Product Description

PDF Converter Pro 3.0 ... Read more

Features

• Combine multiple source files, such as JPEGs,Word files and Web pages, to create a single PDF file to share your work as an integrated document.
• PDF Converter delivers everything the business user needs, including powerful document and form creation, conversion and editing.
• Instantly create 100% industry-standard PDF files that can be read, printed, or processed.
• For the first time you can edit directly within a PDF file. Add copy, rearrange words, even change the position of charts and graphics.
• Convert PDF Files into Microsoft Word, Excel and Corel WordPerfect documents.

Reviews (1)

A solid alternative to Adobe Acrobat
I found this to be an amazing PDF product - but its not from Adobe.I have used Acrobat in the past, but this does things that Acrobat doesn't do - like turn PDF back into Word, and turning forms into fill-able forms. I use scansoft Paperport too, and this works perfect with the PDF files from scanners. ... Read more

Features

• Save time and money with this powerful document conversion application
• Eliminating retyping; turn documents into e-files you can edit, search, and share
• Precision OCR technology, advanced layout analysis, and powerful editing tools
• Turn paper and PDF files into editable e-documents that match the original
• Turn text documents into audio books; add digital signatures to your e-documents

Reviews (4)

Sorry! No Customer Support
This is a good product but forget about getting any available service packs from Scansoft and they won't help you. They also bury postings in the online help community if they are negative. The online knowledge help system is a joke. The company seems to be 'dead' to helping customers. I can see why Microtek scanner company dumped Scansoft to favor Abbey Fine Reader for bundled software. Wish I would have gone with Abbey instead. An important item with version 14 is the PDF tool. It is completely useless. You cannot get control of any fonts and the unicode or multinational font driver is 16 bit and won't do most of the characters. Trying any advertised acrobatics with a PDF is hopeless and security? none. Someone at Scansoft referred me to Digital River where it was bought via Scansoft online store to get help and Digital River simply ignores your request, and not only that their system retains email address use to buy it even if it changed and you cannot update it. They 'say' their response will go to dead email address. Looks like money rules to hell with the users. (This review is about the flagship OmniPage Pro 14 Office.)

Beware of bugs and no free support
I want to add some more specifics to my review below. I bought Omnipage 12. It would not instal. Only after extensive searching on the internet did I find that it was incompatible - believe it or not - with the Windows XP start menu and also with all desktop backgrounds except the XP logo!

The problem could apparently be resolved by downloading service packs 1 & 2. So I changed to the new start menu and XP logo background and installation then was possible. But when I tried to get service packs 1 & 2, which can only be accessed by using the upgrade function within the program, nothing happened. An e-mail request to ScanSoft for help was ignored. No help was available on the users group either as no-one had found a solution.

But I persevered and tried to use Omnipage without the service packs. Then came the next unpleasant shock. I have an HP OfficeJet d135 four-in-one. Although listed by ScanSoft as a compatible scanner I found that this is only partly true. The shocking part was that Omnipage was not compatible - believe it or not again - with the automatic document handler on HP scanners! So I must feed in each page separately while it slowly scans them.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Omnipage users group is moribund or dead. I don't know if ScanSoft is blocking postings to the website because there were so many that were less than complimentary or whether users just gave up because there were no solutions.

Abbyy FineReader offers as complete a contrast as can be imagined. Free, unlimited technical assistance and a lively users group populated by a clearly contented group of users.

So decide for yourself.

Beware of bugs and no free support
Beware of this product. It is buggy - see eg the users group at http://webboard.scansoft.com/ - and there is no free support, even for program bugs. Scansoft's attitude to known bugs is illustrated by the fact that there is a bug in both versions 11 and 12 which prevents many users from updating the program but despite a large number of postings to this effect on Scansoft's own website already referred to and e-mail notification to ScanSoft the bug remains. Abby FineReader apparently offers free support and a scanner that users say is better, for example, for OCR scanning.

