• Seiko Instruments

• $100

• Can be used with any pad of paper up to legal size
• Can be used with any handheld with an infrared port
• Images can be moved to a desktop and exported

• Some lefties might have problems
• Pad needs to be very non-flexible

Design:
Cost/benefit:
Coolness:
Overall:

Hardware
The InkLink is made up of three main parts: the Data Clip, the Electronic Pen, and the IrDA Transceiver.

The Data Clip looks like what George Jetson would use to hold closed a bag of Space Potato Chips. It is about six inches long and gets clipped to the top of the pad of paper you want to write on. Built into it are sensors that monitor the location of the Electronic Pen.

Of course, you don't have to use a pad of paper; you can use with almost anything. The InkLink could be a godsend to all those people who do their best work on napkins in cocktail bars. This flexibility makes it much more useful than the SmartPad.

The Electronic Pen constantly broadcasts to the Data Clip its position and whether it is writing or not. On one end is a ball point pen. On the other is a stylus point that can be used with a handheld. The Data Clip can only detect the location of the Pen if the ball point pen end is being used. It is powered by three watch batteries.

IrDA Transceiver is on a wire about 12 inches long that plugs into the Data Clip. There is a AAA battery inside that also powers the Data Clip. The Data Clip doesn't have a power switch. It is activated when the Transceiver is plugged in and will turn itself off if it isn't used for a few minutes.

The Transceiver is a couple of inches long. It has a plastic clip that lets it be attached over the infrared port on any handheld. This is how the InkLink communicates with the handheld.

The InkLink comes with a plastic case that keeps all its parts together in one package.

Setting up is easy. Just clip the Data Clip to the piece of paper you want to write on then plug in the Transceiver and clip it over your IR port.

Software
The Palm app is called InkNote Manager 3.0. It handles displaying the images as they are entered and saving them.

Really, using the InkLink for its basic use isn't complicated. You just write or draw and it gets transferred into a file on your handheld. It's just that simple.

When you are writing or drawing, InkNote Manager shows the full page on the handheld's screen. That doesn't give you any detail but is enough to let you know basically what you are doing. Later you can enlarge your drawing to full size on the screen to pick out the details.

You can save your drawings and open them again later. If you want to pick where you left off adding things to a drawing, you can. Just open the drawing again, clip the hardware on, and start writing.

I'd suggest you make a few small marks at the top of the page where the Data Clip is attached. This will help you get it lined up if you need to attach it to the same page again. This is important if you want the drawing on your handheld to look exactly like the one on your paper.

Of course, there are a lot of options you can make use of that add a lot of functionality. The pen itself has only one color ink but you can change the color that is saved in your handheld. You can also use different line thicknesses. You can even automatically straighten your lines.

The first time you use it, you have to set your paper size. InkNote Manager has the standard ones built-in, like Letter, Legal, etc. But if you can still use a non-standard pad. You can quickly show it how big the paper is and save that size. If you always use the same size paper, you only have to do this once.

You can make changes to drawings directly on your handheld, too. You can add or remove lines or text and highlight things, too.

Of course, InkNote Manager has a screen that lets you choose which file to edit. It will display you files as a list or as tiny versions of your drawings.

InkNote Manager tries hard to help you find your drawings later. You can categorize them, of course, but you can also assign them keywords. Of course, this means you have to be a bit organized yourself and enter some keywords, especially if you are going to save a lot of files.

Space is always at a premium on a handheld and I don't think InkLink's documents are especially large.. A single InkLink page with just a few lines on it is 2 KB. A fairly complicated one is over 13 KB. Each file can have up to 50 pages so it is possible for you to fill your handheld's memory but you'd have to do a lot of writing.

Drawbacks
The InkLink doesn't work well if you are writing on a flexible surface, like a pad of paper in your lap. If you lean on the pad and it bends, the curve of the pad will change the distance between the pen and the data Clip. This means that lines won't be entered into the app exactly where you put them on the paper. This can really throw off a drawing or the spacing between your lines of text.

If you are left handed and wrap your fingers around the top of your pen, you won't be able to use the InkLink. It depends on there being an unobstructed line-of-sight between the pen and the Data Clip at the top of the paper. This won't work if your fingers are in the way.

Desktop
InkNote Manager has a conduit that copies your drawings onto your Windows computer. Sadly, there isn't a Mac client nor does Seiko have any plans to create on any time soon.

Once the drawing are on your PC, you can work with them there, print them, and export them. Files can be exported as BMP, JPG, or PNG. The user can also specify the number of dots per inch, with 72 being the default, though you can have higher than that.

If you want to, you don't even have to use this with your handheld at all. It comes with a USB cable that also powers the Data Clip and you can make your drawings directly into your desktop or laptop.

Conclusion
The InkLink is a great way of entering non-text info into your Palm. Is it for everyone? Of course not. But if you need make drawings and save them to your handheld or desktop, it's a very useful tool. Plus, it's just fun to use.

You can't complain about the price, either. It's more flexible than the SmartPad 2 and, at $100, costs half as much.