Customer Reviews

Livescribe 1 GB Pulse Smartpen (APA-00001)

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Let me start out by saying this is a cool product, and I do recommend it with the reservations mentioned, below.

On the plus side, it's a cool toy. If you want to record ephemeralities
rather than writing a lot of stuff out, it's great.

I don't know whether I would really want to use it to record entire
lectures, though, but that has to do with learning styles. I am not
an auditory learner - I prefer reading and writing. The more I write myself,
the more likely I am to remember the information. For an auditory learner,
however, this would be wonderful.

Some of the features need work. The advertised "translation" function is
not that great. Here are the languages it can translate: Arabic, Spanish,
Mandarin, and Swedish. Not much use to us German-, French-,
Italian-speaking folks. But then, it's really not much use to anyone else,
either, because it only has a capacity for a relatively small number of
basic words.

The desktop software that allows you to transfer your notes to your computer
can only be put on one computer at a time. This is a real mistake, IMO. Many
people have a desktop and a laptop and don't want to spend a lot of time
trying to figure out which they're most likely to want to use with the pen.
If you travel a lot, the laptop might win out. But whenever you're home, you
won't be able to transfer your notes to the desktop.

The software itself seems to work well, and it has lots of bells and whistles. It can upload
my notes to the Internet or share them with my classmates. For students, this is undoubtedly a great feature.

Since the pen uses a special kind of paper, Livescribe should offer it in
more than one form and size. It comes in a one-subject, spiralbound notebook
that is wider than an average college-ruled one. It would be helpful to have
the option of a non-spiralbound pad or one that is bound at the top, and to
have different sizes: steno-sized or even smaller, and perhaps a
three-subject full-sized notebook as well.

One final comment: this pen isn't going to be comfortable for anyone with
small hands to use for any length of time. It may not be all that
comfortable for people with big hands, either, unless they favor the fattest
fountain pen on the market. This isn't a pen-sized pen - it's a Cuban
cigar-sized pen. It's manageable, but after using it for half an hour, it's
a relief to switch to a regular pen. The Pulse is probably as small as it
can be, given the current state of technology, but if I were redesigning it,
I would go with a little longer and a little thinner and weight it so that
it's heavier toward the business end.

This is my second Pulse Smartpen. I have already reviewed the 2GB model the Livescribe 2GB Pulse Smartpen (APA-00002). To say that I was enthusiastic is an understatement.

But what about the smaller version-the 1GB smartpen? The difference between the two pens is about $50. The other model gives you twice the recording capacity. The fifty buck difference seems to makethe 2 gig pen the better bargain.

But is it?

First of all there is no difference in the performance or capabilities of either pen except in smart pen storage. this pen holds about 100 hours of recorded and compressed audio. But that doesn't tell the whole story. Few us need to record more than 100 hours straight, assuming the battery life is that long. When the pen is cradled it uploads automatically the contents of the pen and images on the special dot paper. The pen can be emptied of audio while the audio and images remain on the desktop. This is sort of like clearing your hard drive after moving the files to an external drive.

In two months continuous use of the 2GB pen I never came close to 100 hours stored on the pen. So the bottom line is that this pen may be a reasonable cost effective choice. What isn't questionable is that this smartpen is a revolutionary and important technology.

To reiterate what I said in my review of the 2GB pen:

My brother ordered two of these pens when they were first available from the manufacturer. His thinking apparently was that he would have a backup should he ever lose one. Quickly realizing that he might have over-ordered, he offered one to me to try.

There were a lot of reasons I was not enthusiastic about his offer. The first was that unlike my brother, I actually do lose pens from time to time, even expensive ones. So if I lost this thing I would owe my brother money. Second, I am a Mac enthusiast and the desktop software for a Mac platform will not be available until the end of 2008. Finally, the necessity of the product escaped me.

