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So yesterday I reviewed the Livescribe Echo Smartpen, which I have been able to use a lot in school. The day before, I was considering getting a graphics tablet and I probably would have gotten the Bamboo tablet from Wacom. However, as I was looking at the Livescribe website, I noticed that they had a new app for the Echo smartpen called the Paper Tablet. So, I decided to get it…
What is it?
The Paper Tablet app for the Livescribe Echo Smartpen (only as of now) is meant to serve as a graphics tablet. The Echo is the pen part of the tablet and a Livescribe notebook serves as the tablet part. You can draw in apps easily and use it as a mouse as well. I think it’s pretty cool and I think it’ll come in use fairly often.
Is it worth it?
The cost of the Echo Paper Tablet is a mere $15.00 which is great for many people. A normal beginner’s graphics tablet costs at least $80.00 new so this is a GREAT price! The only bad thing about this, compared to others, is that the Smartpen isn’t preasure sensitive like most pens for graphics tablets have. This takes away the possibility for a pencil-like feel.
What can I use it for?
This app is great for annotating Word docs (Windows users only for now) and Powerpoint slides (Windows and Mac users). It’s also great for drawing on apps like Gimp. To the right is a drawing that I made using the paper tablet. It took me about 5-10 minutes to do and was very easy. Other than that, it’s just cool to use as a mouse on the Internet or any other applications on the computer. A lot of people have been impressed when I showed them what it can do. If you’re buying the pen only for this, I would recommend just going with a regular tablet because this actually has a little less functionality than a normal tablet. However, if you’re already getting the pen for the regular function, this is a great addition for it.
The Bottom Line
This app for the Echo smartpen is a great add-on for just about everyone. It is a fraction of the cost of a normal graphics tablet yet functions just like on. If you already have the pen, I’d recommend definitely considering buying this app for just $15.00 on www.livescribe.com
My Rating…
