C Pen Text to Speech TS1 Scanning Pen - OCR Scanning Device for Reading, Literacy & Learning | Assistive Tool for Dyslexia & Learning Differences | Tests, Meetings, Study | Windows & Mac

Very disappointed as it did not live up to previous ratings that informed my decision to buy. Accuracy was off and I had to rescan lines multiple times to "catch". I used on a MAC with UTD OS.

I rarely write reviews, But when I saw there is no review for this product. So I thought I should share my experience.Before buying it I had doubts about its accuracy and speed. But after using, I think it is a great product. I really love it. I am using this product to read a German book. Its inbuilt OCR is very good and Its accuracy rate is more than 95%.

Software failure. A software problem; seems antiquated. Great response from C-Pen but unfortunately ineffective. They tell me to do the same thing over and over again. Software reminds me of a generation ago (25 years).

The product is barely able to scan text. Great idea but pretty much unusable. Adding to insult is the buggy app that keeps crashing.

I installed the pen on a Windows 7 Machine for English Use. I also attached some images to help explain the review below...***** PROS:It works! As advertised...in all of the programs I've tried it in..and if I have the included software open, the text-to-speech also works regardless which program I scan the text to.The size of the pen is comfortable and similar to a "normal highlighter" (the fat ones).It's FAST. I can scan at the same speed as I normally highlight without a problem!I didn't measure it precisely, but the USB cord appears to be about 4.5 feet long which is plenty long enough for my situation..If it is set to "space" between lines and the end of the last line scanned uses a hyphen so that the first word in the next line is the rest of the word in the last line, the hyphen is removed, no space is inserted, and you end up with the complete word. For example, if you scan:I went to the store to-day, and I saw milk.You will get, I went to the store today, and I saw milk.I've tried it in seven different types of books so far and all worked fine (exception noted below). It takes more of an eagle eye on your part with really small text to ensure you are scanning the correct line but it also works fabulously on bigger text commonly found on book covers. UNLESS the book cover is colorful..then it will not work. The pen seems to demand as close to black text on a white background as you can get.I like the `function button' on the front which enables me to quickly and easily Enter/Return to the next line in my document file without touching the keyboard...***** CONS:Superscript characters come out as a carets e.g. if there is a little #2 noting a reference, it will come out as a ^ instead.As noted above, the pen wants black text on a white background or something very close to that. Black Text on a Grey Background just does not work. One of my textbooks has exercises printed in black text on grey highlighted backgrounds..the pen..no matter my speed or stability...will NOT scan this text with any more than a bit of gibberish...the same holds true for black text on a light brown background. However, I tried it on white text over a dark blue background and that worked. Major contrasting color between the text and background required...nothing else will work.It does have a learning curve for figuring out how to hold the pen correctly... My first several attempts on a softcover book kept causing the little button that must remain pressed throughout the scan to become unpressed and this is where the "gibberish" emerges. You have to have a fairly straight and steady hand that holds the same pressure across the line which is more difficult if the book is not on a flat and stable surface or if there is a great deal of "curve" in the margin areas. However, I am sitting in a recliner chair with the book on my lap as I play with the pen and getting pretty good results after only a few minutes of use... so again, there is a learning curve, but it's not a major one. For example, I quickly learned to place a hardcover book under the floppy softcover book I am scanning to improve results by adding stability. I also learned that both "points" (top/bottom part) do NOT need to be pressed against the page...ONLY the button part. I am getting much better results by holding the pen at an angle where the button is pressed but the opposite side (above the line) is not touching the paper (You'll have to have pen in hand to really grasp this concept).Overall... I am happy I purchased the C-Pen. Sure there's a learning curve, and it's not perfect, but as a grad student and avid reader that loves to take notes, I am tickled pink to have this pen in my possession.DISCLAIMER: This review was made on the date I received the pen... so I know nothing yet about durability or lifespan...

It works like magic, you can also set it up to scan to speak, so if your fast reader you can take notes while also listening back to the audio of what your reading/scanning. Love it and would recommend it!

The device only reads from a black and white page. Unfortunately, sometimes it works, scanning the page and placing it on my screen but 80 percent of the time it MIGHT read a letter or a random word from the page. When it DOES work its great. But to pick up the pen, use it, (sometimes it reads a different sentence) delete the mistake if there is one, and put the pen down, you could type the sentence twice. Dont buy this model. Try a different one that cost more. This one is infuriating.