Ectaco C-Pen. 3.0 Multilingual Handheld OCR Scanner Pen

You looking to find the "Ectaco C-Pen. 3.0 Multilingual Handheld OCR Scanner Pen" Good news! You can purchase Ectaco C-Pen. 3.0 Multilingual Handheld OCR Scanner Pen with secure price and compare to view update price on this product. And deals on this product is available only for limited time.

Price: $139.95    

Product Feature

• Selective data entry
• Better data control
• Increased scanning speeds
• Scanning from irregular surfaces
• Recognizes 238 languages

Product Description

The C-Pen 20 is an affordable and reliable handheld data entry alternative to fixed desktop scanners. Letting you capture the exact segment of the text you need it instantly inserts scanned data into the desired field within your applications. Seamlessly integrating with translation word processor database or spreadsheet applications you can now scan and insert text from curved laminated and patterned surfaces - something standard scanners just can't do. Significantly faster and more flexible than a desktop scanner it connects easily with your laptop or Win XP based handheld device and is lightweight and extremely portable. You can use the C-Pen 20 in the library at the office or even on a plane. Able to read printed text in over 238 languages it lets you send a phrase or a whole paragraph from foreign books or documents to your PC for phonetic pronunciation or to speed up translation and learning. Now you need never again copy-type long sentences or number combinations from contact sheets business cards or any other printed surface eliminating the costly and time-consuming mistakes which often occur during manual data entry. In the warehouse C-Pen 20 enables the creation of custom inventorying and tracking solutions that target the specific needs of your business. Now scan data from any surface directly into standard applications on your computer and continue to process it within the application of your choice. It couldnt be easier.

Ectaco C-Pen. 3.0 Multilingual Handheld OCR Scanner Pen Review

As a scholar who works with books and other printed sources a lot, I have long been on the lookout for an easy way to scan text into my laptop. I've tried using both flatbed scanners and digital cameras for this purpose, but I've found both to be awkward and time-consuming. That's why I was pleased to discover the C-Pen 20 - it's not perfect, but it does the job quicker and more easily than any of the alternatives.

PROS:

- It's easy to use; you just press the pointer to the page and a light comes on to let you know that the sensor is active. You then sweep the C-Pen from left to right at moderate speed as if it were a highlighter, and it converts the text on the page into electronic characters on your computer.
- The text instantly appears wherever the cursor on your screen is located, so you can use this device with just about any Windows program (e.g., Word, Access, etc.).
- The recognition rate is higher than I thought it would be; it's better than 99% on book-sized text. In practical terms, this means that you'll get one or two errors on average per paragraph, but these flaws are easily corrected (particularly if your spell checker highlights them for you automatically).
- It's small and easily portable, so you can take it with you to libraries and archives with a laptop.

CONS:
- The character recognition is sometimes thrown off by underlining and other marks on the page.
- You must use it with a PC or laptop that has a USB port (it doesn't run on batteries like some scanning pens).
- Even though it recognizes just about every major language written in Latin, Cyrillic, or Greek letters, it can't handle older typefaces (like German Fraktur). It also has trouble recognizing some symbols (such as footnotes).
- You have to scan each line of text one at a time, so it's not necessarily the best solution if you need to copy many pages of text.

The bottom line is that the C-Pen 20 has been an excellent investment for me, and I recommend it to anyone who's looking for an easy way to transfer printed text into an electronic medium.

UPDATE (2011):

I wrote this review almost five years ago. I continue to think highly of this product - despite the occasional error, I'm still amazed at how accurately it reads text most of the time. I only have two caveats to add:

1) The original grey and beige C-Pen 20 doesn't work with newer 64-bit versions of Windows, only 32-bit ones. This is tricky - if you bought your PC or laptop in the past two years or so, you may be running a 64-bit version of Windows without realizing it (they both look the same to a non-technical user). You can check which version you have by going to Control Panel and selecting "System" - it should say "32-bit" or "64-bit" under "System Type." If you have a 64-bit copy of Windows, you'll need to buy the newer C-Pen 3.0 or 3.5, or else see if you can find a black C-Pen 20 (which is also 64-bit compatible).

2) Digital cameras and OCR (optical character recognition) technology have improved dramatically over the past few years. If you need to scan multiple pages of text into electronic form, a digital camera and a good software program (Finereader or Omnipage) might be a better alternative. For saving snippets of text, however, the C-Pen continues to be the best solution.

Most of the consumer Reviews tell that the "Ectaco C-Pen. 3.0 Multilingual Handheld OCR Scanner Pen" are high quality item. You can read each testimony from consumers to find out cons and pros from Ectaco C-Pen. 3.0 Multilingual Handheld OCR Scanner Pen ...