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Maxell Penit DP-201 Digital Pen (Review + Tutorial) |
Johnex
Joined: Nov 26, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Stockholm/Sweden
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Hi all! I just got a Maxell Penit DP-201 digital pen from the uk company PaperIQ (www.paperiq.com). The price of the pen was £189, and with postage and all £201.
The pen works by writing on a special paper with Anoto functionality, which is a paper that has tiny dots that form a coordinate system that the pen can read to position the text you write in the right places in its memory. The DP-201 can store about 40 pages of A5 size notebooks, or around 25 or more pages of A4. I wrote for like 4 hours a day (with pauses) and the battery has at 75% (the manufacturer claims it has 2 hours battery life  ). The package that i got from PaperIQ was strictly made to be used with Blackberry type phones, and no pc software was supplied, so i needed to talk directly with Maxell so that they would send me the pc drivers and sync software. With the maxell software, you can change your user details in the pen, upgrade the firmware, and view the "digital ink" images that the phone syncs with the pc. The firmware that came with the pen, version 4.0, was only made to sync with bluetooth and not with the supplied usb cable and cradle, so i needed to upgrade the pen firmware after the drivers were installed, and then uninstall the drivers and install the new 4.1 driver version (the 4.0 driver version works only with the 4.0 fw). Once this was complete, the pen could then send the digital ink files to the pc when the pen was put in the cradle. Because no pc software was supplied with the pen, i had to download the trial version of Myscript, a character recognition program that turns the digital ink files into word documents with computer written text, or other types of files. This cost me another 60 euros, but it was worth it, as the program is excellent at what it does.
Here is the digital ink file converted to a png image:
http://johnex.se/files/Smarties_A4_squared5x5_001961.png
And here is its equivalent after the conversion, saved into a rich text format file:
http://johnex.se/files/Smarties_A4_squared5x5_001961.rtf
As you can see with this bad example with a combination of Swedish and English text, the conversion is very good for normal text.
Here are some images of what is supplied with the pen kit and images of the pen:
And here is how the paper looks (notice the very very small dots):
Paper can be bought at your local store (Svanströms in Sweden for example) in the form of a A4, A3 or pocket sized notebooks by Oxford called Easybook M3 (http://www.oxfordeasybook.com/en/easybookm3.htm)
Here is a bit more info about the pen from the manufacturer:
Model: DP-201 (Bluetooth & USB model)
Weight: 30 g
Dimensions: 157mm x 21mm x 18mm (with pen cap) / 153mm x 19mm x 17mm (without pen cap)
Memory: 1MB (40 A5 pages)
Data communication: USB 1.0 (Full speed) USB2.0 (Compatible) / Bluetooth 1.2
Indicator: Icon : Power, Battery charge, Data communication
Built-in battery: Lithium-ion rechargeable battery
Operating temperature: 0°C to +40°C (no condensation)
Pen usable time: Up to 2 hours
Standby time: Up to 10 hours (without pen cap)
Battery charging time: Approx. 2.5 hours
Battery charging method: Cradle charging
Writing force sensor: Elastomer sensor
Safety and EMC Radio standard: VCCI, TELEC, CE, Bluetooth etc
Specifications subject to change without notice
For the drivers and an extended tutorial for those who are interested in getting one, post in this thread. Any questions can also be posted here  | |
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axxxr
Joined: Mar 21, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Londinium
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Excellent review mate,just the thing i wanted to see. Thanks!
[addsig] |
Johnex
Joined: Nov 26, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Stockholm/Sweden
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Intrested in getting one? If so tell me when you do and ill send you the drivers  . |
axxxr
Joined: Mar 21, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Londinium
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yeh im thinking of getting one,will let you know!
[addsig] |
Johnex
Joined: Nov 26, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Stockholm/Sweden
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Some companies have made programs to sync the pen with mobile devices, but there is no program for uiq  . If some one gets this pen and wants to make a syncing program, there are some anoto development kits at their site. |
jsdc
Joined: Nov 15, 2006
Posts: 0
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Hi Johnex,
Thanks for the great review.
I have one of these as well. Seems to work well via my Blackberry.
Does the Blackberry connectivity with PaperIQ still work after you upgraded to firmware version 4.1? Did you notice any other differences going to version 4.1? Where do I get the drivers/firmware from?
What I really want to do is transfer my notes straight into One Note or something similar. At the moment I have to upload them via my Blackberry and then download them as RTF/PDF from Paper IQ using the subscription service.
Being able to add contacts and tasks straight into my Blackberry/Outlook is great, but I am not sure how often I will be doing that.
I am a network engineer and want to be able to sketch out network diagrams in my notebook and keep an electronic record back in the office. I have not found a tablet PC to my liking yet prefering a decent spec laptop, and always end up back with paper and pen. I am hoping this will bridge the gap.
Any more advice?
