Generic Refills

I think that the number of characters you get from a refill can vary from time to time.  It probably depends a lot on how large your characters are, whether you are printing or writing cursive etc.

I got 5,805 characters of the US constitution written with a black gel-ink Generic Refill.  Perhaps the black ink saturates the paper more than the blue gel ink? At any rate, here is the text I was able to write with one refill, about four US letter pages again:

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.

Section. 7.

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States: If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Section. 8.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;–And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section. 9.

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another; nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of 

====== Again, almost four solid pages of text which is considerably less than what we can achieve with our smooth-writing German ball point pen ink.  I know that some of you are just dying to get gel ink refills for your Pulse/Echo/Sky but can you really live with refills that would have to  be swapped out so quickly?

OK, I understand why Livescribe was reluctant to market gel-ink refills.  The ink capacity is quite small when you are dealing with a refill that is 2.3x57mm.  I was able to write out the first 6,369 characters of the United States Constitution before the blue gel ink Generic Refills went empty.  This took a little less than four pages on US letter size paper.  Not a lot of writing from one refill but the Japanese gel ink/Swiss tip combo did write nicely.  These refills really would be meant for special purpose writing or perhaps for line drawings.

Just so you get an idea of how much writing I was able to get, here are the first 6,369 characters of the US Constitution (the hyperlinked text are portions of the Constitution that have been changed by subsequent amendments):

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Article. I.

Section. 1.

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Section. 2.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

Section. 3.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

Section. 4.

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.

Section. 5.

Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

Section. 6.

The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected,

====== Well, that is much less writing than a ball point pen refill but I’ll let you tell me what you think about only getting this much text out of a single refill.

I’ve placed an order for fine tip (0.8mm) Generic Refills with premium German ink in Black and in Blue.  These will be the standard D1 size metal refills which are 2.3 x 67mm and should be the same as our Generic Refills for Pulse, Echo and Sky pens except that they will be 67mm long instead of 57mm long.

I decided to start with the fine tip Generic Refills because Livescribe already supplies medium tip refills for the LS3.  The genuine LS3 refills are much better than the refills that the company supplies for the Pulse/Echo/Sky but I’ll have to say that I still think that our premium German ink flows much more smoothly than what Livescribe is sourcing.

As soon as I hear, I’ll let you know when the production run has been completed!

Well, I finally got my iPad mini so that I could try out my new Livescribe 3 pen.  As you can see from my post title, the sample refills did not fit the new Livescribe 3 pen.  If you read Livescribe’s documentation for the LS-3, sometimes they say the refills are 2.5mm diameter and other times they say they are 2.35mm diameter; well they are NOT 2.5mm because these don’t seat all the way in the pen without sticking.  

I will have to resubmit my order to my manufacturer for regular D1 ball point pen refills which are 2.3x67mm.  Right now, from the emails that I’ve been receiving, I’m leaning towards ordering Fine tip refills in smooth-writing Black German ink and in smooth-writing Blue German ink.  The refills that I ordered directly from Livescribe are medium tips and they actually write decently.  But, I still think that the premium German ink writes more smoothly 😉 

Well, I received my genuine Livescribe 3 refills from Livescribe and have compared them to the sample run of Generic Refills for Livescribe 3 that I had ordered and received this weekend.

Livescribe made an error in the technical specifications that they published for the Livescribe 3 refills… mistakes will happen 😦   They specify that the length of the Livescribe 3 refills is 67 mm (this is the industry standard for D1 refills) but they list the diameter as 2.5 mm (the industry standard is 2.3 mm).  Using this information I requested samples from my manufacturer for refills with the smooth-writing German inks that you all like in 67 x 2.5 mm ball point pen refills.

Turns out that the actual refills from Livescribe for the LS3 are closer to the industry-standard D1 refills because they are 67 mm long x 2.35 mm diameter!

I’ll be getting my Livescribe 3 pen sometime next week but I think that the 2.5 mm diameter refills are going to be too fat.  I’ve read some comments that the Livescribe 3 refills rattle a little bit so I’m going to wait to pass judgement until I can actually try to put these refills into my new Livescribe 3 pen.  I’ll keep you all posted!

I’ve received samples from my manufacturer of Generic Refills with Swiss tips (0.5 mm) and Japanese gel ink! The Japanese are known for their fine tip gel ink refills which are excellent for drawing complicated Chinese characters. Honestly, I generally prefer ball point pen ink, especially our smooth-writing premium German ink! but these gel ink refills are nice writers. I can see switching out my ball point refill for gel ink if I’m making a sketch or a diagram. These might not be your best choice as your regular refill since they have a limited amount of ink. Most gel ink refills are really fat so that they can hold enough ink. It takes more gel ink to write a page of text than ball point pen ink… I think that is why a lot of people like the gel ink, it can really saturate the paper and makes the line pop with a lot of contrast. Also, the writing experience is different with gel ink which I believe is water-based. Think of ball point pen ink as packing more dye per drop than gel ink; but gel ink can use different dyes because its water-based.