Simply the Best !
You can't go wrong with this sofwtare, it's the best of its category. It blows away Abby and IRIS softwares technologies and capabilities. ... Read more

Features

• Surf the Internet by voice
• Faster than typing
• 20% more accurate than before
• Works with all your favorite applications
• A noise-canceling microphone included

Features

• Robust, automated accounting features for small businesses
• Bill paying; check writing; invoicing; payroll solutions; audit trails
• In-depth inventory; over 125 reports; customizable forms
• Peachtree Today for an instant snapshot of business financials
• New-company setup wizard; multiple help options

Features

• Program selected by U.S. State Department, Peace Corps, NASA
• 8000+ real-life color pictures and phrases spoken by native speakers
• Develops listening comprehension, reading, speaking, writing
• Previews, tests, and automated tutorials for extra help where needed
• 12 activities in each of 210 lessons; for ages 6 and older

Features

• Powerful layout software with an intuitive, versatile interface
• Combine writing, editing, and typography with color and pictures
• Output PDF files directly from QuarkXPress without buying 3rd-party software
• Improved, interactive tools for Web page design; layout spaces with synchronized text
• Improvements to output features, including As Is Color Space and DeviceN

Reviews (4)

Whoops! QuarkXPress Did It Again
Paranoia is the key word here. QuarkXPress' software writers are so intent on focusing on security that they have ignored functionality. QuarkXPress clashes and crashes with some of our other software programs. Worse yet, I have had two instances when the software has refused to open after we have finished huge student publications. Can you imagine the frustration that resulted from having to re-do entire publications on deadline from scratch? The QuarkXPress service representatives were of no help. They seem not to understand their own product. We still use the software because the publication industry does, but we are now looking at some emerging alternatives. Some of my fellow teachers have had it with the software and want to get rid of it. The unexplainable crashes in publications and student productions are routine. I keep hoping Quark's software writers will wake up, but they don't seem to get it. Too bad. QuarkXPress used to be the industry standard.

Stick with a previous version until Quark releases 6.1
After working with Quark 6.0 every day for the last few months at an educational publishing company, I would definitely recommend that corporate users wait for the promised 6.1 upgrade which Quark has promised to release in the coming weeks. The 6.0 release seems like it was rushed out to the masses way too soon...there are far too many bugs...bugs that are not only minor nuisances, but that are cable of potentially causing some major problems that can take some time to fix. Quark themselves have admitted that they are aware of problems saving Quark 6 files. Sometimes instead of saving them, they actually get deleted. PDF exports are built in, but with some larger files, it just plain doesn't work. It crashes during the process. There have also been problems when collecting files. Sometimes not all fonts and images get collected. We have to switch to Quark 5 just to get everything collected properly.

Quark has promised to fix these bugs in 6.1, but until then, I would strongly caution against upgrading.

Great Program!
Those complaining about using layered photoshop files try this...Save the file as a tiff and include layers. This file will import into Quark 6. I also just tested Quark 5 and it works too! So quit whining and learn the program. Also Those who use Macs...If you owned a company would you waste your time and money on a small group of people or would you try to capture the market which includes the most people? You aren't that important to Quark. It's not their fault you still use the obsolete Mac system. I hear so many of you going on and on about not being able to use transparency in Quark... Well did you ever think for a minute that the transparency in InDesign doesn't work properly half the time anyways? What good is a feature if it only creates problems in the end when it comes time to print the job? The transparency in Adobe's products have caused more printing problems than any other feature in the last 10 years. I can't tell you how many times an InDesign moron has sent me a file with transparency that I have to re-work/flatten or the type prints all different weights, etc. One more thing, you can blame the font issues on Apple as they are the ones forcing everyone to upgrade to their lame OSX and the font issue is their fault.

A very disappointing Upgrade 5 -> 6 with no WOW features
I have been using Quark Express for over ten years and was very disappointed with this much awaited upgrade in general. It does run under OS 10.2 but I found it very font-unstable, crashing my G4 (grey screen in OSX) several times trying to open older saved Quark 4.1 documents and also tying to output .pdf files using the built in Jaws technology.

