The zPen Digital Pen is a revolutionary new natural input device that captures your handwriting without the need for special paper or a direct connection to a computer. Write notes anywhere and then upload the files to your computer any time. It’s the perfect merger of our most natural form of creative expression, pen on paper, with the modern need to digitize everything. Write, draw, sketch, compose or diagram anywhere and anytime without carrying a laptop. Later, with USB plug-and-play ease, upload your work to your computer where you can save it, edit it, convert it to pdf or text and send it.
The zPen is ideal for professionals, middle managers and students. Middle managers sit in a lot of meetings. They end up with hundreds of pages of notes in the classic yellow tablets. Buried in those tablets are to-do items, schedules, diagrams, agreements; lots of important stuff. But it gets lost there. Now there is a way to save, edit, search, and send these vital notes without spending hours typing.
The zPen effectively replaces the laptop computer and its disruption in meetings. Some companies have begun prohibiting laptops in meetings because the user becomes a passive recorder and is no longer an active participant. The interface with the zPen, however is completely intuitive, so all your creative faculties remain in play. It actually liberates the creative juices.
This is especially true in the classroom. Professors are complaining about looking out at a sea of screens and wondering if anyone is listening, much less participating. The zPen captures those notes, formulas and diagrams intuitively and without distraction.
The zPen is remarkably easy to use. Pull out your familiar pad of paper and your zPen receiver. Clip it to your pad and turn it on. Start to write with your zPen. That’s it. The Pen automatically turns itself on and off. It may be the most unobtrusive technology available. You’re at your creative best with all your attention on the task at hand. It will run all day and store thousands of pages.
Whenever you return from your meeting or class, simply insert the receiver into your usb port. The Viewer software automatically opens from the receiver and you click on the newest file to see your work. The accuracy and thoroughness of the zPen will delight you. Giggles are a common reaction to seeing all your creative glory on the computer screen for the first time. From there, you have numerous options.
With one button click you can convert your notes to a pdf file and distribute the file to team members or classmates who slept in. This Viewer software runs on virtually all recent operating systems, from Windows 2000 onward, Mac OS and even most versions of Linux. If you want to convert your handwriting into Word-compatible text, a full version of MyScriptNotes Optical Character Recognition Software is included. (Windows only) Or, just drop the original file into a folder as is and use our exciting new NoteSearch software (Windows only) to search and sort on all your HANDWRITTEN notes. Type in a key word, like amazon.com and it brings up all the documents where you wrote about amazon.com. You get the best of both worlds; the intuitive freedom of the pen plus the digital power to save, sort and search. We think this will change how people work and learn.
In addition to the pen, you get the rechargeable receiver and USB drive with one GB of flash memory; a USB cable, Pen and Ink Viewer for Windows, Mac or Linux; the full-version of MyScriptNotes for Windows and a 30-day trial of NoteSearch for Windows.
Features
WRITE with the pen, on any kind of paper
(with the receiver on top of your page)
DOWNLOAD your handwritten notes on your PC
and view them on screen
FIND keywords back on your handwritten notes
CONVERT your handwritten notes in digital text, to use it on your standard word processing
1 of 5Unacceptable support Friday, August 29, 2008 A Customer from Eden Prairie, MN
I bought one in May and it worked for about two weeks and then it stopped working. I sent at least half a dozen emails to the support but I received no response at all. After waited for a month, I finally called the credit card company and disputed the purchase. I don't understand how a company can survive without providing any support to the customers. Buy this product at your own risk because you won't get any support.
Was this review helpful?
5 of 5on/off switch Thursday, August 28, 2008 Zoe from New York, NY
I just got a digital pen and I absolutely love it! Contrary to the previous review, there is an on-off switch (its the button on the left side of the USB part with the power logo). The device has saved me SO much time as I work in the secretarial field and (used to!) do a lot of writing and typing up of meeting minutes.
Awesome product, great price! I love every part of it.
Was this review helpful?
