Ectaco C-Pen 3.0 Handheld OCR Scanner Portable with USB Cable

• Selective data entry. Better data control.
• Recognizes 238 languages. Learning aid.
• Inventory/Tracking Solutions.
• Scanning from irregular surfaces.
• Increased scanning speeds. Portability.

I have been using the C-Pen 20 scanner since 2007. I teach university classes and engage in research, and this scanning "pen" is a great convenience. It is light, fast, and easy to use. It speeds up note-taking incredibly. With a small light in the tip of the pen, I just run the pen across type that I want to record and the text is automatically scanned into my word processing document. It is very accurate, but not quite 100%, so I need to watch and correct some of the text. It only works on standard typefaces, so italics, underlining and hand-written notes tend to confuse the scanner. Still, using the scanner is far faster than typing notes by hand. A button on top of the scanner serves as a hard return or a mouse click, and several functions can be programmed onto an optional menu / pad. The C-Pen plugs into a computer's USB slot, and does not require a separate power source. It comes with its own software, and updates are available from the C-Pen web site.

As a final comment and recommendation, I will say that the C-Pen did not come with a carrying case. Since the C-Pen is all-plastic, I bought a large eye-glass case which is just the right size for the C-Pen and its cable. Now I put the C-pen in my computer case or brief case without worrying about it being damaged.

If you do a lot of note-taking or transferring information between documents then you owe it to yourself to give this a try.

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This scanner might be one of the most useful things I have ever bought. It isn't 100% reliable, but when you think about it, the trick it is performing is pretty complicated.

The product support, on the other hand, is basically unexcusable. It can lead to some fairly serious frustrations (don't buy this if you use Mac!), but when they changed the software or I changed my machine, I always managed to get it working... in the end.

You have to learn how to create the best conditions for the pen to work. It is never going to like old books. It prefers white pages with black type. It won't work in a sunny or well-lit place. Learn how to position the scanner on the right bit of text and what speed and angle to use. This is not rocket science, it just takes a tiny bit of patience. There are some horrendous reviews of this product, and I wonder how many were written very soon after buying it...

If you do these things, it will scan most text pretty well. You need to keep an eye out for typos, but I reckon it is still a lot faster than typing.

Be careful with it, though. I had mine for two years, and some rather rough treatment (it went everywhere with me) resulted in the USB connection breaking inside the pen. I am going to buy a new one now and keep it more carefully.

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The seller delivered the product promptly. Setup was easy. Performed as advertised. Seller readily responded to questions. One suggestion ... get some type of hard case to store/transport the scanner ... it's a delicate instrument.

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This pen does the job nicely. My only fault is that is does have some errors when picking up letters...seems to be at the beginning and end of the pages.