The short answer? Extremely well!
The little bit longer answer: I couldn't do my covers without one. Well, I could, but it would get a lot messier! However, the onscreen stylus isn't necessary. The pad works beautifully and it was amazingly easy, even for an aged, confirmed pencil and paper gal to get used to working one place and seeing in another. In fact, I love it because your hand never gets in the way or smears the pencil/ink/paint!
And unless you're a really serious art-person, the lower end (intuos 3 and below) will probably do you just fine. I've got a 4, but I'm not sure I really need it.
I know...that wasn't what you were asking. But I thought the technical part had been handled already.