By Andrew Liszewski
While the Apple Newton was really the first gadget to introduce handwriting recognition to the consumer world it was far from perfect. From my own experiences the technology really only became useful with the Palm Pilot’s Graffiti system but even then the user had to learn a special variation of the alphabet and could only write the characters on a designated area of the screen. It was definitely far from true handwriting recognition but it was still quite usable. (My trusty Handspring Visor still sits on my desk to this day.)
Fast forward to today and most stylus driven PDAs and tablet PCs contain a fairly robust handwriting recognition system but at the same time they’re not exactly cheap. And that’s why the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer was so intriguing to me since it offered a certain level of handwriting recognition in a small form factor and at a reasonable price.
After playing with the pen for a few weeks now I’ve come to the conclusion that some of its features will appeal to a younger demographic while other features might be useful for the older crowd. You can check out my full review of the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer after the jump.
*Update: In my original review I claimed the FLY Fusion was not capable of recognizing or converting cursive writing, and could only be used with printed text. Upon further testing I’ve discovered this was not completely correct and I’ve updated the review, including my conclusions, accordingly.
LeapFrog FLY Fusion Pentop Computer
Before I break down the features and capabilities of the FLY Fusion Pen and how I think they’ll appeal to different age groups let’s take a look at the hardware itself and how the pen works.
Inside the FLY Fusion box you’ll find all the equipment you’ll need to use the pen right away. Of course to take advantage of all the pen’s features you’ll need to have a Windows PC with USB capabilities but there’s still plenty of other things the pen can do on its own. Just keep in mind that while the FLY Fusion Pen doesn’t need a PC to operate it can only be charged via the USB cable. So if a PC is not available you’ll need to find some other kind of USB power source or adapter to charge the battery.
I also have to point out that the included FLY World software is not compatible with Macs which is probably a deal breaker for anyone in the Apple camp. But those XP and Vista users who are still with me will be happy to know that in addition to this software the FLY Fusion Pen also comes with a USB cable (mini to standard) and a FLY Fusion starter notebook which is pretty much essential to the operation of the pen. But more on that later.
Inside the software sleeve you’ll find the installation CD that includes the FLY World application and some great flash-based video tutorials. If you want to get up to speed on how to use the pen as quickly as possible the videos are definitely worth watching. In addition my demo unit included a sample $10 FLYbucks gift card that can be used to purchase additional software on the FLY Fusion website. Looking at the library there are several educational titles that cover topics like Algebra, French and Spanish but also games that capitalize on popular franchises like Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean. I can only assume the retail version of the FLY Fusion Pen will also include this gift card.
Even though the FLY Fusion Pen is primarily aimed at a younger demographic I like that LeapFrog chose a sleek and clean design for it instead of bright colors and a more kid-friendly appearance. I think it helps make the device more appealing to an older demographic as well who wouldn’t be afraid of using it in a work or school environment.
It’s also incredibly simple to use with just a single button on top to turn the pen on and off and a twisting tip that can be used to extend or retract the ball point pen. Once it’s powered up all the functionality in the pen is accessed and triggered by simply writing, drawing or tapping in the FLY Fusion Notebooks.
As for the size it’s definitely larger than a typical pen as you can see it sitting here next to a fine point Sharpie marker. And thanks to the rechargeable batteries and various electronics inside the FLY Fusion Pen is also noticeably heavier than a regular pen, but not to the point of inducing wrist strain after using it for a while. It’s obvious the company has worked hard on both the ergonomics of its design as well as trying to keep it as slim as possible. As the technology improves and more importantly shrinks I’m sure future versions of the FLY Fusion Pen will be even lighter and slimmer.
I also have to mention that all the electronics that are responsible for the pen’s size also result in the ink cartridge being not as long as you’d find in a standard ball point pen. So not only do you have to buy special FLY Fusion replacement ink cartridges but the cartridges themselves won’t last as long as regular sized ones.
Besides an audible greeting delivered by a built-in speaker (slightly better quality than what’s included on the Wii-mote) the only sign that the FLY Fusion Pen is turned on and operating is the ‘FLY’ logo on top which lights up. It can also flash in different colors to indicate certain functions like when it’s recording a note or recharging the battery.
On one side of the FLY Fusion pen is a rubber gasket that covers the headphone jack when it’s not being used. And it’s a real headphone jack too, none of that miniature 2.5mm crap that requires you to buy a special adapter. As you can see my headphones connect just fine to the pen which is something I can’t even do on the iPhone without an adapter.
Since the FLY Fusion Pen has no screen it relies solely on audio cues for letting you know what mode it’s in, what you just entered or if there’s any errors. While using the pen you’ll need to be able to hear these cues at all times so if you don’t want to disturb others around you a set of headphones is probably a must have accessory.
On the bottom of the FLY Fusion Pen you’ll find a standard USB mini jack which like I mentioned earlier is used to recharge the device but also for syncing it to the FLY World software on your PC. While mini USB is very common these days and has even been settled on as a standard for cell phones it’s nice to see that LeapFrog hasn’t chosen to use some ridiculous proprietary connection here.
Just above the USB jack on the bottom of the pen you’ll also find the memory module that can be removed and replaced with an optional Memory Expansion Cartridge adding an extra 64Mb of storage. From what I can tell the pen already has 64Mb built-in and if you only use the pen for capturing notes it should definitely last you a while. But if you want to take advantage of its MP3 capabilities or add a lot of extra software you’ll probably fill that up really quick.
Now while the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer manages to pack a lot of functionality into a small form factor it’s actually completely useless without one of the special FLY Fusion Notebooks seen here. The one that came with my review unit is what I’d consider a starter version because of its size but the additional notebooks you can buy are considerably thicker and will last a lot longer.
A lot of people would consider having to buy special paper a big disadvantage to the FLY Fusion Pen but when you think about it it’s still a lot cheaper than most PDAs, not to mention a tablet PC. And I guarantee the pen and notebook combination will probably last a lot longer in the hands of a kid than any PDA would. So I feel you really need to take price into consideration when you’re looking at what the FLY Fusion has to offer.
But what’s so special about these notebooks and why can’t you just use regular paper?
Well when you open the notebook it looks just like standard ruled paper but if you look closely you’ll actually see a complex pattern of dots on every single page. I’m really surprised they turned out at all in the above macro shot but you actually get a good idea of what the paper looks like in this photo and why the pen simply won’t work with regular paper.
Taking another look at the tip of the FLY Fusion Pen you can see that underneath the ball point tip is actually a small piece of glass or plastic that presumably hides and protects a small camera. As you write with the pen the camera reads the dots on the page and is able to track its motion and can even tell what part of the page you’re on. (Or if you’re on a different page all together.) To me the dots look pretty random but I’m sure they’re arranged in some mathematically significant way so that the camera on the pen can better interpret the motion. Of course exactly how the pen works is probably a trade secret that LeapFrog won’t be sharing anytime soon.
But while the hardware is fun to look at it’s the functionality that makes any device worth its weight so let’s take a look at what the FLY Fusion Pen can do. Like I mentioned before I think the pen will appeal to both a younger and older demographic but in different ways so I’ll break down the functionality into those two categories.
The FLY Fusion Pen For The Younger Demographic
Before you start writing or using a notebook you need to tap on a sticker on the cover which from what I can tell gives each book a unique ID. By tapping on the sticker the pen is then able to keep track of which book a particular page came from if you’re using more than one. When using the pen by itself it’s not really that vital but when you sync to the FLY World software it becomes an important way to organize your notes.
When you open the FLY Fusion Notebook you’ll find what appears to be a bunch of controls printed on the inside of the front and back covers. Like the lined paper these controls are covered in thousands of tiny dots which tell the pen which particular control you’re tapping on.
Besides capturing handwriting and drawings which I’ll cover later on the FLY Fusion also has an impressive list of other functions. This includes games, educational puzzles, quizzes, a dictionary, a thesaurus, a spell-checker, language translation, a calendar, musical instruments, MP3 playback and even mathematical equation solving. The easiest way to access any of these functions and a great way to save paper is to retract the ball point pen and simply tap on any of the controls found here.
At first it’s kind of weird to have the pen respond to a printed button but you can kind of compare it to using a stylus on a touch screen. Except of course accidentally forgetting to retract the ball point pen when using the buttons on the notebook doesn’t do as much damage as it would on an LCD display.
Taking a closer look you can see there are different sections for operating different functions of the pen. For example here are the controls for the Scheduler and Settings that includes a full QWERTY keyboard with numbers, days and months that can be used for setting up appointments, alarms or reminders. As you tap on the various buttons you get audible feedback as to what you’ve just pressed or what you need to enter next and the whole process is actually very easy to use.
Similarly here you can see the controls for a simple calculator as well as the FLY Fusion Pen’s built-in MP3 player. Not surprisingly it’s bretty basic and the MP3s need to be uploaded via the FLY World software (though it does come with a few pre-loaded.) The controls work very similar to an iPod allowing you to scroll through the songs with its wheel while it reads off the numbers on its playlist. But like I mentioned before while the included memory on the pen is fine for capturing text, adding MP3s will fill it up very quickly, even with the 64Mb memory expansion.
The inside of the back cover will appeal to the more creative types particularly those interested in music since it has a miniature keyboard as well as various rhythm loop options that seem to emulate a drum machine. The quality and samples is what you’d expect from a device this small but it could keep a younger child occupied for a while. In the photo you can also see that certain functions are contained within a dotted line and these can only be accessed after you’ve purchased the FLY Fusion Music Studio Pro software. In addition to extra keyboard sounds it also unlocks the pen’s digital recording functions that will allow you to record a song you plink out on the piano. It’s kind of fun to play with but I’m not sure if it’s worth the price of the extra software.
Some of the functions built-in to the FLY Fusion Pen have quite a few options and ‘sub-menus’ but since the pen has no other buttons besides power navigating through these options is accomplished with the FLY Compass seen here. Tapping above, below, to the right or to the left of the circled ‘M’ allows you to easily navigate through the options and at any time you can tap on the ‘M’ itself to hear your current location. It may sound cumbersome but it actually works surprisingly well and the more you use the pen the more you remember the menu structure allowing you to jump around a lot quicker.
But if you’re in the middle of working on an assignment and wanted to access one of the pen’s functions you actually don’t need to flip back to the inside cover to tap on the controls printed there. What’s really cool is that you can actually draw the FLY Compass controls that correspond to the function you want on whatever page you’re using.
Here I’ve drawn the main menu FLY Compass and just like with the controls on the inside cover you can access the various options by tapping above, below or to the left and right of this symbol. That’s why you can see the random blue dots inside and around the ‘M’ from the taps I made when navigating.
But in addition to the FLY Compass you can also draw additional controls depending on what function you’re using.
Here I’ve drawn the FLY Compass menu for the MP3 player and once it’s done you can access a set of audible instructions that tell you how to draw buttons for Play, Stop, Pause, Prev and Next. Once they’re all drawn you can simply tap on them like real buttons and control the MP3 playback on the pen.
Another function I found particularly useful was the FLY Calc. Well, to be honest it would have probably been a lot more useful when I was taking grade school math since I don’t really deal with a lot of equations these days. (That’s right kids, sometimes you don’t need advanced math when you grow up!) Anyways the FLY Calc can be used to automatically solve math equations you’ve written out whether they’re simple BEDMAS calculations, fractions, decimels or even more advanced Algebra with one of the additional software titles.
Here’s some relatively simply equations I threw at the pen and as long as it properly recognizes the numbers and symbols you’ve written it will actually solve the equation for you. After you’ve drawn the ‘equal’ sign you just double-tap and the FLY Fusion Pen will read back the answer to the equation. It’s not that useful if you have to show your work (like most teachers will require) but it could come in handy for double-checking your results.
The FLY Fusion Pen I was sent also included a sample booklet of educational games that are mostly comprised of puzzles and quizzes definitely targeted at a younger age group. The booklet included about 13 different activities and I assume is kind of a preview of what you’d expect to find in the additional software packages.
One thing I found particularly neat about the extra games is how they were activated. Using the functions in the FLY Fusion Notebook usually just required you to tap on a button but the games actually require you to slowly swipe the pen across a bar filled with that complex dot pattern. It makes me wonder if this process is actually used to load the game into the pen and how much data the dot pattern can actually store.
The FLY Fusion Pen For The Older Demographic
So while the FLY Fusion Pen can be used to play games or solve math equations, the older demographic (maybe 16+?) will probably only be interested in its ability to record notes and translate your handwriting into an editable text document.
The FLY Fusion Pen does work as promised in this regard but there are some caveats that might turn some people off. The biggest is that the pen will only recognize printed text. You can of course use cursive writing with the pen but it will only store your notes as images and won’t translate them into editable text. In addition it’s recommended that you make sure to print as neatly as possible and follow the alphabet guideline as shown in the FLY Fusion manual.
*Update: Based on comments made on a related post it has come to my attention that the FLY Fusion pen and software is actually able to record and recognize written text. While the other functions, including the FLY Compass menus and interactive applications seem to require you to print from my testing, notes captured in cursive writing can be converted to editable text with the FLY World software. While I found the accuracy to be slightly less than with printed text, it still recognized most of my particularly poor scribblings.
I have to admit I’m surprised that I could not find a single mention of this functionality in the FLY Fusion manual. In fact it seems to go out of its way to indicate that only printing was supported, like I originally believed.
On the plus side you don’t have to learn another set of characters like the Palm Pilot’s Graffiti required but if you’ve developed some unique variations on certain letters over the years you’re going to need to re-learn how to print the basic alphabet. I actually came across another problem because sometime in high school I developed an all-capital-letters printing style that I’m pretty sure resulted from a couple of drafting classes. (Having to print technical labels and such in all capital letters.) So while the pen easily recognizes all the letters I write I actually have to go into Word and reduce them all to lower case letters if I were to have any intentions of emailing the content without SHOUTING.
For this review I created a small sample of printing and drawings so you can see how the pen works and how well it actually captures your notes.
Before you get started you need to activate the FLY Notes function and like with everything else this can be done by tapping on the buttons on the inside flap of the cover or by drawing your own FLY Notes Compass controls on the page complete with ‘On’ and ‘Off’ buttons. Once you tap the ‘On’ button the device starts to capture everything you write or draw and the pen will actually blink letting you know you’re in the recording mode. Tapping the ‘Off’ button of course stops the recording.