In general it feels very much like a basic OS9 -> X conversion and not much more. The layers function lack folders or nested folders and you will have to buy extensions like ALAP shadowcaster to import photoshop layered files and create drop shadows or transparent objects. The document size is still limited to 1200mm, the dictionary is poor, the keyboard shortcuts don't allow toolbox changes and their is no colour separations preview function.

In Design CS has gone well past Quark 6 and I will be cross grading to that program, try to get away from Quark, and trying to secure a stable future in the design software area. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

WinFax Pro 10.0 shatters the idea of truth in advertising. The currentversion of the king suite of faxing software has many of the user-friendlyfeatures that have made WinFax Pro the de facto fax application. However, itsbox copy makes a few promises the software can't keep, so buyers beware: ifyou're running Windows XP or Office XP (or both), you're looking for trouble ifyou purchase this otherwise excellent program.

WinFax Pro is full of features, including a cover page designer, an automatedbackup manager, a network fax-sharing module, and more. Its interface will befamiliar and comfortable to anyone who uses Microsoft Outlook or OutlookExpress. The Message Manager--where you do most of your faxing work--is dividedinto Outlook-style panes, with several folders that include a receive log, asend log, an outbox, and a wastebasket in the upper left, a list of faxes in theupper right, and a multipurpose pane on the bottom that lets you view detailsabout a fax or take a quick peek at it.

Opening a fax for viewing invokes a viewer applet, which looks like AdobeAcrobat Reader. It comes complete with a pane of thumbnails down the left sidefor page navigation, with the main document view taking up the larger portion ofthe screen.

You can compose fax documents in any word processor. To fax them, use the mainWinFax Pro interface, a button installed in your Microsoft Word toolbar, or adrag-and-drop desktop icon. WinFax also lets you send faxes as attachmentsthrough Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, or Exchange, which is a mysteriousfeature considering you can send your documents as attachments without WinFaxPro. In any regard, while the feature worked well on a Windows Me machine withOffice 2000, it caused errors and crashes on Windows XP.

Other problems surfaced during testing. Faxing directly through Word XP with thetoolbar button caused crashes. A "photo quality" mode offered in the send moduledoesn't come anywhere close to photo quality. Every time we opened Word XP, anerror dialog appeared; Symantec's tech support said that it occurred because wedidn't have a modem installed. That conversation took place after we'd sentseveral test faxes through our installed modem.

WinFax Pro 10 worked as advertised on our Windows Me system, and it's full ofoutstanding features. However, if you've upgraded to Windows XP or if you'rerunning Office XP, hold off until Symantec patches this program into submission.--Joel Durham Jr. ... Read more

Reviews (36)

Cool
I've used winfax Pro at our ex-office, it completely solved all our faxing problems. So we didnt even needed for a fax machine.

The installation was so easy, it detected the hardware, and all I had to do was pressing the next button, and giving some info about our company. Then I changed the role of the machine in the setup menu, to a fax server. And went to the other computers and installed to all of the other machines. ( There may be a way for an automated setup, but I didnt needed so I am not sure of it.) It detected the fax server and installed it. We had 10 machines on our network, and all the installation process took less than an hour.

We configured the server to forward faxes, even i tought it wouldnt work, it worked fine. The faxes from the banks went directly to accountant department, etc...

We entered all of our customer list to winfax, and started to send faxes to them about our new products. It started faxing, and we went to our home. The next day boss asked us which customers received the fax. I thought I should go into the logs, and search for it. But theres a good designed window, you can see who send the fax to who, at what time, you can configure a report and so on ...

When I looked at the documentation, (Its good documented, you can find all the answers,) I was surprised it even has its own macro language. I didnt tried that but I think theres no fax product that you write down macros.

All was better than I accepted. Since that day our secratary is just reading the her book.

In conclusion, I think its nearly the best product that satisfied me.

