iVistaTablet is a leading specialized manufacturer of digital ink pads, different kind of tablets (flexible, slim and media), digital whiteboards and touchscreen pen monitors which aim to bring convenience to daily tasks of both professionals and regular users.
iVistaTablet sent me their current best selling digital notepad model Digital Ink Pad + a.k.a DIP+ for a review. After two weeks of usage, I have decided to write the review about DIP+ now and tell my readers its functionalities. Actually, I own another popular writing pad model from a different company for more than a year, Solidtek and used this before a lot for digital note-taking. It was also a good chance to compare both devices and decide which one brings more value to customers.
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First of all, I will briefly explain for people who don’t know much about how digital notepads (electronic notepads) function. These devices are designed to store everything you write on an ordinary paper into memory of writing tablet digitally. You simply place a pile of A4 papers on the surface of the tablet and write with the special digital ink pen which is shipped together with the digital notepad. The surface is designed to recognize all strokes from the pen, even the smallest nuances are recorded. Naturally, you can also draw anything you like. The results are stored in the memory.
But, is this enough? No. You will need to organize these notes, transfer to other computers, preferably send to text editing programs with handwriting recognition etc. iVistaTablet Digital Ink Pad + achieves a lot more than these basics.
Ok now more action, less talk. First of all, let’s have a close look what we get in the package.
Digital notepad, quick start guide, USB connection cable, 2 software CDs, a digital pen with black color cartridge, a blank A4 papers block, 2 additional cartridges (one is dummy to be used in PC tablet function), a battery for the pen and a tiny metal tool to easily grab the cartridge from pen for changing.
Here is a photo of digital pad’s management screen. You can see the touch sensitive buttons for voice recording, creating, deleting, changing pages etc. Currently, it shows the A folder and 4th page and it has content because of the filled style document icon. We see the battery life as well.
p.s : These keys will not respond to finger touch but only work with digital pen strokes. I think there is some magnetic technology here combined with pressure recognition just because as soon as I hold the pen above a functional key without touching, the device recognizes it and applies when I press softly on the pad 
After starting the device and playing with controls, I have decided to write something at last.
I have written a sample text (the beginning rhymes of one of my favorite poems all time “Alone by Edgar Allan Poe”), made some drawings and used symbols via the iVistaTablet digital ink pad as an example.
I should remind that English is not my mother tongue and can not claim that I am at best on handwriting. Here it is.
After this, I have connected to my computer with USB cable of the pad, installed the OCR hand recognition software MyScriptNotes (it is bundled in the package as a cd with many other software) and applied a quick conversion in English language. (The software supports recognition of at least 20 languages)
Overall, I am more than content with the results. The file needs only a few corrections in MS Word later. It was successful to recognize and convert drawings and special symbol keys.
What else does this device achieve? A lot. Here are the other functions of iVistaTablet Digital Ink Pad.
We can create digital folders and pages in these folders. Folders are named by alphabet A B C and so on, while the pages are created as A001, A002, B004 etc. Ok, I guess you got the logic behind the paging and file system. We can also use an SD card on the pad. It is allowed up to 2GB which is enough to save thousands of pages.
Then, I copy the note files to my local computer (via USB from computer’s digital memory) or using an SD card (the pad has a slot for it) and change the organization according to my liking. I have Vista and the tablet’s internal storage is automatically recognized by the OS as a disk.
The notes files can be converted into several formats besides the MS Word ready output by hand recognition program. These are jpeg, bmp, png, pdf, top, one note, txt and zip.
And another excellent usage is the digital tablet function of the iVistaTablet pad. When you connect to a computer, it can be used as a PC tablet. It means that whatever we write or draw on the pad will be shown and acted as well on the computer screen. We even do not have to use a real digital ink pen to economize on ink. The tablet has a dummy plastic cartridge to change on the pen’s end. So, all hand movements and strokes become virtual for pad but continue to be real on the computer screen. Naturally, the digital pen functions as a mouse too. So, you can draw naturally much better than mouse and still control the computer.
Note taking and annotations on MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, MS Notes, Journal etc. It means that I can make markers, take notes on any open MS file. A popular usage would be sending what you draw instantly on Outlook new email screen. For example, a manager can open an Excel document with charts, write commentaries with the pen naturally, quickly and send the output file as an image to employees by Outlook.
The digital notepad has voice recording functions. It has built-in mic but you can connect an external one too. Especially students will like it. For example, while you take notes and draw something on a page, you can record the instructor’s voice. Remember that each page has its own voice files. When you change the page on digital notepad, the voice files will be recorded on corresponded page. This has obviously great use in company meetings too. Cool!
It can be used as an mp3 player using the SD slot and has a headphone jack to listen what you have recorded as well.
Easy form filling. Let’s suppose that you have an application form as an image file in your computer. If you had to send this to someone else after filling the blanks, you would first need to print it, write on it, scan it and then send by email. Now, you just open the image file with any suitable program, connect with DIP+ and fill the blanks easily with digital pen. After finished, send it as an image file by email.
There are some other special features. I will not bore you with all of them. Better, you can check the full specs list at product’s page on iVistaTablet digital pad website.
Now, here is the comparison chart of iVistaTablet Digital Ink Pad and SolidTek notepad which I have mentioned at the beginning of the review.
| iVistaTablet Digital Ink Pad+ | SolidTek and some other digital notepads |
| Rechargeable battery lasts 7-10 days without charging with power saving built in or around 22 hours of nonstop writing and audio recording | AAA batteries that need to be changed frequently every couple weeks |
| Recognizes 4 different ink colors black, blue, red and green | Only one color |
| File management, organizing notes and audio recording in different folders. (26 folders each 999 pages) | No folders, only pages by numbers. No file management. |
| Voice recording automatically linked to page and folder of current note | No voice recording |
| My Script Notes handwriting recognition software bundled together with DIP+ for 20 different languages (value $40) | Handwriting recognition software needs to be purchased separately |
| Ordinary paper and ink | Many notepads require special paper (not case with SolidTek) |
| Price: iVistaTablet more competitive and providing more value for price (also MYScript Notes included) | Price of product and handwriting software is more than DIP+ package |
My final conclusion is quite positive about Digital Ink Pad after two weeks of use. It is much better than the competitor Solidtek digital notepad in many ways including price, bundled software support and internal device features.
You can order this device on iVistaTablet store or on Amazon.
