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I'm looking for reliable scanner with an automated 2 sided document feeder around the $300 price range. Its for scanning books (remove binding and scan) for computer assisted reading. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations.
You didn't specify whether you will be using Windows or Mac OS X.
On OS X, you don't have much choice, Fujitsu scanners are the only game in town. Unfortunately, the entry-level ScanSnap's paper feed is unreliable and prone to double-feeding, you have to get the much more expensive fi-5120C to get a reliable feed (with Ultrasonic double-feed detection), to which you need to add the cost of a ScanTango license. Oddly enough, the portable ScanSnap S300M seems to have a more reliable feed from the little experience I had with it.
On Windows, you have more choice and I recommend the Canon document scanners. I used to have a SCSI DR-2080C, and never experienced a double-feed, probably due to Canon's pick roller mechanism. It was superseded by the USB DR-2050C ($479) and there seems to be a new DR-2010C ($400 at NewEgg), unfortunately it seems the latter does not include the full version of Acrobat any more but OmniPage SE is still included for OCR.
It's for Windows. Sorry for not specifying that. Do you know if these things are 'repairable'. I bought an OpticBook 3600, and after a couple of years, the lamp died. I couldn't get it fixed. They couldn't even tell me where I could buy a new lamp. When things cost $400, the repair/replace balance shifts.
Would your Canon recommendation extend to the Canon DR-1210C?
Also, any opinions on the XEROX DocuMate 510? It seems to be a popular one at New Egg.
It may well be that in order to get a reliable feeder, I need to go to $400 and up. At the end of the day I'd rather have a reliable piece of gear than save $100.
Thanks for the help.
PS. I already have OCR software (Omnipage), so the bundled software is not so much of an issue.
Would your Canon recommendation extend to the Canon DR-1210C?
I can't say, I have never tried it. You can't rely on brand alone. Canon is a reputable company, but so is Fujitsu and the latter's consumer entry-level ScanSnap is a turkey while its professional entry-level fi-5120C is an eagle.
Also, any opinions on the XEROX DocuMate 510? It seems to be a popular one at New Egg.
Sorry, I don't have any first-hand knowledge of that one either. Xerox's high-end scanners are good, I am not sure if their entry-level models are as good, or even made by Xerox as opposed to OEM. There is a reason why the Japanese dominate fax and scanners, because until recently computerized word processing or OCR of Japanese-language was impractical, requiring fac-simile and electronic document solutions.
It may well be that in order to get a reliable feeder, I need to go to $400 and up. At the end of the day I'd rather have a reliable piece of gear than save $100.
Well, a reliable feed and duplex scanning is the entire point of a document scanner, otherwise you might as well get an inexpensive (but improductive) flatbed. You will probably still need one for awkward originals that you can't feed through a sheet-fed scanner, e.g. books or magazines (or CD covers).
One good way of finding out how serious a document scanner is to check if the manufacturer has a SKU for a spares kit for the paper feed mechanism. Cheap semi-disposable scanners wouldn't bother.
Would your Canon recommendation extend to the Canon DR-1210C?
I just looked it up, and it seems to be a flatbed with a sheet feeder attachment, not a proper sheet-fed model. I doubt it is very reliable with that kind of design.
I notice that a lot of the reviews on new egg for the fujitsu S510 are really positive ... but it's a bit confusing, since they often include a remark like 'it gets jammed now and again, but I still love it'. I would be interested in hearing how Edwood makes out.
The customer reviews on the Canon DR-2050C also complain about skew and jamming problems - but one reviewer suggests that these folks did not use it correctly.
I guess so many people are just doing small jobs, like an electricity bill, that its hard to know if they've been using these scanners for larger jobs. The professional grade scanners are probably more completely tested out by the users, but they are just so expensive.
I had the S500, and quite frankly it sucked. It would jam about 20% of the time. All the feedback I have seen on the S510 leads me to think the paper feed hasn't been redesigned. I asked Fujitsu reps at MacWorld, and they hemmed and hawed, but eventually admitted the jam problems hadn't been fixed in the newer model. I tried it on the spot, and sure enough the first sheets of paper I scanned jammed...
The DR-2080C/2050C is not perfect, but if you use the supplied slip-on paper guides, skew is not a problem, nor is double-feeding in my experience. The built-in guides are not long enough, you need the slip-on ones to force the paper in at the proper angle. Since the pick roller is in the centre, skewed paper can also cause a misfeed, and the guides will help with that. The guides will also prevent paper from curling in an unruly way, something even my $950 fi-5120C can't prevent.The only issue is that you can't close the flap (a really nbeat design feature) if the guides are mounted. You will have to replace the pick roller after a while, but it's a fairly inexpensive consumable.
Paper jamming isn't the worst thing, though. Double feeding is. A jam is an annoyance - you clear the jam, rescan and move on. A double-feed means a page is missing from your scan without your noticing, and then you will shred the original with a false sense of confidence that you have captured everything.
The only way to avoid double-feeding is to use a scanner with ultrasonic double-feed detection like the Fujitsu fi-6130 ($860) or the Canon DR-2510C ($630). The latter is the slightly faster bigger brother of the DR-2010C. Some online stores mistakenly claim the DR-2010C has ultrasonic double-feed detection, but only the DR-2510C does. Scanners with ultrasonic double-feed detection are usually designed with a better paper path than entry-level consumer-grade scanners. It used to be a very high-end feature not available in workgroup scanners until a couple years ago, only in $3000+ production scanners.
If you can at all afford it, I would strongly recommend getting a scanner with that feature, otherwise you would have to scan sheet by sheet, which completely defeats the purpose of a document scanner.
Just installed it. It double feeds like crazy if the paper is thin. Man that sucks. But that Canon is twice the price of the Fujitsu.
BTW, does the Double Feed Detection just tell you there is a double feed, but doesn't do anything to help prevent it? I haven't seen any reviews about the Canon DR-2510C, is it new?
Otherwise, with bills and such it seems to do well with not double feeding. It usually double feeds on the very first pass, but it's still very annoying. I wouldn't mind so much if Fujitsu's software would have a simple way in the interface to directly combine different PDF's into a single one, rather than having to jump into Adobe Acrobat and do it manually.
Argh. I wish I had known it was this bad before buying the S510. But it is half the price. Oh well.
I think I'm going to eat the restock fee (bought from Newegg.) and return it.
I just realized my old Brother MFC 9700 came with an OCR software called ScanSoft PaperPort. Don't know how well it works, but I'll have to dig it up install it and see how it works.
Because, the Auto Document Feeder works awesome with the Brother MFC9700. It rarely ever double feeds or jams, even though the paper path is not straight through.
So, I'll try to see if I can get my Brother MFC9700 to work. Save my pennies, and then perhaps get the Canon scanner later one.
Scanner with Document Feeder
Linear Mode
