I give this pen 4 stars because, having used several of digital scanning pens before, this works much like the rest.
Pros:
-In terms of accuracy, I found this pen to me more accurate than most that I have used. Note, you will need to double check the entry to make sure it scanned properly–but you should probably do that anyway any time you transcribe something. It isn't perfect, but it it is about 80% accurate when used as directed. Note, if you have pencil/pen marks, highlighting, or if there are numbered citations in the entry, you will have some problems.
-Some people complain about speed needed etc in order to scan, or that you need to keep it in a straight line. If you use the pen as you would a normal highlighter (angled like a pen, kept in a straight path over the line, at a medium speed) you should have good results.
-I thought it would be too bulky, but I find personally the size is good for control.
-Scans into outside documents such as Word and Scrivener. (You do have to adjust this setting in their little toolbar though, if you're having problems with this).
Cons-
-BRIGHT. I haven't had this issue with other scanners, but yes, if you are focusing on scanning a line correctly, you end up staring into that bright light and it can hurt your eyes after a few minutes. I'm not sure how others deal with this, but I made a little "shield" of sorts with a post-it note, making sure the post-it did not interfere with the line of scanning, and that helped a lot. Definitely not ideal, but a possible fix for those who need this item and have no other choice.
-SCRATCHY. My biggest complaint is that it feels as if it is scratching the paper as I drag it across. My TS-1 from C-pen was like butter but not as accurate, so I guess it is a trade-off. Maybe with time and use it will smooth out.
Overall, as someone working on my PhD who needs a lot of notes and research input quickly, I find this incredibly helpful. If you're a fast and accurate typist, yes, you could do it faster, but that is too tiring for me. I'd recommend this to any humanities student in a heartbeat (in fact, I have recommended it to quite a few).
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