Scanmarker Air Reading Pen & Pen Scanner | Translator Pen for Dyslexia, Students & Professionals - Compatible with Mac, Windows, iOS & Android

This is far better than my expectations. It’s proving to be a true timesaver. There are a few things to keep in mind:Works best on flat surface.Different paper texture and line spacing can impact accuracy.You should monitor your screen as you scan to check for any errors.The plastic sleeve it comes with can help if these issues are a problem. It’s so lightweight and charge lasts a long time. The software is easy to use. I’ve only been using on my iPad, then saving on my cloud to use when I need on my computer. Text copies easily into Word, Pages, Keynote and PowerPoint.Overall I’m really pleased with this Scanmarker and recommend.

I'm an academic and this is a great device. Caveat: when I got mine, it would not stay connected to my computer. I filed a request for assistance on their web page (as per instructions) and they got back to me within a few hours. We set up a phone appointment, and in less than 10 minutes they corrected the problem, and I've had zero difficulties since. Now, with that caveat, here is my review: this is a very targeted device. It has one primary job, and it does it splendidly. That job is to copy text from the book or paper you are reading (or from a Kindle: it works flawlessly with kindle paperwhite reader) from the page, into your notes. It will scan into Scrivener, into Word, into Pages, into plain text. It does so quickly and accurately and reliably.Why would you pay to have that done? Why not just type the quotes in yourself?Well, you could, but this is so much faster and more accurate. And when you are doing initial research on a project, your first weeks involve little more gathering quotes and possible notes from others. You can spend an entire day in the library doing nothing but collecting relevant snippets for your paper, and during those long hours, this device is a godsend. You get so much more done in so much less time. You scan in your quote (maybe even a paragraph or two) in no more time than it would take you to highlight it. Then type in your comments and cross-references and the whole thing is already sitting in your notes, and so what, in earlier days would have been your highlights and your marginalia are suddenly already filed away and they are both searchable text-- so you can actually find that quote again when you need it. Brilliant. Especially if you are working with library texts that you cannot highlight, this is great.Pros: speed, accuracy, battery life, workload reduction, faster research and writing: all plus plus plus.The only con, and it's a reach: This is not a device for older texts-- I am thinking here of anything 18th century or before--even some 19th century. Like any OCR scanner, the software simply cannot read the older fonts. Additionally, you should be aware that the pen lights up strongly as it scans and transfers text, so any text the library will not let you photograph with a flash will not be available for use with this pen either. Also, this is a text only device. It will not scan formulae or images. But even with that sort of very limited limit, this thing is worth its weight in gold to any academic or student. I've a dear young man in my life who is headed off to university this year, and I will absolutely be purchasing a second one of these to send with him. I don't doubt he'll put some miles on the thing.

Overall, the Scanmarker Air has worked very well for my purpose: scanning lines of text rather than taking hand written notes from books.Originally, I was *extremely* frustrated with the Scanmarker Air though, because it would invariably not scan straight or not be smooth enough. What I learned is that the use of the included plastic "guide" is vital, and it doesn't necessarily need to touch the paper to scan properly. Since I began using the guide regularly, the Scanmarker Air has only very seldom not been able to properly pick up the lines of text. However, that does come with a bit of a caviat. If your source has successive lines of text placed close together, the device's width might accidentally pick up multiple lines of text even with use of the plastic guide. I've had this happen on a couple occasions.Overall, this is a really nice device. Much nicer than I originally thought it was before I finally did something smart and used the plastic guide. I've never had a problem with it refusing to connect. Although, sometimes I do wish the battery life was better. Depending on how much you're scanning, you may find it easier to have the device continuously connected to a charger.

Lost the manual a long time ago, and you'd think, "go to their website, surly it won't be a cryptic mess of jumping through thousands of hyperlinks to get it to work." OH WAIT it totally is. $150 for this nonsense. Gross. DO NOT RECOMMEND. In an attempt to be sleek, they made it super unintuitive, has a battery you can accidentally fry the battery since what is a charging IC in a $150 product? SO, pretty sure I have to crack open this McDonald's toy plastic pen, unsolder the tiny 200mAh battery, hope the extremely terrible and cheap pen goes back together, maybe sand down the EXTREMELY sharp plastic that you're supposed to dig into paper to initiate scanning and give it a second try. OR JUST GUT IT FOR PARTS since let's face it. This product has ZERO rights being this expensive and yet being this cheap and unintuitive feeling especially when you can't even find basic documentation on their cluttered website for support. Oh and I guess there was a 2.4GHz receiver dongle, yeah that's lost in a sea of GENERIC CHINESE 2.4GHz dongles for cheap HMPC keyboards I have that use that exact same mold and style of receiver since why would you pay the extra 5Cents to silkscreen your brand on the end of it?DO NOT BUY.