Don't buy Winfax
Absolutely useless. Causes word to lock. Will not uninstall. Symantec fixes don't work. Hours wasted. Don't buy this product.

Good for average user. Power user beware!
Although I am working around the vast amount of bugs this program carries with it, it does deliver faxes ok. The client/server functionality sucks. The areacode rules are supposed to be set on the server however for some starnage reason they do not work. KB articles on symantecs site only confuse things. HORRIBLE support of this product. I am looking elsewhere for a solution.

Terrific Product
Reading through the reviews, I saw many, many folks had big time problems installing this package. This was especially true for WinXP users.

Using Google I found an OEM CD copy of Version 10.3 for $15 + s/h. At that price I figured I could risk trying it since some reviewers had very good results.

Well, it went on my Dell Dimension 8250 with Win XP Pro without a hitch.

My only comment is: before installation (1) clean out any and all previous versions from your computer; (2) shut down antivirus and firewall applictions (and any other easy to close applications).

It's a great package that does it all.

Quite possibly the worst piece of software ever written
I bought this software and installed it on one of my customers machines, I set up a special computer to be a "fax server" to recieve faxes and organize them into different folders, strangely the WinFax will randomly reject faxes, somedays it will refuse to work, somedays it will work great, somedays it will reject 50%, who knows what mood its in. I reformatted the computer so that the only thing installed is Win98 and WinFax, I replaced the modem TWICE, my customer moved to a new office in a different building with a completely different phone line and the product still doesn't work. Total garbage. ... Read more

Features

• Create estimates, invoices and sales receipts
• Write checks, pay bills, record expenses
• Track money in, money out
• Keep it simple and start working right away
• Work with familiar, everyday forms

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

This comprehensive program provides up to 550 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, writing, and speaking. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists or drills. Previews, exercises, and tests accompany every lesson, and there are automated tutorials throughout the program. Graphical speech recognition displays your voiceprint and compares it with the native speaker to help improve your pronunciation. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Rosetta sends you on the way
I found the Rosetta Stone Method effective to get me on the way to learn the language I needed: Russian. It was the very key break-thru element in my attempts to learn it. I would never had have success without it.

It distinguishes itself very favorably from any other computer-based language training, in that it really sends one on the way, and keeps one there thru the first, always troublesome steps.

However be informed, that it is not self-sufficient. You need a grammar, a dictionary, a good understanding of language structures (i.e. the grammatics of your own or another indogerman language), and more material. I took a lot of text and audio (internet radio) from the internet. I used also other audio/textbook courses to get more volume and substance. Even Mickey Mouse and some pre-school children books in the target language have been helpful. This mix made it sufficient, with Rosetta as the key driving element.

Rosetta Stone does not tell you about these, but the implicit assumption is that of accompanying a teached course. Like the NASA astronauts had, evidently. They were not on their own. ... Read more

Features

• Track and manage people, projects, images, and data
• Do more, faster with 30 starter solutions
• Exchange data with a virtually limitless number of applications
• Store, track, and archive files and documents
• Secure data with assigned accounts and privileges

Reviews (3)

Great Database Application
Now that you've read the previous 0 star rating, (tab buttons - give me a break), realize that FileMaker 7 is a great database development platform.

Just a few of the upgrade's improvements:

No File Size Limit (that's a heck of a lot of recipies Bob). The days of needing to migrate when a file hits the 2 Gig file size wall are OVER. Your database can grow to fill the largest hard drive a computer can support.

Multiple data tables per file.

Improved browser support of buttons and scripts through instant web publishing feature.

Improved security.

And if one is really worried about lining up their "tab buttons" on layouts, FileMaker offers a free 30 day evaluation for download from their website.

In fact, the only negative comment I can make is that the Server version won't be available until this summer.

Easy to Use
I've been using FileMaker Pro for many years. I used to use Microsoft Access, but FileMaker is much easier to setup and share your data. I highly recommend this software for both Mac and Windows users.

