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Q: looking for the top 3 digital pens ( Answered,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: looking for the top 3 digital pens
Category: Computers > Hardware
Asked by: robbiemfg-ga
List Price: $5.00
Posted: 18 Feb 2003 13:00 PST
Expires: 20 Mar 2003 13:00 PST
Question ID: 163122
could you tell me who the top 3 digital pen manufacturers are and who
might be the best to purchase for an executive wanting to store
information for notes and then hand off to assistant to put in
computer.
Answer  
Subject: Re: looking for the top 3 digital pens
Answered By: clouseau-ga on 18 Feb 2003 14:57 PST
 
Hello robbiemfg,

Thank you for your question. 

I did a search for digital pen sized recorders, ignored those with
short recording time availability and found the following for you:

This Samsung caught my eye as it is feature rich, easily downloads to
a PC and Samsung has become a very reputable company in the last 10
years:

Gadget Universe
http://www.topixonline.com/cgi-bin/sgsc0101.exe?SRCCODE=WECJ0501&FNM=04&GEN0=TE253&AID=4062218&PID=673632

"Voice Pen Digital Recorder captures 2 1/2 hours of quotes and
details--you don't have to miss a thing at your next meeting

This elegant but innocent-looking digital pen records everything
clearly, whether it's a phone conversation, at a conference or in your
attorney's office. What's more, you can review the recording at your
leisure.
You're not just getting a pen-size digital voice recorder--you've got
the added bonus of a built-in laser

Use the laser to highlight the charts for a new business venture or
locate a city on a map in a planning meeting. The Voice Pen Digital
Recorder is the perfect way to gather and store memos to yourself and
others. It's as portable as a cigar, has a digital PC interface, a
highly-sensitive omnidirectional microphone, recording time display
and nine levels of volume.

Store all your recordings on your PC and save it as a WAV file, so
your information's there when you need it

The Voice Manager Plus program lets you copy the recorded sound files
on your PC. Accessories include an earphone, external device
connection cable, PC interface cable, AAA alkaline battery and Voice
Manager Install CD."

This sells for $199.95 at this site. It is also available for $173.59
here: http://safetyguys.com/voicpendigre.html and $169.99 here:
http://www.aaacamera.com/samsung_svr_p220.html

A silver version of this model OEM'd by Samsung is $160 at Recorder's
Plus: http://www.recordersplus.com/html_doc/sims/svrp225/sam_svrp225_home.htm

SpyTechAgency
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/spytechagency/digvoicpenre.html

They offer a similar model, though perhaps a little more attractive
physically for an executive for $239.95

"The Digital Voice Pen SVR-P220 looks like a gadget from a James Bond
movie. It's a flashy digital voice recording device packaged in a
fountain pen-sized casing that incorporates a built-in speaker and
microphone. The Voice Pen, also equipped with a laser pointer has a
slightly larger than normal barrel, but still fits easily in your
pocket.

The pen has a recording range of 300Hz to 4KHz and its 8MB flash
memory chip stores up to 2 hours of voice recordings or 99 separate
recorded messages.

The Voice Pen features a tiny LCD panel that displays the message
number, number of messages recorded, recording time elapsed and
battery life remaining. The 18mm (diameter) by 148mm pen weighs 41g
inclusive of a single AAA battery that's inserted into the barrel at
the base of the pen. One battery lasts about four hours.

The pen is incredibly easy and intuitive to use. There are three gold
buttons with VCR-style markings on the barrel to operate the device:
these provide Play/Stop and Jog (skip) message, delete and record
functions.

The quality of its chip-based voice recordings is impressive and
coherent, and superior to conventional tape-based units.

Instead of using the built-in speaker, you can listen to recorded
messages using the single earphone (supplied), or connect the Voice
Pen to a pair of external speakers using the line-out cable (also
included).

What sets this apart from traditional voice recording devices is that
you can use the line-out cable to connect to a PC and output recorded
messages to your desktop. To do this, you must download the FREE Voice
Manager, (1.2MB)."


