Just buy a fujitsu scansnap if you need to scan things. It is a million times better… or ten billion… depending on who you ask. My opinion is that this is a waste of money and that I LOVE my scansnap more than I ever loved my neat receipts. Sorry to be a buzzkill. I usually hate people like me trolling around. but its true!@!112
Have owned this for 2 years- its FAST @ scanning, can do color or B&W, can scan both sides @ once, automatically OCRs, can keep adding documents as fast as you can name them, and usually runs near $400.00 new. This is a great price for a great scanner. If you are looking for a simple way to auto-file your receipts- forget it. But if you want to be paperless with all your documents and receipts searchable- you can not beat this scanner.
I’ve been waiting for the day when the NeatReceipts software is updated and no longer has a PDF problem.
Mine just stopped creating PDFs one day. The software would just lockup. The thing I liked about it was it would OCR the documents (pretty well) and would embed this information into the PDFs, so I could upload these PDFs to Google Docs, making all of my receipts only a search away from any computer.
When the software started locking up and stopped writing PDFs, I did a search on the Internet and discovered a lot of people were having this issue. I tried re-installing the software to no avail. So, I installed it on a different machine. Things worked for a while then, wham, it started locking up again and stopped writing PDFs.
When I dug deeper, it appears that it scans each page into a separate PDF file in a temporary folder, then merged these into a single PDF. It’s this merging process which is locking up. So, I hoped that maybe I could write a script of my own so I could just use the NeatReceipts software to initiate the scan, then lock up… then my script could combine these individual PDFs into one, which I could upload to Google Docs.
Unfortunately, these “temporary” PDF files didn’t have the OCR information embedded into them, so these weren’t searchable.
Fortunately, Google Docs has an option to “convert” an uploaded PDF to a searchable document, but it’s just not worthwhile in its current state. It seems to just create an image out of the PDF, dumps this image into a Google Docs word processing file, then dumps the OCR output at the end of the file. The OCR just doesn’t seem as good on receipts as the NeatReceipts software was.
To make a long story even longer, I’m basically just stuck. The software won’t do what I need it to do, there doesn’t seem to be a fix in sight, and yet they keep selling these things.
I have used quite a bit of scanners, nothing high end. But I am currently using the Fujitsu SnapScan 1500 and I am very happy with it. It saves me time and that is what I bought it for. Wasn’t cheap but if I had to do it all over again, I would probably still buy a SnapScan. I haven’t used this NeatDesk, so I can’t comment on it. But I did have a NeatReceipt and I returned it at Costco. I don’t know if it is the same company.
BTW I scan every day and I know my scanner is not going to break, very well made.
I’ll add a vote for the Fujitsu ScanSnap, it’s pricey but worth every penny if you have a large stash of document to scan. It will do color or B&W, single or duplex, at a fairly high speed. There’s also a version that works with OS X.
Does anyone know if you can get this and then buy the Mac software separately to be compatible?
There seems to be a lot of dislike for the neatdesk software. I already own a decent scanner, is there any software package that will do this “OCR and filing” / “document management” functionality with my existing scanner?
I would recommend the Epson Workforce Pro GT-S50… has twain drivers too.
I used to use PaperPort (I think Nuance is running that show now) and really liked it. I haven’t seen it in a while, so I can’t comment on the current version, but you may want to check it out.
I’m currently using the crapware that came with my HP All-in-one, and much to my surprise, I really like it! It has no bells, whistles or bling, but it will scan both sides of a document (hardware willing), create a SEARCHABLE PDF and put in any directory you choose. I have mine set to go to a folder called “Inbox”, then I place it where it should be every time I get a round tuit. Just my $0.02.
got one a lil’ over a year ago…
decent scanner w/ crap software. and unfortunately most functions depend on their software.
ocr works well, but simple functions take 3 clicks and its not very intuitive. worst part is the built-in backup function is horrificly slow and does not scale over time. now w/ a years worth of receipts and biz cards a backup is a 45+ min operation that brings my laptop to a creep.
lastly- it lacks an adjustable guide for feeding biz cards/receipts. i have a ton of crookedly scanned biz cards since it doesnt feed them straight.
What version is the software?
I’m like… oh, a scanner that has ADF… whatever, don’t need one, have a nice Canon Multifunction printer/scanner
Later I’m looking at my tweet page and see the Woot tweet… reading it as if I had forgot what it was… and then…
WTH???
TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY NINE DOLLARS???
For a scanner???
Did they mean Pesos?
Anybody else think this might make it to the next Woot-off? Unless they are too embarrassed to show its face again. LOL
C’mon Woot… we love you and all but… really?
Wow!!!
Really cool that they have this awesome brand name that everyone knows is to be the most reliable stuff on the market as well. LOL
Flash in Pan, spendy, software nightmare, reviews, refurb, space hog = Umm. NO!
awesome points.
must be nice to be you.
I go out, spend 75.00 on groceries, feed my family for two weeks. - Toss the reciept in a shoe box labled grocery 2011. At the end of the year I end up tossing them all cause standard deductions equal more.
Nice hu?
Okay, Woot, what the hell?!
I check Woot, decide I don’t want the product, and then saw TWO commercials for it.
Y’all are starting to mess with my mind, man.
Having bought the Scanner off of Quill.com a year ago, it has given me a new hatred of proprietary software. Nothing from Neat plays nice with any other software, including extensive work with Photoshop, Acrobat, or even cutePDF or other freeware scanning software.
Problems I had included Neat ignoring whatever I would tell it to do.
Le Ugg… pass on this unless you want to work entirely with Neat’s software.
The 550 is a GREAT scanner but the software is not very intuitive at all. Any time you want to change a setting, you have to navigate through several obscure menus. But the hardware itself is amazing.
Yes but the software is $80 (downloadable… a CD costs $99)… for that, you might as well buy a new one with a full warranty.
The only relation between the scanners you describe, and this one, is that they both are able to import an image off a piece of paper into a computer. This one has a FEW more bells and whistles than the ones you see on clearance.
However, it sounds like it’s not the best-of-breed, so I’ll probably pass on this one.