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One feature that did appeal, however, was the Microsoft Office integration which installs an additional toolbar in Word and Excel that picks up when the Mobile NoteTaker is connected and allows freehand writing and drawing directly into documents. This is great for signing your name at the bottom of a letter and ticking your way through a questionnaire but again I found the options limited. Line thickness, colour, highlight, erase, undo and redo are pretty much your lot so it’s no substitute for a specialised digital pen.

Pegasus still has some bugs to sort out in the software too. Removing the link cable from the computer while the memory unit was still on invariably caused both my notebook and PC to crash, which could prove incredibly frustrating to any user anxious to save the device’s numerous batteries after uploading their scans, especially if you normally choose to upload and delete them from the device at the same time.

Importantly, Pegasus has included a basic writing to text program called Pen2Text. This is vital for any type of digital pen as it allows notes to be stored quickly to a more professional format for archiving, presentation or personal use. Sadly, Pen2Text is not a standalone piece of software but simply a tool that when run allows Microsoft Office’s inbuilt handwriting recognition software to recognise the Mobile NoteTaker. I had hoped Pegasus would offer something a little more specialised in its own software than something that pretty much adds up to a glorified driver, but this was not the case. What’s more, in operation I found the performance limited, as fast writing, which often appears jagged, was then understandably misinterpreted by the Office recognition software. The reliance of the pen on the pressure applied by the user, also meant writing came out with gaps. This gave the Office recognition software no chance of correctly interpreting what I had written. For me, this is one of the most important parts of any digital pen and so proves another nail in the coffin of what on the surface could have been a very good idea.

Of course the real downside of a solution like Pen2Text is that if you don’t have a copy of Microsoft Office, you’re out of luck. In fact, you have to be running Microsoft Office XP or later, which means even those running older MS Office suites like Office 2000 can’t use Pen2Text. A totally independent OCR package would have been much preferable, and usable by anyone, no matter which word processor or office suite you use.

Now, as a cheap gadget this would all be perfectly acceptable. But when put within the context of its price it borders on crazy. I am all for convergence technologies, but when you consider the Mobile NoteTaker is priced at just under £150 I cannot see many takers. This is more expensive than some colour PDAs we have had in the labs and 50 per cent more than the very useable palmOne Zire 31 which can be found for less than £100. And of course, not only do PDAs have built in handwriting recognition anyway, but also a full working office suite with Internet and email capabilities.

Being brutally honest, if the Mobile NoteTaker was a third of the price it might have some novelty appeal, yet even then it would be just as cheap to buy a scanner which would do most of the same work. Any written pages or diagrams made on the move can be scanned when you get back to the computer. If you need to sign a document, print one, sign it and scan it. Do the same for questionnaires. In all, there are too many more affordable alternatives to the Mobile NoteTaker.

All of which I find a bit of a shame because, despite its limited functionality, the Mobile NoteTaker does have some clever and potentially useful scanning technology. Sadly as it stands, a device which was designed to transfer notes from the real world to the virtual world has turned out to be a bridge too far.

Verdict

A potentially useful novelty gadget spoilt by cheap build quality, basic functionality, a lack of OCR support and a completely unrealistic price.

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