WizCom E04087 QuickLink-Pen Elite Scanner

by WizCom

Product Details

• Item Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002MPVEQ
• Item model number: E04087
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 16, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The QuickLink-Pen Elite is an updated version of the very popular and successful QuickLink-Pen, providing users with new and improved electronic note-taking capabilities. The QuickLink-Pen Elite reads notes and definitions aloud, beams to smart phones as well as to PDAs and PCs, includes English dictionary definitions, and connects via USB to your PC.

Used just like a yellow highlighter, the QuickLink-Pen Elite lets you collect electronically notes from any printed text–anytime, anywhere. The QuickLink-Pen Elite is ideal for students, doctors, business people, or researchers who need the ability to quickly and easily take notes whenever and wherever they might be–in a library, on a plane, or in a business meeting.

The QuickLink-Pen Elite comes complete with several useful applications. The scan and store feature allows you to store up to 1,000 pages of text; transfer stored text to PDAs (PalmOS and WinCE), Smart phones (PalmOS and Windows Mobile 2003), or PCs via IRDA Infra red connection; transfer stored notes to PCs via USB connection (and automatically create Microsoft Word documents); and read the scanned notes aloud using the text to speech function, either through the built-in speaker or headphones. Additional scanning languages are supplied on CD-ROM and include German, Swedish, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and French. Scan and define allows you to display the definition of any word in the notes, using the included American Heritage Concise Dictionary, while the scan to PC function allows real-time scanning directly via the USB connection into any Windows based application, with the scanned text appearing at the cursor point. With image capture, you can scan and store small images that can then be transferred to a PC at a later time.

Handy applications are supplied on CD-ROM for optional installation. Address Book scans business cards and synchronizes with a desktop or PDA address book, such as Outlook. Table Builder scans data in spreadsheet format and transfers it directly to Microsoft Excel on a PC. Internet Links scans URLs (web addresses) and transfers them directly to your Internet Explorer favorites list.

What's in the Box
QuickLink Pen Elite, USB cable, getting started guide, user's manual, CD-ROM (includes installations for add-ons, QuickLink-Pen Elite Desktop application, USB driver, and free CharacterEyes software), Pen case with Opticard, two AAA batteries, earphones with volume control

Product Description

QUICKLINK PEN ELITE PEN SCANNER

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

199 of 202 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Portable, useful, and easy to use, September 17, 2004

By 

mixedman "mixedman" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: WizCom E04087 QuickLink-Pen Elite Scanner (Office Product)

I received QuickLink Elite pen today and have been testing it for the past 6 hours. Now I am finished, I would like to share my thought about this device with you. The box came with the content as described by Amazon. My surprise was that the 135 page color manual, I thought those were extinct! That is in addition to the PDF one in the CD.

Installation on Windows XP Pro. SP2 (Tablet edition) went smoothly, the instructions on the self run CD were easy to follow. You basically install the driver for the cable [serial at the device connector to USB (II in my case) at the PC end], then you install the desktop application which is a very basic utility that lists the files on your pen, and allows you to communicate, change settings, transfer data, and add software to your pen. Once you install the software, you will be asked to connect the device to the computer to start the communication. Initially I had a problem connecting to the device because it conflicted with Bluetooth serial ports. So I disabled the Bluetooth serial ports and removed some extra unused serial COM ports from the computer device manager. I reinstalled the pen drive from the CD, restarted the computer but before I connect again I did one more IMPORTANT step that is not mentioned anywhere. You Baud rate on the pen (go to settings, communications, baud rate) must be the same as your computer COM port (go to device manager, right click on the new COM port), choose a rate, in my case 57600 worked best. After that I managed to exchange files, install software to the pen. In addition, It tried the IrDA with my laptop, the text file was transferred instantly. PDA (iPAQ) recognize the device but transfer of files needed third-party software (Peacmaker $15). In their website, they say there will be an upgrade where third party will not be needed.

