I’m about to buy a graphic drawing tablet on temporary basis until I can buy an ipad. Wacom seems to be the best but I’m not sure about their privacy policies as I’ve heard they’re not exactly privacy-friendly. Can anyone guide me if their tablets are good privacy and security wise? I’m buying the intuos one which is plug & play on linux but not on windows (have to install drivers and such) which is mainly where my use case is.
ultimately, if you’re using it on Linux, it doesn’t matter how stupid Wacom’s windows drivers and software are
Yeah their tablets are good but everything about their product line is designed to make you buy their most expensive products. If I were you, I would maybe check out some of XPPen’s tablets as they have some nice options in the lower price brackets.
As for the drivers, no need to use their official ones, just install Open Tablet Driver. I cannot tell you if “Intuos One” is supported as that doesn’t seem to be an actual product but you can check yourself on the tablet compatibility list.
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If you ever decide to give Linux a try, David Revoy has a great setup guide: Debian 12 KDE Plasma: The right GNU/Linux distribution for professional digital painting in 2024. Reasons and complete installation guide. - David Revoy
I can’t comment much on the Windows experience with a Wacom tablet (I’m rarely in Windows), but they did once ask me if I wanted to send them “anonymous usage statistics” to improve their product after installing the official driver.
It’s the product name, but the model is one of the CTH ones if I remember rightly.
XPPen is not available in my region thus opting for a Wacom. The model I’m specifically looking at is CTL4100, which seems to be supported by Open Tablet. But this is the first time I’ve heard of them, are their drivers secure? I’m vary of installing third-party drivers as you can never know what you’re getting
Last resort is Linux, but I’d rather use it on windows if I can
Secure, I’m not sure. I’m not a dev, can’t really assess that. It’s a userspace driver so it’s probably better than others. Internet connectivity is optional and is only used for installing plugins afaik, whcih are completely optional, the driver works perfectly fine without them. It’s also just a better, more configurable driver.
Anecdotally, I and many others have used it without any issues (I’m told it’s popular in the osu! and other rhythm game communities). It’s a reputable project.
From their website:
If you do not want us to collect this information, please do not provide it, but you may not be able to take advantage of our Services or certain features of our Services.
Ultimately, they sell interface devices to creative companies who themselves worship the copyright god. Leaking of proprietary mickey mouse drawings would be a good way to lose their primary customer base.
Just ignore all their requests for your e-mail address and you should be good. Only install the drivers from their support website, or uninstall all their affiliated software until the tablet stops working then rollback restore point.
+1 for XPPen. Own a drawing tablet from way back and it was very very nice for the price.