Livescribe 8GB Echo Digital Voice Recorder Pro Pack Product Review

In this Livescribe 8 GB Smartpen Pro Pack APX00007 Product Review, Digital Smartpen.com visitors will find current information about the Livescribe Echo 8 GB Pro Pack Product offered at Amazon. The exciting, versatile and feature-rich Echo 8 GB smartpen is the core product of the Livescribe 8GB Echo Smartpen Pro Pack. The Echo 8 GB Pro Pack is ranked number 9 in Electronics, in Digital Pens, and a great product for business, health,  and marketing professionals, college students and many others.

Many consumers have been searching online for a Livescribe Echo 8 GB Smartpen Pro Pack APX00007 Product Review that is current. This product has been generating a ton of buzz and attention lately, as more and more people realize its tremendous value, the versatility, and the functionality of this smartpen bundle and the productivity gains it offers users.

First of all, I believe that the Livescribe 8 GB Echo Smartpen is the Best All Around digital pen recorder for multi-tasking college students, professionals and many others.  This 8 GB Echo Smartpen Product is the core product of the fabulous bundle, the Livescribe 8 GB Echo Smartpen Pro Pack, APX-00007.

I own a Livescribe 4 GB Echo Voice Recorder Smartpen, and bought a Livescribe Echo 8 GB  Pro Pack for my multi-tasking son who is a business professional. I also own myself MyScribe for Livescribe, the third party software component which transcribes legible handwritten notes and drawings to digital text.

I have tried all 8GB Pro Pack components and provide current 8 GB product bundle details, as well as details on each Livescribe Echo 8 GB Smartpen Pro Pack component.

The Livescribe 8 GB Echo Pro Pack is a great offering for business, health and marketing professionals who are on the go with many meetings, interviews and conferences.  These users will benefit most from a digital voice recording pen for capturing complete lecture notes, integrated with handwritten notes and drawings for recording conversations,  while attending meetings and presentations and traveling. They can use their Livescribe smartpens without a computer handy, 24/7.

The most popular Livescribe apps and third party apps for multi-tasking business, health and sales professionals are reviewed for considering when customizing your smartpen and enhancing your own electronic pen toolkit.

How Digital Smartpen Technology Works

In conjunction with Livescribe special dot paper, the smart pen digitally records whatever the pen owner writes or draws. At the same time, the Livescribe Smartpen records audio  while the owner is writing or drawing and synthesizes the recordings.

Recorded audio can be played back by touching the pen to the dot paper at the desired point. The recorded digital information can also be transferred to a computer for storage, searching, retrieval, editing, review, and transmission to other formats or other users, just like any computer file. The synthesizing feature insures the integrated notes can be amended or extended anytime is the future.

Digital voice recording technology featured in the Livescribe smartpens has transformed the pen from a writing instrument into a multimedia communication tool. Drawings of visual input can now be integrated with audio recordings and written notes, stored and searched in digital form, and reviewed and shared through multiple media.

Not to be overlooked is the value of the Livescribe smartpens as digital voice recorders which will allow the Livescribe Echo smartpens to capture a complete recording of a meeting, conversation or lecture as well as the handwritten notes and drawings recorded during the lecture integrating the two.  This synchronization feature offers the benefit that the integrated recordings can be updated or extended in the future based on the original recordings.

Notes transferred to the Livescribe Desktop can also be converted to digital text using one of the key components of the Echo 8 GB Pro Pack bundle, MyScribe for Livescribe. MyScribe is the Vision Object third party software component which transcribes legible handwritten notes and drawings to digital text for ease of searching, organization, retrieval and sharing.

This combination of features and benefits creates a digital recorder tool of enormous power and versatility.  Combined with the Livescribe Desktop personal online 500 MB interface, this electronic pen can facilitate safe archiving, organization, searching and sharing of my notes from lectures and conferences, capabilities setting Livescribe smartpen Products apart from their competitors.

Pen Choice is Personal

All the Livescribe technology is always ever evolving and when you read a Livescribe 8 GB Echo Smartpen APA-00007 Product Review, you might be surprised at how the product has evolved since the product was rolled out in fall 2010. For those multi-tasking professionals who require the use of a writing instrument which is capable of performing a wide range of different tasks, a smartpen could prove to be the very best selection.