The Tape Recorder Shop has models with huge storage capabilities, and
although extremely small, none are pen shaped. You might wish to view
this page, however:
http://www.pimall.com/nais/recorders.html


Samsung also makes another model - the SVR-240. Though not strictly
pen shaped, it appears to be pen sized and garners excellent reviews:
http://www.epinions.com/514282_Samsung_SVR_240_Voice_Pen_Digital_Recorder

The Samsung Voice Pen, applying the leading technology of Samsung
semiconductor, is a high performance penshaped digital recorder. This
is a splendid device for capturing good ideas and important business
meetings. For businessman, writers, reporters, professors, doctors,
and others involved in the knowledge industry, the Samsung Voice Pen
is the perfect pocket companion.


And Samsung also has a deluxe model available on their HongKong web
page:
http://www.samsungelectronics.com.hk/dvr/svr_p750.html

Unfortunately, I could not find any US retailers of these models,
although they seem to be available to be ordered from the UK at
http://www.kkelectronics.co.uk/ . The Spy Source has what appears to
be this model (though not listed by model number) at this page:
http://www.spysource.net/phoneroomrecorders.htm

" 8 Hour Digital Undercover "Pen" Recorder with
USB:.........................$320.00

This 8 hour pen recorder has a USB interface for lightning fast
download to your PC. Voice activated recording, Time/Date display and
digital volume control are just a few of the many distinctive features
this recorder has to offer!

Download to your PC. Voice activated recording, Time/Date display and
digital volume control are just a few of the many distinctive features
this recorder has to offer!

SPECIFICATIONS:
 

Recording Time: 7 Hrs. 50 Min.(LP), 4 Hrs. 10 Min.(SP)

Recording System: Built-in Flash Memory(16MB)

Bit Rate: 4.7 Kbps(LP), 8.7 Kbps(SP)
No. of Messages: Max. 198 Files(99 per Folder)
Input: Built-in Mic. & Audio Cable
Output: Built-in Speaker, Earphone & Audio Cable
Frequency Bandwidth: 350 ~ 3.6 KHz
Dimensions: 148 x 17.5mm
Weight(W/Battery): 30g(42g)
Power Supply: DC 1.5V(1 AA)
Battery Life: 7 Hours(Recording)/5 Hours(Play)

It also seems to be the same model here for $295:
http://www.pimall.com/nais/voicepeneight.html
 
 
BizRate.com links to a few models generally available locally at
Brookstone or Sharper Image stores:
http://bizrate.com/,mss__cat_id--24040000,keyword--voice%20recorder,rf--wgg.html

However, they are either short recording capacity or do not link to a
PC as you requested with this exception:

Sharper Image
http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/productview.jhtml?pid=31011100

Digital 4.5-Hour Voice Recorder CX600  99.95  
 

Tiny digital recorder with big 4 1/2-hour capacity. 


One-touch tapeless digital recording; built-in microphone. 
Numbered memos can be organized into four folders, each with 99
messages.

Includes Voice Manager software for emailing through your PC. 
Jog-search; "scan play"; earbuds; and external clip-on microphone.  

As I continued my research for you, it became clear to me that Samsung
holds the premier spot for quality pen sized digital recorders with a
reasonable recording capacity. Aside from the Sharper Image model,
there does not appear to be two viable competitor s worth mentioning
unless you seek very short recording times or form factors other than
"pen" or "pen sized".

Search Strategy:
digital +pen +recorder


I trust my research will lead you to right device to fit your needs.
If a link above should fail to work or anything require further
explanation, please do post a Request for Clarification and I will be
pleased to assist further.

Regards,

-=clouseau=-

Request for Answer Clarification by robbiemfg-ga on 19 Feb 2003 08:05 PST
i appreciate your response but this is not what i am looking for. 
your response was for a digital "voice" pen.  what i am looking for is
referred to in the industry as a "digital pen".  what it does is
record what you write...not speak.  logigec makes one called the "IO".
 would you please research digital pens for me.

thanks

Clarification of Answer by clouseau-ga on 19 Feb 2003 08:32 PST
Hello again robbiemfg,

Sorry for the mis-understanding! I interpreted your question,
obviously, as pen sized voice recorders.

I'll see what I can find for you and be back to post later today.

