C-Technologies C-Pen 800C Handheld Scanner

Pros: Great accuracy, easy PDA connectivity, good desktop interface. Lots of storage.
Cons: Primitive cable connection. Harder to use on thick books. Main menu layout. Dim display.

Why I bought a C-Pen 800c I am a graduate student and an adjunct professor. I am on the road a lot and I have been looking for a portable solution for my information-gathering needs. Quite often, I come across a valuable snippet of information, ...

Pros: Good idea...good concept
Cons: It is horrible, doesn't work, piece of junk.

Trust me. I am so disappointed with this offering; I wasted $200. Here is a brief background about the situation: The model I own is a C-Pen 800. I am a part-time grad student and I am also employed full-time. Hence, I felt I could benefit from this ...

Pros: Accurate, Big Screen, IR download to PC.
Cons: None at the moment

Excellent. Easily 99% success with no practice. Doesn't matter if its from a newspaper, book, bold, italic. Didn't like mathematical formulae, so if that's your thing...
I liked the 800C becuase its got the auto start - you don't have to hold it with a finger on the button as in the 600, you get more lines of text on the screen - really useful for seeing what you've capured, and you get the re-chargable battery - not sure yet if that's good or bad I'm waiting to see how long the battery lasts and what the replacement cost will be in a few years time!
You have to download 5MB of exe to make it compatible with XP, but that was ok. IR port is very easy. My laptop sees the C Pen 100% on two attempts, low success on the first attempt though. All in all if you're in the library doing some serious studying, this is the one.