A while ago I saw a post about Picopad on the Lifehacker site. I often run into situations where I want to write something down and don't have anything to use. Sometimes at lunch I end up writing notes on scraps of magazines and any other paper I can find.

The Picopad promised to give me a pen and a pad that fit in my wallet. I had to give it a try.

The Picopad arrives in a nice little package with instruction and everything. The package holds multiple picopads. Michele had already taken hers before I took the photo.

Closed it has a clean design, using the pen to help be the spine of the fold.

Inside you can see the pen and the pad. The pad is like a mini-post-it note with 15 sheets. The pen has a little flap on it. I wasn't sure what that was for until I picked up the pen.

Once you you pick up the pen it all makes sense. The little flap gives your thumb and forefinger something to hold onto comfortably. If it was just the pen, you'd have to squeeze hard to hold the tiny pen. The flap is just rough enough to allow for an easy grip.

Taking a quick note is simple and straightforward. The mini-ballpoint writes well and cleanly. I wouldn't want to take notes for an hour long meeting on it, but an impromptu message or note, it's perfect.

The real test was seeing if the Picopad would fit into my wallet. At first glance I was a bit skeptical. It's thicker than a credit card by a bit. But when I slide it into my wallet, it fit perfectly. It really is designed well to fit so well into the credit card slot. My wallet is made of Rawlings Baseball leather and can be a bit thick, but the Picopad didn't cause any issues.

You can see from the side view that the Picopad doesn't add any real thickness to my wallet. That little silvery bar is the pen.

My only minor complaint is with the Picopad web site. They have a ten dollar minimum order but each Picopad only costs $3.79 and refills are $1.99. That means you need to add items until you get to $10. It would be better for them to have packages that were $10 right off the bat to let someone buy a get started pack and get to the checkout immediately.

Other than that, the Picopad get the Cruft Labs seal of approval.

Posted by michael at November 13, 2005 09:57 PM