Home > Consumer Reviews > Dane Electric Zpen 1GB Wireless Pen (DA-DP1-01GC5-R)

I've been wanting a pen that does this for a while now, and decided that I would take a chance on this one after seeing some videos of it on Youtube. I can tell you now that it works just as it claims to as far as capturing your handwriting just as you write it. The clip is big and can grip many sheets of paper, which is something that is a problem with other similar pens of different brands.

One problem everyone has with these types of pens (Dane-Elec and every other), is the handwriting recognition barely works. However this isn't the fault of Dane-Elec, as they didn't develop the software. In fact every digital pen comes with the same software. Handwriting recognition software is just one of those technologies that will never be as great as promised, you could wait a hundred years and buy a digital pen and the handwriting recognition would still suck. I gave this product 5 stars because I wasn't even planning on using that feature anyway.

As long as you aren't relying on that handwriting recognition, this pen should be a great addition to your office/school notetaking armory.

It's a good product it does what it promise, the downside is that you have to write very clear at the bottom of the page (it's the place where sometimes the receiver can't read quite well), so try a smaller notebook and you'll be fine.
Its a nice gadget and very helpful when you are in a meeting or taking some notes at school or also when you want to send an old fashion or more personal mail with your own handwriting to someone using Internet.
Another helpful hint; if you find that over the years the receiver can't maintain the charge you just carefully unscrew the four screws at the bottom of receiver and replace the battery be shure to get a new rechargeable 1.2V 800 to 920mAh battery and change it (you'll find that the old battery will be glued to the device but with a pair of pliers you can easily take it out just be gently and careful), then you'll have a wireless pen for one or two years more and so and so.

Every once in a while it will clearly produce a few digitalized words. But 95 percent of what it produces are random lines and marks. It is a piece of junk. Wait for someone to perfect a similar product before you plunk down your hard-earned dollars.

I have had to send the pen back 3 times as it worked for a while and then gave up. Apparently there are problems with the pen batteries shorting out.It works well for a week and then when it is recharged on the computer it gives up. I have given up now and thrown it in the trash. I would not recommend this to anyone. I cannot get my money back just a replacement- and they have all been worthless. If anyone else is having the same problems it would give me encouragement- otherwise - it must be the way I am using it.

The unit is easy to use and it takes a little time to figure out the software but not hard to do that. I have messy handwriting and I print in capital letters. When I convert my written text and graphs into a word document I have to spend some time editing the mistakes from the conversion. It does save some time doing this but not a lot of time vs. typing my notes into a word document without using this tool. I recommend using line paper to write your notes and use the lines to help guide the size of the graphics for consistency. The equipment and software is very basic but I did not pay a lot for this product. I will update this review after I spend more time with this product.