Anyone who works in a busy office environment or on the road, is enrolled in a complicated college environment, or even has to deal with stressful day to day activities, can benefit from the pen recorder features. This digital voice recorder pen has the potential to make your life a lot easier, and you far more organized and productive.

How is this achieved? There are two chief functions of a Livescribe smartpen where the pen can prove most helpful. First, unlike competitor digital pen recorders, the Livescribe smartpen will act as a digital voice recorder (The Livescribe 8 GB Digital Voice Recorder is the best example of this feature with its limitless storage) capturing crystal clear audio of every word of a lecture, meetings, conference or conversation.

Secondly, the audio output can be integrated with handwritten notes and drawings captured at the same time and stored in pen memory or in a flash drive for later use. Have you attended a lecture when the presenter turns to a whiteboard to record a formula while continuing to speak? Have you listened to a presenter who speaks with an accent or too quickly or too softly? The voice recording pen captures it all and can play back the integrated notes at a speed and volume best for you.

Remember in our business, sales and academic environments, how extremely difficult it is to take notes of everything said by the presenter or an instructor in a lecture, while writing on a whiteboard or in an aside to another meeting participant, much less remember all the important things you would like to remember. With a smartpen, you would not have to worry about remembering because an integrated and complete recording would be captured. You can focus on the presenter and “Never Miss an Important Thought!”

Even more exciting would be the ability creating text transcriptions of the audio and handwritten notes. To say that this proves to be a huge time and work saver for the person using the pen would be a dramatic understatement.

Once again, this becomes a tremendous time and effort saving device for those who would prefer to dedicate their time to more productive pursuits.

Students would be relieved of having to take notes during a class lecture and a business person could use the pen during a meeting or other similar function since the events would be recorded by the pen.

Since the pen offers a transcription capability, it is not necessary to replay the recordings and transcribe them by hand – a long and laborious process! Your Pro Pack MyScript digital transcription app can handle this task eliminating many manual steps.

Of course, transferring the notes to the Livescribe Desktop to keep the recording of all actual audio files generated during the conference or in a semester in an Custom Notebook on the Livescribe is always an option. A student playing in a band or taking a music class can record an audio of each song to practice intonation or playing harmony.

An Electronic Pen User Does Not Require Technical Skills 

One thing that needs to be pointed out here – not all consumers are technologically skilled. This may make them more than a little concerned about whether or not they can operate a pen as capable as a Livescribe 8 GB Smartpen product.

The pen technology may make exporting files to a computer or other source easy without requiring any special technical knowledge. All you need to do is connect the smartpen to the source with a USB cable. Once you have transferred the files, sharing and distributing the notes becomes easier thanks to other apps designed to help with these functions.

Organization of Notes for Search, Retrieval and Sharing

The organizational benefits of these pens are also extremely helpful. Taking notes is often the easy part. The difficulty level comes into play when the time arrives to actually organize or review the notes. Such a task becomes doubly difficult when you have many pages of handwritten notes in front of you and you want to find the ones you need most and organize them for sharing or research.

In prior generations, you would have had to search through all the manually written notes. A smartpen makes searching your notes easier since you can employ a special search function that will seek out a keyword or a two consective word phrase (a keyword is a specific words or phrases you have chosen in the notes for searching).

As soon as you type in the search term and hit enter, you will find highlighted thumbnails of pages with the phrases instantly. You can set up a Custom Notebook and name it (using a key Search Term), by dragging and dropping the pages or selected content to the newly created Custom Notebook.

Again, you will find this way of organizing notes for search and retrieval  to be a tremendous help thanks to the significant amount of your time that will be saved and the completeness of the search results, once you get the hang of it.

One of the more interesting functions of a quality smartpen product that cannot be over-emphasized is the capabilities to synchronize the notes with the digital audio recorded. This means you will be able to listen to the audio as you are reviewing your notes allowing you to ensure everything is properly lined up. Interestingly, even if you wish to make amendments to the notes, the audio will remain synchronized. This features alone is a testament to the value of using a Livescribe smartpen. Consumers might be surprised to learn there are even more added features to this pene

All Livescribe Echo Digital Voice Recorder Smartpens share the same features and functionality.  These Digital pen recorders vary mainly in smartpen storage and the pen with the least memory has ample storage for most people.  All the pens share the same Livescribe Desktop capabilities and applications.