Here’s a shot of the verbage I copied from a LeapFrog press release and the crude versions of both the FLY Fusion Pen and the FLY Fusion logo I drew. (Hint: It’s a fly.) When I was satisfied with my poor renditions and sloppy printing I connected the FLY Fusion Pen to my laptop and started up the FLY World software.
Before you can use the application you have to login which I assume is to help keep your documents both private and secure. Once logged in the software will automatically upload any new documents on the pen and then delete those copies so they only exist on your PC. You can then see all the pages you’ve written exactly as they appear in the notebook and they’re stored in the software according to what notebook they were recorded in (in my case I have 2 different FLY Fusion Notebooks) and when they were created. It’s simple but it works just fine.
From here you have the option to either print the page, email it as text, email it as a large image, save it as an image or open it as an editable text document in your word processor. But before you send it off to the word processor you can actually go in and tell the software what parts of the page are an image so that it doesn’t get confused when trying to translate one of your drawings.
You simply activate the ‘Image Selection Tool’ which switches the cursor to a crosshair and then draw a selection box around what parts of the page are supposed to be an image. The selection box then turns purple and remains on the page until you choose to clear it.
Here’s my text and drawings exported from the FLY World software as an image. It’s been slightly reduced in size to fit the width of this page but I’ve included an inset of the back end of the FLY Fusion Pen drawing at 100% so you can see what resolution the pen captures the strokes at. I’m pretty sure my hand wasn’t that jittery when I was drawing the picture so odds are you don’t want to rely on the FLY Fusion Pen as a high-end drawing tool. But it’s fine for the occasional sketch or doodle.
Here’s the results of exporting my page to Microsoft Word. It translated everything on the page into editable text except of course for the area I indicated as being a drawing. To be honest when I was printing I tried to rush myself and be sloppy in an attempt to produce some mistakes in the conversion but the software managed to perfectly translate everything I had written, though it did confuse one of my periods for a comma.
However you’ll notice that it maintained the exact same line breaks as in my hand printed copy which left me with a very thin column of text when it was brought into Word. I actually can’t find any options in the FLY World software to enable full page width word-wrapping so I guess you’ll need to reformat it yourself once it’s in your word processor. It’s not the biggest pain but it will add time to the whole document conversion process.
The FLY World software is also used to sync both applications and MP3s to the pen. On one side you see the FLY Fusion applications you have installed and are available and on the other side you see what’s currently been uploaded to your pen. (As seen in the image.) For the most part the bundled applications aren’t that large except for the Spanish Translator Pro app which weighs in at a whopping 14Mb! So it’s easy to see how quickly the pen’s 64Mb of memory can get filled up. Otherwise the FLY World software is pretty basic which also makes it really easy to use.
Conclusions
Overall I’d have to say I’m fairly impressed with what the FLY Fusion Pen is capable of. Based on the packaging and a passing glance you might think it was nothing more than a child’s toy but when you really start digging into the various functions you’ll definitely be surprised at just how capable this ‘pentop computer’ really is.
If you have kids in grade school or just starting high school the pen could probably serve as a handy homework assistant but just be careful they don’t come to rely on it too much. I’m pretty sure their teachers wouldn’t let them use the pen when writing a test. As for the pen’s gaming features, if your kids are into educational titles they’ll probably find a lot to like here but if they’ve already been converted into Nintendo or XBox zombies you’ll be hard-pressed to get them to spend much time playing with this.
As a tool for capturing handwritten notes in a business meeting or university lecture recommending it is actually a tough call. I guess if you still print it would probably work out OK but if you prefer cursive writing you’ll most likely find it a bit frustrating. So if cost is an issue and you’re willing to live with that compromise I’d suggest giving the FLY Fusion Pen a shot but if your company is paying for it I would probably suggest going with a more expensive unit specifically designed for that purpose.
*Update: Since discovering the pen is capable of capturing and converting cursive writing, I think it’s definitely an affordable solution if you’re looking for a great way to organize hand written notes or letters. And the design and size of the pen won’t make it look like a child’s toy, which should appeal to those looking to use it in a business or university setting.
Pros:
+ Tremendous amount of functionality packed into a computer the size of a pen.
+ Expandable with new software titles and memory upgrades.
+ Includes a standard headphone jack.
+ Rechargeable batteries.
+ Reasonably priced given what it’s capable of.
Cons:
– Completely dependent on FLY Fusion Notebooks. Will not work with regular paper.
– Slightly heavier and larger than a standard writing instrument.
– Will only recognize and convert printed text. No cursive writing support.
– Printed text is required for using the interactive menus and applications.
– Shorter & proprietary ball point pen cartridges will run out quicker.
– No Mac support.
– Only 64Mb of built-in memory.
Links:
LeapFrog FLY Fusion Pentop Computer – $79.99
If you have any further questions or concerns about the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer youād like answered please feel free to leave them in the comments and Iāll try to respond to them as best I can.
Hi, I was wondering, do you plan to review the LiveScribe pen being released by one of the developers of the Fly Fusion pen that left LeapFrog to develop this version of the product to market to adults? I am very excited about this product, and while I am tempted to buy one of the Fly pens, I think I have to wait for the more adult version to come out in ’08. Here is a link to the site for the new one, if you don’t have it:
http://www.livescribe.com/
I think it will be very good, and they say that the paper costs will be comparable to that of regular paper (I noticed that the FLY paper is very expensive). I am not sure how accurate that statement is, (or if I actually read that on the livescribe site or a review site) but I certainly hope the paper would be less expensive because it is being marketed to college students. The journal software for this pen looks very cool, if I may say so. The price is supposed to be around $200, so for that higher price, I certainly hope the paper is less pricey than 7.99 per notebook. Anyway, just thought I’d give you a heads up about this product, and see if maybe you were going to review it as well when it is available. Have a good day! š
I was just reading more, and the dotpaper for the Livescribe pen can actually be printed at home too! That’s gonna be soooooooo awesome… OOOOO I can’t wait…… ::jumps up and down in anticipation::
My 14 year oId son just received this and loves it. We do have some questions though. I was wondering if the FLY Fusion will work with the paper that was designed for the older FLY 1.0? Also can you describe how you charge the battery? We have tried plugging it in to the computer to charge, but do you have to have the penin off mode or on? Thanks for any help you can give.
Hm, reading the description of the Fly Paper Notebook on Amazon it seems to indicate the older paper won’t work with the new version of the pen.
“This accessory works only with the FLY 1.0 Pentop Computer, and is not compatible with FLY Fusion Pentop Computer.”
As for charging the pen, with it turned off I just connected it to the USB port on my computer and it started charging automatically. The LED on top of the pen turned orange I believe, indicating it was in the charging mode. Keep in mind that a laptop running off a battery (ie not plugged in) may not charge a USB device. It could also be an issue with a v1.1 USB port, not that they shouldn’t work the same as v2.0.
I have the original FLY pen. I haven’t used it much, but as I just entered high school, I’ve been working a lot more on my studying. When I saw the new commercial, I thought it would help a lot to be able to convert the text. I often have to type essays, and just love to write stories in general (I have written many popular fanfics) I think it’s worth it to sell my old pen for the new one, but do I have to get new paper, software (I only own games) or anything else? Do you know if this charges using the iPod travel charger?
sorry, didn’t see your earlier post.
Yeah, the old paper isn’t compatible with the new pen. And I don’t see why it couldn’t be charged with the iPod’s USB wall plug. It’s not like Apple uses some custom flavor of USB for their devices.
I would also be surprised if the old software and games still worked, again given the fact the old paper doesn’t.
Thank you so much for some help with this pen, I just bought this wednesday and believe it or not in all 5 stores I went to not one tech person knew how ,what ,or where of the pen. I have had to figure out all of it on my own. I am an adult back in college and bought the pen for math problems, here’s my question? 1. where are the video tutoials I uploaded the cd and never saw them so I see how to work various areas of the pen,2 someone told me it has to reconize your hand writing so you must first show the pen your writing, where is this and is this true?3 math is what I need do I have to buy the special software so this will work? thank you ever so much for any help. beth
1. You might need to browse the install CD with Windows File Explorer to find the videos. The CD that came with my review copy was not a final release version either, so things could have changed in that regard. However I’m sure the retail version also includes the videos.
2. Like I mentioned in the review, the pen will only recognise very neat printing, it can not learn to recognize your unique handwriting.
3. Out of the box the pen can perform basic and advanced math operations, but I do believe you need to buy the software for specific areas like Algebra.
What is the Flyworld Application thing? I don’t really understand it, and is the software that you buy at the store the same thing that you can purchase from the application with the flybucks?? I’m really interested in this pen! Thanks for all the help in the review!
To anyone who has been following the comments on this review, it has come to my attention that the FLY Fusion pen is indeed capable of capturing and converting cursive writing, and not just printing like I originally stated.
I’ve gone through and added a couple of ‘*Update’ notes to the review, and have made corrections to my ‘Conclusions’ as well as the ‘Pros’ and ‘Cons’ to reflect my new findings. I’m kind of surprised the manual is not more clear about this functionality, since it provides considerably more added value to the device. But having just tested it here with the pen I can confirm it works pretty well.
So sorry for inconveniences my mistake may have caused.
Flyworld application is the software you use on the PC to get the pages you captured with your pen and convert it to text/picture or email it. This is also the way you get new software from the cd you buy to the pen. The videos are on the CD and also on their website under support.
On the question above about charging when connected to the PC I think it will charge but wouldn’t it be slower if your pen is turned on?
hey i want this sooo bad
I just got this pentop computer, i find it really confusing!
hey i have a few problems before i buy this. im in high school and i take alot of notes in various classes, and is there a way to mute the pen and still be able to use it efficiently? i cant have it speak in class and we arent allowed to have headphones.
well there is a mute button, but if you are just taking notes and not use anything else you shouldn’t hear anything. if you hear something when you turn it on then you can use the “set startup sound” on the notebook to change it to mute
What about using it in a work environment, where you attend way too many meetings and are drowning in papers?? I don’t see why it’s just for highschool or college students?? Yea, a tablet could work for sure..but it sure is more expensive than this pen!!
hi i just purchased the new fly pen, i dont know how to actually make the pen ink point come out of the pen. Is there something you have to push because nothings coming out?
Just twist the small grey tip on the end of the pen. This will cause the ballpoint tip to extend or retract.
i went the pen to use for math in class.
i went the pen please for math class.
can i use the pen please for my math class.
Can someone tell me if I can use both sides of the Fly Paper????
yes you can use both sides of paper…
Alecia – I don’t see a problem using it for math class all the ink will be recorded.. not sure how it will convert to text thought š
Is there anything similar like this for macs?
If so why not and so you think they will make it for use on macs?
http://eugeneciurana.com/site.php?page=musings&contentTag=FLY.html
this might help with the mac questions but as this guy says its not supported by the company
I got the pen on three days ago. I’m an adult and wanted a portable way to take notes at meetings, to write blog entries, to compose emails and so on. Love it so far — except…
Can you really only use the Fly World software on one computer? I’d like to load the software on two computers and upload the pen files to the nearest one. The system saves each page as a separate file in a proprietary format. So far, I have not succeeded in using it on two different computers or in moving it from one to the other — which is an issue because I’m about to switch systems.
Another really interesting thing — the Fly World software keeps track of your page numbers. It knows which page contains which content. When you add new info to a page, it updates the computerized version. That is pretty cool and, I expect, will be very helpful to finding information later. Maybe it’ does it using unique dot patterns on each page?
Also, the word-wrap works fine when you write from margin to margin. In your example, the text was left and right indented.
BTW, thanks for the detailed assessment and photos. I’ve been trying for several days to find a comparison between the “standard” notebook and the “starter” notebook.
Yes all the pages are unique and all the different colored notebooks are unique. If you happen to buy the same color notebook though you do need to touch the circle on the front cover first to ensure that it will be different from the notebook you have used.
FlyWorld is really designed to have a “home computer” on which it is based. If you want to use it on a second computer, log on to that computer as a “guest.”
The key is that ink uploaded while a guest does not get deleted from the pen. Thus, it is still there for your “home computer” to access, at which time it will be deleted. The intent of Guest was to support study groups, where friends might get together and share notes, yet still allow the pen’s owner to have the ink for his home computer.
Thanks for the suggestion about “guest.” What about switching “home” computers, though. I will be doing that within a month.
One more question — my husband thinks it’s a great product. He’s been studying Japanese. Has anyone heard about a Japanese version or a Japanese software pack coming?
you can always write to the company and suggest Japanese to them š and als have you tried contacting customer service to see if they know how to move your files?
Does anyone know if it can translate greek??
So this is random, but I actually have an “old” version of the FLY notebook and I tried using my new FLY pen on the old paper, and it worked (I’m totally fascinated by the promise of digital pens so I buy all the new ones and happened to have some of the old paper around). So to answer the question above, you can use old paper, if you have some for some of the new applications. Going to try to upload some notes from the old paper now. Overall I give these guys credit on improving the platform significantly.
Sorry, but FLY cannot translate either Greek or Japanese.
For moving your files to a new computer, it requires a bit of geekdom hacking. Open a Windows Explorer window. Go to the following folder:
Documents and Settings
All Users
Application Data
Leapfrog
Copy that entire folder to the same location on your new computer. Launch FlyWorld and you will find everything moved over.
Drat. My last comment lost all indentation when posted, making it a bit harder to tell what I meant… The folder you need is:
-Documents and Settings
—All Users
—–Application Data
——-Leapfrog
On the question of support for FLY 1 notebooks, yes they are supported. Note that you must be careful to have unique book colors though, or FlyWorld will get confused.
With FLY 2 books, there is a sticker that can be touched to give you a huge range of identifiable notebooks (see the review above for details on this). Leapfrog sells 5 (or is it 6? I forget exactly) different color notebooks. Each has a different mapping, and shows up as unique notebooks when uploading ink.
If you use two different notebooks of the same color, you need to touch that dot to let FlyWorld know that you are really on a different notebook. Otherwise, it thinks it is the same book, and page 1 of each book will overlap when you look at it on the computer.