Regards,

-=clouseau=-

Clarification of Answer by clouseau-ga on 19 Feb 2003 10:37 PST
Hello robbiemfg,

As you mentioned, Logitech has one product in this category. a review
at TechLive notes its limitations:

http://www.techtv.com/news/products/story/0,24195,3408030,00.html

Review: Logitech io Personal Digital Pen
      
With this stylish stylus you can jot notes to paper and upload them to
your PC. But does this potentially handy tool have the write stuff?
 
By Brett Larson
 
"...The first and most noticeable downside to the digital pen is the
special notebook required to make it work. Unlike other products we've
seen that perform similar tasks, this one has you use a spiral
notebook with special print that the pen can "see" so that your
characters come out correctly. As you finish each page, you'll need to
mark a box that lets the pen know you're done. The notebook will
provide a little tactile feedback in the form of a vibration to let
you know it received the input. We like the feedback, but it just
seems time consuming to have to mark each page as you're done.


The pen is a bit bulky too, so using it isn't like using a traditional
pen -- even a large Cross pen. And, also unlike most pens, you have to
hold it in a specific direction so that the sensor can "see" the paper
correctly. Lucky for everyone, you don't have to press firmly or alter
your handwriting in any way to make the pen work....


..The Pen lacks any handwriting recognition software, so what you
write is what you get. We would have liked to have seen some ability
to import your written word and turn it quickly into typed text. That
would also save users a lot of time in the long run and make the
cumbersome notebook requirements worth it."

I found several other references to "digital pens" but they did not
store the information for future hand-off as you desire, but rather
transmitted he information to a handheld device or PC. I did not
analyze these for you as the did not seem to fit your criteria.

But for example, you might view this page on the Ericsson Blue Tooth
pen:
http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/11325.html

Ericsson Unveils Bluetooth Digital Pen
 
By Mike Mayor
Wireless NewsFactor 
June 18, 2001 

With the Chatpen, consumers are not restricted to text- based SMS or
e-mail, but can send handwritten notes to anyone with a mobile phone,
PC or PDA.


So, concentrating on digital pens that store information for later
downloading, I found the following:

Wired reviews several devices on this page:
http://www.wired.com/news/gizmos/0,1452,47974,00.html

Digi Pens: Anybody Need 'Em?  

By Tania Hershman 

"...Companies including Anoto, InMotion, OTM and Digital Ink are
tackling the task from different technological angles.

InMotion's e-pen, which will sell for around $150, is tracked using
infrared and ultrasonic signals sent to a matchbox-sized receiver
clipped to the page. Digital Ink's n-scribe operates similarly, using
two sensors in the pen's cap to receive infrared signals. The cap also
stores 1 MB of handwritten data. Both pens write on any paper."

Once again, however, these devices transmit data to a cellphone, PDA,
Tablet PC or PC and have limited storage, unlike the Logitech which
actually stores the data (up to 40 pages) for later download.
N-scribes page was under construction, so I could not verify the 1MB
storage in the cap as mentioned above. So, unless you wish to transmit
the captured data to a secondary device for later download, it appears
your only choice is the Logitech.

If you do desire devices that require a secondary device as mentioned
above to receive the data wirelessly, do let me know and I will
provide links and reviews for you to consider. However, if I interpret
your request correctly, you are looking more for a device like the
Logitech which stores the data and is downloaded through a cradle at a
later time. This is the only product I could uncover to fit that
description.

Checking CNET, DealTime and PriceScan, the best prices for the
Logitech are found on these pages:

CNET
http://shopper.cnet.com/shopping/resellers/0-11045-311-20720039.html?tag=st.sh.sr.pl.pr20720039

Lowest price $155.55

PriceScan
No listing found

DealTime
http://www.dealtime.com/DealSearch/GDS.cmp?BEFID=1694&Sort=2&Cat=77&MnPrc=0&MxPrc=999999999&DMKW=&Mrw=0&HsAtr=0&PgNum=1&gdsTop=&ShipId=G&SRID=830ba2aa69db431bacc49ac5&MnfID=0&ZipCode=95816&PrdId=20311321&AT=RF

Lowest Price - $160.79

Search Strategy:

"digital pen" -logitech
"digital pen"

I trust my research has found the answer you desired. If anything
requires further explanation, please do post a Request for
Clarification and I will be pleased to assist further.

Regards,

-=clouseau=-
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