Factors to consider in choosing the Livescribe 8 GB Echo Smartpen Pro Pack APX-00007

•  Your Note taking needs—What are your needs for storing notes on the pen? Will you have access during a conference or vacation to your laptop for transferring notes? 800 hours of audio is a lot of audio.  Will you need to keep tremendous amounts of audio and handwritten notes on the pen in addition to smartpen applications?
• Availability of your computer for transfer of notes
•  Current Price-Livescribe prices are volatile. What is the current price and pen value relative to other digital voice recorder products?  It is important to know the model number; typically the price of the product escalates dramatically as a newer product is introduced or a new bundle is created generating changes in Livescribe marketing of a particular product.
• Retailer-Amazon and other online retailers often sell through Third Parties who may not offer the same Free Shipping and other options offered by Amazon

The Livescribe 8 GB Echo Smartpen APA-00007 may be the best choice for:

•  Business, Sales and Health Professionals, and General Use—Adequate memory for apps and lots of notes to remain on the pen a long time during travel or conferences or when there is no access to computers.  Notes and drawing content for brainstorming requirements and design;  requirements for a long lasting battery to last a full day;
• ESL and ELL students and Foreign Language Learners-for storing advanced language packs, conversations, class notes, etc.. Space for extra apps on the pen, exercises,  Extra storage for apps and for complete recordings of lectures, conversations, meetings and exercises may speed linguistic proficiency.
• Extra Apps for Entertainment, creating and playing interactive storybooks may require storage of apps and notes.
• College Students and students seeking improved academic performance-Require extra storage for extensive notes, even an archive of all class audio recordings, and advanced note organization and retrieval, applications, sharing and collaboration with colleagues, teachers, and study groups

Livescribe Echo 8 GB Smartpen Pro Pack APX-00007 In Action

So, what exactly is the Livescribe 8 GB Echo Smartpen Pro Pack APX-00007?

The Livescribe Echo 8 GB Smartpen is basically a digital pen and a digital voice recorder all wrapped up into one easy to use pocket-size pen package you can use 24/7. Using special paper, anything you write will be instantly, digitally recorded for convenient storage and computer access while you record everything that is said by the instructor or presenter. The smartpen is a technological device, and the Pro Pack has two more technological components and a Smartpen Portfolio designed for multi-taskers on the go all the time.

The 8 GB Echo Smartpen has all the storage you need to customize your digital pen recorder with your choice of the best applications offered by Livescribe and Thire Party Vendors.  I have provided an Overview of the Optional Applications that are Available and recommended for Consideration!

Livescribe Sticky Notes

Extra Apps to Consider with the Echo 8 GB Smartpen Pro Pack

The 8 GB Echo Smartpen can be used with other excellent apps, services, and features which further expand and extend its capabilities:

• The availability of a Livescribe digital pen product which unlike the Livescribe 2 GB digital pens includes  Connect Premium is  an one excellent plus.  The 2 GB Smartpens include Connect Basic which allows you to send your notes to any destination you wish. Essentially, your text notes and audio recordings can be saved as a pdf and sent as an interactive pencast To Facebook. With Connect Premium, you acquire all the different items needed to make this possible including the Connect Basic connectors and an additional three expanded Premium Connectors designed to work with email, Google Docs and Google Sites.
• Evernote Premium remains another excellent app which will expand how the organization and search of notes taken by a smartpen is handled. Evernote is easily one of the best software based services for notetaking, searching and archiving. If you wish to maintain complete records of all your notes and maintain perennial access to synchronized notes from any location, Evernote can provide tremendous productivity gains. Evernote Premium syncs the notes from other sources.
• Livescribe Sound Sticker Apps:
• Livescribe Sticky Notes:  These 3 X 5 inch adhesive-backed and re-positionable notes are more versatile than pages in a Livescribe notebook, and facilitate recording your voice and writing onto the pen, for use in locating your notes, and organizing and prioritizing notes in general.  The notepads are easier to carry and easy to re-arrange. A change in priorities and the individual notes can be moved around to create, locate, or prioritize content or pages in a Livescribe Notebook.   Add notes to a textbook or create a prioritized to-do list easily.  Organizing your sticky pad notes is quick and will help you remember your ideas and action items and determine which things you need to do.
• The Livescribe Paper Tablet enables a Livescribe Echo Digital Pen Recorder to seem like a graphics tablet that can display a page of your Livescribe Notebook. Use your digital pen recorder for addition of a video, insertion of audio or additional handwritten notes and drawings, or a digital signature as you transform your page. With the Paper Tablet, the smartpen can be transformed from a writing tool, to a digital pen addressing a need for organizing and enhancing the notes in general. You can even add keywords for improved searching. For examples, use the display like a graphics tablet when you are reviewing and editing a Microsoft Windows 2010 Powerpoint Presentation in landscape mode or you are updating and sharing a Word Document of Step by Step Guidelines for Solving Equations in Protrait Mode.
• 70,000 word American Heritage Desktop Dictionary
• 40,000 Word Bilingual Spanish/English, English/Spanish Translator- Tap a word for instant translation, definition and pronunciation. Also, check verb conjugation.