Thus the problem with using FLY 1 books. No such dot, so no way to distinguish two red books. Avoid that problem, and all is cool.
Hope that explains the issue without tossing in too much mud…
On an earlier question about capturing notes from a math class. That will work fine.
When you upload the ink to FlyWorld, it is captured as strokes. Whatever you wrote will be seen exactly as your wrote it. You do have the option of saving that to a file of your choosing.
When saving it, you can save it as an image, in which case your doodles and all are saved just as you drew them. If you choose to save as text, then FlyWorld will do its best to try and interpret your writing into text.
Experimenting with math gave me varying results. Sometimes it surprised me and got it exactly right. Most times, I decided that keeping it in image format was a better choice though.
Whew! My thing doesn’t sound too geeky. Totally doable to move files over. Maybe the average 8- to 12-year old doesn’t care about his or her note from class, but we adults are a bit more protective of our memories, digital or otherwise.
As for the support for other languages (in addition to French and Spanish), the device got huge coverage in the Japanese press, so I’m sure talks of some kind are underway. We’ll watch to see how things unfold, market-wise.
My 16 year old son has a terrible time typing. Will this pen really convert his writing to text. What worried me it the age range they say the pen is for. I went to the livescribe web site but it never said anything about changing print to text.
The conversion from handwriting to text its not complete magic š it depends on persons handwriting. There are some reviews on fly fusion that have actual conversion pictures. My handwriting is pretty bad (much worse then the picture above š )and it converts most of it with some typos here and there. Also haven’t seen much coverage on this but you can actually do a search of your notes and it will return the results and highlite the words found even without you converting it to text. It will be cool if it was added to the review because I found it really handy…
Is a PDF available of the proprietary paper? If I didn’t need to always buy these notebooks, it would really make it an attractive product – although less profitable I’m sure.
No PDF exists. They would be pretty hard to make useful, even if they could be made. If you printed a single PDF page multiple times and then wrote on it with FLY, it would appear as though you were printing on the same page over and over.
Each page has a unique arrangement of dots that tells the pen computer where it is in space. If two physical pieces of paper have the same dots, the computer thinks it is writing on the same page, and will then merge the results when you upload the ink to FlyWorld.
I have read through all the reviews and comments and I am still confused about using the pen on mute without the earphones. I would like to use the pen while conducting interviews with clients so earphones and beeping noises are not an option. While I understand that you can use it without the earphones and mute the beeping noise, will you know if the pen shuts off (do you have to keep your eye on a light indicator? Does it just stop writing?) or will those notes be lost (or do you always have a hard copy by using the ink?). I could not afford to lose my notes because I did not know that the pen was off. I have been looking around at various writing conversions products and I haven’t seen anything like this!
Thanks, RK
I am going to purchase the FLY fusion pen, but just have a couple questions. First, (I’m repeating RK’s question) how exactly do you mute it? and how often would you need to purchase new ink? does it have anything preloaded? How do you know if the pen is on mute? And what exactly is the difference between the FLY 1.0 and the FLY fusion? How is the ‘fusion’ more advanced? reading the descriptions, I don’t see much difference.
All answers appreciated! thank you.
Feedback from the pen is only through the sound and the light indicator. If the pen is muted, then the only way to tell if it has turned itself off is by looking at the light indicator. If you are continuously taking notes, it will not be turning off though, unless the battery is exhausted (obviously, charge it up every night if you use it this way).
The ink is just standard, everyday ballpoint pen ink. The refill is shorter than a “normal ballpoint” simply because the body of the pen is filled with electronics. When the pen stops writing ink, you can pop in a refill, which can be purchased from LeapFrog. I am not sure how long the cartridges last, but I have never exhausted one myself.
Fly 1 vs Fly Fusion… For starters, Fly 1 did not capture your drawings and did not communicate with a computer. Whatever you wrote stayed in the pen, and thus was only useful during the application you were using(calculator, music, etc).
Fly Fusion captures your drawings and uploads them to a computer. You can then convert them to a drawing format (PNG) for editing in any graphics program, or convert to text (TXT) for editing in any word processing program. You can also search your uploaded text, even without doing any conversion. There are also more apps, more options, etc.
The biggest difference though is simply that Fly 1 was stand-alone, while Fly Fusion allows everything you draw to be uploaded to a computer.
how exactly do you mute it? – there is a mute button on each notebook. This only works until you turn it off and then you need to mute it again when you turn it on. You do have to keep track of the light indicator but the pen will not turn off while you are writing unless you dont touch any fly paper for 5 minutes or the battery dies.
does it have anything preloaded? – it comes with some games, calculator(on the notebook), spanish translator (1000 words)
How do you know if the pen is on mute? – I think hte only way is to touch something on the notebook covers andsee if you hear something š
how do you erase words when your writing…
Hello,Im so getting that for my daughter on Christmas (she’s 13)
Ok well I’m 14 and bought the pen yesterday, so far I love it, I’m getting so used to the size that I now find regular pens too small :/
To answer the ever-asked question, How do you mute it, there are Volume Up and Down buttons on the inside cover above the MP3 player, so you turn it on, the onyl indication you have at this point is the Green light, by defaultr when I first turned it on, it just stayed solid Green, this means that it’s on, after playing
around I found the Recording button, hit that, it said recording, and the Green light started flashing(one/second) now, if I;m in the middle of class and can’t have headphones, all I have to do is turn it on(again, it turns on silent unless you ste a startup sound) and you hit the volume down button a couple times, just watch out for Volume test bleeps.
So recap,
1.Turn the pen on(Solid Green light)
2. Hit the Fly Notes On button(Green light flashes)
3. Hit the volume down button a bunch of times, until it goes silent.
Now you’re golden, although the pen shouldn’t makes any sounds if you’re just writing, any that it tries to make will be muted.
BTW Although most other options are carried over from Power cycle to power cycle, the Volume does nos so watch out for that
More questions,
1 To erase something, you draw a straight line through it then double tap at the end(if you’re replacing, strike-through, write above then double tap)
2. Not a question, but a note, when you get yours home, and get the software, go onto the CD, go into Documentation, open the User guide PDF(not the quick start) and take a look at the Color codes, they confused me at first.
Email me at lilpunk1302 AMPERSTHAND gmail THE THING AT THE END OF A SENTENCE com
lilpunk1302 if you install Flyworld and connect to the internet you will get update for the Fly OS which sets the record notes by default to “on”. It was part of the updated software I guess they figured out that most users will want it on most of the time š
Oh ok, I guess they did, but I brought mine home and started playin around with it while the software was still installing, and during that time, I realized that it doesn’t auto on(but it does carry over) so yeah.
Also, for those who still have the box, 2 questions,
1. Is it a Rectangle(or for the smartasses, rectangular prism) or was it a trapezoid type shape, mine was a trapezoid, but online pics show it as a rectangle
AND
2. On one of the sides, it shows screenies of Flyworld, and mine seems to show an older version of it with a bluish type skin, I find that skin to look nicer, any chance we, as the consumers could join together and get Leapfrog to bring back the blue?
Also, why do they make you get online accounts? what about those without internet?(I have internet, BUT) it’s not like your notes are automatically uploaded to some online interface where you can access them from anywhere?
One last question to those that have asked, if one gets the $50 subscription pass(it came out very recently) what happens after the pass expires? Do all your apps die? or what?
Also, Poll, what did you buy with your $10 “FlyBucks” coupon?
I’ve had this pen for a couple of months and have yet been able to download the flyworld software from either the CD or from the website. I am running Vista and when I called Tech Support, they had no idea how to help me and the last communication from them was to send them some diagnostics on my computer. That was several weeks ago and no reply. Has anyone with Vista sucessfully installed the software? When I try, I get to the pop up to start the install, click on start and it just disappears. Nothing happens.
Just how expensive is the Fly paper??
Well, I’m Canadian, so I;m using Canadian pricing for this, th paper out here costs $12.99/160 page book, now as a comparison to regular paper,
Fly paper = $0.08118/Page
Regular paper(Based on Fivestar 300 page notebook) = $0.0132
So yeah, it’s just a little over 6 times the price of regular paper, BUT that’s teh Canadian price, if you order from the states, it costs $7.99 and adds up to
$0.0499($0.50) So yeah, quite a bt cheaper, just you know, a BIT like y’know ,like half?
kokomo316 you can try and make sure you don’t have any software running that will block applications from installing like the Vista’s User access control (or something like that). Any firewalls that might be blocking it or children protection software.
lilpunk1302: I believe the online accounts are because the software is for kids and if you are a parent you can allow your kid to buy or not buy software.
Oh my! I was thinking about getting one (fly pen)for Christmas (not to tell you my life story) and I just have to thank the person who made this site and even the people whom asked questions. This gave me a ton of insite on the pen and all its glory. Thanks again!
I had a year membership to a different leap frog product and what you buy in the year
is yours forever??? Sale at leapfrog 25% off plus free ship for packages and accessories!!!!
Toys r us $20 off this week??? online
I am 12 and I am getting a fly pentop for christmas, but, I was wondering, to write do I have to use the ink or can I just use the keyboard on the front page of the notebook? Also if I am doing a math equation and I don’t want to know the answer after the equal sign is there any way I can tell it no, I would not like the answer?
Where Couldmy parents by a Fly Pentop Computer? [For CHEAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
The best place you could possibly buy the pen is eBay, other than that, it’s $90 everywhere.
As far as the keyboard, no, but why would you want to? It’s used to create names for your Reminders and Alarms.
I don’t completely understand your question, but if you don’t want to hear the answer when you’re writing out a question, then plug headphones in and keep them out of your ears.
Is the FLY fusion compatible with mac?
I am thinking of getting this for a person who can’t type because of carpel-tunnel syndrome. Do you think holding the pen will be hard for him?
Also, I’m curious about the word-wrap issue. One person above said that text will wrap if you fill the width of the page. Does anyone else have any experience on this?
Can one save a populated page for use… then go back to overwrite or clear the page in order to reuse that page, saving the high cost of this type of paper?
Also if not feasible to erase an entire page, can one scan a blank sheet in order to reuse it for input?
One has high hopes for using this kind of product but the high cost of paper, possible lack of reuseability, and too frequent ink cartridge changing appears to be a deal-breaker. Any hope for the future ?
Rick
My 14 yr old son is having a difficult time in algebra and geometry. I would like to purchase the fly pen to help him out, but I’m hearing conflicting information regarding equations. Does anyone know if the fly pen will help understand algebra, or will it only give the answers?
Julie there is a separate piece of software called “Algebra”. It doesn’t give you the answers immediately it helps you along and you can press Help for multiple level of help. Dont think they have anything for Geometry other then some applications that help you calculate area and perimeter. There is also Multiplication and division.
Thanks so much for the help!! I was really confused.
I was wondering many things.
1. I have a nasty habit a switching back and forth from cursive to normal handwriting. Will Fly Fusion get confused?
2. If you make a mistake, can you correct it with liquid corrector or something?
3. Ink, is there a specific ink for it too or any ink cartridge?
4. How long does it last before it’s “dead”?
Ok well I haven’t checked this page out in a while, so let’s get some questions answered.
1. Sorry, no it’s not compatible with a mac, the software that comes with it is window sonly(and buggy :/ )
2. Can this person use a regular pen? This is pretty much just like a regular pen, just a little bigger and heavier, but you get used to it after a while, also, are you thinking of this as an IMing, general computer use approach, or a essay writing approach, because it only really makes sense to use it for essays(by the time you get it synched, etc.)
3. Word Wrap, I’ve written up a couple pages margin to margin, and it does seem to word wrap, but I don;t have enough experience yet to give a definite answer
4. No there is currently no feasible way to replicate the paper, scanning or otherwise. But the ink cartridges last a while, I’m in 9th grade, and last year(8th grade) I only managed to get through half of one full ink cartridge for a regular pen, this is about half, so it should last some time, depends on you much you really write.
5.Algebra. To use algebra, you have to buy the special $30 addon kit which includes the software, and a card that snaps into the notebook rings, it does actually give step by step instructions, you write out an equation, it gives the answer, then you can touch HELP and it’ll explain step by step what to do(do THIS, then double tap) There’s a video of it in action on the Leapfrog site somewhere, but I can;t find it so I’ll post it a little later. Also, Geometry requires yet another addon pack, the FastComp PRO pack this is another $15, and I would recommend, at this point getting the $50 one year subscription, it gives you access to all the packs for one year(I’m not sure if they get disabled after the year or if they just don;t give you access to new ones.)
6. a. It doesn’t get confused if/when you switch, unless your writing(like mine) is deadly messy, and yet it still manages to recognize more than I do when I go back to my notes š
b.To clear mistakes, you have to just put a line through the word, is produces a very satisfying “ku-linck” sound to signify that word got deleted, then you can use whitout or whatever you wish to put something in it’s place
c. There is a specific type of cartridge they are made of aluminum, and are skinnier than a regular pen cartridge, thus regular ones don’t fit, I;m working on finding some that are cheap and fit, when I do, it’s going on Instructibles, with a link coming here.
d. The ink is, and lasts about half that of a regular pen ink cartridge, which is quite a bit if you think about it. If you’re talking about the battery, it lasts me the whole school day, recording notes, and listening to a song or 2 when I’m completely bored and my iPod gets tiring, and then some, but takes a while to recharge. The notes memory lasts quite a bit, i think about 4 pages 3/4 full add up to 7% of memory(battery life is measured in Full, Medium, and Empty, Notes memory is separate from the applications/MP3’s memory and is measured in %)
Any other questions, hit me up here, I check back every couple days. Also, if you;re buying for a son/daughter, make sure they watch out for other kids, it gets pretty gruesome with people circling you yelling I WANNA SEE IT, SHOW ME, LEMME WRITE SOMETHING.
One thing parents might like, if someone were to write the F word in ScratchPad(the mode where the pen recites what you write) or in the translators, the pen just replies with either “I do not understand” or BLEEP(not that loud) other words such as sexual type words, don’t seem to be bleeped out, and I haven’t had the chance to try other words yet.
