Customer Reviews

WizCom SuperPen Professional, Portable Business Library

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

The Wizcom SuperPen Professional because it could scan many pages of text and had an on-board dictionary that can pronounce words. The SuperPen Professional concept is fantastic, but it did not work as easily as I would have liked. (...), I would expect the SuperPen not to be so cumbersome to operate.

My first problem was getting the SuperPen Professional to link to my computer using the included Serial connector cable so I could upload scanned text to my computer. Although I loaded the software from the included CD-ROM on to my new Windows XP computer which had very few other applications or devices loaded on it, the computer could not connect to the pen. I followed the instructions to set both the pen and computer's baud rate to 115200, but this didn't resolve the problem. The Wizcom website suggested downloading the latest software version, but I couldn't find a link to download the applicable software. An email to Tech Support explained that the lastest software version is available at:

http://www.wizcomtech.com/Wizcom/support/updates.asp?fid=139&pfid=177&mid=10
and scroll down to Install or upgrade your Desktop by downloading and running the QuickLink Desktop installation program (4.9 Mb). Click on the link and save the file to your hard drive.

Once the file is saved to your hard drive, double-click it's icon and follow the instructions.

A call to Tech Support resolved my connection problem. It turned out that I needed to have the flow control on my computer's serial port set to hardware flow control. This was easy enough to do. I just wish that this advice had been published in the manual or on the web site. Ultimately, I did get the computer connection to work with the included serial port.

When connecting, I got an error in the Quicklink Desktop software until I disabled an option for Microsoft Outlook on the QuickLink Desktop application.

I'm having difficulty getting accurate scans with this pen when scanning articles in trade magazines. The articles have fairly small text that is divided into three narrow columns. Since I have to scan each short line separately, it is quite time-consuming to scan selections from an article. I often have to scan three lines to capture a complete sentence. When I couple the slowness of the scanning process with the effort needed to correct mis-spelled or incorrectly read scans, it becomes faster to use a computer to re-type my notes than it is to scan them. The user interface on the pen for making corrections on this device is awkward.

The dictionary feature is nice, but it was more of a hassle to properly scan the word in question than what I wanted to go to to get a definition. Perhaps a separate electronic dictionary where you could type in the word would be easier.

I got the best results when holding the SuperPen at a 90 degree angle to the text.

I used the scanner to scan content from a book, and found that the scanner was more efficient when scanning pages with longer lines of text than it did when I scanned magazine articles.

The SuperPen Professional is a great concept, but I prefer that it was easier to operate.

Been working with mine for about a week, and am disappointed to report that the negative reviews are spot on.

I too had trouble linking it to the PC. Ran into the hardware flow thing. Easy enough to solve after an email to customer support, but they were vague enough that someone less experienced with the windows device manager might have trouble.

But the main reason I don't like it is that scanning is slow and not accurate enough. Really, you're better off with dragon speaking naturally, or just typing.

The whole thing feels like it's 15 years behind the times. The interface is horrible. The PC connection is deadly slow. The software is junk. (Can we at least import notes into a text file? WTF is a .qnt file? Now I've got to screw around getting that into a program I actually can use!) One really has the sense that these guys aren't putting any effort into keeping up with technology. These guys should look at an iPod. Given how much they skimped on everything else (program, connectivity, interface, screen, memory, chip, etc) I have no reason to think that this is a particularly good scanner.

A friend of mine has a C-Pen 20. That scans much faster, but has to be plugged in. C-pen used to sell portable versions, but I emailed their American distributer and found that they only have the wired one.

Total disappointment. As a graduate student, this device could have changed my life. Instead, it'll sit in a drawer, reminding me of the money I blew on it.

Bottom line: useless

My wife purchased this because she is studying for the GRE and GMAT and spending a lot of time looking up words in a dictionary while reading. The amount of time she saves using this pen is amazing. We haven't used any of the software that comes with it and don't really plan to, but for scanning words in books, even relatively small print, it works pretty quickly and has about a 95% correct scan and definition rate. The pronunciation tool works very well too. We were nervous of the price tag, but after using it for a week, I'd say the price is pretty reasonable. It also comes with a convenient carrying case (similar to a cd faceplate case for a car cd player). The only time it doesn't work on a scan is if you don't scan evenly, or if a word is split between two lines with a hyphen. If you use the proper method of scanning, which is pretty self-explanatory, you shouldn't have any trouble. If you're looking for a product to speed up your studying, this is it.

