Livescribe 3 Smartpen Pro Edition for Android & iOS Tablets and Smartphones

I have bought previous versions of the Livescribe smart pen but returned them all. They all felt like gadgets rather than a pen. Plus, they look like a gadget, you have to push buttons to turn them on, oh and your customers/suppliers/other meeting attendees will find the LCD displays distracting. Then when they learn it can record their conversations...well you can imagine thats not popular in business environments. The Smartpen 3 is different to the previous ones and as such I have kept it and fallen (a bit) in love with it. It looks like a PEN which is a good start. No fumbling with on/off buttons either, just rotate the barrel to extend the barrel and turn it on. No distracting display (just a status light) and... no recording! I am so pleased about that omission. Well OK, so the pen can get your iPhone/iPad to record (if the app is running) but there is no microphone or memory for recording on the pen itself. If you are a student this might be an annoying miss by Livescribe, for me its a relief that I don't get asked 'are you recording this' all the time in meetings. Overall I love it but there are a few gripes I have with it: 1... The refill ballpoint in the barrel rattles when you write. Solution - wrap one-wrap of scotch tape around the refill just above the ball point. That makes it snugger and hence, no rattling. 2... You get a free subscription to Evernote which makes you think woo-boo this also works with Evernote! Well technically/legally it probably does, but not in the way previous pens were integrated more fully with Evernote. So why the subscription...? 3... The instructions are useless. OK, you get the basics on turning on/off, using the app, replacing the refill etc. But nothing significant on the workflow options you have in getting your handwritten notes into other applications, or backup, or converted to typed text. Google and trial/error are your only supporters here. 4... (this may be linked to 3 above) I cannot find a way to back up all notes except by relying on your ipad/iphone being backed up to your PC/Mac/iCloud. 5... (again might be 3-above linked again) it would be easier to be able to go on a screen on your Mac/PC (ie a large screen) to sort your notes and then split/send out/file/transfer to Onenote/pdf etc with a fast mouse and large screen. No, you have to do it on your iPhone/ipad. Unless, I am just missing that instruction sheet too This is a huge improvement by Livescribe over all previous efforts and hats-off to them for continuing to upgrade and develop what is going to be a killer product one day. They do have good web forums and they do respond to questions on them (so I should probably ask my 5 points above there) so they get credit for their service too. The folio that comes with the 'pro' version is very nice too - feels high quality, looks good when you carry / use it and holds the pen neatly. There are better ballpoint refills available too - do a Google search you and you come across them. They still need the wrap of Scotch tape but write more smoothly (the right ones anyway) than the Livescribe refill. If they designed this so it would take Mont Blanc refills.... wow... killer product again (or maybe they do fit...)

