Which scanner?

[PliSsK]

Hi there

I have a 3 year old iMac running Lion and have been using an old Canon N1240U (aka LIDE 20) to do ad hoc scanning with.

Nearly all my scanning is document scanning, medical and financial records, usually of one or a couple of pages in length per doc (so sheet feeding is not totally essential), although I have to scan a couple of 20 page documents, but this wouldn't be the norm and if the scanner is quick enough, a flatbed might still do this without being TOO much of a pita. In the future I will need to scan receipts but this is not an immediate requirement. I am trying to go paperless at home.

I generally use 600dpi 8 bit greyscale and 'Text' mode on Vuescan to get the best scans at not too large a file size. I have tried 300 but it isn't quite good enough. 1200 is not significantly better than 600 to merit the extra file size. I view the documents on screen mostly. They are important docs so I want a really good quality if possible. I know most people use 200 or 300 dpi for document scanning so it would seem.

I am looking to upgrade to something faster and preferably giving me as good scans if not better. I've looked at some of the Canons like the LIDE 210 and it doesn't seem to be any quicker in terms of its msec/line rating at 600dpi than my existing scanner. I am not sure whether to go flatbed or sheet feeder either. Ideally I would buy a high quality flatbed and also a robust high quality document scanner but right now I can't afford to do both and could only stretch to a relatively high end flatbed or a cheaper sheet feeder.

The Epson V330 could be one option, but it's 2.9s/line rather than 5.3 of the Canon so it's not HUGELY faster. The quality is supposed to be very good though. I was also considering something like the Canon P-150M which is much cheaper than say a Fujitsu S1500 or an Epson GT-S50, but not quite as fast or possibly robust. I hear it also skews but that might only be an issue later when it comes to doing receipts. I assume that no ADF will ever produce as good scans as a good flatbed like the V330? I guess it would match the quality of my LIDE 20?

Any input you might have would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

 

[palpatine]

I would strongly recommend the Fujitsu ScanSnap if you are doing documents. I've had mine for several years and it has been crucial in my quest to go paperless. Flatbed scanners are a real pain in the butt.

It sounds to me like you might benefit from the s1500. It is a little more expensive (around $400), but does 20 pages per minute (actually, 40 because it does double-sided scans) and I think it has a setting for 1200 dpi.

 

[blueroom]

I just bought an HP Photosmart c410a just for it's 4800dpi 50 page double sided ADF scanner as it was far cheaper than buying a standalone document scanner. $99 CDN and WiFi too. Built in copier, FAX and card reader plus it's OSX Lion compatible. Too expensive to use as an everyday printer.

 

[palpatine]

I just bought an HP Photosmart c410a just for it's 4800dpi 50 page double sided ADF scanner as it was far cheaper than buying a standalone document scanner. $99 CDN and WiFi too. Built in copier, FAX and card reader plus it's OSX Lion compatible. Too expensive to use as an everyday printer.

i've never had much luck with all-in-ones, but the description sounds nice, and it might well be worth it for the op's needs. the scansnap is handy because it automatically converts to a pdf and does ocr on the file. but, if this is unnecessary, then it may not be worth the price.

 

[PliSsK]

Thanks guys. I was seriously considering the S1500 before my budget evaporated! It has good Lion compatibility compared with rivals like the GT-S50 which isn't supported yet in Lion as far as I understand it. I don't really need 1200dpi, 600 is about right for me. It's still not brilliant, but that could be because I'm either too anal or my current scanner isn't the best quality for document scanning. I am using Vuescan with it as the old Power PC Canon sw isn't supported in Lion. I already have a laserjet printer so don't really need an all in one, but if the scanning is good on a cheap all in one...seems odd to me how all-in-ones are cheaper than dedicated document scanners... Would you say your S1500 (document) scan quality is as good as a flatbed at the settings in the same price range? You tend to get more for your money with a flatbed but there are fiddlier to use.

I do want to do OCR and save files as PDF. Vuescan saves as pdf. For OCR, one can buy sw to do the job but if it comes with the scanner it is a bonus. I think most scanners even flatbeds now come with OCR sw. S1500M ships with Acrobat 8 doesn't it? Not sure if this would work in Lion or not.

