Customer Reviews

Wizcom SP1000V SuperPen Translator

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The superpen SP1000 is easy to setup and works almost as well as advertised. I have the version that supports bilingual dictionaries.

The pen came with a CD and a serial cable to connect to the computer. If you plan to transfer data to, or load dictionaries from, a laptop, check that your laptop has a serial port. The pen is supposed to support IR as well, but my laptop does not detect it (though I didn't really try to make this feature work). I installed the software from CD onto my Windows XP machine and connected the pen with the cable. After setting the pen to use the PC connection I was able to choose my dictionaries and load them onto the pen. The dictionaries took a couple of minutes apiece to load. Due to memory space taken by the applications that are pre-loaded on the pen I was only able to load 2 dictionaries at a time. I believe (not sure) the pro version has more memory so I would suggest investigating that version if you study more than one language or want to use dictionaries with other features like note-taking.

I tried scanning both left-handed and right-handed. In left-handed mode it is easier to see where to place the scanning point in front of the word. The pen rolls smoothly and the character recognition worked well even in a book that is not completely flat and has smallish type.

It is difficult to capture a short word by itself, but scanning several words at a time works well for capturing short words. The pen display allows you to scroll across the scanned words, showing the definition for each word in turn.

I have two reasons for giving the product less than 5 stars. When scanning French the pen does not always accurately identify reflexive verbs preceded by an apostrophe, e.g., s'asseoir should be recognized as a reflexive verb asseoir with a preceding s'. Compared to my pocket Langenscheidt dictionary, the electronic translation dictionary supplied with the superpen provides a lower quality of translation and has fewer alternative word definitions.

I suggest to Wizcom that they partner with a better French dictionary provider, such as Langenscheidt, in order to improve the quality of the translation.

I tried the SuperPen a couple of days back. It is amazing! You can pick up any text in virtially any language, run your SuperPen over it and abracadabra! it is translated to your choice of language. A little speaker will even say it out to ensure you get the correct pronounciation!
Students, want to make book notes but don't have a laptop or just hate typing? Use the SuperPen. With enough memory to store data worth 1000 pages, you can never run out of space! And transfer your notes to your device(PC, PDA etc) whenever you would like to.
That said, the SuperPen does have a few problems:
1) You have to get used to holding the pen in correct position so that the content can be properly scanned.
2) You gotta run the SuperPen over the printed text slowly or it will garble the data
3) Will NOT work well if you want to scan data off magazines with glossy pages.
4) At $180, the SuperPen is not exactly affordable by all.

CONCLUSION: If you travel abroad a lot or have to take notes from books/reference materials, SuperPen is the best device out there. You will not be disappointed.

I use it almost since 1999 and the almost all functions described by WizCom work well. It is a usefull and valuable tool . There are 3 drawbacks for advanced users probably like me:
1. steady power supply without batteries is missing for enduring works (I constructed some cables for an external supply)

2. both products integrated into superpen can only be used seperately. There is no internal interface. This has one major drawback: You can only translate inside with quicktionary or you have to scan the same word twice for sending it to the PC. Also it doesnot make sense to switch circumstantial to the other pen function inside before scanning same words twice.

When I read the papers about the fine highlight of PC exchange everybody may be some kind of fooled (like I felt afterwards) in assuming that translated text should be able to be sent to the PC. The reading functions without translation for office purposes are not bad. But how makes the integration of both pens still sense when there is no benefit of sharing their functions by exchanging the scanned text between them ?

3. WizComs policy for permitting new software development is not open enough. They think the product is perfect and development has been closed for years. Some people miss support for open platform like linux/unix. Hints that QuickLink works well with the WINE (Windows) Emulation is missing. I tried it and it works.

4. Yes the price was already mentioned by many reviewers. Maybe it would be justified if both valuable tools would profit more from a better integration of two in one pen.

I just got this pen and so far it is working even better than i had imagined. It scans in english perfectly, it does have some problems in french with apostrophes etc.. but the spell checker picks up on most of the problems and suggests the proper alternative. I quickly got used to the scanning method, and i don't even need to be at my desk to scan.

The only drawback is that the software SUCKS. It took me a long time to get it working on my computer - and the support section of their website SUCKS EVEN MORE - so basically i just kept fussing with the port settings until it worked (also, i disabled my printer software etc... which seemed to help) once i got it to connect and installed the dictionaries etc... it worked well.

I'm happy with it - i would give the pen itself 5 stars - but the software is so bad that i have to knock it back to 4.

This software of the pen is terrible! I grew up with computers and software, but this is just terrible. The pen seems not to have the menues, that the software asks for. I tried hours, even another PC, but I was not able to install the dictinoaries to the pen, because the software could not connect to the pen. I am very angry now, and I had to return the pen. I am now looking for a pen from another brand.
I had read the other comments before, about the bad software, but I thougt, I can handle that - I could not!

what a awful software it is! I spent an hour and couldn't make it work. btw, I am not newbie of computer.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS ITEM!

Why 1 star?

1 Poor Quality Documentation
2 Poor Quality Software
3 Poor Quality Installer
4 Poor Customer Support
5 Unable to connect the pen after 2 hours of attempts

I am absolutely displeased by the quality of the documentation - it is disorganized to say the least! I expect a step-by-step install guide, followed by a step-by-step connection/configuration guide, followed by a troubleshooting section. None of this exists.

Sure, there are instructions, but they are in no real order and the context makes the install, configuration, and connection that much more frustration and difficult to figure out.

The installer was so bad that I needed to manually open the CD ROM on my disc drive and manually launch the executables (.exe files).

I have spent 2 hours trying to get the pen to be recognized by "The Desktop" (the "inventive" name of the application SuperPen sends on the CD - ROM).

I called technical support and the voice mail was full and the message said to email them with my question. That was the last straw.

Faulty Product + Bad Service = Request for Refund and a 1 star review!

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS ITEM!

When it comes to scanning text, the pen works like a dream. The angle is a bit funny, but you get used to it. The software however, is another story. The pen came with a Spanish dictionary pre-installed (I suppose, addressed to the US market, where "the" foreign language is Spanish). Tried to load the German dictionary, no chance. I checked the manual, went to the Internet, tried to load it from the CD, but, no. So, for the time being, only used as a good line scanner.

This pen does not do what it says it will. Even though the box says that it will translate from italian to english, that program is not available. The programs for other languages are available, but not the italian to english. That is the reason for buying it. I can't return it because it was a Christmas present and I bought it early in December and it only has a 15 day return policy. So much for shopping early. I have tried to contact Wizcom, but have had no reply. Stay away unless you know someone that has one and knows what it will do.

This product is awesome.
Once your hand learns the way it works, using the product is smooth and errorless. The software package that comes with the product is somehow not that good but it is acceptable since it works.