WizCom QuickLink Pen Handheld Scanner

As a researcher, I spend an awful lot of time reading and taking notes. So, believe me, I REALLY wanted this gizmo to work for me. It didn't.First, here is a general point to consider about pen scanners: don't kid yourself that you can use then just as you would a highlighter. You can't.* You need to have a page of text that is flat. Tightly bound books can be a problem as the curving away of the page into the binding can make it difficult for the pen to read accurately;*If you are riding a bus or train and you are bouncing, that will decrease your accuracy;*You can't just whip the pen across line after line of text at a high speed. You have to move it slowly and with a steady hand; and* More than likely you will have to first read whatever article or book it is you want to read, then go back and scan the relvant parts afterward. Trying to use a pen scanner while reading is an exercise is self-torment. Your ability to enjoy the article or book, to follow the flow of the narrative, will be wrecked by the lengthy pauses you take to scan relevant portions. My suggestion: read your reading and lightly mark the margin with a pencil. Then, later go back and scan these lines of text (and don't forget to scan the page number at the top first!)Now I move to the Wizcom Quicklink Pen. I was disappointed by this product and returned it. I had to problems with it:1. Scanning was slow. I dragged the pen over the line of text in a book and that took but 2-3 seconds. But then I had to wait as the pen processed the text. This added another 5 seconds or so. Thus, when it came to heavy scanning, say, sucking up a half-page of text, I found myself spending what seemed to be a rather long time (and this is to say nothing of correcting any errors, and there were errors every 4 lines or so).2. The pen seized up and quit working. I can't say why this happened, but my guess is that it is related to a memory malfunction. There I was, working on the third or fourth line of a paragraph I was scanning and it just stopped absorbing text. I waited a minute, pressed "escape"- no luck. Eventually I turned it off. Then, after waiting a few minutes, I tried to turning it back on. No go. The next morning I turned it on and it was back working.Too bad: I read much and would love to have a reasonably priced scanner pen that could suck up text rapidly. Oh well, I'm off to try another brand.

My husband after working with the pen seemed to get the hangof how to use it- it does take practice and seems to have itsquirk. He also called tech support once-they answered the phonequickly but didn't seem to know much about the product.After a few days the product didn't work consistently- the onbutton didn't work and the screen didn't hold display. To behonest I don't know if it was that we just got a lemon orif the product needs more work before it should be brought tomarket.

It doesn't work the best.

Only scanned did not read aloud nor clearlyReturned

I just purchased this handheld scanner because, as a PhD student and full-time manager, I have tons of reading to do. Before I purchased QuickLink, I either had to hand write or type notes into my PC, spend hours at a copier, or spend lots of time using a full-sized scanner to save the quotes and important text that I needed. Now, this WizCom scanner allows me to easily and quickly scan articles, books and other text no matter where I am (on a plane, in a hotel room, at work, or by thepool). Then I can quickly upload the text into Word or WordPerfect (or other software programs) when I have the chance. Or, if I want, I can scan directly into a specific file.Though it takes a while to get used to the pen and its menus, a previous reviewer was right on the money when they offered this tip - "Put the pen in the "left-handed" mode, turn the material upside down and then scan from right to left. This lets the user "look ahead" along the desired pen track (printed line) and helps keep the scanning down the center of the line." THIS REALLY DOES WORK and makes scanning much faster and more precise. (I'm not sure, but if you are left-handed, the reverse directions might work for you.)Now that I have the knack of using the QuickLink pen, I love it! It saves me tons of time and I can now scan only the text I want instead of copying the entire page. For the price and convenience, it's great.

Just got it put in the batteries that came with it did not turn on put brand new batteries in it still did not turn on returning it same day that I got it it also came in a very old and beaten up box I would recommend buying something newer