Customer Reviews

Planon Docupen R700 B&W Pen Scanner (DPENR700)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Bottom line first: DocuPen is a very good device if you do not have too high expectations and use it only for what it was designed for. You have to realize: this is neither a copier, nor a scanner; this is a fax machine inside out. You will get exactly the same quality as from a conventional fax. If that's what you need, than DocuPen is a perfect device for you. Otherwise - don't bother.

The images scanned with DocuPen look almost exactly as if they came out of a conventional fax machine. The pictures looked pretty bad (if heavy graphics/pictures are what you need don't even think about DocuPen) and some of the text lines were stretched in a way a fax machine does when the paper gets a bit jammed. I am sure, with some practice it will get better but not too much as it's humanly impossible to keep moving the hand up to 8 seconds with precisely the same speed.

However, if the text and some light drawings are what you need than this device is for you. I, personally, do historical research and need to copy some articles from old newspapers. DocuPen works great with text. Just make sure you always use 200 DPI even if you don't really need to. The reason is that if you mess something a bit (say, your hand shakes or so) with 200 DPI there is a chance to fix the image later on or at least to be able to read it. At 100 DPI it's pretty much dead end.

The two major drawbacks of the DocuPen (at least for me) are the small memory and inability to work with a PDA. DocuPen's internal memory is only 2 Mb which in my opinion is ridiculously small. And there is no way to increase/upgrade it. Don't believe the ad that says you can store up to a 100 pages. You don't want to scan at 100 DPI, and with 200 DPI 50 pages is the max. What they don't tell you in the ad, is that if any of those pages contain heavy graphics the number could go as low as 12 (!) at 200 DPI (that's what the manual says). That sounds like almost nothing to me.

The small memory issue would not be that bad if the DocuPen was compartable with any of the PDAs. As long as I could download those few pages and start scanning again I would have being OK with that. However, I don't always carry my laptop with me and it is sort of a hassle to bring it to the library every time. On the other hand, my PDA is always in my pocket. If I download those scanned pages to my PDA not only to clear the memory but also to check how they turned out (and re-scan any if necessary) that would have been great. But the DocuPen DOES NOT work with any of the PDAs !!!

I actually made a call to DocuPen's tech support (BTW the guy who works down there was very nice) and talked about this issue. Apparently the problem was not the compartibility but the lack of drivers. The company supports Windows 98/2000/NT/XP (and, I've heard, some of the MAC's OSs) but not Windows Mobile or Palm OS. So, they simply don't know what's going to happen if I connect the DocuPen to my PDA (provided I find the correct cable or make one myself). So if anybody out there feels like writting a driver for the DocuPen to work with Windows Mobile please let me know :-)

They also told me that in six months (Spring 2006) they plan to launch a new model of DocuPen which would have a slot for SD card (yes-s-s !!!) and would scan in full color. Personally, I don't think that DocuPen's upgrade to color scanning is such a good idea. The quality of its images is low enough in b/w and the addition of color would just make things worse. It will also enlarge the size of the device and, of course, the price will go up.

For now, your choice is either to buy the DocuPen R-700 and deal with its small memory or wait six months (at least) and pay more for pretty much the same device (again, I don't believe in color on the "world's smallest scanner") to be able to save your scans on a SD card.

Two other things that I would have changed about DocuPen are fairly minor and are really more inconveniences than major issues. The button that turns the device on is very hard to press. Every time I do that it feels like I am going to break the whole thing. Also the carrying case that comes with the DocuPen does not provide the adequate protection. I wish they made some sturdy metallic tube/box instead of this fluffy pouch. But may be that was the point. The sooner your DocuPen breaks, the sooner you get another one :-)

Overall, I did like the DocuPen and I would recommend it to anybody as long as you clearly understand what you need it for. If you plan to use it for copying a few book articles at your library, class notes from your friend's copy-book or some simple hand-drawings it will work great for you. But if you need quality graphic images of pictures or complicated blueprints and/or plan to scan a large number of documents at once DocuPen is NOT for you. Try to get HP's CapShare 920 instead.

Easy to install and easy to use.
I used to have the older model (DocuPen BW) but after knowing that the new model featured rechargeable batteries I decided to buy it (my son inherited the BW and now uses it at school)
Since I bought my DocuPen R-700 I have been carrying it around with my mobile and my notebook and it is almost like having my whole office on the road.
The scan quality is good for my purposes (it is 100 dpi, not a 1600 dpi flat bed scanner OK?) and the best part is that I don't have to look for photocopy machines anymore.
I have heard some complaints about the installation but it worked perfectly to me and have not found any problem (I use XP). If you follow the instructions on the screen you should not have any problem at all
Anybody working on the road should have one.

