What Scanners Do You Use For Your Imac/And Or Macbook Notebooks?

[beeinformed]

Hi,

I would like to get a scanner (preferably one that is compact/and or portable) that is compatible with my imac desktop and my macbook air notebook.

I am interested in finding out what brands and models for scanners the members use with their imacs/ and macbook notebooks.

Thanks in advance for any input on this question!

 

[flynz4]

When I did my research, the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M was clearly considered the top scanner for Macs. I love mine and use it along with DevonThink Pro Office to pretty much completely eliminate my need for any paper.

They also make a smaller portable version.

My priority was:

1. Sheet (not flatbed) scanner
2. Duplex scanning (scan both sides at once)
3. Foolproof paper feeding
4. Fast scanning
5. Optical character recognition (OCR)
6. Blank page removal
7. Auto straighten misfed sheets

It is an incredible scanner! it comes with Adobe Acrobat for OCR which costs 1/2 the amount of the scanner if purchased seperately.

/Jim

 

[beeinformed]

When I did my research, the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M was clearly considered the top scanner for Macs. I love mine and use it along with DevonThink Pro Office to pretty much completely eliminate my need for any paper.

They also make a smaller portable version.

My priority was:

1. Sheet (not flatbed) scanner
2. Duplex scanning (scan both sides at once)
3. Foolproof paper feeding
4. Fast scanning
5. Optical character recognition (OCR)
6. Blank page removal
7. Auto straighten misfed sheets

It is an incredible scanner! it comes with Adobe Acrobat for OCR which costs 1/2 the amount of the scanner if purchased seperately.

/Jim

Hi!

Thank you so much for your detailed and informative response to my inquiry about what scanner you use with your mac computer!

By the way, do you know if the smaller, portable version of this scanner does all of the things you mentioned in your "priority list" as I would like a compact/portable scanner due to space constraints on my desktop. Thanks!

 

[AppleDApp]

+1 for scansnap When I was looking at options last summer the scansnap was the best for a single purpose device. unfortunately I was looking for an all-in one printer.

 

[flynz4]

+1 for scansnap When I was looking at options last summer the scansnap was the best for a single purpose device. unfortunately I was looking for an all-in one printer.

My color laser printer (Xerox Phaser 6180MFD) is also an all-in-1 device. It has a flatbed scanner, along with a sheet feeder. It was really a pain to use the sheet feeder because it was not full duplex. Even though this a great printer (that will probably outlive me)... getting the ScanSnap was fantastic.

/Jim

----------

Hi!

Thank you so much for your detailed and informative response to my inquiry about what scanner you use with your mac computer!

By the way, do you know if the smaller, portable version of this scanner does all of the things you mentioned in your "priority list" as I would like a compact/portable scanner due to space constraints on my desktop. Thanks!

The portable version is the ScanSnap S1300. It seems to have most of the same features. It has a much smaller feeder capacity (10 sheets vs 59 sheets)... and it is slower (8ppm vs 20ppm). However it has the key features such as full duplex, blank page removal, auto straightening, etc.

I do not know how well it works vs the S1500M, but it certainly takes up less space.

I do not think the portable comes with Acrobat if that matters to you. It still does OCR, so I am not too sure how.

/Jim

 

[PhoenixMac]

I use an Epson gt-s50, it is compared to the fujitsu scansnap a lot, and it was reviewed by a few people to be better for Macs than the Fujitsu. I bought it on sale so it was a lot cheaper than the scansnap and it has twain driver support if that is something you might need.

 

[davidoloan]

When I did my research, the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M was clearly considered the top scanner for Macs. I love mine and use it along with DevonThink Pro Office to pretty much completely eliminate my need for any paper.

They also make a smaller portable version.

My priority was:

1. Sheet (not flatbed) scanner
2. Duplex scanning (scan both sides at once)
3. Foolproof paper feeding
4. Fast scanning
5. Optical character recognition (OCR)
6. Blank page removal
7. Auto straighten misfed sheets

It is an incredible scanner! it comes with Adobe Acrobat for OCR which costs 1/2 the amount of the scanner if purchased seperately.

/Jim

Can you scan directly to a printer or do you have to give the instruction using the computer?

 

[flynz4]

Can you scan directly to a printer or do you have to give the instruction using the computer?

I generally scan everything directly into DevonThink. You load the paper in the scanner, and press the blue glowing button on the scanner. The scanned documents are automatically scanned, OCR'd, and put into the DevonThink inbox. Occasionally, I'll go into DT to file away scans made over the previous few days or months.

The S1500M has several options. Occasionally I'll scan a photo into iPhoto. It does not support "Scan to Aperture"... so I'll "scan to iPhoto" and then import it into Aperture.

Before I bought DevonThink, I would scan to folder. Then I would manually file the scans into sub-folders.

One of the many options is "Scan to Print". I have never used this feature (my goal is to climate paper)... but I just tested it for you. Once again, you insert the paper, press the button on the scanner... but this time the printer preview box opened. I clicked print and it printed. I am not sure if you can set it to skip the print confirmation. Other options include "Scan to" excel, word, email, folder, etc.

Hope this helps.

/Jim

 

[davidoloan]

I generally scan everything directly into DevonThink. You load the paper in the scanner, and press the blue glowing button on the scanner. The scanned documents are automatically scanned, OCR'd, and put into the DevonThink inbox. Occasionally, I'll go into DT to file away scans made over the previous few days or months.

The S1500M has several options. Occasionally I'll scan a photo into iPhoto. It does not support "Scan to Aperture"... so I'll "scan to iPhoto" and then import it into Aperture.

Before I bought DevonThink, I would scan to folder. Then I would manually file the scans into sub-folders.

One of the many options is "Scan to Print". I have never used this feature (my goal is to climate paper)... but I just tested it for you. Once again, you insert the paper, press the button on the scanner... but this time the printer preview box opened. I clicked print and it printed. I am not sure if you can set it to skip the print confirmation. Other options include "Scan to" excel, word, email, folder, etc.

Hope this helps.

/Jim

Thanks Very Much for testing it. I am looking for something that can also do a quick old fashioned photocopy occasionally. It sounds like you do need the computer. Otherwise the scanner would have to see the printer on the network. Thanks again.

 

[flynz4]

Thanks Very Much for testing it. I am looking for something that can also do a quick old fashioned photocopy occasionally. It sounds like you do need the computer. Otherwise the scanner would have to see the printer on the network. Thanks again.

Our scanner is next to an iMac that is left on 24/7/365... so that is not a problem for us.

We also use a color laser printer/MFP in our house. I bought a small business class printer from Xerox because I was tired of consumer class products and their shortcomings. This one has a flatbed scanner (w/sheet feeder) but we pretty much never use the scanner except as a copy machine. Actually... it was the half duplex sheet scanner in the Xerox MFP that made me want a dedicated full duplex sheet scanner. We use our Fujitsu S1500M about 99.94% of the time. The difference is amazing.

/Jim