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Livescribe 2GB Pulse Smartpen (APA-00002) | 
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| Brand: Livescribe
Category: CE
Buy New: $199.95
New (5) from $198.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  37 reviews
Color: Steel Blue
Media: Electronics
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 6 x 0.5 x 0.5
MPN: APA-00002
Model: APA-00002
UPC: 892515002019
EAN: 0892515002019
Release Date: July 13, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Record and link audio to what you write | | • | Listen to your recordings by tapping on what you wrote | | • | Search and share your notes and recordings from your computer |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
PRODUCT FEATURES:Sleek ergonomic design with anodized aluminum housingHigh speed infrared camera300 mAH rechargeable LithiumDual Smartpen microphones3-D recording headsetUSB mobile charging cradle
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| Customer Reviews: Read 32 more reviews...
 Relax and join the Revolution-BREAKING NEWS-Mac Desktop available 11/24/08 July 13, 2008
129 out of 138 found this review helpful
My brother ordered two of these pens when they were first available from the manufacturer. His thinking apparently was that he would have a backup should he ever lose one. Quickly realizing that he might have over-ordered, he offered one to me to try.
There were a lot of reasons I was not enthusiastic about his offer. The first was that unlike my brother, I actually do lose pens from time to time, even expensive ones. So if I lost this thing I would owe my brother money. Second, I am a Mac enthusiast and the desktop software for a Mac platform will not be available until the end of 2008. Finally, the necessity of the product escaped me.
But being a toy lover I put aside my objections and accepted his loan. A few weeks later I was calling customer support on a desktop issue (I installed it on my only Windows computer, a Toshiba tablet). The problem was a software glitch, since in reality the pen was still in beta. The customer service rep solving the problem asked if it was registered in my name. I assured her it was. I then told her that my brother had bought the pen but that he was never getting it back. I could hear my statement relayed around the support department where it was greeted with shouts and laughter. They knew. I was a convert. I had drunk the Kool-aid and was forever theirs.
Okay so what do I use it for? I take it to hearings and depositions (I am a lawyer, remember?). These are public events under Florida law and there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.This is important since the pen doesn't just record the strokes of the pen, it records everything being said. And it records it very well. Here is the cool part, touch a word in your notes and you will hear whatever was happening at that time. My favorite demonstration to date is to touch a word from a contested trial where I got to ask a witness if he had ever told people that he spoke to the dead and that they spoke back to him. The guy nearly came across the table at me, a point also recorded. Now an aside to lawyers, law students and pro se litigants-do not ever ask someone this question unless you have an email from the witness attesting to his ability to commune with the formerly alive.
The recording capacity of this pen is astonishing. The manufacturer suggests that the 2GB pen will hold 200 hours of audio. I have no reason to doubt it, since constant use has barely tapped its capacity.
When the pen is uploaded to the desktop software (currently Windows only) images of the notes and the audio are loaded into the computer. From there it can be uploaded to an online site where it is Mac accessible. For now this satisfies my Mac needs at least till the end of the year.
You need special paper to take advantage of the upload features. Fortunately, the supplies are reasonably priced and available online. However the notebook supplied with the pen is most generous.
There are lots of other features in the pen. It is possible to draw a keyboard and play notes (musical notes) on it. My daughter, a music ed major, particularly enjoys this. There is even a cute animation demo built in whose 3-D sound as heard through the earbuds is astonishing and mildly amusing.
So who could use this pen other than trial lawyers? Students seem to be a logical group. Perhaps physicians and nurses could use it. Did the patient really say he had a condition or did he say something else? Livescribe needs to produce industry specific paper for just such uses, or to allow outside vendors to create it.
This product will revolutionize the workplace in ways that we cannot now predict. All we can predict is that it will prove to be one of the most significant technologies of this decade in the same way the personal computer was in the 1980s. Click the"Buy" button now. You will not regret it.
BREAKING NEWS
The Mac Desktop promised by the end of 2008 is available on 11/24/08 for download at www.livescribe.com. It promises certain enhancements over the original windows software,
"The Mac version of Livescribe Desktop also offers two additional features not available in the Windows version. First, Mac users will have the ability to export their recordings into AAC audio files. Mac users can also export their notes as PDF files directly from the Desktop application.
All current and new users of the Pulse smartpen can use Pulse with Mac computers for free. "
 Partly Fantastic July 26, 2008
83 out of 92 found this review helpful
The pen does what it says but if you have used the Leapfrog Fly Fusion pen - which is the company the founder came from - you expect that it will convert your writing to text - but it doesn't.
The company promises to do this but has not delivered on their promise and since the pen has been out since at least April - I feel it is long overdue. They could give one access to the digital audio which then would enable the user of the pen to use another text conversion program -- but they don't or won't.
The other problem is the tease of the apps like language translator - which the pen does but only as demo so far.
What the pen does do - it does it fantastically - so if you are a student of someone just wanting to have a verbal recording of something and the ability to take notes that associate the recording so that it is easy to find what you want right away - it does that very well.
