Having never used an easel myself, I decided to get myself a small table easel to try out.  During the section of the course where we go over how to draw a bird with pencil I fell in love with the easel.  I found that I really enjoy using color pencils as a medium (even though they are not course supplies) and the easel allows me to more easily draw shapes such as circles. Now that I have moved back into the painting portion of the course, I prefer to just use a desk and not an easel.  The reason for this, at least for me, is because drawing birds requires a lot of detail and with paint it can be easy to accidentally add too much or too little pressure on the brush with potentially catastrophic consequences.  Being able to rest my hand on the table allows for me to better manage the amount of pressure placed on the brush. Hope this helps (and I know youve probably already made your own decision since you posted this question two weeks ago).