But being a toy lover I put aside my objections and accepted his loan. A few weeks later I was calling customer support on a desktop issue (I installed it on my only Windows computer, a Toshiba tablet). The problem was a software glitch, since in reality the pen was still in beta. The customer service rep solving the problem asked if it was registered in my name. I assured her it was. I then told her that my brother had bought the pen but that he was never getting it back. I could hear my statement relayed around the support department where it was greeted with shouts and laughter. They knew. I was a convert. I had drunk the Kool-aid and was forever theirs.

Okay so what do I use it for? I take it to hearings and depositions (I am a lawyer, remember?). These are public events under Florida law and there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.This is important since the pen doesn't just record the strokes of the pen, it records everything being said. And it records it very well. Here is the cool part, touch a word in your notes and you will hear whatever was happening at that time. My favorite demonstration to date is to touch a word from a contested trial where I got to ask a witness if he had ever told people that he spoke to the dead and that they spoke back to him. The guy nearly came across the table at me, a point also recorded. Now an aside to lawyers, law students and pro se litigants-do not ever ask someone this question unless you have an email from the witness attesting to his ability to commune with the formerly alive.

The recording capacity of this pen is astonishing. The manufacturer suggests that the 2GB pen will hold 200 hours of audio. I have no reason to doubt it, since constant use has barely tapped its capacity.

When the pen is uploaded to the desktop software (currently Windows only) images of the notes and the audio are loaded into the computer. From there it can be uploaded to an online site where it is Mac accessible. For now this satisfies my Mac needs at least till the end of the year.

You need special paper to take advantage of the upload features. Fortunately, the supplies are reasonably priced and available online. However the notebook supplied with the pen is most generous.

There are lots of other features in the pen. It is possible to draw a keyboard and play notes (musical notes) on it. My daughter, a music ed major, particularly enjoys this. There is even a cute animation demo built in whose 3-D sound as heard through the earbuds is astonishing and mildly amusing.

So who could use this pen other than trial lawyers? Students seem to be a logical group. Perhaps physicians and nurses could use it. Did the patient really say he had a condition or did he say something else? Livescribe needs to produce industry specific paper for just such uses, or to allow outside vendors to create it.

This product will revolutionize the workplace in ways that we cannot now predict. All we can predict is that it will prove to be one of the most significant technologies of this decade in the same way the personal computer was in the 1980s. Click the"Buy" button now. You will not regret it.

Addendum: As of February 2009 a full version of the Livescribe Desktop for Mac is available for download free to registered users. The Mac Desktop is fully functional and comparable but not identical to the Windows desktop. The Mac version lacks one major feature at this time-the ability to print the special paper found in the Windows version. Some users have reported that they are able to print paper using the Mac software and Adobe so this may not be that important an omission. Printing also does require a color laser printer at 600 dpi, the feature may be of limited utility in any event. On the plus side the Mac version allows the audio capture to be saved in AAC format which makes it playable on standard CDs. Third party software which converts handwriting to text is not currently offered for Mac.

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.

I purchased the pen for business use (note taking in both internal and customer meetings).

The pen is really excellent and the capture quality of both audio and writing is quite superb. It would be nice if the pen were slightly smaller but it remains comfortable to hold - definately an improvement over earlier generation smart pens (I should point out that I have large hands so I'm not sure how a petite person will get on). Battery life seems to be good and if the 1GB memory will truely record 100 minutes of audio then that is more than enough for my needs.

I have mixed feelings regarding the somewhat basic desktop software (which holds me back from awarding the pulse 4+ stars). Previous reviewers have mentioned the lack of functionality (especially OCR). I would love to see some link to MS Outlook where I can capture actions from my meetings and sync them into my to-do list. If I could convert the notes from customer meetings into type, it would save time rewriting contact reports into our sales management software. However it is early days and I sincerely hope that the software will be developed.

One other annoyance which other corporate users may face is that unless you have administrative rights on your PC, the pen will not sync with the desktop software (A Livescribe support person confirmed that this can be a problem). Thankfully my months of nurturing a relationship with one of our IT support techs has paid off and she has let me have admin rights to my PC (despite being against company policy). If I get caught before Livescribe issues a fix to this problem, the pen will become useless to me.

