Best Digital Pen for OS X?

[untz]

Hello there,

I own an 8 gig iPhone but prefer to take notes using a digital pen...

Never have used one and would like to know which is the *BEST* one for OS X?

I heard that the Logitech IO2 Digital Pen is only supported for Windoze platforms (WinXP and Windows Vista).

Also heard that Pen-It is supported for OS X.

What I am looking for is a digital pen which enables this:

• Lets me draw diagrams in my own handwriting.
  
• Allows me to take notes.
  
• Converts whatever I drew or whatever note I took into a digital format on my computer.
  
• My primary platform is OS X. But I would prefer to use one which perhaps supported both (OSX & Windoze).

Question(s):

1. What would I use to write / draw on?

2. Is it a specialized note pad?

3. And lastly, where can I buy it?

Sincerely,

Unnsse

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by untz

....

I heard that the Logitech IO2 Digital Pen is only supported for Windoze platforms (WinXP and Windows Vista).
...

Question(s):

1. What would I use to write / draw on?

You have not read your own links. If you won't read yours, then why should I bother to give you additional links?

Logitech sells notebooks with special dots printed on the paper to digitize the user's strokes.

Originally Posted by untz

2. Is it a specialized note pad?

As I wrote in my answer to your first question, you write in notebooks on specially printed paper.

Originally Posted by untz

3. And lastly, where can I buy it?

If your first link was to Amazon.com, then obviously you can buy the Logitech pen at Amazon.com. You may also buy it directly from Logitech through its online store.

My experience with Logitech is that its explicit support of the USB standard allows its products to "just work" on the Mac. However, I am not willing to buy a digital pen and accessories to test this hypothesis.

Originally Posted by untz

Also heard that Pen-It is supported for OS X.

At the bottom of Pen-it's home page is the official "Made on a Mac" banner. That's a pretty good hint that the product supports the Mac. A visit to its online store reveals that Pen-it is a Mac-only digital pen solution.

The Pen-it bundle includes a Maxell digital pen, Pen-it NOTES software, and an A5-size Pen-it notebook. I am, however, concerned that this bundle may be a rip-off. It is more than twice the price of the equivalent Logitech kit. However, I don't know whether or not the Logitech kit will work on the Mac.

Some advice: If you ask for help in the future, then demonstrate that you have the capacity to use the help you are given.

[untz]

Hi MisterMe,

First and foremost, thank you very much for responding to my questions...

I have never used one and was confused on what type of medium to write on. The Pen-It web site is rather incomplete and I could not find any video demos or Keynote or PowerPoint demos.

I found several web sites stating that the Logitech pen is not supported for OS X (unfortunately):

http://www.tuaw.com/2007/01/14/pen-i...h-digital-pen/

http://mengwong.livejournal.com/7924.html

Sorry, since I didn't seen any visual demos of these products in action it was hard to understand what those notebooks were for.

Since those notebooks have a limited number of pages, I guess that one can not use them infinitely.

Am wondering if these products just take a snap shot of the image drawn (and converts it into a an image format such as a JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and / or GIF)?

Also, does it convert the hand written text into actual text on to a computer where one can use a text editor to (save, edit, copy, paste) the contents?

Or is it just a scanned image?

What's the different between A5 and A4 notebooks?

Yeah, what's depressing is that all my searches on Google refer to the Pen-It products as being in "Beta" format and also that it crashes sometimes on Intel-based Macs running on OS X, read somewhere that a stable version will be available in 2008.

See: http://www.pen-it.com/Pen-it/news/39...A5751F133.html

I figured someone on this forum might know of a better digital pen (for OS X) than Pen-It.

Again, MisterMe, thank you for responding and I hope my explanation clarifies my inquiries (please believe me that I was not being lazy in my original posting - I just didn't know how these things work).

I also agree with you regarding the $400 price being a little too steep for a seemingly beta product.

Sincerely,

Unnsse Khan

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by untz

...

I have never used one and was confused on what type of medium to write on. The Pen-It web site is rather incomplete ...

No, it is not incomplete. You have to read your own links and the links that I posted in my reply.

Originally Posted by untz

I found several web sites stating that the Logitech pen is not supported for OS X (unfortunately):

I have dealt with this issue already. FWIW, my new Logitech webcam is not supported by the manufacturer with MacOS X. However, it "just works" with MacOS X because Logitech fully supports USB. Reread my previous post.