The problem is that all digital recording devices do this too and also allow text conversion. So... if you don't need to take notes to find your recording places - then the pen will be less functional than a digital recording device and perhaps cheaper and more efficient.
I will hang onto mine for a bit longer but I need the text conversion or the pen is useless to me - if they don't get their act together on their promises I will just sell mine for whatever I can get and go back to using my cheaper fly fusion pen.
If they get the text conversion together and add real apps instead of teasers - then this product will be a real winner and useful for a wide range of people.
 Software Stinks August 5, 2008
47 out of 59 found this review helpful
The hardware works very well but with bad software it brings the profuct down.
Here are the points that need to be made
1. You cannot link the Pen with a Vista 64-bit system (Software will not load)
2. In both Vista and XP the software is buggy. For instance the printer options don't seem to work and when selected on a non default printer it still prints to the default.
3. No OCR software.
4. You must download the software. It's not included with the Pen.
5. Requires a .Net 2.0 install
6. In order to use 99% of the Pen options you must register the pen on line. If you don't have internet or have a dialup I would not purchase this product.
7. Where are all the apps? Some of the applications are still not ready.
8. Many of the reviews state that you can print your own paper. This is not true.
9. You can only use a certain number of notebooks (8) at one time. If you use more than that you must permanently retire one of the previous ones.
10. Software is not integrated into windows and there is no conversion for audio, drawings. I have had to result to screen capture to get the information into other applications. This alone makes the product nothing more than an expensive toy. It's just not productive.
These are all things that I noticed in the first day of usage. While I do like the concept it's not ready for business use. And because of the flaky software I would not rely on this product as your only note source for school. You may find yourself stranded.
Greatest study tool since flashcards! July 14, 2008
30 out of 32 found this review helpful
So I've had this for a couple months now, and my opinion of it hasn't changed since day 1 - it's awesome.
I'm a college students on the pre-med track, so my schedule is filled science classes. The pen is so useful especially when the professors going at a 100 mph and has diagrams/reactions to go with it. I use it all the time to just go through the main points of the lecture - I simply "star" sections that I know are important as I take notes. Later, when studying for my tests, I quickly go through the starred parts and re-hear them.
But the great thing about the pen is that anyone can find use for it, be it a student like me, or a doctor, or a lawyer, or a financial analyst, an engineer, an artist, etc. etc. It really is a great tool for everyone.
And one more thing, besides the practical use of the pen itself, it's great just to show off! The calculator feature, or the translator feature, etc. are just so cool! For example, put the pen in "translation" mode, write a word in English and the pen will give you a Spanish translation.. how cool is that?!
So obviously, I'm sold, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
-Kal
Useless in lecture halls October 17, 2008
28 out of 30 found this review helpful
This product was prematurely launched. It does not record lectures very well at all in typical lecture halls, regardless whether or not you wear the dorky earphones and regardless what setting you select for sound recording. Any ambient noise, no matter how quiet, will be picked up by the device. This noise will completely mask the speaker's voice, rendering the recording essentially useless.
Because the file formats are proprietary, you cannot load the noisy files into audio processing software to filter out the noise or amplify the speaker's voice. The need for the headphones (which serve as microphones) makes the pen obtrusive in a corporate environment, where one may want to save audio recordings of meetings while taking notes.
The pen has a built in microphone, but it is useless in a large room. It is often recommended that one use the headphones (wearing them around one's neck), but in normal environments with air conditioning or computers nearby, the only thing you'll record is noise.
The pen does faithfully record the notes you make if you use the company's special notebooks. These contain an array of dots that tell the pen where it's located on the page. This information is stored as you write. When you upload the pen's contents to your computer, an image of what you wrote is regenerated. This is of course a neat trick, but you have to use their file format and user interface, and I find it is not sufficiently flexible. Not being able to use standard file formats like mp3 and pdf is a real nuisance. Apparently you can upload your files to the company's web site and they'll convert them to pdf for you, but what if your notes contain private or proprietary information? And even if it's just your math notes, who wants the hassle?
This device may be suitable for some students if the lecture room and level of ambient noise are appropriate for the pen's limited ability to capture clean sound. This is not a trivial problem, because in its current state, unless you're recording in an ideal environment, the noise will make it impossible to hear the lecture when you play it back. You do not notice these faint background noises most of the time, but that's essentially all the pen will record.
I gave up on the pen and frankly don't even know where it is at the moment. Too bad, because I got the one with 2GB of memory along with about a dozen of their special notebooks. Now I just use them with an ordinary pen and record my lectures using a digital recorder I got from Ramsay Electronics. Its sound quality is perfect, regardless where I sit, and it can record in any format I choose.
I am disappointed in the unbalanced reviews I've read about this pen. One has to wonder if some of the more enthusiastic ones are from the company itself. Likewise, I found reviews online that were so slick, detailed, and positive that they had to have come from the pen maker. I have never written a review before but after reading reviews that gave this device unqualified praise, I felt it my duty to warn other potential purchasers--let the buyer beware.
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