Overall this is a good effort by Livescribe and future software development could make this a very useful business tool.

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!

I thought this product was good and was impressed with the software's ability to understand my handwriting when searching for words. That said, I'm not a college student carrying a back pack, I'm a sales rep, and found a few features annoying.

1. Single Computer- Software only works on one machine, I have a work and personal machines, need info on both.

2. Ergonomics- Writing with it is awkward and it's rather large. You need to maintain the pen relatively perpendicular to the paper to ensure it encodes properly.

3. No Cap/Lame Leather Holster- They made a huge pen even huger with the holster. It's too bulky for a chest pocket in a dress shirt or blazer. And holster is just annoying, they need to atleast make a cap version, ideally shrink it a bit too.

4. Archiving- I don't want to use their stupid software to archive my notes, I should be able to save them as a PDF or something.

5. Docking- It's a stretch, but it'd be nice if it were wireless/Bluetooth to sync notes without having to dock it. Though you'll need to dock to charge anyway sometimes.

6. Ink - I found the first cartridge died in less than week. Is that normal? Or was it because it was the default unit that it was packaged with? Could get really annoying if that's typical.

7. Notebook Options- For professional use I found the Moleskin style option to very nice and reasonably priced. However it's still too large for a suite pocket. A 3"x6" option might be nice.

8. Exporting - there may have been a way to do it, but it wasn't obvious in the software. I'd like to have another option to export the Flash sessions other than only uploading to the website.

9. Limited space one website, 250meg??? Seems kinda cheap.

Verdict: I was impressed, but not $150 impressed. I returned mine to Target and I will probably buy the second generation one if most of the issues above are addressed.

Good Luck.

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

The pen works exactly as advertised. I needed something that transferred my notes reliably to the pc, and this does that. The search feature actually found words written in my chicken scratch. The voice recording is VERY well done.

I just need a case that holds the pen, notebook, and headphones now.

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.

Anyone who takes notes regularly should consider this product. You know what it is, but I'll recap: using special paper, you can record audio as you take notes, then replay the audio that was captured when you tap on the corresponding notes or portion thereof. You can download your sessions to your PC or to their website as an animation with audio that shows your pen input (writing or drawing) along with the audio that was going on at the time of writing/drawing. (See their site for examples.) This opens up some interesting possibilities, especially instructional; for example, someone has used it to show how to write Chinese characters, with accompanying real-time audio commentary. Many will use it to record meetings with clients and so on.

It's a nicely thought-out package, with a case for the somewhat bulky pen and little velcro ties for the USB cable, and a notebook with the special paper and some templates. You start by setting the time on the pen, which serves as an intro to how to use it. You then install the software by downloading it from livescribe. (I ran into an issue here; after installing, I kept getting a security exception when I tried to run it. Still trying to get that resolved. There are some complaints about the pen being "tethered" to one PC at a time, but since I can't run the desktop, I don't know how much of an issue this is. I searched for similar complaints, but didn't find any.)

The notebook has two pages of "getting started" material, easy to follow. The bottom of the pages has controls for recording and other adjustments. You navigate the pen's menu by tapping on a nav grid, which you can draw if needed. The demo is impressive, and the pen's audio, even without earphones, is more than adequate (you can set the volume for this as well). There are templates for different calculators and other tools such as a keyboard, and it is a blast to see these things actually work by tapping on them with the pen.

The pen itself is a bit bulky and heavy, but not to the point of being unusable. I hate writing with ballpoint pens, but this one is actually one of the smoothest I've used, despite its size. Near the tip is a sensor that reads the paper and templates, and it clicks into its cradle with a magnetic ... click. There's a little LCD display which melds into the power button. It can record "over 100 hours" of audio, depending on quality.

The paper is priced at about $20 for 4 books of 100, and they promise to let you print your own in the future.

It's neat, it's useful, and I like it. Now, if only I can get the desktop to work ...

Update: showed this to a friend and let her try it out to take meeting minutes. She bought one.