Wizcom InfoScan IS1000 Pen Scanner review:4 stars (Works as billed) - Before I bought this pen I looked at most of the reviews for other hand held scanners on the market. It seems to be the case that either they works or they don't. In my case it seems to work perfect. Well perfect as in about 5 mistakes in about a hundred words, in other words abouth 1 in 20. This actually isn't as bad as it seems and perhaps I expected the worst but I find this quite tolerable and readable. In addition if the reviews I read are correct, there is a slight learning curve so hopefully it will get better.
I haven't had a lot of time to play with the software but is seems to work pretty seamlessly in a Win XP box with SP 2 installed. Install the software, plug in the USB cable, plug in the pen and voila it works (actually it didn't work the first time but it turned out that I hadn't pushed the pen side plug in fully, it should click)
Overall it works as billed and for $90-$25 rebate = $65 its a bargain in comparison to the c-pens which start at $165 !!
The trick now is actually using it.
If your interested here is a scan of a paragraph. Its about my third try.
"Recently, digital information and new fonns of information technology have become the focus of tremendous amounts of attention and energy iaan our society. excitement penetrates not the business world and the general society. but also cademia, where computer scientists, cognitive scientists, social scientists are thinking about information and the arial impacts of information technology in new ways."4 stars (Great gadget!) - After reading the reviews on this product and like products, I was considering another brand to find a good pen scanner, but I was only able to find this one locally, and the store keeper gave me the ability to return if I didn't like it, so what do I have to loose. How did I find it? EXCELLENT! It performs exactly as advertised. I can see how other users struggled with the device, but the package clearly states how to hold the pen and what happens if you don't use it properly. I was scanning pages within 5 minutes of opening the package and scanning very successfully. The only words that the unit struggles with are technical non-average words and fully capatilized words. Hey, these words are not run of the mill in your dictionary words, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm thrilled. Why 4 stars and not 5? The desktop application is a little tricky to figure out and it does like to die easily. But all in all, I'm pleased with its accuracy and ease of use. For those who want a keyboard attached for easy editing, you can use the 'scan to pc' mode. And no I'm not affiliated with wizcom. Just glad that I bought it!1 stars (Wanted it to work, but it doesn't) - I sure wish this worked because I could really use it. Unfortunately I had to give up on this one as the accuracy was pathetic. It was not just a matter of a few mistakes. There were so many that the meaning was lost as well. I tried hard to adjust and follow their instructions for more accuracy, but to no avail. It is being returned. |
