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ACtheTROLL | 14:07 Wed 13th Aug 2008 | Technology
14 Answers
Ethel - as promised

mine arrived today - took 30 days
I'd anticipated having to pay import duty (�7.80 VAT) but overlooked that the Post Office charge �8.00 for collecting it!!!
So this extra ate into the "bargain price" somewhat.

Still saved a couple of quid over lowest UK supplier
(Say �3 + �5 postage(ish) - instead of the anticipated �16) ... but honestly It was an experiment ..... that I won't repeat.

lost two fingers opening the outer envelope and two more getting in to the plastic package
(so a big thumbs up there!)

So now, the clippy onny doofer requires 6 hours charge - so more later - after tea
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Don't know how much you paid, but I got mine from Orca Logic for �74.61 inc VAT and inc Delivery - 2 day delivery time.

Have now done some more testing and am pretty happy with it. It's by no means perfect, but it is pretty damned good.
OOOOOH! This is exciting news.

Is it the genuine thing? Any manual with it?

First impressions - is it rugged? Comfortable in the hand?

Vic - how do you find the OCR?
It is very comfortable to write with. If it is like mine, then the manuals are all on the usb thingy (which also required a realllly long 6 hours to charge).

The OCR works partially. The slower and clearer you write the better it is. If you try writing in a scribble then obviously it doesn't work.

There is a 'learning' thing where you write out your letters and then some text. I haven't got round to trying that yet.

I had a hand held scanner years ago, with OCR.

It was a total disaster. My handwriting is awful, so maybe I won't buy one just yet
I have scanned in (via a fujitsu scanner) a quick copy of my handwriting which you can see here:http://www.allianceandgeneral.com/sample1.pdf

This is the pdf file that you can get from the pen:http://www.allianceandgeneral.com/sample2.pdf

As you can see, I slightly cocked up with the first word.

The following is exactly what you get from the text converter:

his is a test to show how effected the 2-pen is.

As you can see my handwriting is not brilliant. M3 'in s and i. s need a lot of work.

Anyway, I hope this helps you.
That is excellent - much better than my OCR. At least it's worth working with
bear in mind that I haven't used the 'teaching' bit yet - so it should get a lot better
Hi guys
This is very exciting & great stuff,keep at it, best of luck.
Question Author
OEV - paid total of 66.
at last someone with worse writing than me!
oddest thing is that at the moment the ocr likes my joined up writing which seems to be more accurate than my printing.

Ethel
as with OEV no ocr teaching yet .
I know I'm writing very deliberately - and bigger - but the initial "mapping" is excellent. Wife did words and pictures .... which were also good
I was a little less imaginative

this is the raw output directly from the pen
saves to pdf or jpg
I can see it being useful without the need to ocr.
as a lot of my stuff is flowcharts and diagrams
http://rapidshare.com/files/137126313/NOTE0002 .pdf.html

if you want to read the manual
http://rapidshare.com/files/137128031/FullUser ManualzPenEnglish.pdf.html

I'm wondering what the pdf would look like using abbyy as the OCR reader - if it rains this weekend I might try
Thanks for that, Ac.

Do you find it as easy to use as portrayed on the Gadget Show.

I'm still having nightmares over those times I was sucked into buuying kitchen gadgets from the Ideal Home Show years ago. How come it looked fabby in the demonstration, but was a pile of poo at home?
Question Author
Know what you mean - our slicer dicer turns up in the wierdest places .... mocking ....

I think it depends on just what you want it for.

6 hours charge ....
load the reader (not essential - works from the doofer) and the OCR software (essential) onto PC

clip the doofer at the top of a rigid notebook or clipboard
(if the paper bends ... so does the writing ... looks very artistic) - essential

If you just want to keep records (snapshots) of notes, diagrams and drawings - you only need the reader
it's very good - and as long as you are firm
(the pen is switched on and off by a pressure detector at the top of the ink cartridge)
my results have been pretty consistent with the example I posted and seems to be supported by OEV (it's good to have a second opinion)

the OCR is less reliable (as you'd expect).
but there are some example notes which look just as badly written as mine and when you run the software the result is 100% - so I'm remaining open minded about that.

It's back to what you expect ....I won't use it every day (nor will wife) and yes It's a gadget - but wife has RSI but still gets a lot of pleasure from drawing and writing.

and I .... well we'll see ... but I think it has at least the potential to become a bit more than a novelty.
drawing diagrams is a pain on a PC - by hand I'm scruffy - but quick, and first impressions look encouraging.

I fully intend to sit down and complete the teaching excercise ... and the rain looks heavy - so no excuses.
Hurrah! I'm really pleased to hear such a positive review. I wish there had been such a thing when I were doing my degrees.

Tempted.....
Question Author
lol
Oh and did I mention ....

the viewer (not the ocr!) comes with "other O/s" software as well (mac and linux) ....

so should work with an eeepc.........!
Stop it now, Ac,

You know I want Eee. You're trying to make me spend all my money. :(

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