Does the subscription pass really give you access to ALL software applications (Algerbra, writing, games, etc.) for 1 year?? It almost sounds too good to be true that you could have all of that for $50.00 vs. what it would cost to purchase it all separately. I realize you wouldn’t actually “own” it past the year like you would if you purchased it outright, but it would be a better deal for us, personally.
Yes subscription pass gives you all software that is available in the download store.
O.K., here is my million dollar question. I want to purchase a couple of these pens for my children. They have their own computers with acess to the shared folders on our server. Do I have to purchase software for each pen, can they share it, or can I install the management software on the server with the sotware titles and have seperate accounts for each pen? I hope this makes sense. Thank you.
I bought this pen 6 weeks ago and still cannot download the Fly World Application, and customer support stinks, when they do respond to you. They even admit my computer meets the requirements, but still can’t help me get it downloaded + I swear I am no dummy. I think there is an issue with Vista. Anyone out there using one of these on Vista? Did you have to do anything special to download it? I turned off every bit of security on my PC, tried via CD and internet, and deleted files support says use some of the same resources. It seems like such a great idea, too bad I have it in my hand and can’t use it.
The software installation takes hours if not days to install
And they do not suport anything other MS, Bad Too Bad!
I just wanted to point out that the newton used the graffiti recognition from the beginning as it was developed originally by the apple folks(for the newton OS) that eventually moved on and found Palm inc….
i read the comments made by meghan about the livescribe pentop computer.
i checked out the website she listed and a feature i liked with that one was the voice recorded notes. by touching the notes you type with the pen, you can hear what was said in lecture in case you missed anything. does the fly pen do this also?
Thanks,
Me
is the black fly fusion the exact same thing as this one? is the only difference the color?
sorry- a couple more questions.
1) when does the pen stop working? does it have a warrenty? I know other electronics work for, say a year or two, then you have to buy a new one. Is this similar to that? does it last longer? etc?
2) is the fly fusion pen sold at general walmart’s and target? I checked at my local walmart store and couldn’t find it anywhere…
3) and do you need a charger for the Fly Fusion? i know you needed one for the fly 1.0, but what about the fly fusion? and if not- how do you charge it?
4) oh, and does it really take a long time to upload software, or was that just some people’s opinion? I don’t have a really powerful computer, it has windows xp, but it sure isn’t the fastest thing in the world. What do you need (computer wise) in order to download it? do you have to have any certain things?
5) is there a mute button? I would want to use it for school, in school, and defenitly would not want it talking in class.
6) is it true it says things like “good job!” or “you’re getting it!” when you’re writing with it? that’s what i heard anyways…
7) and is this thing hard to figure out? I’m in 9th grade, its not hard for me to figure things like this out, but i’ve heard a lot of different views on that, would i have to spend a lot of time with it to get it started? (that wouldnt bother me, but just wondering)
8) and lastly… what do you have to do before you can actually USE the pen? do you have to download ‘flyworld’ first? or software? anything…?
Oh, and I’m apologizing in advance for whoever has to answer all these questions! sorry! š
OH i am so sorry- another question;
can you use the ‘fly bucks’ in stores? or just online? I don’t really understand that yet… if you buy something online from fly-world, do you just download it to your computer? or is it shipped to you…?
I’ll try to hold off on more questions…. š
lilpunk1302- thanks. you seem to be one of the only people answering questions around here.
You’re all welcome š
With the FlyBucks, you get a gift card type thing(just like the review pictures) and on the back is a 20-25 character ABC123 code(it’s really a pain to fill in because there’s so many characters)
Simple answer to the question, No, you can;t use it in stores, just through the Fly store within the FlyWorld app(I havn’t tried from their online store)
More advanced answer.
You install FlyWorld, and you get 2 links, create a User account, and an Admin account, both require you to go online. You create the admin account, Login to it click the store icon thing. Then go through the catalog you can buy pretty much anything that costs under $10($9.99 counts) you click add to cart, then checkout, it gives you a line to enter your code, fill it in, and the balance gets deducted so you can then click download.
Now since I ended up buying French Translator Pro(I’m Canadian, and am taking French) I just “Paid for it, and it gave me a download link, then I logged into my induvidual user account, and copied it over.
I still don’t know how they deal with things that contain materialistic items, such as Algebra and the Function card, possibly they don’t let you.
So yeah, No you can only use the card on the online store, I don’t know what they do with materialistic things, they don’t take paypal (**Sadface**, I don’t have a credit card, but a PayPal acct registered to my Debit)
Any other questions, keep them coming, I’ve got time.
OH damn, sorry guys, never noticed all teh other questions, thought Allies long post was the tail end of mine, whoops, let’s go through this….
1.I have no clue if you get the software to own, or to lease, I’m wondering that too.(In relation to the subscription) I’ll send an email to LeapFrog asking them sometime today.
2.As far as sharing, I’m 75% sure you can, in 2 ways, 1. before you can create induvidual user accounts and everything for each pen, you have to create an Administrator(Parent) account with the LeapFrog site, so I would assume, when you install the software on each computer, and you log into your admin account on each computer, it should elt you download the software seperatly(If that makes any sense š )
OR
There’s a certain FlyWorld folder in the Program Files > Common FIles folder in your C:/ drive, and all the Pages, applications, everything should be kept in there, so theoretically you should be able to copy that folder over onto each computer and get access to it.
3. What type of errors is it giving you during installation? I run XP so don’t know about Vista, sorry can’t help you on this one.
4. What do you mean it takes hours to install, it took me 15 mins tops, I didn’t even have time to figure out what any of the FlyCons meant by the time it installed…and I’m a fast learner…
And yeah, I find the fact that they MS whore a problem. But I have Office 07 installed so I don;t know how it acts on computers without it.
5. No, the fly does not record voice, sorry.
6. There is no such thing as a black Fly Fusion…is there…Unless you;re talking about the LiveScribe, which is the next generation, it’s supposed to come out in 08 for “Under $200”
7. a. I’ve only had teh pen for about a month, so no clue.
b. The Walmart site is busted, so I don;t know, but the Target site says they have it. You should surf http://flyworld.com/findstore/index.html
There^^ for the complete list of stores, I purchased mine at teh Canadian Toys R Us
c. It has a Mini B usb port on the top, and you charge it from your computer. One thing I mist note though, once you plug it in, it doesn’t turn itself on, the logo lights up red, meaning charging, you have to click the power button to turn it on and so that it can communicate with the computer(It flashes red, green and yellow when it’s on and connected, and just turn off when charged.)
d. The only Mandatory requirement I’ve seen if having 512 MB of RAM, I’ve tried to install it on my dads computer with 256, and it refused. As far as speed, yeah it’s sorta slow, it takes about 10 ish mins to transfer 15ish songs
e. As I’ve answered before, every time you have to click the volume down button a couple times until it doesn’t give you any volume confirmation clicks anymore. The only time I’ve had it talk in class is when I’m drawing/writing something related to a circle( O’s) and it says “Unknown FlyCon”
f. You only get the “Good Job’s” If you buy the Algebra addon pack, possibly others, but I’ve only seen it with the algebra pack. But none with the existing software.
h. Not really, I’m also in 9th grade, and the hardest thing for me to figure out was to remember what the FlyCons do. Other than that, using the compass and that type of thing is easy.FlyCon tip, Create a FlyCon with a T in it, click it and it gives you the time(Oh yes, it tells you the time too)
i. Nope, you don’t need to do anything, just open it up, put the FlyWorld CD in(it comes on a cd which automatically updates teh software itself when you install it) and while it’s installing you can pull out the 25 page pad and try out some of the functions(actually pretty much all, the only thing FLyWorld let’s you do that you can;t do out of the box is copy pages over, it comes preloaded with 2 MP3’s)
that’s what I did anyways.
So that’s my answering streak for today, see y’all in a couple days when I answer more questions.
But PLEASE, for the sake of me, I answer every question in a long sentence, sometimes a paragraph for some, PLEASE, read over all the existing answers before asking, this is becoming a pretty concise guise, 4 people have answered the “can I mute” question(myself twice) and yet people still ask.
http://www.target.com/FLY-Fusion-Pentop-Computer-Target/dp/B000S5MA8C/sr=1-1/qid=1197171420/ref=sr_1_1/601-0646154-0535356?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Afly%20fusion&page=1
oh, and sorry about the mute question, i guess i’ll read them over next time?
I don’t have microsoft word on my computer, will it download to text on just wordpad/ notepad???
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woahh- for anybody who just wants to know stuff about the pen, or anything, the following link is the (official) manual to the Fly Fusion, and it talks about, pretty much everything..!
*************
http://images.sharperimage.com/all/en/manuals/products/lf600.pdf
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does the manual come with the fly? in the box i mean? thanks for the link allie!
Hi.
My first language is French and I go to a French school.
The only thing I’m interested in is the notes thing which turns notes into text. I’m most likely to write in French. Does it change ANY language to type? I mean, will the FF get confused because it doesn’t recognize the language? If not, there is no use to me. If not, is there a French Version, available in Ontario, NOT Quebec?
it will just turn the words into text, it doesnt care if you’re typing in english, french, or japanese.
Actually, I think it does, I think it’ll only change English characters into type, so it would do French, bu might skip out and the accents
And it doesn’t do Japanese
Allie, great idea, never thought about including the manual in a post.
And no, a paper manual doesn’t come with it, after you put the CD in, open My Computer >(CD Drive)>docs(I think I don’t have it at hand)>User Manual
And I have no clue if it’ll convert into other programs, you might get lucky,
You can download Open Office V2
http://www.openoffice.org/index.html
There^^
And it can open Word(.doc) files, so I assume the Fly World software converts it into a DOC, and opens the “Default Application” which just so happens, after the OO installations to be Open Office.
I have been trying to get this pen to work for my daughter. I originally loaded the software from the cd that came w/the pen. Then I downloaded the software appl. fm the website. (and did it again, uninstalling, then reinstalling.) Now when I plug the pen into the usb port, a black square w/fly logo comes on the screen- that’s it. An hourglass appears on it when I move my cursor over it. I’ve talked to 3 people at tech support, very disappointed they could not help/understand the problem. So now I have the pen, but can’t use it.
I am interested in buying the pen, but I have read that it is intended for ages 10-16. I am 19 and in my second year of college. I was planning on using the pen to help me write papers. Am I too old to use the pen? Thanks.
Will the fly fusion pen allow you to put equations into MS Word (without using equation editor)?
REPLY TO HAILEY
I’m also 19 and in college and I just got my pen in today. I messed with it a bit and it seems like it is going to be a HUGE help with notes and stuff.
: )
Well lemme say, 3 weeks with the pen, and it gets boring :/ today, I came to the realization that it’s not really worth the $90 that I paid today, so I returned it to the store(and got Guitar hero 3 PC with the credit, lol it comes with the Xbox 360 controller XD)
So note to people buying, make sure the store’ll take it back after you;be opened it.
I’ll keep posting here with more answers to questions people have with the experience that I did have, but it seems more people are coming to help, so my duty’s gonna be done in a little while.
There is such thing as black Fly fusion – its Target exclusive.
For the long time on upload – it does take some time to upload but the pen has total of 64MB so it can hold quite a lot of software
All the manual are on the official website as well: http://flyworld.com/support/index.html
Exporting to Word gives you the capability of having a mixed image and text document, but you can always export to a text file as well.
What is the difference between the FLY Fusion pentop computer and the FLY pentop? Which is newer and/or better? I bought the FLY fusion pentop for my kids but then I realized I bought accessories that aren’t compatible. Which should I exchange?
Fly fusion is the new model. you should probably exchange the accessories for the old version of the pen.
I just have one question…Say you start copying notes on the Fly Paper, can you shut off the pen, turn it on and continue on the same page? Or do you have to start a completely new page?
you can turn it on and then back on and write on any page you want it remembers pages. Also you can write half page, upload it to your PC, then finish writing on the same page and the application will merge the 2 uploads
I’ve been researching the Fly Fusion and Pentop for a couple of days now. I even found Pentop software on clearance so I bought a couple. “Text Books” and a “Journal”. I read earlier that the Pentop paper will work with the Fly Fusion but does the software work as well?
This site has been really helpful in determining wether or not we’re going to buy this for my daughter this Christmas. She’s 10 and needs some help with her writing so hopefully this will motivate her. Thanks for all of the wonderful information!
Lilpunk has been very clear and helpful with her answers, but I’m afraid she made one mistake I would like to clear up –
“To clear mistakes, you have to just put a line through the word, is produces a very satisfying āku-linckā sound to signify that word got deleted, then you can use whitout or whatever you wish to put something in itās place”
The first half (put a line through the word, get a sound) is right but after that do *not* put whiteout on the page. You will cover the micro dots and render that portion of the page unusable.
Now, on to the reason I’m here. I’m having a couple problems with my Fly Fusion. Twice I’ve written several pages only to have them load as one overlapping page when I connect to the computer. Like all the words I’ve written are there but layered over eachother, making it impossible to open as a Word document. I didn’t think this was possible, due to the supposedly individual pattern of each page. After all, that distinctive pattern is supposedly what prevents us from finding a way to print our own paper.
Another time some pages have simply not been there. I’m very careful about making sure I touch the Fly Notes On/Off buttons, and also the front cover notebook sticker. Despite this sometimes when I first turn on my pen the green light blinks as if Fly Notes are on.
Has anyone else had a similar problem or know what I can do about this? I’ve had my pen about six weeks and would hate to return it.
Oh yeah, whoops, didn;t think about covering the dots with whiteout, sry about that :/
As far as ages merging, I have no clue why it happens, but it’s happened to me a couple times too, as well as it not recording notes.
if the word documents are filing over each other (Lorelie) it’s probably because you didnt click the activation little sticker at the cover of the notebook. It might be for some other reason, but I know that they will go over each other if you don’t do the “click here” on the cover before hand.
hey, lilpunk1302,
so you dont find it interesting anymore? (the Fly fusion)
i dont think anybody gives better info…….. š®
dont leave!!! lol, jk…… not really… lol
can i draw or sketch using the fly pen?
yeah you can draw/sketch as much as you want! Just when you download it to your PC, highlight the sketch, and it wont convert it to text.
this pen seems great. im in high school and i think this would be really handy if i wanted to write something during class and make a study guide out of it on my computer later instead of having to retype it all. But the only reason i wouldnt buy this is that it will be making noise during class. I saw the thing about the haedphones but my teachers arent gonna let me wear headphones during class haha. so is there anyway to silence it cuz if not i dont think ill be buying it. if anyone knows please email me at [email protected] thank you
…what does the fly fusion journal do? i mean- whats so cool about it?