I'm on my 3rd Livescribe pen. While a touch light for my personal preference, "3" is otherwise very good and a pleasure to write with. It's easily activated by twisting the ring on the shaft, which also serves to expose the ink cartridge tip, ready for note taking. It starts up fast and links via BT4.0 quickly and efficiently to my iPhone 5S. I have a second pairing with my iPad. First I had an Echo, which served me very well for a few years but when the display burnt out and couldn't be repaired I moved on. Second, I had a Sky. Great potential, but seemingly endless problems with syncing. Still have it and it still works (sort of) but when I saw 3, I thought "This is it!" Third, my "3". On paper, this looks terrific. It also functioned very well in terms of syncing and software updates. BUT, I lost EVERYTHING that I'd recorded in one foul swoop and LiveScribe support simply acknowledged it as a bug but said there was nothing I could do about it. Unimpressed, but trying to be fair, I asked how I can archive my content to prevent such a disaster again. So far I haven't got a useful answer. Please note that I verge on extreme with my backup activities, so losing data is a rarity for me. Yet, my daily phone backups couldn't help me restore what I'd lost. I'll write a bit more about the failure at the end together with a possible solution which may work if you respond early and in the correct sequence. The next issue goes more toward the management of content that's generated through LiveScribe products. My content from these 3 different pens appear to have no way to locally consolidate. Effectively, what I require is a virtual bookcase for my LiveScribe books/journals. Regardless of how they were created AND they should each include both pen annotations and audio. The initial App that came with my Echo was the best, so far, and mostly worked the way I required. However, generally UI design left a fair bit to be desired. I faced another problem during the Echo period when I returned to Apple Mac world after a period on PC's. According to LiveScribe and others, my files should have been compatible between platforms, but sadly the audio wouldn't play. Another issue with the LiveScribe+ app is that your text notes can sync to multiple devices, but as the audio is recorded by your device, there's no method to sync that audio with another device. Basically, while "3" can sync with multiple devices you really can only use it with one IF you are recording audio which you intend to be able to access. I sincerely believe that LiveScribe are close to a truly winning product BUT until they get their act together, and ensure the companion software behaves as required, their solution remains hamstrung. If you can live with the limitations that I touched on and/or are prepared to risk loosing your all your audio, go ahead and get this; otherwise look elsewhere. Failure: My experience: After encountering syncing problems on my iPhone 5S with iTunes, I decided to reset my device. That process was successful and the syncing problem I'd been facing was gone. However, the first time I opened Livescribe+ I received a message that read something like 'unable to access your database' 'creating a new one' 'contact engineering for more assistance'. Yes, the message really included the phrase "contact engineering"!!! Failure: What I believe happened: Not long before I reset my iPhone there was an update to Livescribe+ and that included doing a database update within the App. I believe when I first attempted to start the Livescribe+ app (which hadn't yet been updated), the newer database wasn't compatible with the older app. Sadly, instead of a warning message to 'update the app or risk loosing the data'', it immediately created a new database without any method available to access the old one. Failure: The Solution: After such a restore AND BEFORE you start the Livescribe+ application, ensure it's been updated to the latest version. *** Tip 1 "Reducing disruption to recordings from incoming calls" *** (Added 27th April, 2014 - Meant to include this on my original post) --- Problem: "3"'s behaviour when a call is received during an audio recording session is to pause the recording. It will remain paused until you reject the call or the caller hangs up; then the recording will resume PROVIDED that the Livescribe+ app is still active. If you take the call OR if the Livescribe+ App was in the background (which includes where the screen was locked) you need to reopen the Livescribe+ app and then interactively resume the recording. This is quite inconvenient and has resulted in several big gaps in my audio recordings. --- Solution 1: If you have the luxury of having an iPad, then use it for your recordings. Incoming calls cease to be an issue on the iPad, so this source of audio recording disruption is gone. In any case, look at your pen from time to time, the LED should be red when recording audio and blue when linked to your device! --- Solution 2: Put the Livescribe+ shortcut key on your device's shortcut bar, so it's more quickly accessible to start and/or resume recordings. *** End Tip 1 *** Summary: I really want to love and recommend this product. Unfortunately, at this point I don't believe it's ready for commercial use by the operational standards of 2014! At best the solution is in an early beta phase and a few significant updates are required before it's ready for broad commercial deployment.

Arrived on time as described. I used a livescribe pen several years ago. This far easier to use the first pens I owned and decreases the work because the notes are being sent to the iPad app. The only criticism/constructive feedback I can provide is that it would be wonderful if you can have the application on different devices and they would all sync together. I have not had the pen a long time so I may have misunderstood. It would be another a great advantage if the applications could sync. I am really happy thus far with the pen.

