WizCom QuickLink Pen Handheld Scanner

In our tests, we found the interface tough to learn and navigate, and editing text that's stored in the pen was a chore. However, with practice, we were able to scan pages of text with great accuracy.

An attractive feature of the QuickLink is that you don't need to hold down a button while you scan text. The device can "see" text and automatically activate the scanner when text comes into its field of view. Then, you only have to roll the pen smoothly over the line you want to capture and lift it off the page at the end of the text line. The optical character recognition (OCR) engine then translates the scanned images into editable text.

The QuickLink was as accurate as any similar device we've tested, but still far from perfect. The OCR process also took longer than it did with other products we've tested in this category. Still, these minor deficiencies are more than offset by the device's useful software tools, which, for example, let us send scanned Internet links directly to our PC's Web browser and quickly create an address book by scanning business cards. The QuickLink is less expensive than many of the products it competes against directly, making it a great buy if you need a handheld scanner. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Great accuracy with a little practice
• No need to hold a button while scanning
• Comes with great software and built-in tools

Cons:

• Cumbersome interface
• Editing text is a frustrating process

pool). Then I can quickly upload the text into Word or WordPerfect (or other software programs) when I have the chance. Or, if I want, I can scan directly into a specific file.

Though it takes a while to get used to the pen and its menus, a previous reviewer was right on the money when they offered this tip - "Put the pen in the "left-handed" mode, turn the material upside down and then scan from right to left. This lets the user "look ahead" along the desired pen track (printed line) and helps keep the scanning down the center of the line." THIS REALLY DOES WORK and makes scanning much faster and more precise. (I'm not sure, but if you are left-handed, the reverse directions might work for you.)

Now that I have the knack of using the QuickLink pen, I love it! It saves me tons of time and I can now scan only the text I want instead of copying the entire page. For the price and convenience, it's great.


Wizcom quicklink pen 1000   November 12, 2000
anantha reddy (Cleveland, OH USA)
67 out of 73 found this review helpful

I rate this product 2-star because it wasn't easy to use. The shape was not correctly designed to scan text easily. The scanner was not as accurate as I would have expected. On the box, it claims that it is 97% accurate but I found that it was actually not that accurate. It has poor letter sensitivity. It also took a long time to read the text and process the text onto the screen. I expected it to work like a highliter but it wasn't true. I think that the price is exaggerated when you take all the reasons I listed. I think that this pen needs to have a few improvements to make it more accurate.


Too many errors   May 1, 2003
Kevin Lee (Fairfax, VA United States)
42 out of 43 found this review helpful

I wanted to like this Pen so much. I loved the portability and the versatility that it offered. But, it just didn't perform well enough to be useful. It is extremely slow. If you scan with pen as fast as you would a highlighter, your accuracy can vary anywhere from 25-50%. The highest accuracy I was able to get was scanning at about 3 seconds a line. But then there's another 2 seconds for the Pen register the information that's been scanned. The accuracy issue is pretty ridiculous. I tried a lot of different techniques to try and improve the accuracy, i.e. using a ruler, scanning slow, adjusting the angle at which I held the pen. But in the end, I found that it was faster to type the line rather than scan with the pen.

If you're looking for a fast and accurate handheld scanner, I strongly recommend the IRIS II Executive (Not the Standard). I ended up returning my Quick Link Pen and getting the IRIS II Exec instead. It's incredibly fast and more importantly incredibly accurate. I can scan faster than I would with a highlighter and I rarely get mistakes. I'm a Biochem Grad Student and I scan a lot of words that wouldn't seem easily recognized, but the IRIS II works like a champ.


Works fine but may take a while to learn how to use   February 17, 2001
BfloBen (Buffalo, NY USA)
40 out of 41 found this review helpful

I use it every day and I am happily scanning references and notes. I then download the files via the serial port to the computer and insert the files into Word. No problems and a huge savings in time for me. It is a product I have wanted for years.

I have spent a load of time with this product and I know it pretty well. I want to warn you that at first you may have problems getting this device to work to its full capacity... But if you stick with it for a couple of days, you will eventually have a convenient hand held scanner that will work very well (so long as the text isn't poorly printed). But you do have to be persistent and practice makes perfect. Also, be sure to follow the instructions about how to hold the scanner and how to use it. Tech support seems fine...I called the company once and they were very helpful on the phone. So if you need to copy a lot of stuff from books and documents, it can save you a load of time.


Not perfect, but it gets the job done   May 7, 2001
N. Silva
37 out of 38 found this review helpful

This gadget is not very easy to use. Since I used Quicktionary (which has similar handling) before, it was much easier for me. If you are new to it and try it only a few times, you won't be able to get the best results. Technique makes all the difference here. Ideally, you should try it for a few days, patiently following the instructions. Besides that, I had previous OCR experience, meaning that after many tries to recognize pages of text using Optical Character Recognition software, I was somewhat used to reviewing and correcting many errors in it, but still preferred to do it instead of typing (many people don't). So when I get a good amount of errors to be corrected later in my computer, after the transfer, I am somewhat resigned. Do not expect miracles (not yet). But I have to tell you I am really happy with this product. I read a lot and I always felt the need to have summaries or notes from what I read. But I don't like to write, make notes or highlight sentences on my books, and I am not patient enough to write a summary after I have read it. I tried to do recorded summaries on tape, but I didn't like it either. Eventually, this is the best solution. If I like a sentence, I copy it, even if I am lying down in my bed. After reading a few pages, I download the text to my computer and, sure, I have to make a lot of corrections, but I haven't missed the main points and haven't destroyed my book. It works for me. Cons: hard to access characters to make corrections and/or type, it keeps scanning while you make corrections in text, you can't change the scanning idiom in the middle of a text (although it still reasonably recognizes other languages than the initially selected).