Okay, so question about charging…
I read in the manual that if it’s off and charging, it’ll be red (FLY logo on the pen) and when it’s done it will turn off or whatever. And if it’s on and charging, it’s yellow.
I’ve tried charging it, on or off… sometimes left it over night, but mine seems to never get to “Battery level is: full.” when I click the little battery status button on the notebook. Mine is ALWAYS at ‘medium’.
Is there something wrong with mine? Help, pleaase? and thanks. =)
I just bought a Fly Fusion pen for my son. (By the way, there IS an all Black Fly pen because we bought one in the trapezoid shaped box). My question is, it was working fine at first, but now the “retractable” pen will not extend any more. Everything else seems to work fine. Has anyone else had this happen? Is there a way to fix it without returning it or shipping it off to leapfrog? I suppose I could by a new ink cartrige . . but I don’t feel I shoud have to shell out any more cash for an item that is a week old. If this will be an ongoing problem when I take it back, I will leave it there. Other than that, it works great for my son.
Aside from the ball point problem, EVERYWHERE here is also sold of paper. Does anyone have any ideas I where too look? I’m afraid if I order online he will run out before it gets here, and the word in the stores is no paper till after Christmas. Help on both of these!!
Chloe – I know I always touch the sticker but you have given me an idea. I’m not always so great about making sure the ink point is retracted before touching it. Maybe I’m eventually obscuring whatever minidots the pen needs to see. I’ll try to be better about it. Also still waiting on LeapFrog customer assistance to email me back.
Reed – It has a little volume button on the notebooks. Press it enough times and the pen goes mute. The only downside is that every time you turn it off it resets this. However if you immediately go to the mute button all you’ll get are two very quiet tick sounds. Then there’s no more sound until you turn it off and on again or specifically turn up the sound.
Kelly – Mine charges fully, turns off like it’s supposed to. Can you still exchange? I would.
Kathleen – I haven’t had a problem with that. Why don’t you try taking the cartridge out and twisting it manually? (Make sure you’re twisting in the right direction.) Do you still have a problem when it’s not in the pen? If so, it might be just a defective cartridge. If not, there might be something wrong with where the cartridge goes into the pen body.
Everything from the FLY uploads onto Microsoft Word. I have that program, only it was one of those ’60 day trials’ from when I first bought my computer. So now, it’s expired and I would need to buy the full product. The program will open, but I can’t edit any text or even copy and paste for that matter.
Is there any way to change the setting of where converting your FLY writing, into text? Instead of opening it up to Microsoft Word, for example, to Microsoft Works Word Processor?
Is it possible? And if so, how?
Thanks!
What about the software… I have a 9 year old I bought this for any ideas on what software might peak her interest???
can you save fly world application on a USB FLASH MEMORY DRIVE?
and use it on every computer besides MAC and still be saved?
First off, in self defense š let me say that I’m a guy.
So yeah, with that cleared up, I’ll answer a couple more questions, I’m in a bad mood this week, and am getting sick, so I don;t feel like reading all the questions, but I will answer the last few.
Word documents
You should try downloading a piece of software called OpenOffice, i’s a free open source copy of Microsoft office, set it as the default to open .DOC files, and try telling Fly World to read.
Software
Have her play around with the pen for a couple days, then ask her, personally, the app that I ended up wanting the most was Algebra, because we’re doing ALOT of algebra in school right now(8th grade) and I needed it. But she;s younger, so in a lower grade, see what she needs help on and go from there.
Fly World Portable.
I havn’t tried, but it seems to be very crudly coded(crashing my computer for the first time ever) and places things all over the Hard Drive(My documents, Common Files, etc) so probably not.
I’m not really going to go away for a while, I don’t think so yeah, don;t worry, I might bring down my visit times, but I’m not leaving.
I purchased a Fly Fusion as an adult level writing aid – impressed with some reviews like yours.
I looked at your printing example and the exported to Microsoft Word results:
Either you are paid by Leap Frog to fake the results, you have some sort of super computer, or my Fly Fusion is defective!!??
I have practiced for hours, improving my original printing to nearly an exact match to the recommended font, and there is still very poor recognition (50% at best). If I even touch printed letters, it is all over – no recognition. Any suggestions? Thank you.
Duane –
I’m not sure what to tell you. The Fly Fusion’s not perfect by far but it does a very good job of converting my writing. Most often it switches commas and periods and when I’m printing it often randomly capitalizes words, but a quick grammar check catches most of that. I have a very round, upright cursive and it’s able to read that pretty well. Still problems with commas but not capitals. With both printing and cursive the conversion sometimes doesn’t wrap text, instead inserting a line break. But it does the job.
I’m also not sure at all what you mean by touching printed letters. Could you clarify that? I have noticed that if you write something and then try to go over it again (like maybe if your ink was running out a little and you wanted to darken the word) it will either turn that word into gibberish or duplicate all the letters.
…does the fly pen work with low light sources? since it has a camera… will dim light effect how the pen works?
To sadmom, I’m having the same problem. I purchased it for my grandson for Christmas and also to try it for myself. I write science fiction and a lot of artwork that I figured the pen would be helpful with.
Same problem, If I try to open the program I get only they Fly symbol and have to use task manager to shut it down. I have been in contact with Leapfrog, but so far haven’t received a fix. I actually got more / better help by emailing them, rather then a phone conversation. Hopefully they will find an answer.
Lorelie,
Thanks for the response.
When I print words, and the letters come close or touch another letter (like the “tt” in letter), it does not recognize it and puts something like @ or $ or // or ?. It contantly alternates between upper and lower case. I have not been able to print 1 sentence (after 4 pages of practice) that anyone can read or make sense of it.
When I upload the writing it looks like a “perfect” photograph of my neat printing – amazing! However, saving as a Word document has been a complete failure.
I suspect that this pen is/was defective because it would not even take a charge from the computer USB connection. I returned it today and I’m looking into another writer’s aid: Nuance’s Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.0 Preferred. Have you heard anything about that software? Thanks.
I just got the pen for christams. i am in college do u think it is a good idea to keep the pen. i want it for lecture notes
so i just got the fly fusion, i put the installation cd in, it says ‘cannot install due to lost network connectivity??????
i tried it 4 times, same problem every time, i tried it on my other computer, same problem?! the internet works, network connectivity was never lost, it works great, the pc isnt old, its pretty new actually…. whats the deal?!
THEN i tried to download thefly world application off of flyworld.com and it said ‘internet cannot display this webpage’ ?!
help!
I just got the pen for Christmas also, but I keep getting an error “download not completed due to possible network disconnection. Please try again when the issue is resolved”.
Why am I getting this? I cannot install the cd software because I keep getting this error. I am running Vista Ultimate.
Any help woulf be appreciated. Thanks.
We are having the same problem to download the application from the leapfrog website. I am guessing there server is flooded with people trying to download, on a day when there is probably nobody there managing it. So the short answer is probably hold off for 24 hours and try again.
It seems a great shame that leapfrog didn’t put at least a basic version of the application onto the CD instead of requiring you to download it. I guess it is so new they haven’t experienced Christmas day before and didn’t think ahead! It is also limiting for anyone who might not be connected to the internet – still happens!
Anyway, have a good Christmas – I think you can still plug it into the USB and recharge it.
I wonder if anyone out there has a downloaded copy of the application they could post somewhere?
I also just received the pen as a gift and I am receiving the same error and of course Tech Support is closed because it’s Christmas. I too have VISTA, so I am thinking that is the problem. I am going to try installing it on my mother-in-law’s (XP) computer a little later to see if it works.
We have XP and still no success. Tried from 2 different PCS, no go, so I still think it is the leapfrog server.
Paul
I too cannot download the install software. I sent an email to the flyworld support. A suggestion ā the most recent software should be on the installer, then once installed it should search for updates. At least that way we could use the pen. Also a mirror site for download would be a good idea.
Very frustrating!!!
Same problem here. I’ve watched the tutorials and tried for the past hour. This will probably have to wait until tomorrow. My 11 year old was so happy to get this for Christmas now she can’t even use it! Very annoying!
I checked all the games we bought to go with the pen – all the same, require the Fly World application to be installed first and then the (almost empty) CD enables a download of the new game. So, no base application – no functions!
Pretty embarrassing SNAFU for Leapfrog tech support I would think. Hope their shares don’t plummet when the market reopens!!!
I really think they should point out on the box that ‘internet access’ is required to operate this device.
Paul.
The tutorials make it look so easy! … And, I’m sure it will be – IF we can get the software installed ~ we have the same problem as mentioned earlier here … the network issues etc. … The one useful suggestion here is: If someone has the software, please make it available to the rest of us! … Oh, and Merry Christmas! (o:
same problems as above
it’d be great if someone could post a link to the application hosted on a freeshare site like Sendspace.com or Yousendit.com
merry xmas everyone!
same error as everyone. says that i am disconnected when i try to install, but my internet works fine. and when i try from the website i get the ” this page cannot be displayed ” crap.. i have XP
I just was able to get a download today (Christmas). I had to use a download manager (Orbit) to keep trying to get it. I am running vista on my pc. I will update if it works or not on vista.
Same problem as above disconnect. What a way to ruin Christmas.
i downloaded an application that was on the Fly World Application page,but when i try to run it says its not a valid win32 application?
when you say you used Orbit, what exactly did you download? I only ask because when i put in the cd and it runs it gives the network connection problem, so how would i get that to run through Orbit? Unless you dl’ed the same application I got from the Fly World page
a hassle? yes…ruin xmas? nah….stop being babies, we’ll figure it out!
My download manager completely downloaded the program from Leapfrog’s website. It took 30 minutes using highspeed cable. I can’t register due to Leapfrog’s server being overloaded yet. I recommend Orbit download manager if you don’t want to wait for slower internet congestion. I’ll keep updating on getting registered.
pat, could you possibly zip/upload the program to sendspace? or megalink?
that would probably help out a lot of people here
Sorry, I tried the Install CD. Internet congestion, being x-mas and all, is horrid for leapfrog. I went to the support page: http://www.flyworld.com/support/index.html
From there I used my download manager to get the Flyworld application marked “download now” at this link: http://updates.flyworld.com/latest/FlyWorldLatest.exe
From there, I can’t be of any help yet, as I am still struggling to get through the registration due to too Leapfrog’s lousy bandwidth.
It’s a 45 meg program, and I don’t have any accounts to park stuff that big. I might need to be talked through it.
hmmm
Yousendit.com may allow that if you sign up for a free acct. I think their limit is 100meg’s for a freebie. Takes an email and thats about it, no cash.
I think when i “downloaded” it before,it downloaded a partial file or something, because of the overload…So I’m trying now through Firefox/Flashgot/BitComet to download, it says theirs 1 seeder, which im guessing is the source of the problem itself…(and now after just checking it, i got a red x that ive never gotten before lol)
any help is greatly appreciated
My concern is any infringement on LeapFrog’s policies. I will put it up on sendspace, If I’m asked to remove it, I will. But I hope Leapfrog appreciates this instead. Standby for a download link.
-update-
so it just went to green and is downloading from 5 seeds, and its taking a little bit of time, which seems to be a good thing considering the last time i dl’ed, it took about 30 seconds…10% and going, ill keep ya’ll informed
i dont think they’d have a problem with it since its a free program on their site?
If asked to remove, I’m sure everyone would completely understand doing so..
If this works, everyone owed Pat a thank you…
notice how i avoided the obvious pat on the back pun? take notes writers…(i couldnt avoid that one,sorry)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/90gali
This is a link that should work.
My program works to the point that I have set up Administrator, but I can’t get in to set up the pen, You will all see. I will watch this post, to see the first successfull download from that link, after that, you all know as much or more than I. Good Luck!
i have successfully downloaded and am currently installing Fly Fusion
im using Firefox as a browser and used the FireFox extension Flashgot to download the program through BitComet
hopefully the link is posted sometime today for all to (hopefully) enjoy
thanks for your help Pat
Ok, Last post, then I’m done. I installed the program. Administrator is not required for set up. Plug the pen in, MAKE SURE ITS ON, I didn’t and kept struggling. It will take you through the set up for the pen. Take care all!
i had the same problem,im currently trying to backdoor that problem by going directly through leapfrog.com to set up an account.
it seems to have worked…it says it couldnt connect,but then brought me to create my pentop profile.
Just log in your newly created acct from leapfrog.com into the user/pass for your Fly Pen.
-phew-
exactly, and im gone!
Thank you Guys/Gals for the research on the Application error issue and access to the file itself. You saved a frustrating day for a lot of us. : )
Hmmmmm…. I had written earlier to say that I could not download the application. It seemed that the server was busy. i finally was able to download – at a snail’s pace…. And I noticed that others had been able to download with assistance from others. In the true spirit of Christmas…
But now I am having trouble getting in as admin. Guest access limits what you can do with the device. You can’t download mp3’s etc. I was expecting this to work more or less like active sync or palm sync. Why is Internet connection avbsolutely necessary. FRUSTRATING!!! I keep getting the message that the flyworld server is not available – something wrong with my Internet connection! yeah, right! BTW I thought of creating an account on leapfrog and that worked. Still can’t get past the initial screen! %$#@&^%!)
I can’t believe that you have to have internet access to install this software. I bought this for a Christmas gift and only dial up internet is available. What a mess! Thanks to everyone who has helped with the download.
if anyone is still here, i have a problem, which might just be because it might be the overload from the servers.
I actually got the pen over the summer for my birthday, and i love it. i dont use it so much for school for lack of paper and ink, but i use it for my writing(mostly fanfic and poems)
Anyway, i never had this problem, but i just got the Journal. I installed it, and everytime i try to put it on the pen and sync it, it says “Fly World coud not sync some, or all of the selected applications. this may be because your pentop is not managed by the admin account.The admin account can select your pentop for management by going to the Manage Accounts Tab.”
