Livescribe 2GB Pulse Smartpen (APA-00002)
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Released: 2009-08-01 Rating:  More Details: Livescribe 2GB Pulse Smartpen (APA-00002) Livescribe 2GB Pulse Smartpen (APA-00002) @Amazon Livescribe 2GB Pulse Smartpen (APA-00002) @aStore |
Customer Reviews:
Great product
What a great idea. You simply take notes whilst you're talking to people and then you can refer back to them to remember the exact details of the conversation.
It's a must-have for anybody who gathers feedback & requirements.
The tutorial took 15-30 minutes to complete and even though it looks complicated it couldn't be easier.
The only drawback (hence 4 stars instead of 5) is the high cost and availability of accesories. Basic items like pen refils and extra pads (both of which are necessary) are expensive. The UK supplier also seems to have only 50% of the supplies that the US have.
Apart from this, it's one of the best gadgets I've bought for a long while.
Cool gadget that's also useful
I watched countless YouTube video reviews of this gadget before buying one and thought I'd write one for Amazon.
Look and Feel
It's a lot lighter than I was expecting - about the weight of a decent fountain pen. It is fatter than a normal pen but I have large hands so it feels quite good to write with. I've also noticed that the onboard microphone does not pick up the nib scratching on the paper, as other reviewers have noted. This could be due to a firmware upgrade I guess.
It has no clip so there is a tendency for it to role away from you when you put it down. This could be expensive if you let it roll off the desk and it breaks.
Memory Usage
The pen comes with 2GB of storage but you don't get all of it for your own usage. Without doing anything with the pen you lose 129.50MB to System files, 46.90MB for Applications and 30.74MB to Files. That leaves you with 1.80GB. This shouldn't be a problem but I thought it worth mentioning.
Error 3 - File Limit - I read on the internet that the pen has a limitation of 400 sound files. This probably isn't an issue for students that record long lectures but for me, recording shorter interviews with clients, this might be a problem. The only solution offered by Livescribe it to delete some of your files. Hopefully they will provide some kind of firmware update to fix this in the future.
Firmware Updates
Before you connect the pen to your computer you should download the desktop software from the U.S. website (not available from the UK distributer website).
The first time you dock the pen in the USB cradle it will ask you to download firmware updates. I did this as a matter of course as I guessed there would be bug fixes involved. When you start this procedure you might want to go and make a cup of coffee as it takes quite a while. It downloads the updates first then copies them to the pen.
USB Docking Station
Not as weighty as I had expected but it does have rubber feet so it doesn't slide around on the desk. It's magnetised and the pen snaps nicely into place when you dock it and doesn't fall out. They've supplied a hole to help you take out the ink cartridge but I haven't needed to use it because it's easy enough to remove them with your finger and thumb. I guess it's useful if you don't want to get ink on your fingers.
OCR
The pen does not have any Optical Character Recognition software included. This would be useful for converting your hand-written notes into text for copying into documents. You can download some third party software ($29.95) for this and the reviews are good, but I haven't done this yet.
Pen Case
Livescribe have downgraded this case and it no longer has the little window so you can see if the pen has turned on accidentally. Nor does it have the pocket on the back for spare ink refills. I think both of these downgrades are sad. Firstly, because it is all too easy to turn the pen on by mistake - it only takes a short tap to turn it on and it doesn't seem to go to sleep automatically. Secondly, I now have to find somewhere to store the spare ink cartridges so I have one when needed.
Lanyard
This is no longer included in the pack. I guess nobody was geeky enough to wear the pen around their neck so they dropped it.
Headphones
I don't really get on with the supplied headphones. The `bud' type headphones never stay in my ears so if I ever use them I'll probably rest them on the table or hang them around my neck. The only real benefit I have found with them is that they record in stereo, which is a bit of a gimmick in my book for this kind of gadget.
Price
I decided to buy from Amazon for 2 reasons. Firstly, Amazon has never let me down and I ordered the pen on Saturday and it arrived Monday morning. Secondly, the price on the UK distributer's website was a penny more BEFORE they added VAT onto it and you don't get any extras for ordering from them.
It's the same story with the consumables (paper and ink) but they do have a larger selection than Amazon, including A4 size pads.