After that scanning the text went smoothly, I also scanned small image ( max 8 mm wide), installed the tables software on the pen, scanned directly on the PC ... all went very well. I scanned a type font 10 textbook, out of the total 543, 24 were mis-recognized (some missing one letter, some had capital letter in the middle, while others were just a mess). That is about 95.5% accuracy, not bad, considering that I get about 85% with a flatbed scanner. It takes me about 5 to 6 seconds per line (about 5 minutes per page), so this is truly for text snippets rather than a whole page scanning. Image scanning is useful for signatures, Greek letters, etc. Quality is just OK, you can also scan tables, business cards (to outlook), URLs (get sent to favorites) with the included add-ins on the CD, and bar codes (additional downloads from the wizcom website). All in all I will recommend this device for students, researchers, & people who type slow or rather collect different set of texts from books, journals, etc. It fits 1000 pages internal memory, besides scanning directly to your word processor. It has built in English dictionary, good for language students. It also read aloud any text that is scanned (I do not see the use of this one) but the pen comes with earphone with volume controls.
All in all, this pen turn out as it was described and I think it is a keeper. Thanks for reading this long review and I hope it helped someone.

142 of 145 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the C-Pen 800C, January 12, 2005

By 

Josh (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: WizCom E04087 QuickLink-Pen Elite Scanner (Office Product)

I'm measuring, first and foremost, ease and precision of scanning. Speed of scanning and ease of installation on the computer are, in my mind, about the same for both this, the Wizcom QuickLink Elite, and the C-Pen 800C. They differ sufficiently, however, in the primary question of ease and quality of scanning. For the record, I bought both at the same time, with the intent of keeping the better of the two. You can just go ahead and buy the C-Pen 800C.
I have had one horrible experience with a pen scanner by Siemens, the "Pocket Reader." It was truly useless. It scanned so poorly that I just put it aside. By the time I though to return it, Siemens was no longer making it, and I couldn't get customer service here in the U.S.
The Wizcom QuickLink Elite is not so bad. It's serviceable. I don't think it lives up to its 95% accuracy guarantee, but perhaps meets a 90% threshold, measured impressionistically. It's interface is also reasonable and satisfactory.
However, the C-Pen 800C is even more precise, truly approaching 95%. Moreover, if you discount errors in spacing from this accuracy percentage, its precision is even higher. Whereas the Wizcom is just as likely to make a content error, misread letters, etc., the 800C's errors are more likely to be the absence of a space when there should be one. A rare missed space doesn't make you puzzle over the text when you come back to it two months later.
C-Pen is also lighter, and it's rechargeable, so while it's more expensive, in the long run, you'll save on batteries.
Both have comparable single-language dictionaries, though Wizcom has more built in or for free (C-Pen allows you one free dictionary, including bilingual ones). Wizcom is a only a bit slower on the uptake, but significantly more likely to warn you "Scan too fast." I've never had that from C-Pen, and again, the precision at any speed is appreciably better with C-Pen.
Both have comparable PC and PDA compatibility capacity.

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well Rounded Product = Good, October 28, 2006

By 

Michael "Mike" (PURDUE!!!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: WizCom E04087 QuickLink-Pen Elite Scanner (Office Product)

I got this as a Gift for my education. Im getting a degree in aeronautical engineering and a minor in psychology, so something that can scan text easily and fast is a big plus and a big time saver. After I got the pen, I went online to read what other people thought of the product. Honestly, I think that the pen is super easy to use. If you dont read the 5 pages in the manual(which are really easy to read!), then I can see how people will have problems. Plus, the pen comes with a trainer;Meaning that the pen has to be at a angle for it to scan properly, and the trainer will help you get used to that set up(took me 30mins then I was off the trainer). If you dont use the trainer.. YOU WILL GET A ERROR(wrong angle). You might also get a error if you go too fast. Honestly, If you run this pen across the page like a corvette.... I think that you really need to lay off the coffee. Calm down, this pen is really easy to use. It took me like 1 hour to get used to using the pen. The dictionary is super easy and NICE!!!! It scans up to about 8mm on a page(plenty for you English major types). Here are some things that I want to mention, and might help you:
1) Put the CD into your computer before you DO ANYTHING. Follow those directions...very helpful.
2)The USB cord for the pen is like a device in it-self; as such the software will lead you though installing the drivers for it... not a big deal.
3) when you plug the USB cord into the pen, remember to push hard until you hear a rather substantial snap. It was quite unexpected and was probably a source of a lot problems related to this product(people didn't know to push so hard...NOTHING BREAKS, its a very well made product).
4)make sure that you have the USB cord plugged in(after you have installed the software, eg. after doing 1 above)before you start-up the main program. Then connect the pen to the USB cord and browse to "send stored files to PC" and push enter. WA la, everything will go well.

Its a good product and I think that people shouldn't take the other negative reviews seriously. After getting this, many of my friends are seriously thinking about getting one. Its very well made and Im quite sure that it would be a great help for students or researchers. I hoped this helped.