But whenever i log onto the admin account, both the Manage account tab and Download store tabs are blank when i go to them.
What do i do?
and then there are also times when i try to log on as the admin, and it tells me the servers are busy or i have internet problems -.-
Just updating everyone. Got mine installed. Totally skipped trying to do the administrator portion of the registration. Don’t think I’ll need it, since I am 32, ; )
I’m using this pen for college classes, my last one for my Bachelor’s and hoping to carry it onto a masters. I bought this because I usually handwrite my notes before I type them in, organizing my thoughts, I guess. I just finished an assignment, and this is how it faired out for me:
One fully handwritten page every line, decent spacing, only skipped the top line. Word count came out to 247 words on one page. I had 18 translation errors into the word processor I use. 3 were my bad spelling. 4 were mis-translations were the translator messed up way off base, and the last 11 were the translator not correctly deciphering a lower case S, O, or C and an assorted number-letter mixup.
I am really excited this worked for me. I wish everyone luck with this!
Oh and by the way, I looked up the Live Scribe. Expensive and un-neccessary upgrade to this. Looks like they copied everything, and added the voice recorder. I don’t feel that the voice recorder warrants an extra 120 dollars. Other than that, same product in my opinion.
Hi. I just got a fly pen for christmas, and fl pen world is not installing because i don’t have 512mb of ram. What should i do?
i just got a fly fusion pen and when i connedcted it to my computer i accidently starting syncing the applications and the basic menu from my pentop to my applications on the computer, and now they are lost. they arnt on my pen, and they arent on my computer. does anyone know where i can find these applications, or how i get them back.
I, too, cannot access the Fly World Application. It’s downloaded but when it prepares to install a message comes up stating “Sorry, FLY World requires a computer with at least 512 MB of RAM.” Needless to say, after having tried just to download the application all day and then now it’s giving me that message I’m starting to get a little frustrated.
And thank you to Pat for giving us that link to download from. It helped me tremendously. If only I could figure out what is wrong now… Any suggestions?
i think i understand what emily is saying. that happened to me aslo.
when you open your fly world thing on your computer and click on the pentop section you should have two boxes next to each other with arrows in between; one box titled ‘applications’ and the other titled ‘pentop’. At first there were a bunch of things in the ‘pentop’ box, like the basic menu (flynotes, translator, games, test prep…) I clicked the arrow towards the ‘application’ box and it said it was syncing.
now these tools are gone and not in either box, making my pentop computer useless. it doesnt recognize any of the FLYcons.
PLEASE… DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO FIX THIS??
YOU NEED 512 MEG. OF RAM (sorry) DAN! you screwd your pen sh**** so go to tech support
HELP. I accedently deleted my applications through Fly World. Can I download the apllications through the Download Store?
The Fly Fusion pen needs 512 MB of ram and it seems that my computer doesn’t have it… is there any way to increase the ram memory on my computer?
Does the Fly Fusion read text better than the Fly 1.0?
I have it sitting in a box. I got it for Xmas, but I already have 1.0.
If it doesn’t work any better, I want to return it =P
Thank you to Pat! http://www.sendspace.com/file/90gali
This site worked great. We had been trying since yesterday to download. This loaded in less than 15 minutes and my daughter was able to setup her profile and is downloading her software. Don’t waste your time trying to download from the CD or the flyworld.com. This will save you many hours of aggravation.
HELP. I accedently deleted my applications through Fly World like FLY Tunes, and it doesn’t reconize the FT circled and says “This is an unknown application.” Can I download the applications through the Download Store?
http://www.sendspace.com/file/90gali
I’ve been to that site & downloaded the FlyWorld program from there, yet when it finished downloading, the pop-up box came back on saying I still need 512MB of RAM… any advice?
40 minutes of being on hold with the fly fusion people and finally when i get to a real person she speaks very poor english and tells me they are tryin to fix the problem and will call me when its resolved….12 hours later the cd still wont work and no phone call..very poor servce
you NEED 512MB to run the fly program. sorry but your have to go out and buy a new ram card they only cost like 15-25 dollars
TO JAKE run the program from the link on this http://www.sendspace.com/file/90gali , according to everybody else it should work
That happened to me too!! If you are wireless your network will sometimes momentarily disconnect-its a bunch of techie stuff!
Try connecting via a wire-I did that and then it worked (I am now stuck on a different part…but whatever!)
If you get stuck on another part don’t bother calling the people-just go to http://fly.custhelp.com click on Ask A Question and ask it…if you call them all they do is fill the info in for you!
Hope this helps!
Does FastComp Math: Basics expires because its on my flyworld application when i plug my pen in. but when i go to the control panel it says that i dont have any math applications.
please help
This whole fly world download thing is absurd…. They were ill prepared, imo, to support this product. My girls love this pen and it’s potential to help with homework. However, we have been trying for days to get the software loaded, and then trying to get into the Admin. field to enable us to download applications from the “store”. I finally managed to get through at 1 a.m. to enter the subscription pass and get a few applications downloaded. After that window of an hour, or so, I haven’t been successful since.
TO EVERYBODY: click on the link to download the flyworld software (http://www.sendspace.com/file/90gali) everybody that i know who got a pen 2 days go used this and it worked. it worked for me too. SO PLEASE STOP SAYING LEAPFROG WAS DISSAPOPOINTING. AND STOP ASKING HOW TO GET THE APPLICATION THID LINK IS GUARANTEED TO WORK š
sorry about the link it didnt work here it is: http://www.sendspace.com/file/90gali
I’m sorry to hear all of you seem to be having problems. Unfortunately they all seem out of the range of my experience with the pen. Buying and installing six weeks ago I had no issues.
“This whole fly world download thing is absurdā¦. They were ill prepared, imo, to support this product. ”
IMO, LeapFrog was not ill prepared to support this product but rather ill prepared for the success of this product. The response to it seems to be highly unexpected. Their marketing campaign was only of a moderate density and the Fly 1.0 came and went with hardly a ripple.
My frustration is beyond the initial Fly World software download…. Has anyone else managed to successfully enter the download store to get the additional software applications???
I build computers, install windows, repair computers, and have installed and connected most everything in a computer. This flyworld sucks. Not just because of leapfrogs lousy bandwidth and the internet required to install cd apps. Because it won’t recognize any of the software I installed. Windows add-remove sees it. Why doesn’t flyworld see them? Tech support read the help file to me and said try again in 24-48 hours. What a load of crap!
TO PS click on the link to download the flyworld software http://www.sendspace.com/file/90gali everybody that i know who got a pen 2 days go used this and it worked. it worked for me too.
Somebody Help Me! I accidentaly deleted all my applications (the ones that came on the pen) Is there any way to get them back???——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
That sendspace website scares me–i do not trust it!
I will not download from there…I will just wait and wait and wait and wait and….
I wish someone from Fly/Leapfrog would actually give a good response!!!
Somebody Help Me! I accidentaly deleted all my applications (the ones that came on the pen) Is there any way to get them back???āāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāā-
Thanks for the advice Anonymous123. I will deactivate the link.
And like that… It’s gone!
I took another path to get to the Flyworld application. Try going here:
http://www.flyworld.com/flyapplication/index.html
rather than the http://updates.flyworld.com .
I was able to download it from there.
However – I also deleted some of my applications (according to the Flyworld app) and i’m working to refresh those as well. They are there via the Main menu – I just can’t activate them using Flycons – only via the notebook – which is not good enough for my uses.
is the flycon FastComp Basics (FC) which is the math one working for anyone? all of the other flycons are being recognized except for that one…i returned the pen thinking it was broke and got a new one, but same thing. Do you have to pay extra for the FC? thanks
Somebody Help Me! I accidentaly deleted all my applications (the ones that came on the pen) Is there any way to get them back???āāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāā
It took 9 hours but I finally got the pen loaded with the software on cd. The server that drives flyworld sucks. The message about it being slow and giving 4 free apps is not making it better. I kept getting an invalid license message when installing some of the free apps but after 4 or 5 trys it all loaded. I won’t be buying any more!
is the flycon FastComp Basics (FC) which is the math one working for anyone? all of the other flycons are being recognized except for that oneā¦i returned the pen thinking it was broke and got a new one, but same thing. Do you have to pay extra for the FC? ….under the main menu in flyworld under the “fly fusion applications and mp3 on my pentop” it shows Fast Comp Basics in the list…thanks for any help
I finally got all my applications to show up again and fixed missing Flycons in the process. To avoid problems I’ve been having with going wirless (for some reason it has DNS issues on the wireless network – Domain Name Service for you techies) I connected to my hub with a network cable
1. Went to pograms and Uninstalled Flyworld and removed profiles
2. Went back to http://www.flyworld.com/flyapplication/index.html and redownloaded Flyworld.
3. Installed Flyworld
4. created new profile
5. waited and it up dated again and all the applications showed up in the computer window so I can move to my pentop
6. selected all the apps and asked to sync.
Step 6 failed the first time and gave me the “need an admin account” error. When I view the deatils is says I have “invalid license” for the apps.
Step 7 – went to http://www.leapfrog.com/en/login.html and created my own account. Tried to register my apps from there but that page doesn’t load.
Stayed logged in on that web page and went back to Flyworld
Step 8. select apps on my desktop and picked arrow to push them to the pentop.
Step 9 run a sync
Success. My apps are reloaded and my flycons all work – including FC and CO
Happy penning
Thank you sooo much bird 56
bird 56, could you please clarify
you’re kidding …right?
I know that they have experienced much higher traffic then expected and are working on fixing stuff. A lot of people spent their holidays and nights trying to resolve the issues. Hopefully they can get everything running smoothly soon.
for the person with question about the deleted applications.. if you log in to Fly world and go to the Pentop tab all applications will be downloaded to your computer again. Since there are some server issues right now it might take a little longer then usual.
ok, i have the Math Algebra disks, and the Spanish translator pro disk.
Everytime i install them to my computer, they dont show up with the rest of my applications. should i just keep installing them and uninstalling them till it shows up, or should i just wait a few days and try again. i mean, i know the server is messed up, but what does that have to do with my installing servers from a CD? i’m not buying them off the download store, so how come it wot work?
bird56 could you clarify step 5
i have a question….
can the new software [like text converter to comp.] work on the old/original fly pen??
My flycon FastComp Basics (FC) stopped working too.
What a disaster with the website. Seems like they should have had the software on the CD to begin with rather than force everyone to download the software (causing a overload on the flyworld servers). Guess they were trying to rush it out for Christmas and didn’t have the software written in time.
When I log in, only the admin account is available. The ability to create a pentop user is grey and unavailable. What did I miss? Signing in as an Administrator is possible but there are no pentop users to manage. Help!
Turn the pen on when you plug it in.
I can’t get into my pentop profile either my pen is currently plugged in and turned on but its still not working
And to all who want to know there is actually such a thing as a black fly fusion. Actually called a Black Jack. I have one.
tim have you tried downloading the software if not do that and then click the fly icon and create an account then everytime you plug your fly into the computer you click the icon and enter your password.
Grr. I am not having trouble downloading application, just opening it. I’ve had to download and uninstall several times and still can’t get the program to open. It’s like SadMom said above – any suggestions?
i bought the French Translator pro and it said downloading but its not on my applications
thats weird never happened to me before
How do you download apps that you buy from fly world.com ? After I buy them it says downloading but then when I look in my apps theres nothing but what I had before. Any suggestions?
In response to Lindak:
It was the same thing for me but I figured out how to get it set-up.
1. Create an adminstrative account. -I had to go to leapfrogs website and sign-in there and fill out a form before Fly would recognize my e-mail address & password.
2. Then if your haven’t already done so plug in your pen, turn it on, & restart Fly
-After you sign in the admin. account their will be a “create pentop profile” icon- click that and fill-out the form
(You can also go to “help” and from there select “creating a pentop profile” and it gives you directions.)
what happens when you buy something on the download store with the $10 coupon?
I’ve been asked a couple of times on my previous post about step #5.
The waiting is while the FLYfusion tries to open. When is does this it is updating/ reloading the applications to your pen. This allows the applications list to be refreshed and you should be seeing your applications again.
good luck.
but i bought French Translator Pro a few days ago and it still isnt there
I got my fly fusion the weeks after Christmas, and did not
have any OF the aforementioned problems downloading. I suspect Fly Word (should read World) was overwhelmed by the response and was (obviously) unprepared to deal with it.
And, for the most part, I LOVE ‘t! What a neat gadget, I’ve found the 740ns (should have read āFlyconsā) easy to use (once I used them correctly!) and have been showing it off all over work. Yes, I’M a 42 year old mom who works in a school, and probably not their target audience, but I Love my toys.
To be honest, I have 2 minor gripes. the pen is too fat. I find it kind of tiring to use it .Labo (should have read āAlso, itās too) heavy, but I understand why). And it would be nice if some of the software was more appropriate for adults, proffered Use (should have read adults/professional use) .
By the way, I wrote this entire post by 714 (should have read āFlyā) pen, downloaded and Pasted it here. You can see how accurate it was. Alli
All corrections were added after conversion to Word. As an aside, I think itās funny how it never recognized the word FLY!
I received the FLY Fusion for Christmas.
I downloaded the FLY world application to my computer, but when I try to install the software, it doesn’t work.
The first window that pops up has buttons that say, Back (which is grayed out), Next, and Cancel. When I click the next button, the window vanishes and nothing happens. My computer doesn’t process the program. It’s as if nothing is there at all. There is nothing to uninstall, just a shortcut icon.
When I contacted the Leapfrog Tech support, they said they would call me, or email me, neither of which has happened. I really want to be able to use this pen as I need it for classes and meetings.
Can anybody help?
Thanks!
The fly pen does come in black!!! Mine is black and i got it yesterday
I have found this thread very useful; I believe that there is a mix of issues that are causing some people frustration. In my instance what I have been able to ascertain from this helpful thread is that my wife purchased the FLY pen and not the FLY Fusion which does not come with a usb cable or install CD. It would appear that the FLY Fusion is the most recent offering and the device that you really want to have before starting down the path of FlyWorld install and downlods. I have ordered the Fly Fusion since my son really likes the product.
I will post once I have the Fusion and hopefully a device that works as advertised.