Only for recipe or CD collections databases
I purchased and installed this FileMaker Developer product and ran into a brick wall, that precludes its use as a serious development tool. FileMaker Pro suffers from the same deficiencies. My real rating is 0 stars.

Filemaker does not use tab controls. It gets around this shortcoming by requiring that a separate layout be designed for each tab. Importantly this is not just for the information on the tab, BUT FOR THE WHOLE COTTON-PICKIN layout!!!

Then when a user clicks on the tab "button", a new layout is repainted over the old. Even though Filemaker provides the ability to copy a form, I have found that the repainted forms "jump" and give an entirely unsatisfactory visual experience. Like watching a web form flicker repaint over a slow dial up connection.

Filemaker appears to be a maintenance nightmare. If you have a layout with header information and with a five tab area, and you wish to change the header information (field width, color, etc.) you have to change it five times on each layout!

I thought the purpose of databases was to normalize information, that is to reduce redundancy in data storage. Filemaker may reduce this redunduncy, but it it adds it back in spades when it comes to application development!

The screen flicker caused by full screen repaints and the large number of forms required to accomodated simple tab displays makes this a no brainer. Filemaker is fine for your receipe or CD collection database, but forget about using it for serious development. ... Read more

Features

• Management software for running retail businesses more effectively
• View daily sales easily; calculate sales tax liability automatically
• Process overpayments, underpayments, credits, and refunds
• Track work orders; offer Direct Deposit of paychecks
• See snapshots of any customer or vendor and recent account activity

Features

• Learn the business of owning and managing a real horse farm
• Care for horses and train them to be world-class champions
• Outfit riders by choosing from an array of clothes, accessories, and hairstyles
• Spend money wisely and make good decisions
• Fun and educational for horse lovers of any age

Features

• Enhanced features for greater productivity and easier reporting
• Format painter for faster report formatting
• Enhanced Excel export for greater end-user flexibility
• 100-percent Java reporting component for J2EE applications
• Includes introductory offer of Crystal Enterprise Express Edition

Features

• Add special effects, transitions, titles, and music to your home movies for Hollywood-style results
• Zoom, rotate, and pan across photos to create dynamic slideshows
• Make your own DVDs complete with multiple menus, buttons, and links
• Commemorate special events such as weddings and anniversaries
• Create exciting, professional-looking business presentations

Features

• Access, send, and receive e-mail messages from multiple accounts -- including work, personal or Web-based accounts
• Outlook 2003's Reading Pane, now on the right side of the screen, displays twice as much content, with reduced scrolling
• Group messages by date, size, conversation, subject, importance or other criteria for easy retrieval
• Quick Flags let you flag messages by priority or time sensitivity
• New Navigation Pane easily accesses Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Folders, Shortcuts and Journal

Reviews (20)

E-mail is once again an enjoyable EXPERIENCE!
Outlook, is so revamped, this alone is a worthy upgrade. Three panes in Outlook 2003 make e-mail an enjoyable experience. The Mail Pane holds all of the necessary tools found in prior versions of Outlook such as the Outlook Bar, and the different folders such as inbox, calendar, etc. The second pane gives an expanded view of the different items listed in the Mail Pane, like your incoming mail, contacts and calendar, which makes reading these information resources easier on the eye and productive by providing a better view. Reading your e-mail in the third pane (Preview Pane), the user views the message in portrait layout, more content is seen compared to prior versions. Its even better to view e-mails with "Clear Type" turned on for Windows XP users. Other features such as improved Virus and Spam protection makes Outlook 2003 a great upgrade. Outlook is not placed on the desktop by default, it can also be minimized to the system tray in Windows, for users connected to an Exchange Server, this displays all the network settings available.

