I-Pen Digital Pen Writer Ipen Optical USB Mouse Input Device

List Price: $99.99 Discount Price: $39.99

Features:

• Optical navigation & mouse-hover technology
• Pen-on-paper feeling, natural handwriting by sensing contact pressure
• Standard mouse driver and USB connection, just plug & play
• No special pad required, free to use on almost any surface
• Compact and light, perfect for laptop users

Customer Reviews:

Great product! Somebody should have thought of this sooner. [Posted on 2003-10-08]
I bought the I-Pen hoping it would help with my aching wrist from grabbing a mouse all day; I was looking at graphics tablets, but I use dual monitors at work, so that was not an option. I tripped across this little doo-hickey, and thought I'd give it a shot.

First of all, the mouse works great; it can be used on almost any surface (except clear glass or white paper). The pen's a little "full-bodied", which makes it difficult to grab, at times, but other than that, it's a nice tool to have. I can hardly wait until they release the wireless version(s), but the cord dangling off it is not too bad.

Second, their customer support is GREAT!!!!! When my I-Pen arrived, I noticed that the right mouse button was sticking, and I could only get it to work about half of the time. I went to their web page and got a response back within a few hours indicating that my unit was defective, and another one was on the way. The second unit works great, and thus my faith in capitalism was restored :)

As for the carpal tunnel, I'll keep you posted....

UPDATE: Just wanted to let you know about the carpal tunnel issue; this thing has really helped me. I now have writer's cramp, but that's another story (j/k). Seriously, I love this product. I'm still waiting for the wireless version, but I have found that this simple tool has really helped me be more productive for longer periods of time.

Good idea, faulty implementation. [Posted on 2006-08-23]
[...]

There are very few standalone "digital pen" mice available; people who wish to use the ergonomic pen design often have to cough up additional funds for a digitizer tablet [...] that is bulky. This particular model has been around for several years, apparently, but they have not updated it.

I bought this specifically for ergonomic reasons and because I did not want a bulky tablet component (though I do own a Wacom for special uses). It's a bit chunky; while it was uncomfortable for me to use, it's probably fine for others. It feels light, and while this is could be a good thing if you tend to get finger-fatigued, the cord hanging off the end unfortunately seems to weigh all that much more.

The most important problem for me, however, was that this digital pen-mouse doesn't seem to be calibrated correctly. A 2003 review article elsewhere also pointed out this problem: Assuming the mouse button is supposed to be positioned at the top of the pen where your index finder rests, you cannot write or draw in a straight line across the screen. The cursor will slant upwards from left to right, effectively rendering any drawing potential useless; the other article also commented that the handwriting recognition suffers from this weirdness. You can try to hold the pen at a different rotation, but it's not perfectly round, so it will end up being more uncomfortable.

For average mousing, I suppose people can get used to the quirk, but for uses that require a bit more accuracy, look elsewhere. It's a good idea, and I really hope someone will finally deliver a good pen-mouse that doesn't use ink or special paper or pad.

A great solution for travel computing. [Posted on 2008-02-23]
I bought this particular product for the trip from the UK, to the US. The touch pad on most laptops is a stopgap device for most {to judge from the whinging I hear}. Travel mice are only good for about 15 min for most people before they want to pitch the thing out the nearest window. How ever, a full size Mouse on a airplane truly isn't an option either. The I-pen is as portable as a Highlighter Marker. Fully as useful/ functions as, any two button mouse. Additionally it requires NO additional software if used in that mode. The only gripe I have is that I've currently found no workarounds to use it' s more esoteric abilities {Like making written notes ON a web page, saving it and then being able to send it.} that work for my Linux machine. If you only use it for productivity during travel, the price is well worth what you get. If you can use it for more it's a steal.

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