1 of 5Good idea, almost works... Wednesday, August 20, 2008 Bob Wilson from Fort Collins, Colorado
This looked like a very useful product - I take notes in meetings and at conferences but wanted to have them organized on my computer rather than on loose sheets of paper.
When I first received it, I was quite pleased. The resolution was good enough for my small writing. The pen comfortable to use. Unfortunately, my son dropped the receiver and it fell about 10" onto a desk and the clip broke off. All that holds the stiff spring onto the main body are two small (~1 mm) plastic pegs. One had sheared off. This made the unit unusable so I returned it (BTW buy.com was very responsive to the return request, and even gave a discount on the price).
The new unit arrived and seemed not to function quite as well as the first. The lines a little more wobbly and a narrower field of operation - off to the sides of standard letter page the image of my writing was quite distorted. Still usable, but a little marginal.
However, the real reason for my rating of 1 is that when I came to use it the next day it would not record the pen strokes at all. The receiver was fully charged, power light on, but the pen active light did not come on when I wrote. I verified that nothing was being recorded. I took the batteries out and cleaned them. Still nothing. I replaced the batteries with brand new ones and it worked again - I did about 3 pages of notes and sketches. The next day, I came to use it and ... nothing. Again, the receiver unit was powered but no response to the pen. My presumption is that the batteries drained again. Time to give up on this product I am afraid. Too bad.
Minor problems:
1. The size of the receiver and how far it clips down onto the pad, plus the ~1" poor quality zone near it means that there is a lot of wasted white space on the recorded page.
2. The red indicator lights are too dim - at least for red/green color blind folk like myself (a surprisingly large number of people).
3. On some laptops (e.g. my Dell) the receiver cannot be plugged directly into the USB port because the shoulder of the unit is too wide. The little cable they provide solves this but that is one more item to carry around and is a good candidate for being misplaced.
Was this review helpful?
1 of 5AWESOME - IF IT REALLY WORKED!!!!! Tuesday, July 22, 2008 A Customer from WASHINGTON, DC
IF I COULD ONLY WRITE MY WORDS AND THEN LOAD THEM INTO MY COMPUTER AND READ THEM, THAT WOULD BE AWESOME. I'VE TRIED AND TRIED AND SOMETIMES A COUPLE OF WORDS ARE ACTUALLLY LEGIBLE. BUT MOSTLY I GET NOTHIN BUT STRAY MARKS. IT DOESN'T DO WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO DO. THE IDEA IS GREAT, BUT THIS DIGITAL PEN SIMPLY DOESN'T WORK ADEQUATELY FOR ANY PURPOSE. AND THE WEBSITE LACKS DETAIL AND SUPPORT.
Was this review helpful?
5 of 5Why is there no on and off switch? Sunday, July 13, 2008 kgatling from IL
THis last review makes no sense. I hope this is not the case, it states that the pen automatically turns on and off with the "reciever" that has an on and off switch. I assume that the pen is turned on when it is in use and should not be on when not in use? Maybe the pen the person reviewed this had a faulty battery? I just can't imagine that they would have this problem in every pen?
Was this review helpful?
4 of 5No on/off switch needed / Batteries available Thursday, July 10, 2008 sdc100 from NYC, NY
Okay, I know that we're not supposed to reply to other reviews but since Glenn James' negative review is predicated on two issues, I thought I'd address them.
1) No on/off switch is needed because the pen draws no power when you're not using it to write. It goes into off mode after 30 secs of inactivity. Please note that the pen is not a substitute for a normal pen. If you write with it, it'll draw power even if you don't have the receiver. Another way to look at it is to compare it with your TV remote. Does it have an on/off switch? No, and it uses no power unless you hit a button.
2) V393 button batteries are easily available in drug stores, Radio Shack and wherever they sell watch batteries. They're the same button cells used in many laser pointers.
That said, it's a good device. It does what it claims although you shouldn't write too fast. The question buyers should ask is whether simply scanning the written pages serve the same purpose. Multifuction printers with autofeeder can be found for abot $90, the cost of this device.
Sell on Buy.com
Gift Certificates
4
3
4.5
