Livescribe 2GB Pulse Smartpen (APA-00002)
from: Livescribe
Your Price: $199.95
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Electronics : Livescribe 2GB Pulse Smartpen (APA-00002) |
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Rating:  - * Student's Best Friend ... I got this as soon as it came out this summer but I waited until almost the end of this semester to write this review. To sum it up...as a student, this is what I've been looking for. I wish I had it two years ago. First of all, for this price, this is not magic. This will not convert voice to text or handwriting to text. I don't remember ever seeing it being touted as a feature so I'm not dissapointed in getting it. Also I don't buy stuff based on vaporware. I've been around long enough to know how that goes. What I did get: A great voice recorder with an above average microphone. I sit in the back corner of a 40 person classroom, on the same side of an air conditioning unit and I have not missed a word during lecture yet. A decent digital voice recorder with 2GB capacity is usually 3/4 of the price of this pen alone. The bonus: The ability to recall the lecture at any point in my notes instantly. Where can you do that with a voice recorder? Now I can actually pay attention to the lecture and write key words as I've always been told to do. The great part is that when they are writing diagrams and I am copying it in my notepad, I can heard the explanation of the diagram as I am drawing it and have been able to recall the explanation step by step later. The not so good: The software feels a little bit unpolished. I've heard some people complain about paying for around $5 each for additional notepads. Yes it's expensive but (1) you don't use much since you don't write much and (2) I think I've spent a lot more on sodas and snacks this semester at school than the cost of 10 of these notepads. Bottom line: The ability to recall and hear the lecture, instantly, at any point in my notes has been invaluable. Now I don't have to hunt through my recordings to find out what was said at certain points of the lecture when I'm studying for my tests. Rating: - * Helps keep me organized ... I am a 51 year old manager, overseeing multiple projects and attending never ending meetings. Virtually all employees in the company report to me, and I report to the GM. For me this pen has been a life saver. I always took notes at meetings, but would sometimes forget what exactly they meant, or lose a small, but important, detail. Now, I have my notes with me wherever I go because of the ability to upload them easily to the Internet. I can review them at home if a question arises. Plus, I can simply tap on the right spot in my notes and hear the conversation from the meeting. It's amazing how much it helps to be able to listen back to key points of a meeting now and then. It is an expensive pen, and like all electronics it will break if you drop it, but even though I lean toward clumsy with this kind of stuff, if you are careful and aware, it won't happen. Plus, I have a black rubber band that I roll around the top. It looks OK, and it will stop most rolling. For me, it has been a factor in my growth as a manager. Rating: - * completely satisfied ... I have been using this pen everyday in college and it is a life saver! I never miss any notes. Rating: - * Teachers Favourite ... I purchased the Livescribe 2GB Pulse Smartpen for my daughter, an experienced first year teacher working on the Texas Gulf Coast. Her daughter triggered this purchase, having been offered a year as an intern reporter with the community newspaper and being in her Senior year with little time to spare she needed be able to interview other pupils without wasting their or her time. A little research lead her to the Livescribe which seemed to provide an easy solution. She found it ideal frequently writing the name only of the pupil in her notebook and then recording the interview. Immediately her teacher mother saw the Livescribe in use she could visualise just how much this would help her in meetings and in day to day classroom use. For example with her children learning to read she can record each child's reading while the pen automatically times them - instantly solving the words per minute question. She is a little concerned that it is so easy to record other people that one has to realise some caution with privacy laws. All second-hand information I confess, but the great enthusiasm shown by both users in Texas certainly impresses me. Peter W. Adams Rating: - * Just What I Needed ... I bought the Livescribe Smartpen because I am an officer in a couple of clubs and was trying to use a small voice recorder to pick up details of the meetings that I missed while writing. The Smartpen does both, records the details while I take notes. Also, I transfer the notes from my Smartpen to my laptop computer to save as visual and audio records in case it need them later. I have started using my Smartpen when I do genealogy research. I record my own thoughts while I am taking notes of my research. In other words, I talk to my pen (only in private)! The Livescribe Smartpen has performed flawlessly. To say that I am satisfied with this product is an understatement. |
While many novice gamers will enjoy the high-flying, mad-dunking action of the arcade mode, the heart of this game is a serious basketball simulation. With excellent controls, impressive artificial intelligence, and easy play-calling for cuts to the basket, this game should sit well with purists who prefer their mix of coaching and playing in equal doses. A deep create-a-player mode is also available for nurturing an NBA star-in-the-making and powering up his abilities as he performs well over a season. The moves of Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant were motion-captured for the movement of the players in this game, so expect fluid athletic motion. --Jeff Young
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