SolidTek DM-L2 DigiMemo L2 8-1/2-by-11-Inch Digital Notepad

Just received this device today. The unit seemed to work well initially, in Tablet (Mouse mode) however, after getting the software installed I tried to test writing/digital recording process using the just the DigiMemo itself but I haven't been able to get the device to "sense" that the pen is on the paper (assuming there's a sensor inside the Cartridge socket to "Sense" the pressure on the tip. After reading the other reviews, it seems like these have a consistent issue with the Pens being bad/going bad. I did test it out with the DigiMemo Manager application and it seemed to work great with that (other than registering the tip pressure for "clicking"). The mouse moved around the screen and if I pressed the mouse button on my laptop, the unit drew on the screen and as fairly accurate. I use very fast strokes when signing my name and at least the movement was picked up pretty good by the DigiMemo's sensors.I can't remember if the pen tip registered initially and stopped after I replaced the Cartridge with the Plastic Tipped one. (And yes, the instructions were read and followed for this process) :) I couldn't get the plastic tipped cartridge (or any other cartridge after that) to "Click" into place so, again, I'm assuming the pens are made cheap.Side Note: The Pen itself just uses a small watch battery, however the cap that holds it in place has plastic threads and needs to be really tight in order for the battery to make good contact. You can fix this (Unofficially) by slightly bending up the small metal contact/plate in the center of the socket. (if you buy one of these, you'll see what I'm describing) You can further assist the cap by placing a small (non-conductive) material in the cap to increase the pressure the cap is able to apply tot he battery to keep it seated.I've e-mailed ACECAD and the seller of this product as well, to see if I can get a replacement pen sent, since I do like the main product regardless of the pens problems. Being an I.T. Specialist with 20+ years of experience (And a Super Nerd when it comes to Technology), I've handled numerous products of different types and this I think the unit could be absolutely amazing if the pens worked consistently.I'll update this review if I get a satisfactory response from the Seller and/or the Manufacturer.Update: The manufacturer just sent me the basic instructions available online, however they did mention there was an update for the Windows application... which made me feel like a schmuck for not immediately going out there and downloading when I got the device. It didn't fix the pen issue so I had to file a replacement request with Amazon. Amazon was awesome and replaced the device without hassle. I just received the replacement and the pen works well so far. was able to record my test digitally and they came out good... not great, but good. Changed the pen tips and tried the Digital Mousing mode without any issues and have written roughly 2-3 pages worth of tests in standalone and "ON-Line Writing" mode. Will see if the pen holds out... if so, I think I'll be really happy with this one. The replacement pens are around $25-$30 so if it doesn't last more than a year I'll be a little irritated. I'll update this later if anything changes, but for now I just need to ship the bad one back, free of charge, to Amazon and we're good to go. (Thanks Amazon!)

I purchased this device basically for my amusement, although I did think it would be nice to be able to electronically capture mixed text and diagram meeting notes without having to scan them. I was not at all sure it would work for me, as I am an "inverted" left-hander, and I write with a strange wiggling thumb movement, which I thought might be read into the digital trace. I was pleasantly surprised! The captured strokes are very, very close to the originals (the "real" inked characters on the paper). There are minor differences, particularly at the beginning and end of the strokes, but nothing that would interfere with recognizing the letters. The accuracy seems very similar whether one is writing on the top sheet of a quarter-inch pad of paper, or a single sheet lying directly on the surface of the tablet. Somehow, they've figured out how to detect when the tip of the pen is actually touching the surface of the paper, irrespective of the distance of the pen from the actual surface of the tablet (something to do with capacitive coupling?). There is no problem with writing very small letters (two lines of text per line of 3/8" ruled paper). There are occasional slight registration errors. These seem to occur more when one comes back to a region of text one wrote in an earlier "session." For instance, when I later circled some regions of text, the relationships between the circles and text in the original and the electronically captured page were very slightly different, but again, not enough to cause any problems. These might have occurred because the depression in which the pad sits allows for about 1/16" of play in the position of the pad, or it may occur because I held the pen differently when drawing the circles as opposed to writing. (The pen sensor acts as if it sits perhaps 1/16" above the surface of the paper, so a given position of the pen's tip can generate slightly varying positions of the digital ink, depending on the slant of the pen.) On the other hand, there was no problem with registration when cross-hatching interiors of shapes in a diagram, i.e., the cross-hatches begin and end at the outlines of the shape. Thus, I'm inclined to think the previous registration problems related more to repositioning of the paper pad than to pen angle. One question is, is the captured image any better than one could get by simply scanning the notes? The answer is an emphatic yes! I compared a printout of a page of notes, printed directly from the ACECAD Digimemo Manager software, vs. converted to .pdf and then printed, vs. scanned (by an HP LaserJet 3300) in halftone mode to .pdf and printed, vs. scanned in line mode to a .pdf and printed. The direct print version was, as previously stated, nearly identical to my original. The file converted to .pdf by the Digimemo software had significantly lower resolution, but was otherwise acceptable. (Note, there don't seem to be any options for the resolution of the .pdf conversion.) Both of the scanned versions had much poorer resolution and departed significantly from the darkness of the lines in the original. In particular, the half-tone scan varied inexplicably in darkness across different lines of text. (This has always been my experience with this particular HP scanner/software when it scans handwritten text; I think this problem is a deficiency of the HP scanning software, rather than a problem peculiar to my scanner.) The size of the .pdf was much smaller for the tablet-captured notes as opposed to the scanned notes - 94KB for the tablet .pdf, 294KB for the half-tone scan, and 363KB for the line scan, so there's a considerable savings. A couple of other nice features of this product: 1) The pen feels like a regular ballpoint pen. Because of my weird writing style, I have trouble with fat pens, but this electronic pen is very comfortable. 2) When plugged into the computer, the tablet becomes an absolute-position pointing device, which is handy for many types of software, as well as for free-hand drawing. (Note that when used for freehand drawing in Powerpoint, pen contact is interpreted as holding down the left mouse button, so your freehand form will complete the moment you lift the pen off the paper.) It meshes fine with the touchpad on my laptop - if you want to revert to using the touchpad, just move the pen away from the tablet. There's still a lot to explore in using the device. I have yet to try the handwriting recognition software. I don't know how long the ballpoint pen cartridges will last, nor whether they are a standard insert or something I'll have to order from an ACECAD vendor. I also haven't bought a standard legal pad yet to see if it fits in the tablet's depression. Too large will be useless, and too small will be almost as bad, as the ability to maintain registration requires that the pad can't slip around. Be aware that a standard 8-1/2x11" pad would be 7/8" too short for the depression, and thus could slip around vertically. However, so far, this product warrants 5 stars, especially given the price ($123)!

Fun and works very well. Quick delivery!!