Need to find a good document scanner

AggieMike88

AggieMike88

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I need to find a good scanner. Primary purpose is to scan documents into legacy applications such as QuickBooks. Alternative purpose is to scan and archive various things I collect (such as marketing/ad pieces that I want to steal an idea from, product advertisements, and more) in my business.

Object is to reduce the amount of material on my desk and in filing cabinets, and make it easier to find the document when needed.


On various threads on various boards, this has been discussed before, with many recommending different models. I think a frequent brand was Fujitsu. But I will take PIREPS on others.

Features desired:
Robust -- don't want thin plastic and cheep interal parts
Easy to use -- Both hardware and software. 2 of the folks who will use this are lucky the know where the on switch is. They are not uber geeks like you and I.
OCR -- This is a nice to have, but not a must have
Indexing and Searching -- It's no good if I can't find it. Software must have a simple system of tagging the document with something that then makes it simple to search for. As an example, if I lable something "advertising", I can then use that as a keyword to find it.​

Also in the other threads, there was discussion of obtaining an external hard drive to store the documents. This is also in the plan because (1) they are inexpensive and (2) it makes it simple to move to a new system as I upgrade CPU's.

Any and all info is appreciated. Please include Brand, Model, and price (if known) in your responses and discussion.

Thanks!
 
Fujitsu Scansnaps are the way to go. I think the newest personal model is the S1500. They're about $400, but can scan both sides of the page in one pass, and come with a full version of Adobe Acrobat to make PDFs> I'm pretty sure it also comes with OCR software too (although I think Adobe can do that as well). I got the Mac version, so you'll have to double-check for PC if that's what you've got.
 
Fujitsu snap scan s1500.:goofy:

I researched heavily in the veterinary community and this was a favorite. I bought one about two years ago and began scanning in all of our medical records. There were around 10,000 charts and some of them had a hundred pages or more. They are fast and workhorses. We became very dependent on it as we now scan in all paperwork to store on our server. I have an automated remote backup program and I also backup everything to a network attached Buffalo 4TB raid array.

We became so dependent on this scanner I bought another in case the first broke, and so that two receptionists could scan things in at the same time. (We scan a LOT). After two years we have never had a single problem. It is fast, very easy to use, maintenance free (although they do sell a maintenance kit, which I may have to look into one day) and it is relatively small. About the size of a loaf of bread.

It stores documents as pdf files so anyone can read them and they are very portable and don't take up that much disk space.

It cost around $500 and was WELL worth it. I still haven't found anything else as good. But since I am not the primary user you should do your own research to see if it meets all of your criteria, but if it doesn't, I might suggest modifying your criteria. It is that good, fast, easy to use and reliable.
 
Rich posted while I was typing. I have the PC version.
 
So what do you use to index and search the pdf's that are created?
 
I also use a ScanSnap. Really is a good solution. I've run about 30,000 pages through mine, many double sided
 
Didn't consider the need double sided. But now that I think of it, that would be a huge help and time savings.
 
Areeda said:
So what do you use to index and search the pdf's that are created?
Click to expand...

We Mac weenies use Spotlight.

Once Acrobat OCRs the document, Spotlight indexes the contents of documents and any text inside them can be found easily.

I'm pretty sure Windows can do this too. Having the OCR done is key.

If you Google "Fujitsu Scansnap workflow" you'll get other peoples' ideas of how to achieve paperless bliss. Some folks have their favorite databases they like to use. I think the website Lifehacker had some articles on this in the past.
 
I've had the same scansnap since 2007 and it does nearly everything I need. I do from time to time need a flatbed scanner and I have a very inexpensive brother brand inkjet all in one that I use for that purpose. I scan docs for my law office and prefer .pdf which I save with a descriptive title in the client file. I suppose if you set it to scan as .jpeg and then use an image management tool like Picasa to tag and organize the images you will get your tagging capability without too much staff training.
 
Personally speaking, document handling is about the only thing HP is good at. Great printers, great scanners, great CD writers, crappy computers. My current is a 4 in 1, 7260.
 
Canon DR 2050. Solid piece of hardware. It is mostly used to scan paperwork into an records software. If I need to make a pdf I use Adobe.
 
Necro-threading a bit... But got a few more questions... I never got the scanner, but am now getting a bit more serious about it. Checking into the two mentioned here, Fujitsu Scan Snap 1500 and Xerox Documate 515.

If there are any other and better models to recommend, especially one that scan's both sides at once, I want to hear about it.

Real reason for the resurection is to ask for input on document management software. What is out there that would take the large batch of scans, and make it simple to assign file names, additional details about what was scanned (for me it would be PO#, invoice#, etc, items that would be keywords for searching and finding the document), and then putting into appropriate directories and a virtual filing cabinet. I also need the software to make it simple for finding the document that I've scanned.

I'll likely purchase around the middle of next month. Any and all input and recommendations are welcome
 
I have the scansnap 1500 also and love it.. It works really well.. I bought it because of all the positive comments in this and other forums.

If you scan a document and save it as a pdf with the " make this pdf searchable " turned on then you can search for any text that is in the document. You can search for this in the windows or mac search function. Even though the Fujitsu scanners come with file management software you might choose not to use it, I am not using the software.

I have also recommended and sold the same scanners to a few customers and they are also very happy with them. I don't think you can go wrong with the Fujitsu scanners.

Good luck..

Jon



AggieMike88 said:
Necro-threading a bit... But got a few more questions... I never got the scanner, but am now getting a bit more serious about it. Checking into the two mentioned here, Fujitsu Scan Snap 1500 and Xerox Documate 515.

If there are any other and better models to recommend, especially one that scan's both sides at once, I want to hear about it.

Real reason for the resurection is to ask for input on document management software. What is out there that would take the large batch of scans, and make it simple to assign file names, additional details about what was scanned (for me it would be PO#, invoice#, etc, items that would be keywords for searching and finding the document), and then putting into appropriate directories and a virtual filing cabinet. I also need the software to make it simple for finding the document that I've scanned.

I'll likely purchase around the middle of next month. Any and all input and recommendations are welcome
Click to expand...
 
I have a SnapScan at work, and have digitized well over 2000 pages of docs.

The big nice thing is it has a big blue button. Put the paper in, hit the big blue button (the only button on the scanner), the software pops up, give it a filename (or use its default), click OK, and you're done.

You can set the defaults to save as color or B&W PDF, auto OCR and make the PDF text searchable, and whatever else. They push the button, and it does what your defaults are set as.
 
You can buy the Fujitsu ScanSnap with a document management app called "Rack2Filer," but I have never loaded it, know less than nothing about it.

I have also heard that PaperPort helps manage documents, but I have not the faintest clue how.
 
This conversation came up in my bankruptcy class last week. The instructor, a practicing bankruptcy attorney, sent out the question to his listserve. Within minutes, he had seven recommendations for the Snapscan.

I use a Brother DCP-7040, because it was cheap. It works OK, but only does one side. I scan a stack of documents, flip it over and scan the other side. I then use PDFill PDF Tools (free) to merge the two documents into one. The tricky part is lining up the pages so they come out in order.

When I need a real scanner, I'll probably go with the snapscan.
 
My company couldn't afford one for each desk, so the ScanSnap ended up in my office. Absolutely love it. The coworkers "steal" it upstairs to their computers, and it folds up nicely for moving around. I have never had a problem but remember things like white out, pencil erasers, etc. get in there - for those documents I always make a photocopy on a flat bed and then feed the copy through my precious scanner. I want it to last many years. Had it so far about a year worry free.


Kimberly
 
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