge you for it if it were there, I'm under the impression that they cost a fair bit. Besides, the case on the 1000 probably doesn't have a slot for a stylus either. :grin:

I don't think it's the pen, I think it's the TABLET that senses the pen.

Yup. There is a Wacom sensor board installed directly behind the screen. The board generates a magnetic field, but does so only when the stylus is detached from its cradle. A resonant circuit in the stylus receives the magnetic energy and uses it to transmit a signal back to the sensor board, which reads the pen's location, angle, and speed atop the screen.