WizCom WSP1000P SuperPen Professional

Other products by WizCom

Product Details

• Item Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000TMZYK
• Item model number: WSPP
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,206 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 19, 2005

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The WizCom SuperPen Professional is the latest Productivity Tool. This completely mobile device provides the definitions of over a quarter of a million words, instantly. SuperPen Professional comes complete with a selection of electronic dictionaries from the prestigious Houghton Mifflin Collection, including Stedman's Medical, Wall Street Words, Computer and Internet, Science, Geography, Abbreviations, Idioms, and a Thesaurus. SuperPen Professional can also scan, store, and transfer printed data to a PDA, PC, or any Windows application, making it the perfect tool for busy executives and college students alike.

Scan and Define
SuperPen Professional lets you scan professional terms and receive instantaneous definitions from one or a number of the on-board professional dictionaries. Integrated text-to-speech technology helps you pronounce new words with confidence.

Scan, Store, and Transfer
This function lets you capture essential printed data (text and small images) anytime, anywhere, even on-the-go. The product can store over 1,000 pages of printed text that can then be transferred to a PC or PDA via an infrared, serial ( both provided), or USB (optional) connection at your leisure. When working with your computer, you can scan printed text directly into the active application at the cursor point. Collected data can be transferred to any Windows based application seamlessly.

What's in the Box
SuperPen Professional, desktop software, user manual, tutorial video on CD, quick reference card, PC data cable (RS 232, 9-pin), plastic carrying case with Opticard, two AAA batteries

Product Description

The WizCom SuperPen Professional is a completely mobile device, which instantly provides users with the English definitions of over a quarter of a million words. SuperPen Professional comes complete with a selection of dictionaries from the prestigious Houghton Mifflin Collection including:

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

116 of 120 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wizcom SuperPen Professional Not So Easy to Operate, September 6, 2004

By	Vicki "Vicki" (Midwest) - See all my reviews

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.

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars the nays have it, November 30, 2006

By	Ndyanabo (USA) - See all my reviews

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

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works like a charm, September 30, 2006

By	Z. Freeman "Zach" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.