Have good penmanship? You'll like this digital pen

The scoop: Mobile Digital Scribe, by Iogear, about $130.

What it is: Like the company's earlier Digital Scribe device, this is a digital pen that uses a base station to record a user's handwriting on any sheet of paper, using normal ink. The base station, connected to a PC via USB cable, then converts the writing into digital format, which can then be saved as an image, sent in an e-mail, or even converted to text through the optional handwriting recognition software.

The "mobile" part of the pen means the base station can record writing or drawings without the USB cable attached, allowing users to go away from their computer in order to take notes or draw. The pen also includes a mouse mode that lets you use the pen as a mouse when attached to the PC (some people prefer using a pen-based device for navigation instead of a mouse).

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The scoop: Mobile Digital Scribe, by Iogear, about $130.

What it is: Like the company's earlier Digital Scribe device, this is a digital pen that uses a base station to record a user's handwriting on any sheet of paper, using normal ink. The base station, connected to a PC via USB cable, then converts the writing into digital format, which can then be saved as an image, sent in an e-mail, or even converted to text through the optional handwriting recognition software.

The "mobile" part of the pen means the base station can record writing or drawings without the USB cable attached, allowing users to go away from their computer in order to take notes or draw. The pen also includes a mouse mode that lets you use the pen as a mouse when attached to the PC (some people prefer using a pen-based device for navigation instead of a mouse).

Why it's cool: Previous attempts at digital pens have meant things like special paper, bulkier pens and other obstacles toward the goal of having your handwriting automatically appear in a digital format once you wrote it down. The pen itself is a normal-sized pen, and uses standard ink refills. The small size of the base station means you can record writing on any size paper, and I like the ability to record notes in the mobile mode without having to be attached to a PC.

Some caveats: The handwriting recognition program is only as good as the user's handwriting. If you write slowly and have good penmanship, the conversion program will work fine, converting your letters into text that you can import into a word processor or send out via e-mail. If your handwriting looks more like shorthand (or chicken scratchings), then the program will produce phrases like "The deuce also has a 'Morse' mode that tea lets you control you PC" instead of "The device also has a 'mouse' mode that lets you control your PC". And that phrase was somewhat recognizable. I'm still having trouble figuring out what my original sentence was that got converted to this: "His Lemur-t-z, exrzetiyo write south cy Td brainy it convert lossfirtha ntooeboawarae way."

The clips on the base station that are supposed to keep it locked onto the pad of paper are very hard to open, but are needed in order to keep the notes straight (forget about handwriting recognition if you don't write on a straight line).

Bottom line: For diagram drawings, sketches and other nontext purposes, the pen is a great way to digitize those drawings and put them into a PC. For handwriting-to-text conversion, your enjoyment of the device will depend a lot on how well you paid attention to the teacher when learning cursive writing.

Grade: 3 stars (out of five).

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