Customer Reviews

Livescribe ARA-000008 4 Medium Black and 1 Fine Red Ink Cartridge

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Although the livescribe pen is a technological marvel, the quality of the ink is terrible. It is reminiscent of the free ballpoint pens you collect by the dozen at trade shows. Even the free pens at the bank have better quality ink than this. Now that we live in the 21st century, and have an amazing assortment of ink technologies, why is it that the most technologically advanced pen uses 1950s-era ink? After writing a page, I look back and it seems that I have been etching with a stylus for half the page. Please make some gel-based, or even dye-based ink cartridges rather than the garbage currently used.

I've had three of these nibs dry up to the point of unusability within fifty pages of writing. It maybe related to the fact that (a) the livescribe pens don't have tops, and (b) the cradle holds the pen horizontally. Anyway, I'm going through many more cartridges than expected. I just ordered some blue ones in the hope that they last longer than the black; I'll report in a review on that page if I have any luck.

The Livescribe Pulse Pen is becoming my ever more frequent companion as I learn just how useful it is.

The more you write, believe it or not, the sooner you'll run out of ink. Thus the ongoing need for refills.

The Livescribe pen uses a short refill of a kind I don't recall seeing before.

Livescribe, much to its credit, does not gouge you for refills as printer manufacturers do for ink cartridges. They are very reasonably price at a little less than a dollar each. (If you have Amazon Prime, shipping is free making this an extraordinary value.)

I am getting about fifty pages of journal entries from each cartridge, meaning a cost of about two cents per page. Not bad at all.

Livescribe goes the extra mile here and cover the tip of each refill with wax to keep the ink from hardening or evaporating or whatever ink does.

It is nice of Livescribe (and obviously good for business) that they don't make us of their marvelous so expensive that it is used less.

Jerry

True the ink doesnt last long... but these are OLD INKS. Each refill is Dated and these are From Aug 2008. I thought I could order again 4 MONTHS later.... still the same date. The inks are thick and do not write as well as the inks from Livescribe.. Get new inks... it is difficult to write 5-10 pages when you have to push twice as hard to get the pen to work. LOVE the pen, not the inks from AMAZON.

If you use LIvescribe Smart Pen, then these extra ink cartridges are essential. For a semester worth of writing for class notes only, you will need about 3 cartridges. So you need to keep them handy in case you need to change cartridge middle of the class/meeting. These are of the same quality as the original cartridges that come with the Smart Pen. Fun to write with.

When I decided to buy Livescribe pen this summer, I decided to buy additional ink cartridges as well since I did not want to get stranded in a middle of some important writing exercise, especially since Livescribe is still such a novel device and I cannot count on the local Walmart to carry any of its accessories. This proved out to be a prescient decision, since as many other reviewers have noted the cartridges dry up very quickly and need to be replaced often. The price of this replacement package is about right, with little over $1 per cartridge. However, I don't anticipate using the red cartridge any time soon, so that one is practically a waste. One problem that I have with the packaging is that the inner container that holds the cartridges is rather small, and easy to lose in your drawer. I would recommend getting a somewhat bigger stand-alone box to keep these cartridges in before they need to be used.

I have owned my Pulse Smartpen since May, 2008. Several months ago when I needed to buy additional notebooks, I commented how the notebooks were reasonably priced and how Livescribe was obviously not pricing its supplies like printer manufacturers price toner and inkjet cartridges.

After 8 months I finally need new ink cartridges. With a little bit of trepidation I went to the Amazon website. I wasn't surprised, but I was certainly pleased with what I found.

Livescribe, to its great credit, continues to sell supplies at a reasonable price. These replacement cartridges are a prime example.

Ink works pretty well, but runs out too quickly. Used six different ones for a single semester. Also it is slightly expensive. It is not bad, but when you consider you can get normal pens for free, it adds up. Dislike having the red pen ink instead of a normal one. Overall, like the ink, just rather have it last longer and be a little cheaper.

I've ordered these through the Livescribe website and Amazon. The ones I've received from Livescribe were shipped in a small white envelope- no box- with a rubber stamp denoting the ink color. They didn't have the white wax seal on the end opposite the writing tip. Some of the cartridges that came directly from Livescribe didn't even have the plastic covering on the writing tip but others within the same order did.
Believe it or not the wax seal and plastic covering make a difference in the longevity of the ink. I use my Echo pen all day, everyday, so I go through these puppies pretty quickly. The cartridges I received from Amazon came in a Livescribe sealed factory box. Each cartridge did have the wax seal. The writing end was fitted with a protective covering, too. My only concern is that the packaging is a bit wasteful (thank God for single stream recycling).
These Amazon ordered cartridges were identical to the ones that came with the pen and have lasted longer than the Livescribe.com cartridges. I gauged this by alternating the cartridges in my notebooks. I placed my Amazon order while I still had several from my Livescribe order in hand.
The Amazon packaged cartridges lasted an average of 7-8 pages longer. Neither one of them last as long as a standard ink refill for regular ol' pens. I find it odd that Livescribe sold me an inferior product. Maybe they had to cut corners to get things to market quicker. I made that bulk purchase around August during the busy back to school period.
I'm not trying to knock Livescribe.com. I (love)^2 my Echo pen. I don't know how I got by without it in the past. But when it comes to getting ink refills, I'm just going to order from Amazon from now on. I just hope that the packaging gets revamped. It's akin to sending infant socks in an adult size 17 shoe box.
NOTE: (see wax no wax picture for clarification)

I just bought the 4gb Echo from my school's bookstore. I haven't really gotten that far in how many pages I have written yet, but I LOVE the ink so far. It isn't the gel quality I usually like, but gel ink can smear and get all over my hands. I'm an unpublished writer/creative writing student so the way this ink works is just fine for me. I don't know why everyone is complaining about the ink drying up too fast--but that may just be because my pen came with two caps for my pen. I don't have to worry about it drying up. The cap goes on as soon as my pen is back in its case. I TRULY love livescribe. I don't have to spend hours wondering where my notebooks have gone/fighting with notebooks to type up chapters. I usually like to write on a computer, but since my laptop died and I have to share this computer with my husband, I don't always have the time to sit down and write four hours straight on our laptop.

Use the caps if you have them, guys. It'll preserve the ink better. I've written fourteen or so pages so far, and haven't had any trouble.