I am no professional artist, but I am able to draw pretty decently with just pencil and paper. I purchased a Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch (Small) several months ago with the intention of doing some animations in my spare time. However, I am unable to produce anything decently on my tablet due to the disconnect between eye and hand when drawing. The reason I purchased a tablet with no screen is due to the cost of products like the Cintiq, and also most reviews of said product suggest something along the lines of "buy a cheap tablet first to see if it fits your style".
That advice in mind, for someone who struggles with a tablet with no screen, would it be just as pointless to upgrade to something like a Cintiq? Did anybody else have a similar situation to this, and were you able to produce better artwork after upgrading?