seiko ink link

[dave3]

I was looking at this as an alternative to a keyboard for input. I noticed this on compusa for 30$ after rebate.
1. anyone have any experience with this seiko ink link?
2. it doesnt specifically say its compatable with ppc 2003, anyone know if it will work?

[Sven Johannsen]

For $30 it's a fun toy. I have one but don't really use it. I specified as a gift wish last XMas. One of those things I couldn't bring myself to buy, but didn't mind someone buying it for me :) It is not really an alternative entry system. It allows you to draw, write, doodle, whatever with the included pen, on a real paper tablet. The tablet is reproduced, though scaled down, on the PPC screen, in it's own application, the InkNote Manager. You can of course zoom in on the PPC so that your 8.5x11 inch page can actually be read. You configure the device for whatever size tablet you are using. I played with it on a 5x7 pad and it reproduced my scratches quite faithfully.

The issue is that it really doesn't integrate with anything else but itself, so you can't be in Word, and handwrite on the paper and have it recognized, for instance.

The pages can be printed from the desktop (don't recall if there is any printer support on the PPC) and it can be mailed. Mailing to someone else with one of these allows it to stay in it's native format. For those without you can send, or export, in .bmp, .jpg, and .png formats. Note...all pictures. The PPC and Desktop file formats are the same, so it is easy to transfer back and forth. It might be an interesting addition to a laptop incidentally. The PPC interface is via IR, but the laptop one is USB.

I think if I was predisposed to take lots of scribbly notes in meetings, this might be a neat way of capturing them for posterity and facilitating storing and distributing them. Used with a laptop in a meeting, this might be real useful. You could take text notes with the keyboard (if you can actually type) and then capture drawing type thoughts on the pad.

Can't tell you about the WM2003 compatibility, haven't had the thing out of the drawer since I got my 2215. Might check Seiko's site though, I probably will, just to see.

Just be aware that it is not an entry system into existing apps. For the price of a few Lattes at Starbucks though, it couldn't hurt to try it for what it is.

[dave3]

Sven,
btw for anyone interested this device does work and the software worked even on wm2003. I am not sure how much I will use it just yet but like You said for $30 it's a more justifiable price than $100. The good news is that despite its limited functionality, it actually work and causes no hard resets or other concerns that I can observe.