Livescribe 8GB Echo Smartpen Pro Edition (APX-00018)

I received this wonderful piece of technology for Christmas. I have used it everyday - literally - since. I have since gotten nearly every accessory. (Headphones, several notebooks, the portfolio, etc) It works wonderful with my DellWin10 laptop. In order for the pen to work to its fullest potential, you must download the Echo Desktop software from Livescribe.I have had no problems in these three months of HEAVY use. (As I said, daily since Christmas, and even then - hours at a time.) The audio recording quality is superb and with sound editing software I have, makes recording sessions a breeze. The echo desktop can also export written livescribe pages to both pdfs and word docs. Both are a fantastic way to record your writings. The battery is a very long lasting, (again, daily,heavy use) going several days on one charge.If you have this pen, be sure to explore all the options and settings, there is even a piano - yes - piano template that will actually play music that you write (my sister was sold on this option and has since gotten one for herself). There is a translator option for several languages, (you write the word in your language and it translates it into the selected language on the pen. (Livescribe -- if you read this, please add a Russian option as I am actively learning the language, there's no option on the Echo app store.)There are several notebooks you can use at once. Each sequence has a 1-8 number. It is important that you have only one number of each style at a time, else the pen will write over itself. Once your archive a notebook, you can use that sequence number again. Please note, this only is for each size, so if you have an A5 #1, you can use an 8.5 x 11 # and a printable notepad (yes this is a thing) #1 at the same time.I highly recommend this pen to anyone who is in school, an author, or any type of creative. This pen is expensive, yes, but so, so worth every penny.

Too bad - once was a good product. I have been a big fan of the pen until recently. Have purchased several pens in the past. Over the years I have seen their support get worse and worse. Recently, I had a problem with the Desktop Livescribe Software crashing. I have spent hours and hours trying to correct the problem with tech support. There tech support is terrible. Very difficult to contact a live person by phone - once I did they were no help. Told me they would look into the problem and get back to me- I'm still waiting for the call back weeks later. I would now highly recommend against buying the pen. I'm trying to get my money back for two pens I purchased.

This review is about the issues I had with the set, rather than how useful the pen is, as I feel like it depends on the individual user.Somewhat unhappy with the set--there was a defect in my pen which made the grip start peeling within the first month of (normal) use. I contacted livescribe customer service via their website--the website is a bit difficult to navigate, but the chat was fairly easy to use when found. The customer service people were nice and resolved my problem for the pen fairly quickly.The second problem came when the headphones stopped working properly. I emailed customer service since the chat function wasn't available when I had the time to do it, and got a response in two business days. However, the email service is very glitchy-- it redirected me to logon to the livescribe site to reply to the email, but would redirect to broken links and I still could not sent the email. After much difficulty, I ended up getting a replacement (contacted them via chat) which also arrived fairly quickly.

Great item!!! Use it every day with all the meetings that I have to attend. I can write my notes and refer back to them and hear exactly what was being said when the notes were written. Comes in handy when you miss a key item that was being spoken about.

I'm so glad I discovered this. The echo pen and livescribe are perfect for class lectures. This is the best classroom aid I've ever come across. It may not be perfect for every person in every different situation, but if you're a college student- especially a grad student- You Want This!I don't care at all about the manufacturing company one way or another, but here's what I want to share with others:I'm a career academic (I have a master's degree, have been teaching college level for over a decade, and am now back in grad school for PhD), and I WISH I'D HAD THIS ALL ALONG THE WAY. And I'm only writing this review as a public service to other students.Here's why College/Grad students want this:1. Three common scenarios:A) Ever have those classes where the prof is lecturing too quickly for you to keep up with everything?B) Ever miss something the prof said because you were scrambling to simultaneously write what she'd put on the board and listen to what she was saying at the same time (because she's already moved on)?C) Ever wish you were able to magically hear that lecture from three weeks ago because it turns out that's what you're writing your term paper on, only you didn't know it back then?Boom. Problem solved.2. Recording lectures is all fine and good, if you want to listen to the entire lecture again from start to finish. ALL profs go on tangents that aren't always directly relevant. With this gizmo you can jump directly to what he was saying when you were taking those particular notes on that specifically pertinent info. But you can automatically jump over the audio from when he was talking about the latest Marvel superhero movie.3. I kid you not, this thing can search my horrific handwriting and identify for me all the times and places I wrote "Aristotle" or "Arist."Here's what you should be prepared for:1. Spending a little time learning how livescribe works and getting familiar with the different ways you can review lectures and search through the recordings.2. The pen is bulky. Not impossible to use by any means, but it'll take some getting used to.3. This thing isn't cheap. And my guess is that mine won't last longer than a year or so (given others' reviews) before I'll have to buy a new one. But personally, I'm already spending almost 5k on a class! So I'm willing to spend a couple more hundred bucks to ensure I don't miss ANY of it.Look, this thing isn't going to learn the material for you or magically clarify your professor's lectures. But if you're looking for a way to be able to *absorb* everything from a class, this thing will really help with that.P.S. Sit toward the front of the classroom and be sure to ask the proof of it's okay to record them.