Wacom SD tablets

SD series

Overview

The SD series is the tablet that all modern Wacom drawing tablets descend from.

User manuals

(English)
(Japanese)
(English)
(English)
(English)

Commentary on the SD-510C

The story of drawing tablets as we know them today begins with the Wacom SD series.

In many ways it works exactly like you would expect a modern drawing tablet to work. However being released in 1987 you can definitely tell that it is from a completely different era of technology

Key points:

"SD" apparently stood for "Super Digitizer".
"Digitizer" as a term appears in many places (on the box, in the manual). In the future, this term rarely (if ever) appears in any Wacom product material.
There's no distinction between model number and model name.
The USB standard did not exist in 1987. These tablets connected to your computer through a serial port. Also the unit is specific to the kind of computer you have. For a PC you buy one version and for a Mac, you buy a different version.
The SD-510C unlike some other SD models, does not directly connect to your computer. Instead the tablet connects to a separate “tablet processor" box - that's about the size of a very large modern power brick - and then in turn that processor connects to the computer. That box contains the "brains" of the tablet and lets the SD-510C be much thinner than other SD models.
Users were expected to have much more technical expertise. The user manual contains information you would see for devices today.
Configuring the device may require the user to understand how to configure dip switches on the processor box
Wacom emphasizes in the product materials that this is a “cordless” tablet. "Cordless" does not mean there is no cord or cable connecting the tablet to the computer - because there's certainly is such a cord. ”Cordless” refers to the fact that the pen is not connected to the tablet with a cord. This was a real innovation in 1987. In this era, you would have expected the pen to communicate to the tablet and get power from the tablet via such a cord.
The packaging isn't very attractive by today's standards. It's very plain looking there's no pictures of the tablet anywhere. The box has more of an “office equipment” feel.
Cables were permanently fixed to the tablet.
The form factor of the tablet feels very similar to a modern tablet. It's relatively thin. Though it is a bit heavier and definitely more sturdy. I think if you handed this tablet to someone who had no prior knowledge of Wacom's older tablets, they would still think this look and felt very professional and modern.
The wider bezels we see in many Wacom professional tablets for many decades are visible here.
It's understandable how to open the device. On the bottom, screws are visible.
Like equipment of the era, it has a beige color.

Models

SD-510C

SD-420E

SD-421E

SD-422E

SD-320E

SD-321E

SD-322E

SD-310E

SD-311E

SD-312E

SD-210L

SD-013A

SD-013L

Using Wacom SD tablets on modern computers

Photos of SD-510C

Last updated 7 hours ago