Review: Livescribe Pulse Digital Pen/Recorder (Verdict: It’s Good for Notetakers)

The Gadget: The Livescribe Pulse Digital Smartpen records your notes two ways: it creates digital copies of everything you write by hand while recording audio at the same time. It also goes one step further and links the two together, so you can quickly access audio by tapping parts of your notes. All of this is uploaded to your computer where the Livescribe software archives and makes your notes fully searchable. In addition, it offers features like a calculator, translator, and a paper piano that plays a mini piano you draw on paper.

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(6 Comments)
  • [–]

    J Branch

    Friday, August 22, 2008 at 2:00 PM

    This is a good tool. Especially if you don’t want to spend $1000 for a tablet PC. I was hesitant at first; however, as I began to use the pen, I found it to be very intuitive. The voice record function is practicle in that the tool recognizes where the voice and the note coincide, making it easier to recall the specifics. Having just entered a PhD program, I have a feeling I will be refering back to my notes more than once, and now that they can be digitized and uploaded to a free online storage site I see promise. The maker advises that a converter will be coming out soon to transcribe your print to a MS word document. I look forward to that. The recognition of the printed text is excellent.

    Cons, not much, maybe the pen size, and the fact that the pen rolls too easily. (Don’t want to fall to the floor and break).

  • [–]

    J Oreo

    Friday, October 10, 2008 at 12:09 PM

    Does anyone know if there is a distributor in Melbourne or within Australia – We are looking at purchasing these for students, but would like to demo/play with them first before investing the $$$

  • [–]

    Emily

    Friday, October 17, 2008 at 7:56 PM

    Office works have them in aus.

  • [–]

    Erin

    Friday, September 4, 2009 at 3:50 PM

    You can also buy online at Videopro the weblink is http://www.videopro.com.au/p-634-livescribe-pulse-smart-pen-2gb-apa00002.aspx they have all the accessories too.

  • [–]

    George

    Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 7:32 PM

    The functionality of the pen is amazing and really helpful for capturing meetings, especially if you need to write minutes.
    However, really disappointed with the service and feedback from LiveScribe when my brand new pen managed to stay on for less than 5 minutes after a full recharge.
    No response from Livescribe, sending the pen back to the states at my expense in an attempt to get a replacement or money back. [If the battery does not work all you have is a really expense fat pen].
    If you are thinking of buying one make sure that you read the numerous posts regarding battery issues that i foolishly ignored. Also buy from somewhere you can take it back, as you will not get a response in any form from Livescribe.

  • [–]

    fxh

    Friday, October 2, 2009 at 8:54 PM

    I’ interested in one of these but it’s $170 or from usa without searching for the cheapest but its $350 here in oz – with the au$ at about 1=1 parity with usa $ it seems worth getting one from usa – notwithstanding dodgy batteries

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