Customer Reviews

IOGear Mobile Digital Scribe with Full Version OCR Software Included GPEN200NF1 (Black)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Let me start off by saying that unlike some other sellers, this pen came out of the box with the FULL VERSION of the OCR. So I was able to "teach" it to recognize my handwriting. But out of the box it worked perfectly after tinkering with the receiver in terms of placement. I am right handed but still have to place the receiver in the middle or the writing will look tilted up and may not be recognized. Once I realized why it was tilting I just tried again and it worked perfectly from there on. The seller did not respond immediatly to my emails but I did receive a response nonetheless and would buy items from them again. It does not take rocket science or technical savvy to make it work right out of the package and with the full version OCR you CANNOT go wrong here. I almost brought the same pen w/o the full version and know I would have been fuming. Save your time and energy and get the right thing the first time.

I use Daytimers Notebook two page per day reference. I clip this on top of the notes page and wow, I now have digital notes. I also use it when writing articles and preparing my lectures for teaching as I like to handwrite my text and edit later on the pc. It has truly saved my hands and freed me from my laptop. Plus, I don't have to carry the netbook everywhere! All I need are two items and away I go. Here are the pros and cons:

Pros: For the price point its an excellent gadget, easy to use and software was easy to train, its great for meetings

Cons: It would be helpful if the company provided a process for how to train. That took a little figuring out. It would also have helpful if the company told you to push the button on the device when you were done with a page.

Here's how I did it:

1. Open the Trainer and print out the samples.
2. Write the samples using the pen.
3. Upload to mobile notes.
4. Click on "convert to text"
5. Once it opens up MyScript, save the note and place it where you'll remember to find it. I called my samples as Training1, Training2, etc.
6. Go back to trainer and upload those files.
7. Tell it to train and.....
8. You're done!

My subsequent notes were about 97% accurate. Really quite amazing.

I've read a number of good and negative reviews on this item and having just purchased it, I wanted to include my two cents.

It's easy to use right out of the box, accurate handwriting recognition and works great as a pointer/mouse.

Now the one negative, that is 100% true, would be the small clips, making it impossible to clip to a note pad. However, I figured out a simple solution. Put a wide rubber band around the top of the note pad and clip to that, end of problem.

Not a 100% sure I really need this but it might come in handy at work, if I can get it to work with OneNote. I would need to upgrade my operating system or down grade my MS Office, and I'm not sure I would use this enough to make doing either worth the hassle.

All and all, it's sort of cool and I don't regret buying it.

I bought this pen based on the great reviews here and did not regret it.
It recognizes my "good" writing easily without training, and with training,
it even recognizes my lazy script.

I love to write with a pen but still need to keep notes electronically,
and this pen allows me both. If there's a con, it's that the pen is not a smooth Waterman, Pelikan or Namiki fountain pen but that's not it's fault.
Hopefully, a future version will allow the electronics in the pen to be ported to any maker's pen.

For the present, it is however, not idiot-proof but the minor issues I found are easily taken care of:

1. device needs to be charged initially. This might be one reason why a negative reviewer have issues using it untethered to the PC.

2. on-off button needs to be depressed for a few seconds in order to turn it on or off.

3. Orientation of the device/clip is important. I skipped the instructions here and found that my notes were all slanted. A quick review of the notes corrected me to the proper setting of the device BEFORE uploading notes. It'll be better if the s/w allows repositioning after upload e.g. 45 degrees rotation, but it's not a biggie.

4. Too many people commented on the tiny clip, as though it's a big deal.
The tiny clip is meant to clip on 1 or a few sheets of paper (designed not to be able to clip on a thick pad probably to keep the correct angle? ). You can clip on a thick pad by clipping on 1 or more top sheets of paper of the pad from the LEFT or RIGHT side.