 

[palpatine]

Thanks guys. I was seriously considering the S1500 before my budget evaporated! It has good Lion compatibility compared with rivals like the GT-S50 which isn't supported yet in Lion as far as I understand it. I don't really need 1200dpi, 600 is about right for me. It's still not brilliant, but that could be because I'm either too anal or my current scanner isn't the best quality for document scanning. I am using Vuescan with it as the old Power PC Canon sw isn't supported in Lion. I already have a laserjet printer so don't really need an all in one, but if the scanning is good on a cheap all in one...seems odd to me how all-in-ones are cheaper than dedicated document scanners... Would you say your S1500 (document) scan quality is as good as a flatbed at the settings in the same price range? You tend to get more for your money with a flatbed but there are fiddlier to use.

I do want to do OCR and save files as PDF. Vuescan saves as pdf. For OCR, one can buy sw to do the job but if it comes with the scanner it is a bonus. I think most scanners even flatbeds now come with OCR sw. S1500M ships with Acrobat 8 doesn't it? Not sure if this would work in Lion or not.

i have the s300 (it was only about 250 when i bought it, and i have to run a hack to get it to work with my mac--at the time i was using windows and fujitsu sold a windows and mac version, even though the devices are identical with the exception of one line of code). i would say the quality at 600 dpi is as good or maybe even better than my flatbed. my flatbed is so painfully slow that i cannot really stand to use it anymore. my guess is that the all-in-one mentioned above feeds very slowly. but, it is cheaper!

the s1500 ought to come at least with adobe acrobat 9 (says so on the amazon site). i actually have adobe 10 installed on my computer (educational discount) and usually use it for ocr (my s300 has old version of adobe that either doesn't work with the hack or is just too old--works fine with my windows machine).

you might want to consider the s1100 if you are on a budget. that is the one i'll get next (if my s300 ever dies--it is still working like it is brand new even after years of daily scanning). the s1100 is about the size of two snicker bars and i have heard good things about it.

i don't know anything about issues later. if you save in pdf the results are all the same. my receipts come out with phenomenal quality (in my opinion) and i have never had a problem viewing them or doing ocr. frankly, i am in love with the device. amazon has a 30 day return policy, so you really can't go wrong giving it a try.

 

[PliSsK]

Thanks. I read that the S1500 comes with Acrobat 9 and the S1500M comes with Acrobat 8! And it's 25% more expensive! Cheeky.

 

[PliSsK]

Yes it OUGHT to come with Acrobat 9. Manufacturers are always one step behind when it comes to Mac users unfortunately. According to the spec sheet for the scanner S1500M, all the SW is compatible with Lion except for Adobe Acrobat 8 which is not compatible with either 10.7 or 10.6! So I'd have to regress back to OS 10.5 (which is what came with my Mac when I bought it), doing all the back ups and exporting data and import it all back into Mail etc. in OS 10.5 just to get Acrobat to work. Clearly it's not worth doing this, so I'd have to either forget Acrobat or pay for an upgrade to Acrobat X which apparently still isn't completely compatible with Lion anyway lol....I am tempted to buy a Windows version and run it all in virtual windows...

 

[palpatine]

Yes it OUGHT to come with Acrobat 9. Manufacturers are always one step behind when it comes to Mac users unfortunately. According to the spec sheet for the scanner S1500M, all the SW is compatible with Lion except for Adobe Acrobat 8 which is not compatible with either 10.7 or 10.6! So I'd have to regress back to OS 10.5 (which is what came with my Mac when I bought it), doing all the back ups and exporting data and import it all back into Mail etc. in OS 10.5 just to get Acrobat to work. Clearly it's not worth doing this, so I'd have to either forget Acrobat or pay for an upgrade to Acrobat X which apparently still isn't completely compatible with Lion anyway lol....I am tempted to buy a Windows version and run it all in virtual windows...

i didn't know that about acrobat ten. i am still a snow leopard, and as much as i like lion, these are some of the reasons i am not upgrading this year. this always happens, and the new os is never worth losing my software. maybe next year.

 

[PliSsK]

Thanks for the input.

 

[jimthing]

Any good then?

So which did you go for then, and was it any good?

Are these Fujitsu ScanSnap's really the best ones then?

I'm still baffled about what the difference between the 2 machines is; S1500 vs. S1500M ("M" being the Mac version, and more expensive: but why?).

Also, how good it the S1100 model in comparison to the larger S1500 models above? Is it a serious contender or not, and what kind of throughput can one achieve with it?

Given the S1500M is currently over £400(!) and the so-called 'cheaper' S1100 model is still around £175(!), they seem really quite expensive for what they seem to be: one trick ponies, strictly for document scanning only.
...or are they actually more versatile, and can do other things (perhaps photo's too?)