Andrew Liszewski, thanks for starting this great indepth report and to all of you for your informative responses. I have looked into buying this and this report was just what was needed to decide to purchase.
After reading all the responses my questions are: 1. Where do you buy the paper? I am in Southern California. Any stores or if not online places to buy? 2. What stores are best to buy from. I found it at Toys R Us but they only have a 7-day return policy unless it is defective, and I would want at least 30 days.
Answer to Lorelie on 12-22-07: You asked about the Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.0 Preferred software. I bought it early in 07 and it is the best. Very accurate. I had an earlier version and you had to voice train so much that I decided I could type faster. This version they have all the bugs worked out. You only need to train the first time and that takes about three minutes. After that it is so accurate and easy to use, I just love it and would suggest buying it to anyone. It comes with a very good headphone also.
I’m just glad so many people have found my review and this long thread of comments helpful. Unfortunately my FLY Fusion was passed onto a younger cousin who’s been able to put it to good use, so I haven’t been able to test a lot of the problems people are experiencing. Thankfully, many others have stepped up to the plate and provided assistance where they can.
*grin*
Andrew: maybe you should ask him to sit in on this comment thread.
Hey Lark? Just a coupla questions; maybe it will help you problem solve:
You have the minimum requirements to run FlyWorld yes?
Are you running Vista? It appears folks running Vista run into more problems getting things rolling (I’m running XP and had no probs).
I’m pretty sure the FlyWorld software is on the FlyWorld website; have you tried to load from there?
plantobuy: From what I can tell, one can purchase the paper online at LeapFrog.com (they make the FlyFusion pen). Not sure which chains are in your neck of the woods, but I’ve seen the paper available at Target and Walmart. I’ve also seen it on Amazon. Also, somewhere in the archives here is an article on a different pen by some guy who used to work for the FLyFusion folks. Supposedly he is part of a group making a new pen (more geared to adults) which works similarly; and claims the paper with the microdots for his will be cheaper. I’m hoping it is, and is compatible with the FlyFusion…
Alli
I am still trying to get a response from Leapfrog as to why some of the software will not download. I’ve had trouble with Math Pro, Word Tools and the Writing program. I was able to download Essay Coach and various others, but I can’t get those I just mentioned to respond. I get the “download” square for about a second and then it disappears. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the fact that we have the Subscription Pass.
I have sent multiple emails over the past weeks and made a phone call today. No response. I sure am curious if anyone else has had success with those particular software applications???
Thank you Andrew and all those posting here. The indepth article is VERY informative and the offerings of those posting have been just as informative. I incorrectly requested just the Fly Pen for Christmas because I didn’t want all the “kid” games. My mistake, it was really the Fly Fusion after all (which is what we got the grand daughter anyway). I wanted this pen for my job as I take lots of notes on phone conversations with customers. From what I read here I felt it would be easier to “search” downloaded documents for information rather than having to page my through my (messy) notebook. Also, my notes could be made available for the rest of my department online. It would also save time as I currently, on a daily basis, re-type my notes into a service database (double work). Today I received the correct pen, my honey is wonderfully understanding, and I’m just about to try out the notebook feature. So here’s hoping it’ll all go as planned. Thanks to all.
Hi Alli,
Thank you so much for your response! I am so upset that I cannot get it to work!
I have tried both downloading it from the disc and directly from the Web with the same results.
I am running Vista, and That is probably the underlying cause of the non-installing problem.
Any suggestions?
I tried running it as XP but to no avail.
I will try again while awaiting a solution.
Thanks a bunch.
~Lark
how do i delete the writings from my fly fusions memory? or are they there to stay forever?
Lark:
Urgh…not sure then. The only other thing I can think of is maybe your timing is really bad? Apparently the website is unable to handle a high load of requests and folks have had success trying again at a different time.
And this may sound stupid, but have you plugged in your pen just to see if anything happens? if not, try it and let me know how it goes!
Alli
I’m a college student as well and I think the Fly Fusion will be great for capturing lecture notes. It will also make it more convenient to share notes with people who had to miss class (I’m not a fan of letting people borrow my notebooks, but I can certainly send them a document file.) My pen is arriving in the mail today, I can’t wait to try it out!
Hmmmm, well I tried my pen out at work and I’m a bit disappointed. The concept is great, downloads through the proprietary software and my notes look great in the Fly World app. However, translation to Word sucks big time. I have extremely neat printing though it is all in caps. The translation to Word runs words together with a a lot of extra letters thrown in. I know through practice that spacing and uniformity are a must but out of an entire page of neatly printed notes, maybe 4 lines actually translated legibly. I have tried upper and lower case printing with the same not so great results when translated to Word. I did notice that though I print on the “lines” of the note book, when downloaded my words are just a hair below the line. Maybe it’s the angle of my pen, maybe I have some setting in Word that’s throwing it off in translating? Does anyone have suggestions in translating to Word? I’m still optimistic.
Hi,
I have 1 more question.
What’s the “lifespan” of the Fly Fusion. As in, how long will it last. 5 years, 10 years, 60 years?
I’m just asking because I was planing on using it for the rest of my school-days but I’m worried it won’t last that long. I have 6 years left.
Hi, I was wondering if anyone knew how to change your default text editor so that you can choose the program you want to open your newly converted text?
ASHLEY- lifespan? i dont think anybody has really bothered to figure this out. im sure it will last a good 5 years, probably 6, but by then im sure they’ll have so many more versions out, you might want a different one, because by then, yours will seem so “old” even though its brand new now.
6 years of school left? good luck. š i have 3. just keep going… its not all that bad. š
My pen ran out of ink and before I buy a new ink catridge I was wondering were’s the ink inside my pen or were do I have to put the new one. Thanks.
For the people with French translator problem. You should try closing Flyworld then opening it again and log in in as the pentop profile. Switch to the “Pentop” tab and wait for a little bit (depending on your internet connection its a 10 MB download). I had this problem and it is working now.
For the Vista installation issue make sure you have the latest Microsoft updates installed. Also make delete your temporary files in the temp folders under user and windows. Not sure if it will help but its worth a shot.
If anyone was having problem starting the application after successful installation (the fly logo sits in the middle of the screen but nothing happens) this might be because of firewall/security software setting. You can contact Customer service they have a special version of Flyworld that solves this issue.
Rebecca Says:
My pen ran out of ink and before I buy a new ink catridge I was wondering wereās the ink inside my pen or were do I have to put the new one. Thanks.
To get to the cartridge, just Pull hard(Ish) on the Gray tip that you turn, the cartridge assembly comes out.
But don’t do it unless you need to, as it becomes looser with every pull.
We can’t find the USB cord for the FLY. WHere can we buy another mini USB cord that will work with the Fly
Any standard ‘USB’ to ‘USB Mini’ cable should work fine with the FLY Fusion. I don’t think I ever even took the included cable out of the box, since I have a small collection of ‘USB’ to ‘USB Mini’ from cellphones and other devices already.
Well I can officially say Leapfrog wins hands down for the WORST customer service/support I’ve EVER dealt with. I am a very reasonable and patient person…. but after having now placed 4 phone calls and 4 emails over the last month with the same issue and EACH time being told I would be contacted in 24 -48 hrs….. Not a peep out of them.
I purchased 2 of these pens along with two subscription passes for the basic functions of the writing and math programs. Neither will download, rendering our $400.00 investment (with all of the extra accessories) useless. I am INCREDIBLY disappointed and beyond frustrated with Leapfrog.
… Just had to vent!
No need to explain yourself. Customer support can be just as important a factor when it comes to making a decision, as any other feature. I never needed to contact Leapfrog support as part of my review of the pen, but it’s interesting (and a bit upsetting) to hear what others might have to deal with.
I also vote for leapforg having the worst customer support. I purchased 2 pens at Christmas with cartridge and subscription. To this very day nothing downloaded will transfer to the pen or the cartridge. Applications originally on the pen now show an expiration date. None of the updates of the original programs will transfer to the pen. And some of the original applications and music have disappeared. Customer support has never responded to e-mails and the phone calls I have placed are answered by people who don’t know what the pen is much less how to dowload. Asking them to escalate the problem brings no response. Asking to speak to the technicial support instead of customer support brings no response. I’ve spoken with 3 different people on the customer support phone line. None of them have know anything about the pen. Leap Frog cheaping out on customer support has left its customers with NO SUPPORT
Hello all, I am interested in purchasing the fly fusion pen and looking on ebay…I see there is one called the “blackjack” version…and states its the newest one…most of them say its rare…..what’s the skinny on this?? I noticed some say leapfrog and some say blackjack….. and on flyworld they only show the fly fusion gray colored one….if this has been asked already I apologize there are too many comments to read each one….thank you in advance for any info!!
———————LYNNAE————————
the “blackjack” version is no newer than the “fly fusion” its the exact same model and everything, just… black (in color) its not exactly rare, its just only sold at target. its a ‘target’ exsclusive. and its not like its limited stock either, its going to be there just as long as the normal fly fusion will be. i myself have a fly fusion ‘blackjack’ version. i have looked ion ebay, and noticed several people saying ‘blackjack version no longer sold in stores, extrememly rare, buy now!!’ oh, PLEASE… what a scam. of course it is still sold in stores. please do not believe those people.
i just bought mine at target, its the same price as the normal fly fusion. but when i contacted fly fusion customer service concerning just a general question about the fly fusion, i stated that i had the ‘blackjack’ version, and they said they don’t sell a blackjack version of the fly fusion.
so OBVIOUSLY they are not very informed about what they do and dont sell, because they do very much sell a blackjack version.
so i dont exactly reccomend contacting fly fusion support…not really any help (as many many people have already said)
your welcome. š at least i can be of some help.
hi.
so whenever i turn on my fly fusion, its recording notes. (the green light is blinking.) how do i make it NOT be recording every time i turn it on??
also, i bought the “dailies” software off of the fly fusion download store. i have the ‘spanish word’ set for start-up. so when i turn it on, it automatically says the ‘spanish word of the day’
its getting a little annoying….how do i undo it????
thank you!!!!
For people who had problems with installing on vista try this:
1. navigate to c:\windows\system32 right click on the application “cmd” and select run as administrator
2. type each one of these commands and press enter:
regsvr32 /u vbscript.dll
regsvr32 /u jscript.dll
regsvr32 vbscript.dll
regsvr32 jscript.dll
– these disable and then enable vbscript
3. try running the installer again.
Prim…
You are a FLY saver!
After I ran the commands everything installed beautifully!
Thank you so much for posting this!
If I could hug you I would!
~Lark
FYI…….For Fly 1.0 users who purchased additional notebooks for your pen, and now own the new pen. If your pen is in the “record notes” mode, it will record the text that is written in the notebook and will upload the next time you sync your pen.
The pen must be on to sync it.
hi.
i just got the fly pen the other day & i have windows vista which it is compatable with but when i try to install it it gets half way through & then stops & goes away…
is there anyway to fix this?
sammi try the solution in the 3rd post up from your comment
Been fighting LeapFrog since Christmas Day, I come here and in 15 mins I am up and running! Thanks Prim…you rule! Dittos on the customer service people…first, the regular customer service folks aren’t in US. Tech Support knew less about computers than I did….
I’m so glad some of you found a resolution here…. Me, 6 calls and 6 emails, still NOTHING from Leapfrog!!! Unbelieveable…. Maybe someone here has some ideas. My problem is that I can’t get Word Tools, Writing, or Math Pro to load. I have two subscription passes, everything else loads fine. That is irrelevant to me because my kids need these to provide the basic functions of writing and math or they are of no use to them.
I’m wondering if it might be because I have Essay Coach and some of the individual Math applications, which are single elements of the Writing and Math Pro applications, that my pens think I already them therefore won’t load. What happens is that I get the “Downloading” square for a second or two and then disappears. That is exactly what happens if you try to re-load something that you already have.
Is there a way to delete those applications completely from my applications so I can try to load Writing and Math Pro instead?? I can’t find a way to do that… I don’t mean just taking them off of my pentop and re-synching, if that makes sense…
I received a Fly Fusion Pen Computer for Christmas and I can not get the software intial software to load. When I install the CD a big black Fly Icon comes up in the middle of the screen and it does not go any farther. What I’m I doing wrong. I’ve called the support system and can not get an answer. Any help will be appreciated. My system is a Windows XP. I’ve tried shutting off the firewall. A step by step guide would be soooo helpful. Appreciate any and all help
Kathryn you should call customer service and they should be able to direct you to a special release of Flyworld that deals with this issue. The issue is related to Port forwarding which is usually caused by software/hardware firewall.
Also how do you know if you have Fly 1.0 Pentop Computer or the Fly Fusion Pentop Computer?
Kathryn – go to the flyworld.com website, if your pen looks like any of the pens on the front page you have Fly Fusion.
FINALLY… I received an email with several troubleshooting messages, one of which finally addressed my inability to download several specific applications. It gave the instructions for how to delete all previous apps. first, as I suspected I need to do, but didn’t know how. A month and a half later I am finally up and running. Hallelujah!!
I am going to try to cut and paste the email which also addressed some other issues that some have posted here …..
Please review the following in order to find your solution.
A) Unable to launch FLY World
We are working on releasing a new version of FLY World. In the meantime, we suggest using the Beta version of the software available on our website.
Simply uninstall the current version of FLY World and go to the following link. Download and install this Beta version and launch FLY World. If this new version will still not work for you, please let us know by replying to this email.
http://updates.flyworld.com/latest/FlyWorldSpecial.exe
NOTE: The Beta version of the software is still being tested and may have unforeseen errors. We have had a great success rate with this version and are confident that it will correct your existing issue.
B) Unable to install FLY World on Vista
If you are unable to install FLY World on the Vista operating system, please follow these instructions.
1. In windows explorer navigate to c:\windows\system32
2. Find the application named “cmd”. Now right click on “cmd” and select “Run as Administrator”
3. In the following window, type or copy and paste
regsvr32 /u vbscript.dll
Now press enter. You may receive a pop-up regarding DllUnregisterServer that it succeeded or failed. In either case, click OK.
4. Next type or copy and paste
regsvr32 /u jscript.dll
Now press enter. You may receive the same pop-ups regarding the DllUnregisterServer message. Click OK once more.
