Livescribe 1 GB Pulse Smartpen (APA-00001)
by Livescribe
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List Price: Our Price: $80.00 You Save: $49.95 (38%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Livescribe 1 GB Pulse Smartpen (APA-00001)
Customer Review: Yes, it actually does all that
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
We all pretty used to technology promising something then having to deal with the fact the promise was more hype than reality. The manufacturers want to get us into a frenzy, thinking their product will revolutionize transportation, or entertainment, or phone calling. But, when the frenzy dies down it seems there are a lot of problems, and unfulfilled expectations that even eager fans will quietly admit are weaknesses.
This is especially true with a product that seems so entirely revolutionary and different. It's certainly too good to be true, right?
So, let me start off by addressing that. The Livescribe is the real deal. It actually does what it says it can do. And it does it simply.
The Smartpen works. And I'm not being hyperbolic when I say this might revolutionize note taking.
I'm not in class now, so didn't have a real world opportunity to test this out. Instead, I wanted to make sure I got the hang of it before I began to depend on it. I had a 48 minute lecture on mp3 on my desktop that I played over my speakers. I turned on the record feature of the smartpen and started taking notes. Two pages of notes are now completly linked to the audio. Tap any word on those pages and the pen will replay, either through the headset or through the speaker, the words being said when I was writing those particular words. Complex explanations can be saved with only a few words reference or a chart.
This records the text and the audio, and allows it to be saved for future reference. Text, however, is too limited a word. Drawings, markings, formulas, whatever, can be also used.
It really works. Amazing. I was suspect and then utterly surprised. It lives up to the hype. You can see examples of it on their website www.livescribe.com in the community section.
More than this it is expandable. New applications give it a wide potential. This potential is what is pushing me to give the Livescribe a hearty 5 stars. Because while it absolutely does what it says it does, some of the features are previews rather than full-blown capabilities, such as translation. Also, and this is key to me, as of right now the audio and text is limited to the livescribe software. While this software has an amazing ability to search for words that are written, allowing for searchable notes, it does not presently convert the writing to editable text. Meaning you can't cut and paste. This is a feature being developed, however, so should be available before too long. I heard they are working on getting this out before Fall. There is also no integration with other programs such as OneNote. That too might come with third party applications that are being developed.
The audio is better than one might expect. I have an Olympus digital recorder and the smartpen is far above that in audio quality, especially with the included headphones, though the speaker is surprisingly clear as well.
The battery seems to be very long lasting. I spent most of the afternoon yesterday playing around with this, listening to a full hour long lecture, and the battery meter went down about an eighth.
The battery is not removable, which might lead to some issues later as these pens get older and the charge doesn't hold as long.
Overall, I'm amazed by this pen. It simply works and it works simply. The present features are going to revolutionize note taking by integrating full sound. The expanding potential of the smartpen as the manufacturer encourages 3rd party applications, means there is even more potential on the horizon. The cost is quite reasonable. Even the cost of the supporting products shows Livescribe is interested in getting these into the hands of as many people as possible rather than making an obscene profit off of accessories. For what you get, this is an amazing deal.
Five stars for what it does now, with five more stars for how much it seems capable of doing in the future. This might become the most important tool for students since the notebook came out. Better than a laptop, for students and teachers, and much better than a regular pen. I'm extremely pleased and can't wait to get back into the classroom.
Customer Review: Wonderfully clever and useful gadget
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
The Livescribe Pulse Smartpen is one of those wonderfully clever implementations of technology that give rise to thoughts like "what won't they think of next?".
The Pulse has the heft and weight of an old fashioned fountain pen. As you write with the ballpoint pen, a small camera just below it is imaging your writing. An audio recorder is also recording what is being said, whether it is you speaking, a lecturer or someone else. Included for large room situations, such as lecture halls is a headset that incorporates microphones as well. Livescribe includes a fastener so you can have the earpiece/microphones dangle from your neck when you don't want the buds in your ears.
The paper you write on is special and obtainable only from Livescribe, though there are rumors that at some point, you may be able to print your own paper with the pattern of invisible microdots that is essential to the success of the Pulse Smartpen.
Using controls visible in the bright, easily readable screen on the pen, printed on the bottom of each page and on the inside front cover, you can control almost every aspect of the Pulse Smartpen's operation. Also printed on the inside front covers are a calculator and a keyboard, which you use by simply tapping the Pulse on the desired keys. Some of the conrols are also available on the inside back cover. Very cool; very clever. They also put additional sets of controls on a self-adhesive sheet, so you can affix them to whatever you please.