Dans le cadre de mon métier, je prends énormément de notes manuscrites, que je réutilise parfois plusieurs mois plus tard . C'est beaucoup plus pratique que d'écrire sur un clavier d'ordinateur, plus "naturel". Le seul soucis est que je perds assez régulièrement ces notes et que j'ai du mal à les classer. J'ai été l'heureux possesseur d'une tablette 8 pouces, la Galaxy note 8.0 (version 3g) qui m'a permis de compenser, en partie, ce problème. Un stylet, une tablette format carnet (A5) et je pouvais écrire des notes à la volée, sans me soucier de les perdre. Seul hic, pas assez d'autonomie pour une journée de travail, et, tablette oblige, pas la praticité d'un bon vieux carnet, sur lequel on peut aisément tourner les pages, et revenir dessus. D'autre part, les notes restaient manuscrites. Là, j'ai exactement l'outil que je recherchais. La promesse du produit est la suivante : prendre des notes sur de vraies feuilles, avec un stylo, ces notes étant retranscrites illico sur un smartphone (ou tablette), via une application dédiée. Cerise sur le gâteau. On peut transformer en un clin d'oeil ses notes en format "texte" qu'on peut insérer dans une note (One note, par exemple) ou un mail. Je dois avouer que je me suis méfié quand j'ai lu les articles et les avis sur ce Livescribe 3. Ce qui en était dit : Pas forcément précis, stylo "cheap", reconnaissance manuscrite à revoir. Mais j'ai voulu tester quand même. Grand bien m'en a pris. Afin d'être le plus précis possible, je vais pointer les aspects positifs, puis les aspects négatifs. Je finirai sur un bilan purement subjectif. Pour info, je possède ce produit depuis moins d'une semaine et je suis sur plateforme Android, avec un Blackberry Priv (qui tourne sur Android 6.0). Les points positifs, donc : -Le système est vraiment bluffant. Voir ses mots retranscrits au fur et à mesure sur son smartphone est juste fabuleux et magique. C'est vraiment un prolongement naturel de l'écriture. -La reconnaissance d'écriture est juste (quasi) parfaite. Je suis gaucher, avec une écriture que je reconnais comme tout sauf harmonieuse et régulière, et tous mes mots, à de rares exceptions, sont parfaitement reconnus. J'ai testé deux pages entières, en essayant de me mettre en situation réelle (sans trop m'appliquer, donc), ça marche. -Le stylo, quoi que j'ai pu en lire, ne fait pas cheap du tout. J'ai acheté une housse officielle, afin d'être certain de ne pas l'abîmer durant le transport. Mais je dois avouer que l'écriture est agréable. Je n'ai pas senti que j'avais un gadget dans les mains. Bien sûr, nous ne sommes pas en présence d'un stylo ordinaire, c'est quand même un stylo connecté, ne l'oublions pas. Il faut quand même rester rationnel (je dis cela par rapport à quelques "critiques" lues ça et là). Livescribe a fait du bon boulot, je trouve. -Le coffret "pro édition" porte bien son nom. Un carnet de style "Moleskine' (en tout cas c'est l'impression qu'il m'a fait), dans un bel étui, avec une encoche pour le stylo. Le tout, noir. Tout ceci donne une allure indéniablement très pro. L'outil idéal pour aller en rendez-vous. -Contrairement à toutes les vidéos qui présentaient le stylo ET un smartphone juste à côté pendant l'écriture, il n'est pas obligatoire d'avoir son smartphone toujours connecté. Vous pouvez tout à fait partir sans votre téléphone, écrire plusieurs pages, et synchroniser vos notes uniquement en fin de journée. Un très bon point. -L'application (Android, je n'ai pas testé celle d'IOS) me convient parfaitement. Elle est claire, et "slider" ses phrases pour les transformer d'un mouvement de doigt en texte informatique est simple comme bonjour. Partager ses contenus m'a paru également très commode. -L'autonomie du stylo est très correcte. En l'allumant uniquement quand vous écrivez, vous pouvez compter sur lui deux à trois bonnes journées. Les (quelques) points négatifs : -Le prix des cartouches d'encre et des carnets pourrait rebuter les particuliers. Je pense honnêtement que c'est plus un outil dédié aux professionnels. C'est mon cas, et 30 euros pour 4 carnets de 80 pages, autant je trouve que c'est un bon investissement pour mon boulot, vue la qualité du produit et l'utilité que j'en ai, autant je peux comprendre qu'on trouve cela cher. -La disponibilité des consommables et accessoires. Livescribe est une marque américaine, et à part sur Amazon, très difficile d'en trouver. J'ai acheté deux packs de 4 carnets pour avoir de l'avance. J'espère que ces produits seront encore disponibles dans un an. Bilan. Très heureux de mon achat. Je le recommande à tous ceux qui ont un besoin vital de prendre des notes, les partager, les classer et qui préfèrent (tout comme moi) la sensation d'une écriture manuscrite à un clavier. 5 étoiles bien méritées.

Average product.

I don't know if I've just been really lucky, but my experience with this has been totally different from other reviewers. I had a problem initially connecting to my phone (but it does maintain a large number of Bluetooth connections already) but switching to my iPad and it worked immediately. Not only did the pen immediately start recording my writing, but the handwriting recognition was much better than I was expecting. I bought this because with the amount of typing I do day-to-day between work and IM, I'm having major problems with RSI and my blog posts have suffered as a result. Within a couple of hours, I'd written two out in the included journal, translated them into actual text, edited one of them into a post and had it up. No messing about required! The app still has some rough edges (like it seems to really only want you to export text as PDF), but the ability to write words in a notebook and have them appear on your screen is one of those "this is witchcraft" kind of things. In my experience so far, this product works really well and I've no issues recommending it fully (and I'd also suggest you take a look at the reviews for the pen alone since those are much higher than this Pro edition).

Ho comprato questa penna pensando che non sarebbe mai stata in grado di leggere la mia calligrafia ed ero sicura che l'avrei rimandata indietro dopo poche ore. Invece, completamente a sorpresa, riesce a interpretare benissimo ciò che scrivo e il tempo che passo a "rivedere" i testi è davvero poco. In genere ciò che crea problemi sono gli accenti (che effettivamente faccio simili agli apostrofi), gli spazi (ho una scrittura molto "larga"), i numeri e le maiuscole, che però non posso imputare alla mia calligrafia. In generale però scrivo in corsivo minuscolo, quindi non ci sono troppi problemi. I problemi che ho riscontrato sono: - l'aggiornamento del firmware, lentissimo, che mi si interrompeva di continuo e mi costringeva a riprendere da zero - la necessità di passare sempre per un'app "ponte" come Evernote quando si vuole trasferire il testo su pc - la carta, che essendo difficile da reperire mi spinge a scrivere meno di quanto faccio di solito. Nessun problema, invece, con le dimensioni della penna che non ho trovato così fastidiose. Una funzione che spero venga aggiunta è la possibilità di rendere le immagini disegnate editabili.