I'm really unfamiliar with the separate doc scanner market, so any info greatly received. :–)

 

[PliSsK]

Hey Jim

As it transpired, a company budget materialised for a document scanner so I was able to buy a more expensive document scanner. I narrowed it down to a couple of options, the Epson GT-S55, the Fujitsu S1500M and the Canon DR-C125. The DR-C125 is very new so I figured it may be the highest quality, even if still using a fancier version of CMOS. I settled for the Canon in the end, which an Amazon review pitched as being of equal quality to the S1500M - as it had lowest power consumption, was a Canon, and would likely have driver support for future iterations of OS X for longer (as it was so new). The Also it was PC compatible, if I needed that option, whereas the Fujitsu is either/or (the 1500M comes with Mac software and the 1500 comes with PC software). Mac sw is for a smaller market so they charge more to recoup their expenses. The Canon is a great performer but it does tend to stop and process images if scanned at high res. The software was a bit dodgy, and v1.0 (on the disk) did not work with Lion at all, but v1.1 does (however you have to reinstall it every few days or so as it stops working!!) The sw interface isn't great, but the scan quality using the Canon sw is better than Vuescan in both b/w and colour, which is a result. I tried both. One thing I would miss about the S1500M is the better software bundle (even if Acrobat Pro doesn't work in Lion) and the higher res of 1200dpi if I wanted it. The DR-C125 is better quality at 600dpi than my old Canon flatbed scanner is at its maximum of 1200dpi.

Cheers


P

So which did you go for then, and was it any good?

Are these Fujitsu ScanSnap's really the best ones then?

I'm still baffled about what the difference between the 2 machines is; S1500 vs. S1500M ("M" being the Mac version, and more expensive: but why?).

Given the S1500M is currently over £400(!) and the so-called 'cheaper' S1100

I'm really unfamiliar with the separate doc scanner market, so any info greatly received. :–)

 

[jimthing]

Just an update:
- Fujitsu Scansnap S1500M comes with Acrobat 9 Pro For Mac (Lion compatible).
- Fujitsu Scansnap S1500 comes with Acrobat X Standard For Windows.

Also, they are both the better CCD type (CIS generally not being as good), see here: http://www.carlmcmillan.com/DOF/DepthofField.htm

Unfortunately the Canon DR-C125 you have just bought has the CIS type. Dunno how much of a difference this makes in everyday usage, but for roughly the same money, I'd have gone for the S1500M (or S1500 if on Windows) model.


The only thing that irks me enough to make me stop though, is the pricing of the S1500M...
(as taken from this link: http://www.discogs.com/groups/topic/333741 )

- Amazon US: $420 = c. £265. http://www.amazon.com/Fujitsu-ScanSnap-Instant-Sheet-Fed-Macintosh/dp/B001XWCQO2
- Amazon UK: £415 = c. $656. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001VGG6X2

- Amazon US *with the 20% UK VAT added*: $504 = c. £318.

Nearly £100 more (or around 30% more), even after adding VAT. Is this not a rip-off then or what?! (not Amazon's fault, but the manufacturer's).

This isn't even an Amazon thing either... Same issue even if if you look at the full SRRP prices:
- US: $500 = c. £315.
- UK: £500 = c. $790.

- US *with the 20% UK VAT added*: $600 = c. £380.

Why do we have to pay an extraordinarily higher cost for exactly the same thing as an American buyer would? Any additional costs that (may) occur for doing business in Europe, cannot justify a multinational company such as this charging a whopping 30% more for exactly the same product. We have the internet now, customers can see in seconds the price differentials, and such practice just doesn't impress upon EU customers either your products or your brand.

Pricing policies like these really p i s s es European buyers off! (As well as putting me off buying the product in the first place, I don't care how good the thing is, I won't be getting one.)

I'll confirm that with Apple Store pricing:
- US: $495 = c.£313. http://store.apple.com/us/product/TW529LL/A
- UK: £510 = c.$807. http://store.apple.com/uk/product/TV569ZM/A
- US price *with the 20% UK VAT added*: $594 = c.£375. (around the price item should be).

Even worse, over 40% higher(!) than the Amazon pricing differentials given above.

I completely agree with this viewpoint; puts me right off getting one! (even after adding VAT & duties/tariffs, why do US peeps seem to always get am-a-zing prices, while UK/EU peeps have to pay even WAY MORE THAN THAT????). F U Fujitsu.
...oh, and of course I haven't even mentioned that the 'M' model is considerably higher than the non-M one (eg. Amazon UK: £417 vs. £348). Even more F U Fujitsu, lol!