I am a student and I bought DocuPen thinking I could scan library books or part of books, convert them to PDF and have my own collection of readings, with my annotations and highlights on them. Fat chance...
First of all, it looks very cheap and not very solid (very cheap-looking plastic, poor finish).
Second, the controls are incredibly frustrating - everytime you scan you have to press a button (twice, if you want hi-res), and the button is pretty much burried in the scanner and tough to press. Why do I have to press it every time and hurry to scan (it shuts down quickly, unless you start scanning, I do not know).
Third, the 2MB of memory is a joke. I guess you could fit 100 not-too-large low-res scans on it (as the product claims), but who wants 100 dpi scans? Why, when flash memory has dropped so much in size and price, the Docupen has a measly 2 MB?
Fourth, the software interface and transfer mode are atrocious. Why is not recognized as a USB Mass Storage Device, but instead you have to install its software or use another image-acquiring program? Moreover, the transfer speed is horrible, and you have to download all the images in its memory before choosing which to actually keep.
But, most important, unless you have a very steady hand and are very careful when you scan, the quality is very poor and there is no hope of OCR (by the way, the bundled OCR software is slow and not very accurate). I guess they should have the rollers on the bottom of the scanner measure the speed you're going, the way they do in ball mouses, or have measure the speed the way optical mouses do, and thus compensate for variations in scanning speed across the page.
I have had much better OCR results with snapshots of books taken with a digital camera (done carefully, in bright sunlight) and a professional OCR suite, such as Abbyy FineReader, than with Docupen scans (using the same OCR software).
Last, but certainly not least, it costs a lot (but that could be a problem with most handheld scanners, since the cheapest I could get a used C-Pen on ebay one year ago was some $ 120).
The only good things I can say about it is that it comes with a leather-like case, good for protecting it against scratches while carrying it around, and that one of the led lights on it blinks when you're scanning to fast, thus offering some control over your optimum speed.
All, in all however, this seems like a good idea that steel needs some technological progress before it can actually be useful (higher DPI, speed-variation compensation) or at least some simple and sensible improvements possible at present (more ergonomic and simple controls, higher memory and transfer speeds, and implementation of USB Mass Storage protocols instead of the clunky TWAIN interface).

This product looks and feels very flimsy. Do not be fooled by the flashy, metallic-looking picture. The plastic shell of this device is the quality of McDonald's toys. One would think that for $300, the company would at least commission a manufacturer that did not leave plastic whiskers hanging off the rims due to bad cutting.

The buttons are hard to press. In order to turn the device on, you have to press very firmly, which is a risky thing to do considering the cracking delicacy of the shell.

The cable port for the DocuPen is also extremely flimsy, and you have to hold the cable firmly in place in order for the downloads to take place; otherwise, the connection will be lost.

I am a pre-medical student, and I very stupidly invested a lot of money in this product, believing that I could (for 8 seconds a page and 100 pages per disk) scan my science textbooks in the library, including the colored diagrams, and in that way, I thought I would make back my investment, since textbooks go for at least $100 each. However, I now see that this belief was naive, to say the least. The Docupen is extremely difficult to use. The words come out distorted, like a jammed fax machine, and although the free Paper Port software which comes complimentary with the DocuPen is rather useful for annotating PDF's, the DocuPen does not produce texts that are legible enough to annotate.

Furthermore, downloading is very slow (at least 15 seconds per page on my fast computer), and since you can't see how your scans have turned out until you load them into the computer, you will have to re-scan about 80% of pages due to stretches, smudges, blurriness, suspicious blank spots, and general illegibility.

I wish I had read some of the other negative Amazon reviews before buying this product. I would have saved myself a lot of money and time.

If you are a user who is only looking to scan pictures or a few flat documents, then this product may work okay for you, although a digital camera will probably deliver better results. If you have been harboring grandiose visions of going all-out "paperless" with this product, you will find yourself extremely disappointed.

Until PlanOn decides that this product is worthy enough to invest in a semi-decent shell manufacturuer, it will not a good buy. The idea is wonderful and has a lot of potential, especially when coupled with a Tablet PC. However, the execution of the idea needs improvement. I hope to see a far better version of this product in the next few years, at a price that is comparable to quality.

