LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Okay, keep in mind I ama total newbie to inking, but...
Since you asked for it, here's my best shot...Originally Posted by StevenHolman
I received the Dane Elec Z-Pen that I ordered from Samy's Camera sooner than they promised (a California to Kentucky shipment). It was packaged very well, in a huge box with plenty of packing peanuts, and it arrived safe and sound.
It came with two replaceable (not rechargable) watch batteries for the Z-Pen, a receiver unit with internal rechargable battery, and a short usb extension cable.
I'd hoped to try it out during a meeting that night, but I couldn't even tell which direction the batteries went in the pen (it did not come with any printed instuctions), so I popped the flash drive into my desktop at home to see which way the batteries went into the pen and I read in the manual that the receiver had to be charged for 16 hours before its first use. So I did not get to try it out during that meeting.
I did bring it with me to work this morning and I was very pleased with some of the things I was worried about. For example, when I use handwriting recognition on my PPC6700, I can't go back and change words after I wirte them, but you can with the Z-Pen, just like a regular pen. It does not have an eraser function, but you can go back and add in omitted letters anywhere on the page (just not previous pages). You can go back up and highlight items on the same page with underling, stars, asterics, whatever you want and that works just fine.
I am less pleased with the software that came bundled with the device. The viewer (which stays on the flash drive so you can use it on any machine anywhere) will only let you export to pdf. Below is a sample of what it exported to pdf and what I subsequently converted to jpg (using Adobe Acrobat). The stars, arrows, underling, and check mark were all added after I finished writing everything else.
The file that was originally created was a .ELI format. To convert to typewritten text, the program they include is called MyScript Notes, and it must be loaded onto each machine that uses it. Without any training, here is how MyScript Notes translated my chicken scratch above:
* Okay, Let's see if this works. r<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice
-> Today is Feb. 11,2008. I am testing my Dane E/e.
2- Pen for the first time. It writes in blue ball point ink. I am useeo using a wide-ruled legal pad.
* Okay, let's see if this works in cursive handwriting, too. today is let. 92008.
I am testing the Denae flee 2-pen for the frsti
e- > time. Nonu dam going to go back up to something I have written previously on this page and highlighted with stars and sustain.
Okay how does underling underlining work?
to
It works slightly better when set in graphics and text mode. I have never used a Tablet PC before and I have never investigated other current handwriting recognition options, so I do not know what other things could convert a .eli to editable typewritten text. The MyScript Notes software will export to MS Word, as plain text, or as plain text directly into the body of an e-mail. It also allows you to edit the handwritten text a little bit before conversion.
I have not tested the NoteSearch software yet.
You can buy replacement batteries for the pen. You charge the receiver via a USB port only. The receiver has 1gbstorage onthe flash drive. The little note above is a 153 KB .eli and the pdf version of it is 64KB.
More info is available at http://www.danedigital.com/UserFiles/Zpen-english(1).pdf
Reply With Quote