Anyway, if you can't figure this out on your own (see other reviewers for some clues):
a. you should stick with pen/paper or apple products.
b. you have more money than common-sense. Thank God that you don't have earn a living with your wits.
c. American (or pick your country) ingenuity is overblown
d. clip on a narrow piece of paper, then clip that paper on the pad.
e. epoxy it to a big clip (then use the big clip to clip on the thicker pad. Test it first (before permanently gluing) to make sure the angle is not messed up)
g. read or reread the instructions.

The pen cartridge that comes with this product is suboptimal. The ink flows out erratically and faintly. Though IOGear will sell refills at confiscatory rates plus shipping, I figured I would be buying back into the same problem. So, I decided to do some online research.

The closet to a name that I came to was Schmidt Mini Ball Pen Refill - 6 Pack - Black. But, since the source I saw didn't suggest a specific size, I didn't want to invest in purchasing a package six of them to see if they would work.

I finally found a solution last night at an office supply store. Blue Ergo-Sof PenAgain Pens will do the job. I bought one with two bonus refills for around $4. The cartridge is a 1.0 mm medium black and it writes much more smoothly, darker, and reliably than the IOGear cartridge ever did. In addition, the package provides the makes and models of refills that are compatible with their pen, so I am quite certain they will work with the IOGear. These refills are:

* Fisher Space Pen, Triple Action Space Pen with a PDA Stylus (TAG/S)
* Schmidt - S600 Series
* Staedtler(R) Multi-Action Refill, 0.8 Medium Point Black/Red Ballpoint, 1.2 mm Orange Highlighter
* Cross Micro Pen
* Zebra Refill for 4C Pocket Pen, Fine, Black Ink, 2/pack

It does exactly as advertised. I gave 4 stars because of receiver has not been properly thought through. Problems relate to positioning it where it needs to be. The design is such that it does not securely affix to any pad/contraption. This has reduced my ability to use it. However, I am experimenting with a number of options /contraptions and hope to be a fulltime user very soon.

Apart from the above issue, this is a great product for those who have to attend multiple meetings. We all know, there is no good substitute for old fashion note taking. This product removes the inconvenience of separate notes or having to re-type notes.

Love this item. I use it often in class to take notes as a way of having an extra Digital copy, both as an image of the the original handwritten document and as a converted text/word file. Picks up every note or drawing easily. The handwriting-to-text transcriber(similar to that on many Pocket PC devices) is an amazing feature, though not always perfect...like many people, some writting is too scribbled to read properly, however any mistakes can be easily fixed. It is also extremely easy to carry around anywhere, the fact that you can use any writting surface with this is a major plus, 'cuz some other products of similar or greater price require that you either need to carry around a special writting pad or digital pad in order to use it. With this item, you just need the sensor which is about the same size as a small pack of gum, and the pen(which is refillable with standard ink purchaseable at any office supply store) wich unlike some other scribe pens looks and feels like a regular office pen. Plus the fact that it can also be used as a wireless mouse when hooked up to your comp. and act as a digital scribe/drawing pad is great and a neat feature as well. Finally loading the software and uploading your notes (able to hold over 100 pages worth of notes)is easy as well as locating specific documents, Plus the batteries (rechargable: sensor, replaceable button cell: pen) last a long time before needing a recharge or replacing. I would deffinitely recommend this product to any student, business person or even digital artist.

Ok, so when I got this tablets hadn't hit yet- was not usable then and now I cannot imagine why anyone would purchase it- get a stylus and a tablet and be happy- this never worked well.

This is a great product! Really recommend it - it's been great as a work tool as I do a lot of web presentations for distributed teams, so I can take notes without interrupting the presentation. Being able to then upload and convert to text which saves a lot of time, even compared with my touch typing speed. It's also really handy if I want to take notes in a meeting I'm attending without using my laptop, as it can be distracting hearing someone tapping away in a meeting for the presenter.

