Livescribe Pulse Smartpen user reviews (2GB)

Pros Note taking with audio is very cool.

Cons Buggy software. Limited formats for saving.

Summary I must admit that I was very pleased with this device when I first purchased it. Its capabilities overshadowed its many flaws. Then came a software "upgrade". An upgrade it was not. Talk about buggy. But what really irked me about Livescribe is that they kept this crapware on their site for downloading KNOWING customers were having major issues with it. The software literally did not install properly and corrupted the files on my pen. I could not go back to the previous version because Livescribe removed it from their web site. Urrrrrrgh!!

After several attempts to fix it (Livescribe had buried the fixes on their web site) I finally got it to work. Not sure exactly the combination of things I did but it took me hours to get it working. Even then, uploading the notes/audio was buggy as heck. Often, it only uploaded the notes but not the audio. Livescribe support told me they are "aware of these problems". Thank you Livescribe. How about fixing them!

Now get this, Livescribe posts new updates daily. Sometimes multiple times a day. So when you plug your pen into your computer a message pops up asking if you want to download the upgrade even after you just upgraded 4 hours ago. This went on for days. I am the owner of a software company so what this tells me is that Livescribe relies on its customers to Q/A is software. There is NO excuse for this lack of quality control and proper testing before releasing it to the public. But even now that it seems to be working the meeting dates are messed up. It tells me the recording I did on 12-11-2009 is instead 1-21-2010. Well that date is still a couple weeks into the future. Unbelievable.

The software is REALLY bad and would give me pause if I were to purchase this product knowing what I know today. The other shortcomings of this product I can live with but I do not trust Livescribe to deliver quality software.

Pros Can easily transfer written notes to computer
Can click on note and hear audioi of what was actually said at that time.
Lots of practical paper options

Cons Restrict use to ONE computer
No capacity to organize/file notes on livescribe

Summary The pulse pen does effectively allow you to transfer written notes to your computer, so you can then have them electronically. While you do have to use special paper, it works better than a previous gadget I had that attached to any paper, but was very cumbersome to use. And, the paper options are varied and quite practical. In addition, the capacity to tap on the note and get the audio recording of what was actually being said at the time is extremely helpful, especially since I am not the best note taker.
TWO GRIPES--They only allow you to use the software on one computer, so if like me, you travel with a laptop but depend largely for work on a desktop, you have to make a choice-seems very cheezy and unrealistic on their part. Second-while you can download and file your notes as .bmp file onto your normal computer files, that does not include the audio capacity to click on your notes. You can only do that on livescribe, and live scribe has NO capacity to let you file and organize your notes, so they just sit there chronologically the way they would in a an old-fashioned paper notebook-very bizarre and very frustrating.

Pros I like the way it will let you record with out using paper, or the ability to play notes back. the battery life is great. lightweight and compact, writes smooth

Cons requires specific paper, cant print paper as easily advertised. cant easily remove unwanted notes out of the software. software does not come with this user must download it. to replace the ink it uses a specific cartridge.

Summary over all it is a good product but i would like them to make it easier for the user to do things with the software, and make it easier to print your own paper it cost 19.95 for 400 sheets of paper. that is bit steep for just buying paper.

Pros Incredible technology. The writing synced to the recording is amazing. Good Sound. Unbelievable handwriting recognition. Mine handwriting is horrible I can't believe how well it reads it! Easy to use with a good software interface. Buy it!

Cons Pen is kind of big. Don't like the holder much. Would like a better tutorial instead of a bunch of stuff geared to make me realize how cool it is. It is cool.

Summary I bought this skeptically. I told the store I would use it and bring it back if I didn't like it. I t is at least twice as good as I thought I would be. Why haven't I seen any formal reviews on this. My hand writing stinks but it can find every word when I do a search. If I had, had this last year when dealing with contractors. The recording in conjunction with the notes would have saved me 10's of thousands. Make sure you read the manual to figure out all of it's incredible features.