Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsOwner of both Livescribe 3 and Echo Pen
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2014
I own both the Livescribe 3 and the Echo pen from Livescribe. I give it a 3 because it works well but can use improvements. Where Livescribe hits the mark, they really hit it. Where they miss, they miss by ten miles.
I'm not interested in all the features, so I'll just write about what I've focused on doing: transforming handwriting in ink in my notebook to editable text in a Word document. BOTH PENS CAN DO THIS. Though Livescribe 3 does an extraordinary job of keeping this information from you. Livescribe all but sabotages itself with its terrible web site and near useless manuals.
First I don't understand the vitriol aimed at Livescribe 3. It's fine. I do understand if people can't figure out how to produce editable text that they can incorporate into Word documents. It is easy to do, but Livescribe is terrible at letting users know this.
Spoiler alert. For my purposes at least, the pens are basically equivalent. <UPDATE, while they are basically equivalent for my purposes - after using the pens for a few weeks, for some reason I use Livescribe 3 more. I think it's because I like seeing the upload instantly on my iPad and/or like being able to upload without plugging anything into the USB port of my laptop. Or maybe it's just because I got Livescribe 3 second (a few days after Echo), so I still think of it as my "new" toy. Also, it's starting to seem as if Livescribe 3 is better at accurately changing handwriting to text. Either that or I've been improving my handwriting (because I'm aware that software is going to try and interpret my handwriting) as I've started using mostly Livescribe 3 of late. I'm honestly not sure. Maybe I'll do a comparison for that at some point.
Echo Pen
To transfer handwriting to editable text that you can incorporate into a larger document-in-progress on your computer, is easy. You write in a Livescribe notebook, then plug your pen into your computer. It automatically uploads to the Livescribe desktop, an amusing piece of software with an interface straight out of 1989. Apple Computer won't be stealing away any of the Livescribe employees responsible for the look of Livescribe Desktop anytime soon. Now you have an image of your handwriting on your computer. So go to the Livescribe store and buy MyScript. When installed it creates a button in your Livescribe desktop interface. If you highlight the page with your image of your notes, then click the MyScript button, your handwriting magically turns into editable (that's the key word for me, editable) text, which you can put into Evernote or copy and paste into Microsft Word, whatever. A few steps, but simple, and it works.
Livescribe 3
To transfer handwritten text to editable (again EDITABLE, not a pdf (what were they thinking when they went with pdf?)) text with a Livescribe 3 pen, do this. Write in your notebook after you have paired the pen to your iPad or iPhone (and by the way if the bluetooth connection drops, it doesn't matter. When you reestablish it all your info will transfer. You can even write far away from your iphone or ipad, and pair it hours later when you get home). Once your handwriting appears on your iPhone/iPad, swipe the block of handwriting left to right with your finger on your iPhone/iPad and it will transform into text. Now tap that text (to highlight it) and tap the little arrow that appears at the bottom of your screen (it's an inverted "v"). This will bring up a menu, and one of the menu items is "edit." Tap "edit" and now you can edit your text. While your text is in edit mode <(This is key; it has to be WHILE IN EDIT MODE), select all that text, copy it, and paste it into an email (just open your email on your phone; start a new email, top into the area where you'd write your email to get a cursor, then hold your finger down and you'll get the option to paste). Once you've emailed it to yourself, open your email on your pc and copy and paste the text into Word. Alternatively, if you have Word on your iPhone or iPad (which is now possible) you can just open Word on your iPhone/iPad and paste it into Word that way.
Both the LIvescribe 3 and Echo methods are about equally convenient (unless you do not have an iPad or iPhone in which case the decision has been made for you; you'll need to buy the Echo) - that is to say, both Echo and Livescribe 3 are convenient but not as convenient as they could be if Livescribe was a little more on the ball. But they're good enough.
FYI if you buy an Echo pen, make sure to factor in an extra $20. You will have to pay for the MyScript software later from your Livescribe Desktop. It's a 3rd party product. With Livescribe 3 the transcription software is built in.
If you are really super geeky and just have to play the classic text adventure, Infocom's "Zork" on your pen, buy the Echo. You will input your commands by writing with the pen, and read the text adventure on that tiny little Echo screen. It's free for download in the store you can access from the Livescribe Desktop. FYI ONLY ECHO CAN RUN APPS. With Livescribe 3 the only software you get is what is built in. No third party apps. Not that there are many anyway.
Livescribe 3 brags about other features not present in the Echo pen. In fact it appears that this is where they put most of their efforts with this model. The ability to create appointments and have them appear on your calendar and so on. None of it interests me, so I haven't really explored that. UPDATE: I now have used Livescribe 3's calendar appointment function. It's cute and it works, but it's not any big gigantic feature. Also, FYI it still requires you to fill the content in manually in your calendar. The only thing the feature does is plug in an appointment - it is not capable of copying the description of what the appointment is for. So you have to key that into your calendar as always. So it's a bit of a half baked feature.
I see no difference in quality of the actual pens. Livescribe 3 looks a little less geeky and more like a normal pen. Echo has that little tiny screen that might appeal to geeks. Livescribe has no screen. With Echo, you do need to be near your pc to upload your stuff to Livescribe desktop. But you can write with your pen out in the middle of nowhere, and then upload when you get home. With Livescribe 3 you can do the upload in real time as long as you have your iPhone with you. But you can also write out in the middle of nowhere and pair your pen to your iPhone/iPad via bluetooth when you get home. Overall it's a draw.
I have tested the audio feature on the Echo, and it works fine. I haven't tested it with Livescribe 3. I understand it needs to use your iPhone/iPad's microphone and speaker, rather than having that built into the pen as with Echo.