[tomroseuk]

Does anyone have any experience with Livescribe pens? Are then any good.

Just started a MSc in dementia studies which is going to require copious note taking and looking for way to be a bit more efficient about it.

[Kyuusaku]

Livescribe is okay. It's not perfect and sometimes the microphone on it picks up more than you bargained for. I did testing on it at a few conventions and wasn't impressed. I know they've added quite a bit of functionality to those pens, and it's kind of a racket since they come with a special note-taking paper that you can only get from Livescribe in order to use some of the neat menu features.

The big problem I ran into is that I don't scrawl fast enough to keep up with lectures or meetings. Even with the recordings because of the high background noise, it made it difficult on playback. I much prefer my iPad with Evernote. I fly on the keyboard and it's much faster with note-taking and it records at a decent level without the noise.

Kyuu

[Mora]

I have to disagree with Kyuusaku. I can see the mic being a problem if you do business in trade shows or big meetings, but for grad students in small class rooms and labs, it's just about perfect. I did an M.S. in mental health counseling and I'm finishing up an M.S.W. in human service management and I love the Livescribe system. I wouldn't bother with it for a big staff meeting, but in smaller groups of 15 or less, you don't get that background chatter.

For someone doing a graduate program in research, human services, or the like, I'd say it's worth the money to try if it sounds interesting to you.

[Kyuusaku]

That's certainly true; I didn't use it in a classroom setting. It was for keynote lectures and training programs for my career. It's just not feasible in those situations, where you have a lot of cross-talk and the mic just picks up everything. The recordings were rubbish for me and I ended up relying on what I'd written.

Of course, that might make Livescribe perfect for surveillance

Kyuu

[tomroseuk]

One of the key points for me looking at it was the transcription on to pc allowing me to organise and recall notes quickly.

[Mora]

Yes, that is a handy feature, even if you don't use the audio function as often. You're wracking your brain trying to remember that one point you need for a paper, and you know its in your notes but not which class session it was. Keyword search saves you such a headache at times like that.

[Rhetorical]

I think they are OK, but I much prefer to type.