C Pen 800 Handheld Scanner

by C-pen

Product Details

Product Manual [390kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.2 x 0.8 inches ; 2.9 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00004YUQ1
• Item model number: CPen800
• Batteries: 2 AAA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1999

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The C Pen 800 from C Technologies is a handheld scanner that can hold up to 3,000 pages of text. It uses OCR and an 8 MB memory to convert printed words to fully editable text, thanks to its compact infrared technology.

The C Pen 800 has a calendar and an address book that can hold up to 1,000 contacts. Its C Dictionary allows you to translate a scanned word from a number of different lexicons. Additional dictionaries can be downloaded in a variety of languages. With C Direct you can use your pen to scan lines of text directly into any document on your PC. You can also write or take notes with your C Pen using the C Write function. Simply use the pen to write on a patterned surface, and the device records your written characters into the memory just like any other printed text.

The C Pen 800 has an LCD so you can read back the words or characters you've recorded for instant editing. The translation capabilities of the C Pen make it a great choice for travelers and students. The pocket-sized C Pen weighs only 85 grams, and it has a built-in battery that lasts two to three weeks with normal use. --Megan Dugan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars C-Pen 800 is great, April 29, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: C Pen 800 Handheld Scanner (Office Product)

I just bought the C-Pen 800. It has a built in battery and comes with a carring case. The battery seem to last typically a week. I think C-Pen is much better than the 600 and 200 because of the built in battery. I mainly use the C-Pen for the dictionary which comes with the purchase of a 800. And you get to choose which dictionary you want. The dictionary is great. I am using a webster and it gives everything that's important. Only thing it doesn't give is the pronunciation and sentences. It takes getting use-to to scan and write things using the C-pen, but once you get the hang of it, it isn't a big problem. I think the only limitation of the c-pen is it's memory. I can only put one dictionary at a time depending on the size of the dicationary. I have the webster which takes alot of space. One more thing that I thought was kind of annoying was I had to buy a infared device for the use of my c-pen 800. I guess it was my fault because I didn't look at the information carefully enough but if the pen is a C-pen ###C, it means that it can use a cable. If it is C-pen ### and it doesn't have a C, it means it uses a infered device. Besides that I think the pen is great.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fairly Accurate,Nice editing features, Useful s/w, August 17, 2001

By 

Ramanujam Narayanan (Union City, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: C Pen 800 Handheld Scanner (Office Product)

When I got this product, I was a little disappointed with its scanning accuracy. But later after a firmware upgrade, I found it to improve dramatically. It does take some time to getting used to. But once you know all the features, it is very easy to use. I gives very good accuracy for text with standard fonts. Non-Standard fonts and very small(fine prints) does create some problem. I do not think that OCR need to be perfect, it just needs to be consistent(and not gramatically correct like quicklink). What is more important is the easy to use editing feature. With C-Write(If you are already a palm user you will love this feature), editing is a breeze. Infact the graffiti is more natural(than even palm) and is consistently accurate(if not as fast as palm). I do like the selective cut/paste feature. You can also find some interesting free s/w like JNotes(which allows you to scan any handwritten text to an image) or the barcode scanner(which supports various formats). The memory is sufficient for normal purposes. The advanced calibration feature is quite useful for capturing lighter text or text from colored paper(It also helps get a clearer image in JNotes). In overall, I would strongly recommend this product to anyone planning on serious ocr from hardcopy texts. It would have been nice if the lcd display had a backlight, for lowlight conditions.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely incredible, April 7, 2002

By 

"firejust" (Bartlett, Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: C Pen 800 Handheld Scanner (Office Product)

My friend has one of these and I am going to order one as soon as I find some money lying around. I scanned a page of a textbook and it only got a few letters wrong which I consider really awesome considering that my two-hundred dollar scanner and five-hundred dollar OCR software gets at least 50 characters wrong per-page. If you have massive ammounts of homework like I do, get one of these and you can just scan all the answers straight out of the book. I promise, this product is worth every cent you pay for it.