Originally Posted by untz

http://www.tuaw.com/2007/01/14/pen-i...h-digital-pen/

http://mengwong.livejournal.com/7924.html

You seem to prefer commentaries over primary source for your information. At some point, you are going to have to learn to think for yourself.

Originally Posted by untz

Sorry, since I didn't seen any visual demos of these products in action it was hard to understand what those notebooks were for.

I have explained this to you. Admittedly, I have the advantage of having used ancient optical mice that require mousepads with a grids printed on their glide surfaces. The digital pens use paper like the old optical mice use their mousepads.

Originally Posted by untz

Since those notebooks have a limited number of pages, I guess that one can not use them infinitely.

If you had bothered to read the link to the Logitech online store, then you would know that you replace the notebooks when the old ones are used up. At approximately $11 per pack, they are not that much more expensive than standard spiral-bound composition books.

Originally Posted by untz

Am wondering if these products just take a snap shot of the image drawn (and converts it into a an image format such as a JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and / or GIF)?

Also, does it convert the hand written text into actual text on to a computer where one can use a text editor to (save, edit, copy, paste) the contents?

Or is it just a scanned image?

Who cares? A digital pen is an input device, not a file format. The files will use whichever format that is supported by the application you use with the pen. I presume that both Windows and the Mac implementations of digital ink will accept its input.

Originally Posted by untz

What's the different between A5 and A4 notebooks?

A4 and A5 are standard paper sizes. You see them every time you do a Page Setup in your print driver.

Originally Posted by untz

Yeah, what's depressing is that all my searches on Google refer to the Pen-It products as being in "Beta" format and also that it crashes sometimes on Intel-based Macs running on OS X, read somewhere that a stable version will be available in 2008.

You don't need Google. You have primary sources. You just refuse to read them and to use that information to think for yourself.

Originally Posted by untz

...

I figured someone on this forum might know of a better digital pen (for OS X) than Pen-It.

Pen-it is a bundle. The digital pen included in the bundle is manufactured by Maxell, a very reputable manufacturer of data storage media.

Originally Posted by untz

Again, MisterMe, thank you for responding and I hope my explanation clarifies my inquiries (please believe me that I was not being lazy in my original posting - I just didn't know how these things work).

Not knowing how things work is not an excuse for not doing your own research. You linked to all the websites that you needed, but then did not read them. Everything in my previous posts came from the Logitech website, the Pen-it website, and the Amazon.com website. All information there was accessible to you.

Originally Posted by untz

I also agree with you regarding the $400 price being a little too steep for a seemingly beta product.

...

$400 is an awful lot of money to put into such a small device. I would never spend that kind of money on someone else's say-so. Read the information available to you from the primary sources.

[ora]

I had an io2 issued at work for a while, it was great. Get that and parallels to run windows on your mac.

By default it just records your pen lines and allows you export as various image formats but there is a piece of additional s/w you can pay for to read your handwriting and convert it to ascii text.

Pads are ok, not reusable and not super cheap but reasonably affordable.

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by ora

I had an io2 issued at work for a while, it was great. Get that and parallels to run windows on your mac.

...

The only reason to buy the Logitech device is to save money over the Pen-it bundle. Once you add the price of Parallels and Windows, you are probably paying about the same price as for Pen-it, if not more. And, you are running Windows, to boot.

Have you tried to use the Logitech within the Mac environment? A digital pen is, afterall, little more than a Wacom tablet in reverse.

[Qion]

Originally Posted by untz

What I am looking for is a digital pen which enables this:

• Lets me draw diagrams in my own handwriting.
  
• Allows me to take notes.
  
• Converts whatever I drew or whatever note I took into a digital format on my computer.
  
• My primary platform is OS X. But I would prefer to use one which perhaps supported both (OSX & Windoze).

A basic Wacom tablet does all these things, on the Mac and on the Windows side. Why don't you research Wacom tablets?

OS X has built-in handwriting recognition called "Inkwell". I used to use it to chat over AIM while drawing in Photoshop.

www.wacom.com

[nealt]

Were is this program "inkwell" located? I could not find it on my computer