C Pen 600 Handheld Scanner

Other products by C Technologies

Product Details

Product Manual [392kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 1 x 1 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004U8AR
• Item model number: C Pen 600
• Batteries: 2 AAA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1973

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The C Pen 600 is a delightful ergonomic scanner with a remarkably intuitive interface. Plus, it provides much better scanning accuracy than we thought possible from a handheld model. Although it isn't ideal for scanning long tracts of text, its dictionary, translation, and other features give the scanner a usefulness that extends beyond mere text storage.

The C-Pen 600 is much thicker and wider than a real pen, but it is still comfortable to hold. All the buttons are within easy reach. A crisp LCD on the front of the device provides real-time feedback as you scan and also displays the various icons and menus used for navigating and accessing the C-Pen's features.

The C-Pen's user interface is absolutely ingenious--a small thumb wheel at one end of the device is moved up or down to highlight menu choices, and then pressed to make a selection. It took us only 30 seconds to grasp the fundamentals. The designers were also thoughtful enough to let lefties flip the display, allowing the device to be used comfortably in either hand.

To scan text, just put the tip of the C-Pen flat on the page, hold down a button to activate the scanner, and drag the device across the text. Release the button at the end of the line and repeat the process as many times as you need to. All the text you've scanned is displayed in the LCD window, where you can edit, move, or delete the text as needed. When you're finished, the newly digitized text can be uploaded to your notebook or a PC via an infrared port. (Most desktop PCs do not have IR ports, so you may have to factor one into the cost of a C Pen).

In our test, the unit did a terrible job of interpreting text if the text was in a nonstandard font or was of poor quality. The C Pen would not be a good tool for getting information from a mangled fax into your computer, and you can forget about handwriting recognition.

We wondered how easy it would be to enter file names or edit text with the device, and the designers attempted to address this task through the use of C Write technology. The premise is you move the pen as if you were writing, and the C Write software interprets the movements and displays the corresponding letter or number. It required an hour or so of practice after calibrating the C Pen, but we eventually were able to achieve a reasonable level of accuracy with C Write. One caveat: you can't "write" on a one-color surface like a desktop or blank sheet of paper. It has to be patterned; a page of printed text works fine for a background.

The C Pen 600 stores up to 2,000 pages of text and comes with a CD that lets users choose one two-way translation dictionary, like English/French, English/Spanish, or English/German. Using the translation software stored in the C Pen's memory, it's possible to scan a word in one of the languages and translate it to the other instantly. This feature will probably add to the C-Pen 600's professional appeal, and we feel anyone who spends some time with the device will be amazed at just how accurate and useful it can be. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Surprisingly accurate compared to similar products
• Includes language translation features
• Superbly designed interface

Cons:

• Still not completely accurate
• Editing functions are cumbersome
• Requires good quality text in a standard font

Product Description

C-Pen is a mobile information collector that reads, remembers, processes and transfers printed text cordlessly to your Windows-equipped PC. C-Pen is in essence an electronic highlighter that saves the text you are marking. Carry it with you wherever you go! C-Pen 600 combines the reading capacity with translation ability that makes it the perfect companion on your travels or in your studies. Your Personal Digital Assistant makes it a habit to bring your portable text collector with you, and you are always ready to read and save text from books, papers, brochures or business cards. You can easily record price-lists, timetables, wine-tips or witty quotes. You don't have to tear out pages any more. Your saved text files can later be transferred to your PC. It is also possible to use C-Pen to read text directly into a Windows application in your PC.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't expect any miracles!, December 11, 2000

By	"mrhappy01" (Las Vegas, Nevada USA) - See all my reviews

If you are expecting this pen to make your life as a student a whole lot easier....don't count on it. This technology has a very long way to go. I asked for the c-pen 600 for my birthday. I was expecting it to help me with writing my college-level research papers by providing an easy way for me to import and edit text into my word documents. Little did I know, my 2 year-old nephew can read better than this pen. I had trouble getting it to read the text in its own instruction booklet, and as far as photocopied pages (such as journal articles and other research materials), forget it!

Here is an example of the mistakes that this pen makes:

The c-pen is a very useful tool.

Gets translated to:

Fhe c-pen is @ veyr useful tolo.

Pros:

1. Good idea.

2. Works well if you don't actually need to use the info that you collect with the pen.

3. Easy to use.

Cons:

1. Doesn't work well at all.

2. Expensive price.

3. Using the c-write function, it takes you 5 minutes to write your name.

I hope that this review has been helpful. I wrote it because the average rating on this product is WAY too high. I just don't want anyone else to get duped like I did.

-Jake

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but not perfect., December 1, 2000

By	"umar456" (Forest Park, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This is a great device for school or office. It is suprisingly accurate and a abundunt amount of memory, but it has its flaws. For one it is not compleatly accurate. Sometimes even with perfect text quality it misinterprets what it scans. Also it gets hard to work on curved surfaces such as an open book. All in all this is a good product once you get a hang of it.

71 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best, August 4, 2000

By A Customer

This has to be the best handheld pen scanner I've ever used. It is much more comfortable to use compared to the Quicklink. A bit costly but worth ever cent.

Ideal for students who highlight and rewrite lecture notes.