Although I would like some type of "high-tech" mobile scanner like Kiefer Sutherland uses in the show "24"....that's a few years off...LOL. Anyway, this thing is pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. As far as text is concerned the resolution is adequate for my needs, and probably the vast majority of users. With regards to graphics, it is the only hand/pen scanner that can scan graphics, but with a limited resolution (200dpi). Overall, this docupen is great. I did notice however that if you do alot of mobile scanning and don't necessarily have the ability to dump the info immediately into a computer...space becomes limiting. I've decided to get a "handful" of them (no pun intended), so that I'm never caught short of memory and space. I will let you know that I was able to easily scan about 50 pages of text at decent resolution with little or no difficulty (with alot of room left over). It saved the the hassle of looking for a copier where I was on-site working. One thing to know: there is supposed to be a "calibration sheet" enclosed in the package that "tunes up and calibrates" the pen. After looking around for it to no avail in the package, the customer service department let me know it was on the installation disc as a file that can be printed out and scanned for calibration purposes. Other than that, like I said, it's simple, effective and quite honestly the only product that's currently on the market that can scan and store text and graphics on the fly. If you need something that absolutely must have the flexibility of incorporating graphics this is the only game in town...and as I've already indicated I couldn't be happier (unless someone develops a tablet sized pc that has a printer and a scanner built right into the system).
Oh, one additional thing: people do give you a second glance or two when using one of these things.....they either think you are a: 1) Spy like James Bond, 2) Alien here observing humans, 3) Traveller from the future or 4) High tech geek (LOL).
I hope this product is as useful for you as it is for me.

They call this a "Handheld Pen Scanner". That's not a good description of this excellent device. This product is a handheld PAGE scanner. An IRIS pen is a Handheld Pen Scanner. With an IRIS pen, you scan things on a word by word basis. Basically, you handle an IRIS pen like an outliner. Its very fast, but its also quite tedious if you have to scan more then a few lines of text. With the Docupen, you scan on a page basis. So one swipe of the wand, and you have an entire page. With the IRIS Pen, you need to be connected to a computer via a USB port. The Docupen has 2MBs of flash memory, so your scans are saved right on the device. The latest version of the Docupen includes a rechargeable battery that charges every time you connect it to your computer through the USB cable.

I have seen some reviews complaining about the scanning quality of the Docupen. I think the scanning quality is quite good for a hand feed scanning device. The Docupen allows you to scan at two resolution levels. The higher resolution level provides better OCR performance. I use a different OCR program then the one provided with Docupen, and I have had very few problems even at low resolution scan levels. I have seen some complaints about the OCR performance from this device. However, based on my experiences, I suspect a good part of those problems concerns the quality of the OCR package being used. If you can live without OCR, the low resolution rate is more then sufficient. In this mode, you save your images in a data base like End Note or File Maker, and they are available for reading.

HINTS: when you use the device, scan the page across the shortest distance. So scan across pages, not down pages. Also start the scan on the part of the page with the most white space. Don't scan from the binding out, scan from the outside in.

All is not perfect with this device. The interface with the computer is clumsy. I am on a MAC so I expect an easer to use interface (YES IT WORKS ON AN OSX MAC!). The major part of the problem concerns the auto power off feature. Its set so fast, that its difficult to turn the device on, and then move your hand over to the PC to initiate the image captures. This is silly on the R700 model because the device is being recharged as soon as you connect it to the USB port so there is no need to conserve power when power is coming down the USB cable.

The wand had 2 MB of flash memory. That's fine for occasional scan use, but for researchers, 2MB is not enough. I would like to see the flash memory bumped up to one or two GB. I would also like to see Bluetooth on the device to eliminate the need for cables. I can always plug the device in to a recharger at the end of the day.

I think they should also consider building a wider wand that would allow the use of a display on the device that shows what was just scanned. That way, you would know that you got what you needed. I don't want to fuss with a computer while I am in the library. Finally, I would like to see the capture rate increased. Faster capture rates would make the device less fussy about the speed you move the wand across the page.

All in all, I am quite pleased with this device. I am looking forward to the next generation of this product.

I got it, installed the software, and it works really well. I now use it a lot more that I planned. Don't plan on photo quality scanning - use it for information that you need to keep, but don't care how it looks.

I have since upgraded the software to PaperPort version 9 and that works with the Planon driver. PaperPort 10 does not.

I had the previous DocuPen (DPEN-BW) model and it worked excellent to my needs as a lawyer.

