Fujitsu ScanSnap - A Fast, Sheet-fed Document Scanner

So, Leo, how big is the file generated by a double-sided color scan to PDF? Thanks.

Can the scanner be set to default to Group 4 TIFF compression? That is pure Black and White (no grays) and is a really compact lossless compression format.

90%+ of things I would want to scan would be prefered in that format.

Just to add my two cents. I work for a large medical practice. We have two scanners that are about $3000 each (also Fujitsu) and we have four of the scan snap scanners for various light duty. I am the resident geek and when I want to scan something I almost always go to the scansnaps. They are just too easy and too versatile to use anything else. Color,B&W,Scan to PDF, or scan to a custom program, It does it all. You can make them scan to as many as five applications.
It is very quick and easy. I have been so happy with them that I also bought one for my home use.
I also have had the large scanners repaired and have to replace consumables often. Not so with the Scansnaps.

Fujitsu has a $50 rebate (check their website) until Dec. 31, 2008 on the ScanSnap s510.

I normally use a Canon 2580C but I thought I needed another scanner so chose the ScanSnap based on price.

It is a drawback that you cannot produce TIF files directly but it is a simple matter to create TIF from PDF using the Microsoft Document Imaging software as a virtual printer.

It is easy to use. But I have noticed an error on several occasions - a disc full error. Has anyone else had that. All of my discs have ample room. Which disc is it referring to?

Anyway the error means I have to stop the scan after, say, 25 pages, and then continue the scan using a new file. I have seen no reference to this error on the Internet with respect to scansnap but surely other people are getting it.

I try to run a paperless office and the ScanSnap along with my Canon DR2580C are helping with that.

For the rest of us poorer geeksand non geeks, I recommend any good flatbed scanner. It's much slower but does books, photos, my wrists (holding the books in place) and just anything. As a teacher, I find it indespensible. Of course being a geeky teache, I scanned in all of the textbooks I use and just carry my netbook around.

I'm also the advocate of paperless libraries, ie the internet hosting everything ever printed. I'm just waiting for Google to find a solution to get the authors paid.

We have three of these at work and they are absolutely fantastic, really fast for multiple page documents, good operating software. Awesome machines

I absolutely love my ScanSnap at work so much that I purchased one for at home. At the office it has eliminated a four-drawer file cabinet stuffed full of invoices. Of course, check with your accountants, attorneys, or whoever to make sure digital documents are ok. Makes finding an invoice for audit much easier than dragging out those heavy storage boxes. And if a paper invoice is misfiled, well, it could be anywhere! I also scan such things as contracts (I also keep the paper document) or other documents which my boss seems to ask for every couple of months; e-mailing him the PDF is a lot faster than making that photocopy every time he asks for something. It is amazing how many uses you'll discover for this scanner.

Unfortunately, scanning is made to sound deceptively easy and "almost" foolproof. However, what about scanning your bank account records, for example? One digit in error and you can be in deep, deep trouble. Let me know when scanning is 100% accurate, not 99.9% or so, and then I'll allow myself to be sold on it for things other than literature, pictures, and the like.

Scanning: at a high enough resolution, you won't miss a digit. I now regularly scan all my bank statements and shred the paper. (Though whenever I can I skip the paper and download digitally.)

OCR: or "optical character reconition" that turns a picture of your scanned page into text - yep, that can be error prone. But as long as you have the original scan for visual verification, IMO you're good.

17-Dec-2009

Beware?

I've used the ScanSnap s510 for almost a year, and it was love at first sight. This wonderful scanner finally did what I wanted, and really helped reduce the paper in my office - until recently.

What used to be a joy has turned into a masochistic ordeal, as I now am getting frequent "disk full" errors after scanning sometimes as few as 3-5 sheets. I have a minimum 6 GB of free storage on the drive. The error appears most often in the "better" resolution (About 300 dpi?) and seems limited to the duplex (double-sided) mode. I've tried swapping the scanner between two machines to see if the problem is machine dependent, but have the same problem on both. One suggested fix, to change the file the scans are saved to (something about clearing the root files) hasn’t helped either.

To their credit, Fujitsu has suggested several fixes (which haven't worked) and seems interested in supporting the product, but hasn't supplied a solution as yet. None of the software upgrades, tweaks, or re-installs has worked. As I've had this scanner for almost a year, it may be this flaw requires some time to develop, or that there is some conflict in the XP upgrades that upsets the delicate software ecological balance on my machines that has turned this champion into a boat anchor.

Any suggestion is welcome.

I would guess that the drive which houses your Windows Temporary Files is close to full. Check all your drives and see if any are close to full, even if you think they're not being used by the ScanSnap. If there is one (particularly if it's C:) clear off some room.

13-Feb-2010

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