Worth the cost of the upgrade? Buyer beware.
I like the new layout of the panes in the Outlook 2003 window but is it worth the price of the upgrade? Probably not.
I have run into a few problems since I first rated this product.
I read a couple reviews of the Office 2003 upgrade and found that others felt the Outlook 2003 upgrade is the only part of the new Office suite that is worth the cost and hassle to upgrade. I decide to take their advice (and save $) and only upgrade OL.
Two problems have arisen since then.
1. The Office Shortcut bar is no longer a part of the Office suite. This is a great disappointment to me because this is one of the great efficiency tools that Windows has to offer. Luckily, Office XP is still installed as Word/Excel/PowerPoint so I still have the bar but the buttons which applied to OL 2003 are no longer available. If you are dependent on this feature as I have become, don't upgrade the full suite or it will disappear.
2. Because of the conflicting versions of the Office suite that I am using, there isn't full functionality between the programs anymore. For example, I can no longer send the body of a Word/Excel document as the body of an email by simply clicking the "E-mail" on the toolbar in the application. This is more trivial than the first issue.

Need to fix PCS
Generally good, but two bugs remain from before:
1) Outlook PCS, which offers the only hope of exchanging with a PDA contact date organized into subfolders, is so buggy as to be unusable. A little effort by MS could make it great.
2) Appointments still get totally screwed up if you change time zones on the computer. Have to work around by pretending that you're in your home time zone when you travel, but just change the clock time.

Works Great
New interface and features are nice. I use OpenOffice.org instead of Microsoft Office, so a can't comment on the Microsoft Office integration.

Didn't notice and "AdWare" as stated by another reviewer.

I upgraded from Outlook 2000 and it went flawlessly. Found all my Rules, customized folders and Accounts without any setup.

Until the Open Source community provides an alternative on a Microsoft platform, I'll continue to use Microsoft Outlook. For $90.00, you can't beat it.

Thanks for a great product Microsoft.

Big improvement, new folder features are great
I use Outlook for managing tasks, contacts, mail and schedules. The new 2003 version is a vast improvement, at least in look and feel. The folder management is revised to split the window on the left to "favorite folders" and "all folders." Folders are a great way to organize and store emails, so this is a welcome change.

Then, the mail is organized by "today", "yesterday", and then the days of the week and back weeks. This helps to organize and trim out the inbox, which can get cluttered. For this attractive new feature alone, it's worth upgrading.

The look of the user interface is consistent with Windows XP, with the snazzy shaded bars. Nice to work with. Other improvements --the calendar also has been expanded, and tasks and contacts have new features, too. For example, the mail reading pane is larger, less scrolling required (yay!) and you can organize messages by subject thread to delete an entire series. Pretty cool.

If you are a dedicated Outlook user, the upgrade is well worth it, in my opinion. ... Read more

Features

• Powerful, easy-to-use tools for managing personal finances
• Track checking, savings, and credit-card transactions in one place
• Reconcile bank statements and balance checkbook in minutes
• Write and print checks or pay bills online
• Quickly and easily create a personalized budget

Amazon.com Product Description

This portable, handheld scanner provides a wide range of time-saving conveniences. With up to 1,000 characters recognized per second, the IRIS Pen II Executive Scanner is suited for rapid scanning of small samples of text or for taking notes and scanning tables. It can also scan directly into any Windows or Mac application starting at the position of the cursor. Plus, the text-to-speech option lets you hear what you scan, and in a relatively natural voice.

The IRIS Pen II recognizes data on many types of documents, reading 6 to 22 point size fonts with text, numbers, handwritten numbers, and bar codes, as well as reading dot-matrix letters. It supports foreign language uses (up to 56 languages) and is programmable, letting you define two functions that are triggered by single and double clicks (tab, enter, space).

The Pen II provides improved image stability at varying speeds and offers gray scale document recognition. Additional features include left-to-right and right-to-left scanning, central line tracking, multiline mode, recognition of wavy or distorted characters, a line skew tolerance of 10 percent with a word slope tolerance of 20 percent, clear scanning of inverse text (white letters on dark background), and automatic input of tables (like invoices and price lists) into your database or spreadsheet. The idle mode reduces power consumption.