The basic idea is that there is both an audio and visual record to accompany your written notes. You can play back the audio on the pen itself using its Menu function. The Pulse has a surprisingly loud speaker.
If all this seems magical (or to some, simply gimmicky), the real power of the Pulse Smartpen comes with the included Windows software.
When you have the Livescribe program running and set the Pulse Smarpen in its attached USB cradle, your notes are automtically transferred to your computer and appear as "pages" in the Livescribe application. Hit the play button and your written and spoken words are recognized. Now you can search your handwritten notes for any specific word.
Watching this happen is definitely a "wow" moment. The Pulse would be a major asset to anyone who takes written notes and requires them to be accurate. You have both your handwritten jottings and the audio. Reporters, students, lawyers are just a few of the people who can benefit from the Pulse Smartpen.
The 2GB model is said to be capable of holding 200 hours of audio. The 1GB model about half that. The special tablets are available in both standard 8.5 x 11 and journal 5.6 x 8.5 inch sizes, lined and unlined. The non-removable lithium-ion battery fully charges through the supplied USB cradle in about two hours. I don't know how long a charge will hold out, but I suspect your wrist would be very tired by the time it does.
Oddly, the Pulse Smartpen does not have a cap. Rather a slip-in case is provided which I think is far less convenient.
The only drawback I've discovered so far is that the software and pen combination are tethered to one computer. This is bad news for anyone with a desktop in the office and a laptop they travel with. I suspect it won't be long before Livescribe drops this solo tethering arrangement.
There are two reasons to flip over the Pulse Smartpen. First, the technology is totally cool. The second is that the Pulse will really be a boon to people who engage in extensive notetaking, particularly if audio accompanies the notes.
Overall, the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen is, for the appropriate audience, a very useful device - and a great demonstration of technology at work.
Jerry
Customer Review: The best digital note-taking system on the market
Summary: 5 Stars
In my line of work (Theoretical Physics) I tend to write a lot, mostly mathematical formulae, graphs and other non-standard material. This tends to create piles of papers, and getting it all organized can be a challenge. I tried using tablet PCs in the past, but the buggy software and the small, unresponsive, screen could not match the experience and effortlessness of writing on the real paper. There had been some electronic-paper solutions over the years, but they all had many flaws that made them unappealing to me. That's why I got really excited when I found out about LiveScribe. Unlike all the other solutions out there for digital note taking, with LiveScribe you actually use real paper and real (albeit technologically advanced) pen. There is no learning curve for using the system for the basic note-taking, and all the more advanced features are easy to learn after just a very short tutorial. The pen works with special software that imports all of your files (both your writing and the audio recordings) onto your computer. The files are in a special format that can be shared online through LiveScribe's community websites, and thus it is easy to share your notes with others who might be interested. The written files can also be saved in .pdf format, and can thus be shared with an even wider audience. In fact, that way they can even be incorporated in PowerPoint or similar presentations. The only issue that I have with the desktop software is that it can only be registered with one computer at a time. I regularly use several computers, and would like the option of being able to save my notes on any one of those.
The pen fits pretty naturally in your hand, and it's very easy to use. It is much larger than a regular pen, but it actually fits rather comfortably in your hand. In fact, it is probably more ergonomically kind to your hand than a regular pen.
The in-pen software is pretty cool. Your LiveScribe pen can read out what you had written, and even translate limited vocabulary into several other languages. Since I had bought the pen LiveScribe has opened their platform to the outside developers, so it is likely that we'll see many more interesting programs that take advantage of this remarkable pen.
In order for LiveScribe pen to work you need to buy notebooks that have been lined up with a special pattern. The paper in these notebooks looks just like any other regular paper to the naked eye, but if you look really closely you would be able to notice a miniscule pattern on all the pages. This pattern gets recognized by an infrared camera in the pen, and this is in fact the way that the pen recognizes and records what is being written. This is an amazing technological trick, but a slight downside is that you need to keep buying only notebooks that are patterned in this special way. The notebooks tend to be quite a bit more expensive than the regular notebooks, but overall they have totally been worth the investment for me. The combination of the pen and the notebooks is definitely much, much cheaper than all the alternatives, and it is way more effective and convenient as well.
The pen also needs special cartridges, and from what I have experienced thus far one cartridge does not last too long, especially as compared to the regular pens. However, I still find this to be a minor annoyance compared to all the benefits of LiveScribe system.