Conclusion
It is expensive (I paid £129.99) but the benefits I have gained in my job outweigh this, as I have to take notes all the time and usually forget to write everything down and this records the whole conversation so I can play it back and fill in the gaps in my notes. I would suggest asking your customers if they mind being recorded before you use it, just in case they object.
Bottom line - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Amazing device!
I love this Smartpen! Ever since I saw the original Anoto pens years ago I was always fascinated with the idea of electronic pen capture, but it's not until the Pulse Smartpen was released that I finally found my dream product!
The fact that you can record voice as well as the actual ink completely makes it for me - All of a sudden meetings, personal journals, study notes etc. take on a whole new perspective when you include sound as well as your written notes.
Genius!
Everyone needs a Pulse smartpen!!!
Great Product - Usual USA to UK RIP OFF!!
Great product - seen colleagues use it a lot.
But $129 on Amazon USA and £129 on Amazon UK when are we going to stop being ripped off by companies like this.
Me? I'll get a friend in the US to buy it for me to save a fortune.
Ideal Concept
Initially, when I purchased this product to try something new, I wasn't sure how useful it would be or how often I would use it. However, having owned it now for a few months, it has turned out to be one of the most valuable purchases I have ever made - I carry it with me at most times and make a lot of use of the Smartpen on a daily basis.
Being a student, this pen comes in remarkably useful - using it to take notes in lectures is no more difficult than using traditional pen and paper. And transferring all of the notes to my laptop has meant that if there is a lecture I cannot completely remember, I can very easily refresh my memory at any time!
The pen itself is sleek and not noticeably heavier than a traditional pen. I very quickly became used to holding and using the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen. And the dot paper quickly looks and feels like normal writing paper too. I would recommend the 2GB version for students, as this will hold probably about the right number of lectures before needing to archive the content from the pen itself.
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related blog:
Livescribe Pen Review | FeedAgg.com
http://www.amazon.com/Livescribe-2GB-Pulse-Smartpen-APA-00002/dp/B001AAN4PW. Thanks! Well, you can read the 95 reviews on its Amazon page. That sentence was in Farsi and meant 'sister, please be considerate/observant (probably ...
http://www.feedagg.com/feed/68234/Livescribe-Pen-Review
want
http://www.amazon.com/livescribe-2gb-pulse-smartpen-apa-00002/dp/b001aan4pw/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=utf8&s=electronics&qid=1219344699&sr=8-1. really really really want. omg don't let me get it. so expensive. anyone used anything like this ...
http://lonelymoon.livejournal.com/233882.html
do i really need a livescribe pen and journal?
here's another: http://www.amazon.com/livescribe-2gb-pulse-smartpen-apa-00002/dp/b001aan4pw/ref=sr_1_1?ie=utf8&s=electronics&qid=1251217500&sr=8-1and i just found out i'll have to upgrade my os to use it. hmmm.
http://kaywindsor.blogspot.com/2009/08/do-i-really-need-livescribe-pen-and.html
livescribe pulse 2gb smartpen bundle - costco $200
amazon.com/livescribe-2gb-pulse-smartpen-apa-00002/dp/b001aan4pw/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=utf8&s=electronics&qid=1224165054&sr=8-1. mini review ------------. the pen is quite neat. very loud too. a really neat feature is that it includes ...
http://www.eye2spy.com/2008/10/16/livescribe-pulse-2gb-smartpen-bundle-costco-200/
A caneta inteligente
http://www.amazon.com/Livescribe-2GB-Pulse-Smartpen-APA-00002/dp/B001AAN4PW/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1222215266&sr=8-1. Compra lá :D. escrito por PriscilaPresley + Amigo. 418 dias 9 horas 35 minutos atrás. Nota: 0.0 ...
http://www.dihitt.com.br/noticia/a-caneta-inteligente
is the pulse smartpen a good product? is it worth the price? is it ...
pinky ∞ asked: i've you've used this product, can you give a review of it? here are links to the product: http://www.livescribe.com/smartpen/index.html http://www.amazon.com/livescribe-2gb-pulse-smartpen-apa-00002/dp/b001aan4pw ...
http://quickerreview.com/?p=159
