Devices like the Papershow include an infrared sensor and specially designed paper to record everything you write. The Pulse Smartpen combines these in an easy-to-use form that you'll wonder how you ever did without.

For starters, the notepads aren't expensive, and come in a wide range of formats that should suit everyone. You can also print your own LiveScribe paper using the included software, so expensive paper becomes a thing of the past.

The pen itself comes with either 1GB or 2GB of included storage to store voice recordings, and that will handily take several hours worth of dictation - we used the pen over an entire week without draining the battery.

But it's the combination of recording paper and sound that is where the Pulse Smartpen comes into its own. In a meeting where you have both taken notes and recorded sound, for example, touching the pen to a word on the page plays back that portion of the meeting for you.

All notes and sound are also stored in the LiveScribe desktop software, so you can review portions of the meeting, or your notes, as much or as little as desired, selecting only the parts of interest.

Apart from being able to bookmark mid-recording, the pen also has additional recording and playback features accessible by touching your pen to special areas of the paper available on each page. It's all rather nifty, and the sound quality is so excellent that it puts aside any doubts we had over its overall usefulness.

This isn't the sort of thing that appeals to everyone, but for those who have been waiting for a device that can do exactly this combination of things, the Pulse Smartpen is far and away the best example we've seen, and has no downsides to speak of.