One day we may truly have a real electronic paper with all the look and feel of the regular paper, plus all the convenience and power of using a digital format to store your creative and other information. Until then, LiveScribe pen and paper are the best products out there that help you with these goals. I have been extremely satisfied with them thus far.
Customer Review: Pen is great! Software now lets you organize pages!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Updated 4/8/2010 - I'm revising my review today because they just updated the desktop software today and added some MUCH needed functionality: the ability to arrange your pages into folders!
Pros:
1) It was easy to use right out of the box
2) Software installed easily.
3) Audio recording quality was good
4) When I docked the pen, the notes that I had taken loaded flawlessly into the software and looked just like a scanned page
5) The character recognition is great and you can search for words or phrases in your notes via the software. It doesn't convert your handwriting to typed text, (though there is additional software that purports to do that)
Cons:
1) You have to use special paper that costs $5 per notebook. While there is a feature that claims to allow you to print the special paper for free, you have to have a post-script printer. None of my printers at work or home could print the paper, and on the support forum it was clear that folks were having lots of trouble printing it. (Update: I was finally able to figure out how to print the paper. It was a painful workaround that involved downloading third party software, installing a PCL printer driver, etc. Bottom line is that I WAS able to finally print the special paper)
2) You can FINALLY organize the pages into folders (as of the latest release of their software). This makes the pen SO much more valuable for me in a business setting. When you upload the pages to the software, they are organized by the physical notebook in which they are written. When you click on that notebook to view the pages, they just display in the order that they are bound into the physical notebook. pages 1-200. However, you can then drag the pages into custom folders. They stay in their orignal 'notebook' folders. Those cannot be deleted, but you can create custom folders and drag pages from any of your notebooks. So now if you go to five different meetings in a day, you can keep your notes organized by project, class, etc.
3) You can't use two of the same notebook at the same time. The pen uses paper specially coded with little dots. Well, these dots tell the pen EVERYTHING about the notebook. It tells the pen what notebook you are using, what page you are on, where you are writing on the page, etc. That sounds cool, but the catch is that the notebooks are numbered. So if you bought a notebook with the number 1 on the cover, you can't use another one with the #1 on the cover until you archive the first notebook in the software. (update, this isn't as much of a hassle now that the software allows you to arrange pages. Now it is pretty easy to just use a notebook until it's finished. No need to use a bunch of notebooks.
This pen has proven to be invaluable to me. I highly recommend it. It would be worth the money even if it didn't record audio. Just being able to dock my pen and have the pages upload to my computer automatically is absolutely worth every cent I paid!
Customer Review: Great for business!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been using the 1GB Pulse pen for five months now. I work for a financial investment firm and, as you would expect, have numerous meetings every day. I originally purchased the pen hoping that it would provide a good platform to archive my notes and use the audio to make sure follow-on work was done correctly.
The pen's vocal and note recording quality is excellent. I have found that the pen is a) able to pick up my handwriting so printouts actually look like I wrote them and b) the audio is clear and crisp - I'm actually able to make out words said by someone who was sitting across the room. Also, the on-pen speaker is also very clear. I've used it several times after meetings when someone asks, "What did so-and-so say? I couldn't get it down in time." Because I have my meetings recorded, I have also found that I no longer need to rush to take down every single note. If I need to, I can always come back for greater detail.
My biggest complaint WAS the lack of note-to-text conversion that would allow me to actually SEARCH through my notes.
That has been corrected. Now, I am able to type in the name of any company / person / date (e.g., March 2) and have computer platform find all of the pages with that information.
This is game changing. As a professional, I am now able to SEARCH my notes! In seconds, I can pull up any information I need regarding a company or person. For anyone who has ever taken notes, the biggest problem has always been that you can't seem to find what you wrote down in a meeting, lecture, etc. Now you can. THIS is what I was hoping for. Several of my coworkers are now investing in these pens.
There are only two drawbacks I can think of. Are a) customer service and b) pen ink quality.
I had one problem with my pen (which turned out to be an easy fix) and I had to call customer service. The customer service reps actually have no idea how to fix the pen, but insist on sending me step-by-step walkthroughs via email. When the first walkthrough didn't solve the problem, I then had to call back in and complete another walkthrough.
The other complaint is the ink pen. The ink pen is a standard ballpoint pen and would be the equivalent of a $0.10 Bic pen you find for free in a hotel room. As a result, you have to push harder than I would like in order for the ink to really be a nice, clear width and color. After taking notes for a couple hours, it can begin to hurt.
Overall, this pen will change the life of anyone who takes notes and wants to review them later. I highly recommend the pen for professionals.