5. We will next need to type or copy and paste
regsvr32 vbscript.dll
and press enter. You may once again receive the pop-up window. Simply click OK to continue.
6. Finally, type or copy and paste
regsvr32 jscript.dll
and press enter. You may once again receive the pop-up window. Simply click OK to continue.
7. Try running the installer again.
C) FLY World not displaying software
If you cannot find the purchased or included software, you will need to delete the My Apps folder. This folder can be found in the following directory:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Leapfrog\FlyWorld\My Library\
Once the My Apps folder is deleted, log on to the Pentop User account and click on the Pentop tab. There should be no applications listed in the Application section at this time. Now connect the Pen and turn it on. The applications will download from our server and populate this section.
NOTE: The download speed for the applications depend on connection speed as well as the size of the application.
D) How can I find my Pen ID?
You can find your Pen ID by doing the following:
1) Log in to the Pentop Profile.
2) Connect the FLY Fusion Pen and turn it on.
3) Double click the FLY Icon on the top left corner of the FLY World application.
4) The Pen ID and FLY World version number will appear in the new window.
The FLY Fusion Team thanks you for your patients in the matter. If you find that your issue is still not resolved, please reply to us with the following information:
Admin Account Email Address
Pen ID
Current Issue
After waiting 3 weeks for a reply from customer service, I received the message saying to try the beta version. I uninstalled, and reinstalled the beta. I do at least get the monitor screen now. BUT…it stalls there with a small bx that says “updating application 0%. My 2 month old “toy” is still unusable. I have contacted customer service 9 times including today’s call. I knew when I bought this product I needed to add memory. I did that before even starting this 2 month nightmare. I am glad to see that once you get this to work it seems that most feel it’s a great product. I spend a lot of time writing casenotes for my job and I thought this would be a great help. I’ve been asked by many co-workers what I think of the product. You can imagine that nobody else has purchased it. My supervisor was considering this as something we could justify as a necessity and buy them for everyone. If I ever get mine to work, I might make that recommendation.
hi, i got a Fly Pen for Christmas and my mom said it was the last one on the shelf, its cool and all, but i fine that i am having problems with it too soon. i wanted to ask what do i do when the ink is finished?
hi, i got a Fly Pen for Christmas and my mom said it was the last one on the shelf, its cool and all, but i fine that i am having problems with it too soon, the ink is finidhed and it didi not come with the cords that it was supposed to and in th sample games it looked like someone was playing with it, not that that really was a problem but it feels like i was riped off!
(sarcastically) Can they make it any harder to get accessories? Ordering from Leapfrog is a joke. Trying to find a power adapter is practically impossible. Can’t find one store that carries any accessories besides the pen itself and the school work journals. How are we supposed to be able to buy things like a power adapter, a case, inks, extra pages, etc., if they make it so impossible to do so.
Great product, support for it SUCKS!
should i get it i was thinking about it.but from what u say u are not happy
$35 at Walmart on clearance!!!
Hi
i get rid of my flypen freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! email me at [email protected] for your address. It comes with brand new flypen never used 2 brand new books and everything you find when you open up a brand new box. So [email protected].
I NEED HELP…
my fly pen doesnt have a USB port anywhere on it. do i have an old version? Is there ant other way to hook it up to your computer?
One more thing, Can i get the Product ID for the Fly Journal…. i lost the package. Can Anyone help me?
I bought this garbage for my daughter and nowhere on the promotional materials does it state that it does not work on a Mac…it doesn’t matter if it has Windows XP. It just doesn’t work if the brand is a Mac! HOW RIDICULOUS! And, the company refuses to offer any type of credit, after purchasing this crap AND the $10 notebooks (several) she can’t even use them…..what a complete and total SCAM!!! Don’t fall for it — I wouldn’t buy ANY Leapfrog product, just because of the poor customer service and lack of accountability for their FALSE ADVERTISING.
“Another Scammed”…
if you go onto http://www.leapfrog.com and search for ‘fly fusion’, an entire description of the product will come up. If you read it, it will cleary state that it has no mac support. If you read reviews of the fly fusion just about anywhere, (target.com, walmart, amazon, etc) almost everybody will say it has no mac support. Did you do research on it? You have to do research on just about everything before you purchase it. Leapfrog will not reimburse you simply becuase they stated on their website (and the fly fusion box) that you can’t use it on macs. they don’t have sympathy for people who don’t follow their directions.
I’m not trying to be harsh on you, but do research on things in the future possibly? I have a fly fusion and I love it, I use it every day. I don’t consider it to be garbage or crap or for leapfrog to have false advertising. Did you not read this Oh!Gizmo review before you bought it? because it says on here that it has no mac support. Obviously not, but then why are you on here after you bought it…?
Leapfrog and its products are no scam, and I happen to love them.
Just trying to set the record straight.
thank you!
a m….
the fly that is on clearence at walmart for $35 is the fly 1.0 version (the old one) so if you are looking for the fly fusion, don’t rush out to walmart. Actually, at leapfrog, the fly 1.0 (the old one) and ALL of the fly 1.0 accesories are 60% off!! so if you are looking for a fun gift thats cheap, buy it! they fly 1.0 is still very fun, just not all that new. but then again, thats not that big of a deal! š
Christa…
the fly fusion and the fly 1.0 both have USB ports. so even if you do have the old one, you still have a USB port. its on the back of the pen, on the top. just a little port in it. both pens have the same thing..
as for your journal dilemma…I can’t say that it’ll work. š
you need the box, and I would be happy to give you my code, but yours is different. every box sold has a different code. sorry. š
col….
i really reccomend the fly fusion. read the reviews on amazon.com! they’re amazing! if you want to read my review (on amazon.com and target.com, its under the name “S. Thompson”.
kim/jenn…
when you run out of fly fusion ink, simply buy new ones, and pull the old one out. you do this by tugging on the ballpoint part of the pen. (don’t worry, you won’t break it!!) you have to pull pretty firmly. when thats out, just put the new one in! š
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hi.
so whenever i turn on my fly fusion, its recording notes. (the green light is blinking.) how do i make it NOT be recording every time i turn it on??
also, sometimes it doesn’t upload pages that i have recorded. its like it is ‘iffy’ or something….it usually does, but that last three times, it hasn’t. and i know that i recorded them! please help?? anybody?
thank you!!!!
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For those who have been following the comments on my FLY Fusion review, but aren’t regular readers of OhGizmo!, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve just posted a review of the EPOS Digital Pen to our site.
https://ohgizmo.com/2008/03/28/ohgizmo-review-epos-digital-pen-usb-flash-drive/
The EPOS is definitely in the same market as the FLY Fusion, and while it lacks a lot of the functionality of the Fusion (MP3s, translators, etc,) it has a much better form factor and is considerably smaller as far as the pen goes.
I am trying to load the Algebra, or rather trasfer the Algebra CD to my fly top but I do not know how. Could you please assist?
Thank you
This pen looks cool but i bought and it is screwed up i don’t know how to charge it can some body poste a comment telling me!! PLS
me 2 i need to know how to charge it can someone please tell us
I am one of the few people who got the LIVESCRIBE pen and I can tell you, without a doubt, it is not even remotely as good as the IO2. 1) THE LIVESCRIBE CAN NOT EVEN CONVERT TO TEXT…and when they do offer this “feature” you will have to pay for it! 2) The notebooks are three times the cost of the IO2 (check around) and 3) the support is just plain crap. I call with a question, get put on hold, am told I will get a call back and nothing….
Bottom line, I tried to ask about returning this and now they won’t even reply to my emails!.
STAY AWAY FROM THE LIVESCRIBE!
Hi,
Just opened the box to our new fly pen. It says that it pen uses one AAA battery. Where in the world would I find it??? How long does it take to charge? Is there some simple instructions somewhere to get this thing going? Thanks
Andrew, I have ordered my Livescribe pen and am very excited to get it. You must be one of the very lucky people as you as the only person I have seen post that they have actually gotten a pen so far. I must disagree with some of your comments. I have talked to the customer service department and not had any problems. They were very nice and polite. Also the price of the notebooks, the best price I have found is a 3 pack for $9.99. As the IO pens notebooks only have 128 pages and the Livescribe notebooks have 200 pages, the math works like this, 128(pages) * 3(notebooks) / $9.99 = $.026 per page. Now time this by 800 (the number of pages you get in the four page by Livescribe for $19.95) = $20.81 or $.86 higher. I think your review of this product is like your math, flawed.
slight question. I really am interested in buying this. I have wanted it for three years now, I am doing research. I was wondering if you can help. Say that you are writing on a page, you fill up the page so you move on to the next page, can you write on the back of that page? also, how do you install the programs that you buy for it; Algerbra, Journal, ect.?
I’ve had the fly pen for a little while now and i was wondering how to transfer the packages you buy to the fly pen.
Hey
I used my Fly Pen for a bit, then when i turned it on, the green light kept blinking, and i cant get it off that, and i cant do anything else either. What should i do, email me at [email protected]
hy,i am from dubai and i needid to wright arabic with the pen ,can i ?
I'd like to get this for my daughter. She is 12 and struggles with writing. How does this help her with her writing/sentence structure? I can see how it can help with math and spelling, but don't get it how it could help with writing……THANKS!
I'd like to get this for my daughter. She is 12 and struggles with writing. How does this help her with her writing/sentence structure? I can see how it can help with math and spelling, but don't get it how it could help with writing……THANKS!
I purchased a pen from target, the black one, and for the first day it worked perfectly. The next day it started having problems. The LED light, which is supposed to be solid green when you're not recording, would start blinking at the wrong time. I would tap record off on the note book and it would be fine, but if I turn it of and on again it will begin blinking once again. This caused trouble when connecting it to the computer, because it would not recognize the pen when the recordinng was on. So I figured I had got a messed up one, so I exchanged it with no problems (thank you target!). The new pen started having the blinking light problem right away! Am I missing something? I'm getting ready to see if they will accept my return again…
I purchased a pen from target, the black one, and for the first day it worked perfectly. The next day it started having problems. The LED light, which is supposed to be solid green when you're not recording, would start blinking at the wrong time. I would tap record off on the note book and it would be fine, but if I turn it of and on again it will begin blinking once again. This caused trouble when connecting it to the computer, because it would not recognize the pen when the recordinng was on. So I figured I had got a messed up one, so I exchanged it with no problems (thank you target!). The new pen started having the blinking light problem right away! Am I missing something? I'm getting ready to see if they will accept my return again…
well if you are looking to get one, nows the time, at my local Zellers(equivalant to a Target) the pen/starter notepad is on sale for $20 canadian. to me thats not to bad for somthing that will digitize notes for me, and to behonest ive spent more on school supplies before. As to helping your daughter with writing and sentence structure the basic package probably won't do to much, the writing software addon(you can get this with the coupon in the box for free) may have some tools to help, but by the looks of that its more for essay outlining , spell checking and using a thesaurus.
As for struggling with writing, its a pretty normal thing the best advice would be to encourage her to write alot and get someone to review it, and keep in mind features like grammer check and spell check are useless tools unless you proof read the final result.
Some things that have helped me in the past with writing (my thesis prof passed a few on to me) include reading the whole paper again starting with the last sentence ,and reading the paper out loud. (this help the mind from filling in gaps in the sentence structure that you may miss while proofreading). it may sounds silly reading outloud but hearing the sentence sometimes helps you find mistakes. If your having trouble with reading out loud or you still add in missing words while reading you can use a text to speech program like microsoft sam or the one built in to adobe's pdf reader when the sentence is wrong these things sound really bad.
well i know its a month late but i hope some of this helps, tell her not to worry to much about it but still try her best at it (trust me half my gradeschool / highschool teachers wouldn't have belived i would have gotten an advanced degree with my writing in thier classes but i found somthing i loved and kept at it and the writing came with it )
well if you are looking to get one, nows the time, at my local Zellers(equivalant to a Target) the pen/starter notepad is on sale for $20 canadian. to me thats not to bad for somthing that will digitize notes for me, and to behonest ive spent more on school supplies before. As to helping your daughter with writing and sentence structure the basic package probably won't do to much, the writing software addon(you can get this with the coupon in the box for free) may have some tools to help, but by the looks of that its more for essay outlining , spell checking and using a thesaurus.
As for struggling with writing, its a pretty normal thing the best advice would be to encourage her to write alot and get someone to review it, and keep in mind features like grammer check and spell check are useless tools unless you proof read the final result.
Some things that have helped me in the past with writing (my thesis prof passed a few on to me) include reading the whole paper again starting with the last sentence ,and reading the paper out loud. (this help the mind from filling in gaps in the sentence structure that you may miss while proofreading). it may sounds silly reading outloud but hearing the sentence sometimes helps you find mistakes. If your having trouble with reading out loud or you still add in missing words while reading you can use a text to speech program like microsoft sam or the one built in to adobe's pdf reader when the sentence is wrong these things sound really bad.
well i know its a month late but i hope some of this helps, tell her not to worry to much about it but still try her best at it (trust me half my gradeschool / highschool teachers wouldn't have belived i would have gotten an advanced degree with my writing in thier classes but i found somthing i loved and kept at it and the writing came with it )
hi there i want to know if u can buy a bigger memory for it and if so where can i buy it ?
I noticed that the pen and notebooks are on sale everywhere. Does this mean that they are discontinuing making the pen and the ink cartrages and notebooks etc.?
April 4, 2009
My daughter received the Fly Fusion Pen for Christmas last year. We did not try to load it until April 2009. This product is a waste of money. We did not find out until we tried to load it on the computer that we need high speed internet. We have dial up and high speed internet is not offered in our area. This product is absolutely useless to us. I feel my mother wasted $100 on this product. There should be a notice on the box requiring high speed internet access for loading the software and operating the device. I am very disappointed in the Fly Fusion. We have purchased Leap Frog products in the past, however this Fly Fusion is a total waste of money. I am telling everyone I know not to waste their money on this product. It is too late to return my product and get a refund, but I can help others to spend their money much more wisely on much better products.
Yes! Use Crossover to install the .EXE on your Mac. It'll convert the program to a .APP.
Yes! Use Crossover to install the .EXE on your Mac. It'll convert the program to a .APP.