I’ll keep you posted on my evaluation of these Gel-ink Generic Refills.

I’ve had one enquiry about sourcing Generic Refills for the new Livescribe 3 pen. I still have not received my order of Livescribe 3 refills from Livescribe, so I don’t know how well or how poorly they write. If any of you out there have any experiences to share, I’d love to post your thoughts here!

Let me know if you prefer blue or black, medium or fine tip, or any other colors like red or green…

Within the next few weeks, I should receive the Generic Refills I’ve requested (from my manufacturer) for the new Livescribe 3. I’ll keep you posted!

Livescribe is coming out with a new smartpen! Called the Livescribe 3, it pairs via Bluetooth with your iOS7 mobile device.  Looks like they’ve got an app that does handwriting recognition and then lets you use that text with your calendar and other apps.

One feature is that audio is no longer recorded by the pen.  That heavy lifting is done by your iPhone, iPad or iPod and playback is thru those devices.  The Livescribe 3 has no display and has no speaker.  The pen status is provided by a colored LED.

Its nice that Livescribe admitted to “scratchy” sounds recorded by the earlier pens’ microphones.  That is almost admitting that their pen refills didn’t write well! 🙂 but it is even funnier that they tout the recording of audio by iOS devices as a way to remedy these annoying “scratchy” sounds! LOL… much more straightforward to sell smooth-writing refills IMHO!

A nice change is that the pen’s ink cartridge retracts. The Livescribe 3 is a “twist” style pen and no longer has a ON/OFF button.  I have to admit that sometimes, I forget to turn my Sky pen on and was forced to “re-write” some of my notes. When you twist the Livescribe 3 to extend the ink cartridge, the pen automatically turns on and pairs with your iOS device.

The company has different ink cartridges for the Livescribe 3.  I will order some Livescribe 3 refills to see how well they write, as soon as their website comes up again (it just now seems to have a “can not connect to upstream server” error).  The company has gone with the standard D1 refill length (67 mm) but gone with a non-standard diameter (2.5 mm instead of 2.3 mm).  This might mean more ink per refill because of the larger diameter, possibly up to 18% more ink (if my memory of geometry serves me well).  We know that the 67 mm length D1 refills didn’t seem to contain more ink than the 57 mm long refills made for Livescribe since they appeared to be filled to the same final length.

I did notice that on their video, that the ink cartridge did leave a “bleb” of ink once or twice as it touched the paper.  We won’t really know how they write until we’ve used them for a while. Livescribe has gone with a tungsten-carbide tip which is not unusual for ball point pen refills.

I will emphasize this on my listings: current Generic Refills for Livescribe pens ONLY fit the Pulse, Echo and Sky wifi pens.  They are too short for the new Livescribe 3.  I’m checking with my manufacturer to see if its feasible for Generic Refills to stock this new refill format.

Here are some links to explore. I’ve only been to the Livescribe.com site so far.

Related articles

• Livescribe’s latest smartpen draws heavily on iOS (imenroll.wordpress.com)
• Livescribe 3 Smart Pen Launches As Svelte, Sexy, iOS 7-Only Device (gizmodo.com.au)
• Livescribe 3 smartpen launches in the UK (trustedreviews.com)
• Livescribe 3 smartpen announced (technutty.co.uk)
• Livescribe’s new smartpen takes your handwritten notes directly to your iPhone and iPad (thenextweb.com)
• Livescribe 3 announced with Bluetooth connectivity, dedicated app (electronista.com)

Black refills are finally showing “in stock” at Amazon. Its been seven days since I shipped them and a few days since they arrived at the Amazon fulfillment center. Don’t forget, you can always buy direct from the source! check out the links in the sidebar or the “buy” tab at the top of the page. Right now, eBay buyers are snapping up black refills!

No, not the rain-forest… I’ll drop off a case of fine and a case of medium black ink refills at UPS to ship to an Amazon fulfillment center in Pennsylvania. It’ll probably be 5 -10 business days before it gets to Amazon, gets checked in and then it’ll finally be available for sale online. In the meantime, you can purchase smooth-writing black ink refills directly from me or thru eBay. Use the links to check out feedback and then stock up on some really nice refills for your Livescribe pen!