I-Pen Digital Pen Writer Ipen Optical USB Mouse Input Device
by Finger System USA
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List Price: Our Price: $35.95 You Save: $64.04 (64%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of I-Pen Digital Pen Writer Ipen Optical USB Mouse Input Device
Customer Review: IPen: Excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a terrific product. It is very cheap, yet made very well. It works better than I expected.Customer Review: Best!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Love this one, because of the price and it is what it says it is! Thanks for your fast shipping!Customer Review: Suits a purpose, Buy at your own risk
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this pen mouse for use with a Windows 7 laptop primarily so that I could include accurate math formulas and drawings in my class notes. Let me be clear that I don't think this device will ever replace a regular mouse and keyboard, nor would I use it for detail-oriented digital art creation (as one might use a pen tablet for) but for the purpose I described, it works very well. Windows 7 has built-in tools for handwriting recognition and math formula insertion that work perfectly well with this pen.
I installed drivers directly from the company's website and while these are still very old (2004, from what I can tell), they are still more up-to-date than what comes in the box (1.2 was included in box, I installed 1.3) and they do seem to work with Windows 7, though I will add the caveat that having the pen mouse plugged in when booting up the system does seem to cause Windows to stall when starting. Since I've previously encountered a similar problem with an older Apple iPod and at least one older external hard drive, this may be an issue with the way newer versions of Windows addresses peripherals with older technology, and not exclusive to this devise. Regardless, plugging the pen in after logging in works just fine.
I've read several other reviews mentioning that this pen does not work unless using the provided mouse pad, but I have found this to be untrue. This pen worked when using it directly on my wood desk, and on the flat space of my laptop next to the trackpad. That said, it does seem to be sensitive to changes in color or rough surfaces, so if you plan on using it without the mouse pad, I recommend making sure you have a smooth, monotone surface. It does NOT work on white surfaces, but appears to work just fine on black surfaces, provided they are not overly reflective.
The size and weight will probably feel odd to people expecting something like a regular pen or pencil. It is very light (I estimate it is slightly lighter than the pen included with a wacom Graphire tablet) and bulkier than most ball-point pens. I do not find it uncomfortable to hold, though it took some time to adapt to having a wire coming off the top of the pen (I suggest throwing a bit of the wire's slack over your arm so that the pen doesn't feel like it's being pulled away from you by gravity). There are software tools that allow you to modify how fast the pen tracks across your screen and whether the computer recognizes the pen as a mouse or as a pen (which in turn affects what the button and touch-clicking do).
One major note of warning: While I haven't needed to contact the company for repairs or support, I would venture to say that if you buy this, don't expect particularly exceptional support from the company. The website is terribly out of date and it does not appear that the company is in any hurry to keep customers informed of their newer products. I can only imagine that direct contact would be sketchy at best. So if you are the sort that demands a great deal of attention from companies you do business with, you might want to look towards other devices.
For the price, I'd say this is a cheap alternative to pen tablets and tablet pcs for note taking, though it will definitely take some getting used to if you're not used to digital handwriting input.
Customer Review: I'm addicted, but overlooking a few minor issues
Summary: 4 Stars
First, let me clarify that Amazon is OVERSTATING the retail price. If you go to this company's website, you will see that Amazon is listing the retail price of the wireless RF version, while what Amazon appears to be selling here is the wired version, which retails at $49.99.
Having said that, I bought the RF version. Therefore, the following comments may or may not be applicable to the wired version being sold here...
When I bought the wireless version of this product, I was not looking so much for a pen as I was an alternative to a traditional mouse. This product does the trick. The "pen tip" is pressure-sensative, which also acts as your left-click for normal mouse operations. I tend to grip and press my pens firmly, so I had to learn how to relax so as not to constantly "left-click" when I don't mean to. I had to learn how to relax anyway to avoid getting writer's cramp from this thing. That was easy.
The device has a self-centering slider that acts as the scroll wheel. Kind of counter-intuative because you actually pull UP on it to scroll DOWN, and vice versa. No biggie, just had to get used to it.
That same slider presses directly in torward the pen center to act as the "right-click". The problem is the inward travel is pretty deep, and makes it virtually impossible to right-click without accidentally navigating off of the icon I'm trying to right-click on to begin with! My work-around is to use the WinXP Shift-F10 shortcut to trigger the right-click menu. This is fine for me because I'm left-handed and therefore my right hand is available to hit the Shift-F10 combo. You right-handers may find this to be a non-viable solution.
I have experienced what other reviewers talk about the downward tracking tendency when trying to write straight from left to right. But since I'm really only using this as a mouse, it's not so much of an issue for me. If I'm actually trying to use the device as an electronic pen, I found that holding the device turned slightly clockwise fixes that.
Specifically regarding the RF wireless version, it comes with a cradle that acts as the recharger. Very handy to constantly recharge when I'm in long blocks of non-use, such as while typing this review. The instructions recommend that you charge for at least 2 hours before use. But the battery on mine was completely drained and took around 12-16 hours to fully charge. After that, I have had no problem with heavy usage during my work day every day.
I actually contacted tech support because the incorrect charging instructions led me to believe I had purchased a lemon. Tech support was very responsive and helpful on the phone (email address on their website caused a bounce-back, but that could be the email server at my workplace).
I've had a for a week, so I can't speak to the longevity of this device, but it does come with a 1-year warranty.
All in all, I'm addicted to this thing. It is definitely the way to go IMHO if you're looking for a non-tablet pen -- as long as you can work with its quirks.
Customer Review: Varied Uses-Digital Art, A Mouse, and PC Games
Summary: 4 Stars
I've used this 3 ways.
As a digital artist: I absolutely HATED it the first time. I do my drawing via scans and mouse, combining old school pencil media with Photoshop. It grew on me.
Drawing with this was best described by a friend. It's a lot like trying to use the pens you sign your name digitally on the pads for credit cards for the store. You know, the ones where you try to write something legible and it comes out looking like a drunk monkey did it.
Within 20 minutes, however, I was able to do basic and familiar shapes freehand in Photoshop. They looked no better nor worse than a mouse. With practice, I've begun to like the infernal thing. Although our "relationship" in the first hour started with me wanting to rip it out of the PC and boil it in hot lava from frustration, I've come to find if very useful in several ways.
My advice is to understand it may take patience and practice to get used to it if you're using it for art. If you're an artist, you probably aren't a stranger to either.
It worked fine in Win XP, Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop without any special software except what came with it. It was fast and easy to install. Put in the CD, install, plug in the pen and it worked.
My signature looks slightly less like a drunk monkey did it and is almost legible now...
Replacing your mouse for common tasks: For simple PC use it's great. When it's plugged in I use it as my mouse as well as a digital drawing device.
If you're picking this up to replace a mouse because you need something which won't hurt your hand, have disability, etc. I'd highly recommend it. I have no real trouble using it for basic point/click. It does seem to need a fairly smooth surface, but comes with a small pad.
For Video Games: I've been a long time fan of 3rd person PC games where you use a mouse to point to an area on the screen, click, and the character walks. I liked the I-Pen better than my mouse and it was much easier and faster to maneuver my people with it. It also worked well on Java applet based games like Yahoo and Pogo because it was a little faster.
For marking pages in IE I don't know. I seldom use Internet Explorer, and didn't buy it for that, so I've never actually tried it.