Livescribe echo 4GB SmartPen

So I found a really good deal on this thing the other day - picked it up for about 40% of retail.  Too smoking of a deal to pass up, and I was shopping them anyway.

I love this thing.  I was skeptical at first - I've used the Logitech io2 SmartPen before and I was not too happy with it - mostly because it wasn't very accurate, the paper was expensive, and they wouldn't let you print your own.

The Livescribe echo SmartPen solves all of those problems.  It's remarkably accurate, even on custom paper.  Did I mention you can create your own paper?  There's an SDK you can download to design and print your own paper.  You will need a 600dpi capable color printer, however.

The desktop application is very well put-together.  You use the pen on a special page, and it just appears in the desktop application when you sync it with the included microUSB cable.  Aside from the synchronization of notes with the pen, the desktop application also allows you to print your own 25-page notebooks with no advanced knowledge needed.  Very, very, very, freaking cool.

On to the SDK.  Along with the previously mentioned feature, this sold me on the Livescribe pen.  I can design any form I want, deploy it to my pen (using a TEST license, which I believe simply limits redistribution.  Possibly also requires the SDK to put the form on the pen too.  I'm sure they make it hard for people without technical skills to sell more pre-assembled paper products.  I'm not against their business model - I can print my own forms for my (and my wife's when she gets one) pen and that's 100 percent of what I need to do.  Sold!

The thing also records voice notes that can be linked with printed text, which is REALLY cool, but I haven't quite figured out what to do with it yet.  I'll find a use eventually.  Anyway, the voice tutorial worked flawlessly - great sound quality.  Adjustable sensitivity.  I'd have killed for one of these while I was in college.  Having a digital copy of everything I write would have made note-taking a breeze.  Especially if the notes kept up with an audio lecture.

The pen has an OLED screen on it for interacting with the pen.  This is a must-have feature for a smartpen.

The SDK is a little bit complicated.  There's some gotcha's with my Mac and GhostScript that will cause the renderer to hose up.  If you've used eclipse, it will all make sense to you.  Making my own paper had a steep learning curve.

Check out this site if you get/have one of these - the guy made up some graph paper for the Livescribe pens.   I highly recommend if you have any use for graph paper.  It looks like something you'd find at a Staples or OfficeDepot.  Very professional design.

So, bottom line - this pen is great.  I'm not sure I'd pay full retail for this...if I didn't have the deal I'd probably have bought a pulse 2GB SmartPen instead.