I read mixed reviews about Superpen Professional, but decided to take the chance and buy one at last christmas. I am so glad that I bought it and that too with a [...] rebate (although it took 5 months before I got the rebate $$$).
The product works great, I have tried scanning at various speeds, and in reverse direction too ! It almost never fails to scan (works 98% of the time with great accuracy). I guess they could use a bit faster processor, but not a big deal. I am happy with the product and use it frequently. I have tried using it on books, magazines, newspaper articles. I have tried various standard fonts. It fails to work when the background is dark colored (white/off-white background works like a charm). It also fails when trying to read italic text. The scanning accuracy increased as I used it more often, AND much more after I read the manual to understand the correct style of holding and using it. I recommend to read the manual before using it, and be patient for 1st few hours. Once you get the hang of it, using it will be very easy and useful.

Hi,

I'm a university student with a learning disability. I am a very slow reader and even slower at taking notes. I bought the pen in an effort to increase my note-taking speed and library work, for research papers. I feel that it suits my needs. It doesn't work as fast as I would have hoped, but I find that its accuracy and various other abilities make up for its shortcomings. Its "Quicktionary" feature, for instance, is very useful, and I find that its word database is quite large.

I am a bit disappointed with more than just its speed: it has difficulty reading texts printed in small type (Approx.8.0 or smaller). When scanning these documents its accuracy rate goes right down the tubes, and I don't even try using it for those texts anymore.

Other than those two things, I find that it is really nice. I use it often, especially the "Scan to PC" feature, where the text goes straight into any document with a blinking cursor (including AIM and MSN Messenger). It feels well made (it won't fall apart on you), its battery life is very good, the software is easy to use, the tech-support (which I really didn't need) responds quickly, its accuracy is usually at 95%, and in general it is a good product for MY purposes. I wouldn't buy this item if I intended to scan whole pages or work super-fast, because it would definitely disappoint. And also, READ THE MANUAL! I'm really glad I did. It also does take a bit of time to get used to using.

The SuperPen is worth buying as long as you have reasonable expectations. I would rate it a 7.75 out of 10. Faced with the question to buy it again, knowing what I know now, I would still buy it.

Toodles,

Beth

I've had it for a day and have not even attempted to connect via cable to the PC. BTW, the unit came with serial cable, and Wizcom is sending a USB cable for free. I am hapy with IR. I beam scanned text to my PDA and the PC. I can also receive text files from the PDA and the PC.

It has two main functions Dictionary/Thesaurus and scanning text to be trasfered. I bought it primarily for the first option and i order to hear pronunciation of and meaning of words I do not recongize. Its speaker is not too loud, so you need to bring it closer to the ear, but it has regular L/R earbuds with volume. I set the options to automatically pronounce a word after I scan it and show definitions. Medical, Computer, Wall Street, etc dictionaries are alredy pre-loaded. You can select in which order they interpret the word. It can scan and pronounce entire sentences.

The text scanning feature is good too, and accuracy is decent. Great for the road/airplane, particularly with a PDA.

It has "information" option where you can check remaining memory and battery life (in volts).

Before buying, I read the manual online at www.wizcomtech.com

Pen doesn't work as fast as I thought it would have. Very slow to upload text to computer. I bought this for a law student and it turns out to be more of a burden to scan and proof the text as you go. If you can type at a decent speed I would strongly discurage purchasing this product for note taking.

Install and set up was a bit confusing. Had to contact tech. support (not real friendly or warm). We were looking to save time for data entry. We realized with much frustration typing was faster and more accurate. When scanning e-mail addresses the error rate was about 40% on a font size 6. Scanning 8 and above error rate went down to about 25%. Correcting the errors the pen made took more time then it was worth. The concept is great but does need allot of improvement.

** Update **

I have had the SuperPen for a year now and I think I need to do this pen some justice. At some point after my first review I got the pen to work. Here are a few tips:

1) It is useful on non-laminated and non-glossy paper.

2) Scan in the speed as if you are spelling the word. You need to give the pen some time to read the text. I was scanning too fast and mumbo-jumbo comes out.

3) It doesn't work as well on words that are red or pink highlighted. I guess it is because the color is too close to the infrared.

4) One of the better features is the scan to PC. You can see it pretty quickly and you get to correct or make paragraph on PC.

It has general and medical dictionary built in. This pen has helped me through graduate school and not much problem ever since I knew how to use it.

<Original Review>

This Wizcom SuperPen Professional is bogus. I tried to scan this sentence "Constant rededication is more important than the initial..." and this is the output:

"Constnnt rc~eelicntion Is -vore irnl)ortntlt tl) nn talc lnit~n"

I gave it another chance and scanned this sentence,"Thinking alone these lines, the student should become far more serious..." into the pen and the pen spit this out:

"'along tilde lincs, lh~ student siloalcl bcl~me inr ml1re"

Do not buy this pen. This pen is a failure and not to mention the clunky software.

The pen is slow and fails in about 15% of the intents. I had initial problems with the synchronization with my computer. I received technical help from customer service but the person (male) was disrespectful in tone and attitude.