Read all the other reviews for tips and tricks but a few comments from my use of it:
1) Ignore all the comments by people complaining about the limited clipping ability for number of sheets of paper, as it is really handy if you have a journal-style workbook as I can just clip it on the current sheet I'm working on, and then if you want to use it with a pad of paper, just attach a piece of card at the top and clip the device to that - or follow one of the other many helpful tips that people have posted.
2) Make sure you get the FULL OCR software with the system, it's not worth stinting on this particularly as the cost is not much different between the two versions now!
3) Just stick to the orientation at the top of the paper, whether or not you have Vista - I had too many problems with the corner orientation as I had to match he orientation with my handwriting which didn't suit my style.
4) Charge the device fully before you use it! It's obvious but apparently not enough for some of the users of this...

This worked out of the box immediately and compared to the clipboard versions of this product, is a lot lighter/mobile, and more flexible on what size paper you can use (up to A4/Letter) for a very cheap price for the full OCR software + digital pen device.

However I would say if you are a regular note-taker (I'm more occasional/prefer the mobility of IOGear), you should consider going for a set clipboard style instead. E.g. the SolidTek DigiMemo which a colleague of mine uses very successfully, as the IOGear device can be bumped/moved about compared to the DigiMemo which is a static sensor, even if not as mobile/flexible in sheet size. DigiMemo also has the advantage of allowing the user of being able to go back and forward in page references, compared to the IOGear which only goes forward. This is mitigated by the impressive ability of the IOGear software to be able to merge pages into one, so if you have added more notes to the same page after pressing for next page, just make sure you note which page numbers you need to merge.

And what was really mind blowing was when I captured a simple ER diagram - I identified it to be graphics and text and it did an excellent job in drawing the boxes and including the text in them!

I like the product so much I have also bought one for home use, as I handwrite in a diary and make lists, so this is really handy to be able to write freehand but also have the digital versions.

So it's great functionality for an amazing price! Have fun with it! :-)

(NB: I bought the product when it was $65-70 - a couple of months later at the time of writing this review the price has jumped up considerably as no longer offered by Amazon - in that case still would recommend it but would encourage buyers to look at other options as well as it brings in other devices for the price range.)

I know that in this day and age a lot of people neither read nor write, but I'm quite the opposite; I'm always writing on something. So much so that my hands are starting to seriously hurt from all typing through the years. (I type faster than I think, which sometimes gets me into trouble, haha.) When I heard about the Iogear Mobile Digital Scribe it seemed too good to be true; being able to write with a pen on ordinary paper, without having to be close to a computer, and then getting it all into the computer without having to mess with a scanner or anything. It actually works!

My handwriting is terrible; my letters m, n, u, v, w, r and i look pretty much the same, and most humans can't make heads or tails of it, so getting my computer to read it seemed, well, overly optimistic. I got the pen with the full OCR program, and I've been training the program during the past few weeks, so now it actually reads what I write pretty well. At least good enough to make using the pen and editing whatever goes wrong easier than just writing with an ordinary pen and then typing it in. I love this; whenever people can't read what I write now I roll my eyes and say "Hey, my computer can read it!" XD

I have a little problem on the top of each page; I write straight but it sees the first two lines or so as crooked no matter how I place the receiver. It's not a big problem, but it does make it more difficult for the OCR program. I have also found that you need to have a really hard surface behind your papers, or the receiver won't catch the entire letters, which of course makes it impossible for the OCR program to translate whatever's been scribbled down. I've started using notebooks with hard covers, and that works really well.

The pen has tiny little ink cartridges and I empty one in about three days. At first I couldn't find a replacement anywhere and was really upset, but then I realized that they're available at Staples for a little over a dollar for two. Problem solved.

When writing away from the computer, one has to press a button for the next page, and I keep forgetting that. That's my mistake of course, and I can't blame anyone but myself for doing it, but it makes me irritated with myself. :-)

All in all, I'm very happy with my pen. My first one didn't work properly; it didn't understand when I lifted the pen up from the paper between words and such, so I contacted Amazon and had a new one the next day. The one I have now is working perfectly. If you're writing a lot for whatever reason and need to get your material into the computer, this is a great way. It's portable and easy to use.