Equil Smartpen

Temporary Cons:(1) Equil jot cannot automatically record. This could be easily fixed with a record button in the app.(2) It only works with iOS now.Permanent Cons:(1) You have to keep a receiver with the pen, which makes life slightly harder.(2) Livescribe can document the writing even if the phone or tablet is in sleep mode, while this pen requires the phone to be on.Pros(1) THIS IS A REAL PEN!!!!!!!!!! LIVESCRIBE IS A HIGHLIGHTER!!!!! MY WRITING WITH THIS PEN IS WAY MORE BEAUTIFUL THEN THAT WITH LIVESCRIBE.(2) THIS PEN CAN WRITE ON ANY PAPER!!!!! PEOPLE DON'T NEED TO PAY $4 FOR A CHEAPLY-MADE NOTEBOOK WITH BLUE DOTS....(3) The app with this pen allows users to change colors, add new space, change layout, and etc... Hope Livescribe make their app more functional.Bottom Line: If you still want to take notes on paper, but also enjoy the convenience of using tablet for reading, this is the best pen you can have on the market.

This is a very cool new product, easy to use and quite useful. The reproduction on the ipad is fantastic.

This smart pen works really well, specially on Mac there is no delays, and surprisingly it is very accurate.I am really impressed.

First, the good. It does work as promised. It worked on any paper as promised. It was also easy to pair and use. Charging was also easy, and I loved how the case was the charger and it had a place for everything.Now the bad, as I used it, it made a slightly annoying buzzing noise (but that was easy to drone out). The worst part was that a short time after, it started freaking out in the app, turning some letters into giant scribbles. Also, the app is a little hard to use and you have to calibrate each page so it works right.I ended up sending it back.

I couldn't wait to get my equil jot! I thought that the idea of not having to buy any special paper to use this smart pen was genius . However, in order to use this pen with any paper, you have to use the equil jot app to calibrate it. No big deal, right? Nope! The app kept crashing on me all the time and wouldn't allow me to calibrate the pen or do anything else. After 2 days of trying to use the equil jot without any success + the fact that this pen just works if your iPad/iphone is turned on (which I didn't know beforehand) I just decided to send it back!

You must make sure to go through bluetooth pairing process each time you switch the devices you are using with Equil. I paired it and tried it with the free apps available on iTunes with both my iPhone 5 & iPad (original) and the Bluetooth pairing process is a real pain. It does not go smoothly. I followed the directions and watched online videos and was never successful in getting anything written or jotted on paper (to which the clip must be attached when writing) to recognize anything. I tried all types of paper on which I would normally write. I did not try a napkin. I tried a few pages of standard size letter paper clipped together as suggested, a rules notebook, a legal pad, scraps of papers, envelopes, etc. all without success.The concept seems brilliant particularly for students or folks who wake up in the middle of the night with the world's most novel idea, but alas, the fact that the magnetic clip must be attached to the paper you want to write your notes on is not for the spontaneous. It must be planned and well-prepared for in advance.I emailed customer support 4-days ago to make an inquiry and have yet to hear back or receive any type of acknowledgement. A product without support is not worthy of any stars frankly. Some of us may just need a tiny bit of guidance in order to get things going. Just to let you know, I have been using computers since 1984, can set up almost any peripherals, have been using MACs for more than three years and love technology. I can trouble shoot almost anything and fix many things without having to call upon the experts, but sometimes they give me a different way of approaching a problem that doesn't appear in the manual.I must update the afore stated customer service report to let you know that I received a personal phone call from a division manager who told me that I had contacted them during an internal transition period and that they do pride themselves on 24/7 support for their products. This is a new item and customer service and support is now available. I am reporting this as of January 22, 2014.No doubt, in time, this product will make the requisite improvements.These are the pairing instructions from the manual:"JOTBluetooth pairing with OSXLast Updated: Jan 02, 2014 06:19PM KSTYou must pair your Equil JOT pen with your PC or Mac OS device in order to use it on Equil NOTE.1) Flip over the magnetic cover on the bottom of your receiver.2) Turn off the receiver by clicking the Reset button on the bottom right corner.3) Set your Bluetooth mode to Others, on the bottom left corner.4) Hold down the power button on your receiver for a few seconds until Bluetooth LED starts to blink rapidly.5) Run the Equil NOTE App on you PC or Mac.6) Click on the Bluetooth icon which would stop the Bluetooth LED on your receiver from blinking.7) Once your Equil JOT PEN is connected to you PC or Mac, follow the steps below:i) Press the Bluetooth icon on the menubar in your Equil NOTE App.ii) Select Equil JOT as your Bluetooth device in the pop-up screen.iii) Press "Yes" and your Equil JOT is paired with you PC or Mac device.8) Your Bluetooth icon on the menubar in your Equil NOTE App will be checked blue.Please refer to the attached Manual for connecting Equil JOT to you Mac OS device."

Snagged one of these for myself and as a Christmas gift. Great for taking notes on paper and having them instantly on my tablet and computer in the Equil Note app. I've had a few minor problems with my hand blocking the sensor on the receiver from picking up the pen's location, but the way I hold a pen is far from the textbook way (I tend to write with my wrist at about a 60 degree angle). The Equil Sketch app for iPad is great and the fact that you can draw something on any piece of paper and use different brushes and layers as you would in Photoshop is awesome (You can even export your creations into PSD format). However, the Sketch app only exists for iOS devices and they have no plans to release a version for the Mac like they have with the Note app. If such an app existed, I would have given this a 5 star review.

Daughter asked for this.