Now Planon introduces a new DocuPen version with rechargeable battery feature like the batteries used in cell phones/laptops, but in this case the R700 model recharges through the USB cable.

The two rollers is another nice addition, it allows for more parallel rolling/scanning of the page.

Again I am simply amazed with the new rechargeable battery feature. I intend to buy some more for holiday gifts this season for my friends who are in the legal industry as well.

This letter is a summary of my experience with PlanOn for the past 6 months.

It all began innocent enough, I saw an article about the Docupen, and saw immediate possibilities for potential use. Over the summer of 2006 I was going to order the DocuPen 800 Pro, for I was going to have great use in my teaching environment with Worcester State College as well as Becker College, both located in Worcester, Massachusetts.

From a technological perspective, I was intrigued, so began my research of trying to learn more of the product. I searched the web for reviews, personal opinions, etc... and well all in all, things seemed positive minus the software interface and the fact the system shuts off after EVERY one page scan.

Anyway, in early August I decided to order a Docupen, even though on the website it said orders were taking 2-3 weeks to fill. I called sales, and was told that do to manufacturing delays, it was going to be closure to 4 weeks for fulfillment or I could just call back in September when the Docupens are to be in.

I placed my order on September 15, 2006 for a DocuPen Rc800 Pro, standard color $349.00 order number:XXXX. Now all I had to do was wait. Two weeks went by and no word from PlanOn in regards to the status from my order. Now school has been in session for a week now, but that is ok. When I called, I am told that the shipment didn't arrive do to manufacturing difficulties. At this point, I am willing to believe customer service. Two more weeks go by and still not response from customer service about the status of my shipment. I attempt to call the 1-888-507-3926 and keep getting the answering service. I tried on-line chat-support, only to find out that an order that was suppose to take 2-3 weeks, is now going to take 6-8 weeks. The kind lady from customer service offered me a carrying case for the scanner when it arrives. I really didn't care about any carrying case, I just wanted up front honesty about where the heck my scanner was and when was it going to be delivered.

3 months go by and finally, the Docupen scanner arrives, was it worth the wait, NO! In total, the delivery time took over 3 months. In such time I was able to find another product that better met my needs for the purpose of scanning documents. Even though I had decided to purchase another product, I was still looking forward to using my PlanOn DocuPen. All I have to say is that I was sorely disappointed at the scan quality, the poor software options and overall experience for PlanOn. So with no hesitation, I requested to return my DocuPen under the 30-day money back guarantee.

Was that to be the end of my frustrations with PlanOn, NO!

Here is a time line of various correspondences in the attempts to get an RMA and refund issued.

December 4, 2006 - initial request for an RMA
December 4, 2006 - I receive standard RMA procedure
December 4, 2006 - All required questions from RMA questionnaire have been answered and emailed back
December 11, 2006 - receive RMA sheet
December 12, 2006 - send back Docupen according to PlanOn specifications with tracking # and signature confirmation, emailed RMA department to inform of status
December 14, 2006 - receive email from RMA rep saying that they will be looking out for the package
December 18, 2006 - receive email verification (from Post Office) of signature confirmation
January 8, 2007 - I email RMA rep to find out status
January 14, 2007 - I email RMA rep again to find out status
January 18, 2007 - I receive an email from the RMA rep informing me that the package had indeed arrived, and that the credit would be issued in 5 days
January 25, 2007 - I still have not received any verification or communication that my credit is being processed
January 29, 2007 - I call PlanOn and have the following conversations "called PlanOn today (1/29/07) I spoke with a Harmony from customer service. I was told that April McKnight is the credit manager. Apparently the credit manager has been out of the office for the past week. Though that doesn't explain the email from Nick on 1/18/07 explain that the credit will be issued in 5 days. Here over two weeks after that email, apparently the credit is still sitting on April's desk. I was told by Harmony that it will be taken care of this week."

So I have been more than patient in regards to waiting for reply and follow up from anyone from PlanOn. Every time I contacted someone about the request for an RMA, I was the one that had to follow up (4 times) before receiving a reply to my request. I have now emailed three times in regards to receipt of my returned docupen.

Needless to say, I find the product not worth the time or the money. The company has miserable customer service. But I should have been aware of this when I first placed my order and was told it would take 2 weeks and it arrived 3 months later, and the product was a piece of junk.

We bought this scanner for scanning documents while traveling and the resolution and capacity are not as advertised. The resolution and quality of the scanned image is grainy and not clear at all. The scanner also holds a lot fewer pages than advertised.