When directly connected to the USB port of a PC or notebook, the scanner supports plug-and-play operation and is powered by the USB port, so there's no need for an external power supply. Support for serial/parallel port is available. ... Read more

Features

• Handheld pen-sized OCR scanner
• Scans up to 1,000 characters per second
• Supports up to 56 foreign languages
• Reads font sizes from 6 to 22 points
• Text-to-speech lets you hear what you've scanned

Reviews (16)

Best Handheld Scanner
If you're looking for a fast and accurate handheld scanner, I strongly recommend the IRIS II Executive.

I first bought the Quick Link Pen from Wizcom and got incredibly frustrated by that product's slowness and ridiculously poor accurary. I ended up returning my Quick Link Pen and getting the IRIS II Exec instead.

The Iris II Exec is incredibly fast and more importantly incredibly accurate. I can scan faster than I would with a highlighter and I rarely get mistakes. I'm a Biochem Grad Student and I scan a lot of words that wouldn't seem easily recognized, but the IRIS II works like a champ.

Even though, the Iris II Exec is not portable, it's accuracy and speed make up for it in leaps and bounds. The company's claim of 99% accuracy is pretty on the money. I type 80 wpm and scanning with this pen is far faster than typing.

If you're looking for a Handheld Scanner, this is by far the best choice.

well done product, but still a few bugs
I did a lot of due diligence before buying the IRIS Pen II Executive Scanner, including all the other pen scanner products on the market. I was initially a little put off by the fact you had to attach it to a computer via a USB cable to work. FWIW, I am using it with MacOS X 10.2.6 and a iBook.

I have had it for over a month now, purchased in July 2003, and I LIKE it. I have primarily used it to scan text from photocopies of journal articles. These are clearly not the highest quality text material from which to scan, but nevertheless, the IRIS pen handles them acceptably. By that, I mean, I get around 85% accuracy. This clearly means, I have to go back and retype things, but still, I am able to capture large quanities of text to use *in a very rapid fashion*. Like one of the previous posters, I do tend to use it like a highlighter.

As a word of instructive advice...it may be difficult to figure out how to hold the pen. Just try different positions and your hand will develop 'memory' in holding it correctly, such that it captures text.

I guess my overall experience is neither the 100% success that others have had, nor the despair that a few have faced. I would certainly buy this product again.

This baby adjusts for colored backgrounds
This is not so much a review as a heads up to the reviewer (Roy Herron) who said it was useless to him because he scans on colored backgrounds. You can adjust for background color on the Executive model just for this purpose. You said you bought from a seller, so I'm guessing that you didn't get all the documentation with your purchase. So, call ReadIris Tech Support (1-(561)-921-0847) and they can tell you how. I use mine for scanning barcodes when packing books. Makes it easy to keep track of what's in each box.

Does not work on multi color forms...
This product is great for grad school in the stacks, but I purchased it to rapidly copy forms at the court house. It does not work for this application since the forms are shaded where I need to copy. The shaded area of the forms have the information I need to scan. OOPS, my bad for not checking this out at Best Buy or Circuit City to make sure it would work for my narrow application. So, I'm buying a portable flat bed scanner that can function in B/W mode.

It makes this a pretty worthless purchase for me; and I can't send it back to the seller. I wish I had purchased it from Amazon instead of from a seller, then I'd be able to return it for a refund. I'm kind of stuck with it now.

So, while it does work for normal B/W scanning, it does not work for me in one narrow application. Don't buy this thing if you need it to primarily copy data from back shaded text.

Wonderful
I initially submitted a review describing this product as terrible. However, after spending a number of hours frustrated with the results I finally found the solution to my problems. The solution lay in moving the brightness cursor in the scan test to the darkest possible position. Once I did this the success rate rose from less than 50% to around 99%. I'm hoping it will improve even further as I get used to using the scanner. One happy and relieved customer!! ... Read more

Features

• Get a preconfigured internal Web site based on Windows SharePoint Services
• Accommodate a mobile work force through the Remote Web Workplace
• Mobile users can access their information from portable devices
• Updated network administration features helps your network run efficiently
• Includes Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003 technology