Thanks
John |
PTHRG
Joined: Nov 23, 2006
Posts: 0
From: The Netherlands
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Hi, just read your review! Very clear information, just what I needed. My pen received today, but is also the digital pen for Blackberry and that's just the device I don't have. Can you send me the drivers to upgrade the pen for use with a pc? Many thanks in advance! Patrick. |
Johnex
Joined: Nov 26, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Stockholm/Sweden
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Hi guys, i do not use the service that paperiq supplies, what i did is i upgraded my pen to version 4.1 using these drivers and software:
http://johnex.se/files/Maxell_Penit_DP-201.rar
Here are the steps to do it:
1. Install the 4.0 drivers for the pc that are available from the pack above.
2. Use the 4.0 to 4.1 update software that is also in the pack above.
3. Now, once you finish pen update, uninstall the 4.0 drivers from the pc and restart the pc.
4. Install the new 4.1 drivers from the pack above.
Now, this is what i did to get the pen to send the pgd file to the pc. I bought an oxford easybook digital pen starter kit, and it came with a software called Denos 1.5. This software turned out to be incompatible with the maxell pen, so what i did is i installed it selecting to use the logitech io pen drivers, and when the installation was done, i unnstalled the logitech drivers from my pc. It turns out that if you don't install the denos software like i did, the pen will just give a message on sync stating that the required software is not installed. This is a small hack if you wish. I do have the latest Denos too, but it did not work like i wanted, the Myscript Notes software is 10 times more effective and you can even edit your written notes on the pc before you convert them. The Denos software is much more seamless, you connect the pen and it syncs, then you go to the Denos program and you have a catalog of all your notes, but as i said, less effective and slower, as well as no editing functions, and you don't ever see the pgd file  . Crap in my opinion.
After all this, the last thing that was needed was the software to convert the pgd file to word or excel was Myscript Notes. You can get it from here:
http://www.visionobjects.com/[....]ation-software/myscript-notes/
I will post the link to Denos 1.5 soon, so try the steps above in the meantime, while i make an iso image of the Denos so that you guys can download and install it.
[ This Message was edited by: Johnex on 2006-11-23 09:03 ] |
A-GATE
Joined: Nov 24, 2006
Posts: 0
From: www.se-tw.com
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hi Johnex,
Could you please tell me which country is the pen made from? Japan or China?
Thank you! |
Johnex
Joined: Nov 26, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Stockholm/Sweden
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hi a-gate,
i just checked and it is made in china (like all other things on this earth) |
A-GATE
Joined: Nov 24, 2006
Posts: 0
From: www.se-tw.com
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Hi Johnex,
Thanx for your information.
Two days ago, I also bought one from the dealer at China.
The pen is also made in China. The quality for this pen have no problem on it.
However, I have a big problem on "How to use Bluetooth for Streaming(Direct to PC)"?
The package for what I has got was no manual.
They only support for "pen configuration card", "A5 Digital Note", "Streaming paper" and two software one is from
Maxell company and the other is for using in the Word and some documtnet for Chinese.
But, I could not use the "Streaming" function for using Bluetooth. Since I don't have the manual
could you please tell me how to use it? And could you please send me the software in Engilsh version for you are using for "streaming" and other funcion?
Thank you!
[ This Message was edited by: A-GATE on 2006-11-25 05:19 ]
[ This Message was edited by: A-GATE on 2006-11-25 05:20 ] |
Johnex
Joined: Nov 26, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Stockholm/Sweden
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i haven't tried using bluetooth to sync the pen to the pc yet, as i don't have bluetooth on my pc. have you tried to sync the pen with the pc using the cradle and usb? |
A-GATE
Joined: Nov 24, 2006
Posts: 0
From: www.se-tw.com
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Quote:
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On 2006-11-25 09:41:00, Johnex wrote:
i haven't tried using bluetooth to sync the pen to the pc yet, as i don't have bluetooth on my pc. have you tried to sync the pen with the pc using the cradle and usb?
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Yes, I do have try the cradle and usb, it's working fine.
This afternoon, I have discuss with engineer in China. He told me I have to use the Win xp system for streaming since I am using the windows 2000 system, so I might need find the other pc for testing.
By the way, is Myscript Notes good to use? |
Johnex
Joined: Nov 26, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Stockholm/Sweden
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yes, the Myscript Notes is the best program available to convert notes, you should try it.. |
PTHRG
Joined: Nov 23, 2006
Posts: 0
From: The Netherlands
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Thanks for the download. After some problems I managed to update the pen to 4.1 Maybe a stupid question, but do you have to install the Denos software? For now, the pen is trying to send it's data but a message 'the
corresponding application not is found' appears. I downloaded the trial version of MyScriptNotes, but that wasn't the solution to the problem. Can you post the Denos software? The only way to acquire the software is to buy a three pack of Digital Notebooks. That's not a problem, but I want to know first of everything is working, before I spend more money. Thanks in advance. | |
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Posted: 2006-11-02 20:02