In terms of hardware, both the 8 GB Smartpen Pro Pack product APX00007 which includes 8 GB pen or the Livescribe 8 GB Echo Smartpen APA-00007 itself without Pro Pack  components can add a great deal to a smartpen utility and your productivity.

What are the benefits of using such a versatile and powerful electronic pen bundle? In summary, they include:

• You can capture every word of a lecture or conversation on the smartpen with impressive clarity; with a digital voice recorder you need never miss a thought.
• The capability to record a voice recording, as well as digital handwriting and drawing and record with all the notes synchronized and stored on the smartpen or transferred to the computer for organization, update, search and replay
• You can convert legible handwriting into digital text using the optional module MyScribe for Livescribe by Vision Objects, for improved organization, searching and replaying and sharing;
• You get the top notch Livescribe Desktop support, the free 500 MB personal web space offered by Livescribe.   On the Livescribe Desktop you can archive notes, create Custom Notebooks by dragging and dropping Notebook Content to organize for search and retrieval, and search for replay or export for sharing.
• You have the ability to update the notes that are stored on the Livescribe Desktop like any ordinary computer file. Recorded notes, images and text files can be combined with the integrated notes and custom virtual notebooks created. Export information from the Desktop to Facebook, Google Docs, Evernote or even a cell phone for sharing
• You can search notes and retrieve by keyword replaying using superior audio controls. With the advanced audio controls, you can replay at a slower speed to improve comprehension, pause, and restart, skip to a prior keyword or jump forward to another.
• You can record 800 hours of content or even thousands of pages on the pen

Livescribe 3-D Stereo Earbuds

Pro Pack Content: What You Get Out of the Box:

Out of the Box

The Echo Pro Pack Product APX-00007  includes the following Components of the Livescribe Echo 8 GB APA-00007:

• Livescribe 8 GB Echo Smartpen APA-00007
• The  3-D Recording Premium Headset, and
• Complete access to the MyScript for Livescribe Vision Objects transcription software CD ROM;
• Two extra smartpen caps and two ink cartridges,
• Livescribe Desktop Software.
• 500 MB of online personal Pencast Storage for organizing, sharing and collaboration
• A Standard Micro USB cable for Note transfer and battery charging
• Starter Dot Paper Notebook – special paper with DPS (like GPS) technology
• Protective soft case
• Smartpen Tips and Tricks
• Getting Started Guide

Bottom Line

 Livescribe 8GB Echo Smartpen Pro Pack APX-00007 is a great buy which will improve your productivity on the job and at home and enhance your life in general. The Echo 8 GB smartpen is the top digital voice recorder smartpen product on the market, ranked #5 at Amazon in Digital Voice Recorders and also in Digital Pens.

The Pro Pack components will help you use this product to advantage. For multi-tasking professionals, days are typically crammed with activity and an Echo 8GB Smartpen Pro Pack will go a long way to lesson your burdens and help you reach your goals.  

Whether you purchase an Echo 8 GB Smartpen Pro Pack APX-00007, an Echo 8 GB APA-00007or other model of Echo smartpen product, you can feel confident you are acquiring a great pen which can deliver on tremendous  benefits for personal productivity in many different environments.

In my Review of the Livescribe Echo 8 GB Smartpen APA-00007 Amazon Product, I have described in detail the features of this marvellous pen, other reasons why you must go for one and how you will benefit from owning one.  For details, visit:

For details on the Livescribe 8 GB Echo Pro Pack at Amazon Click: Livescribe 8 GB Echo Smartpen Pro Pack (APX-00007)