Check out this “excellent” review over at PCMag.com and solid reviews (4 out of 5 stars) over at BHPhotoVideo.com
Why would anyone need this when you can just use a free scan app on your smartphone? Seriously, I’m really wondering!
My kid was just saying i should get a scanner to manage all my receipts!!
I think i could get used to not having all those little pieces of paper (that fade out so you can’t read them anyway . . . ) around.
Now, what color would be best???
[QUOTE=Flugerbill, post:4, topic:427520]
Why would anyone need this when you can just use a free scan app on your smartphone? Seriously, I’m really wondering!
[/quote]
I use the CamScanner smartphone app, it works flawlessly
I guess I need to get a smartphone.
Does not say if the software CD is included.
Does it come with one?
[QUOTE=Flugerbill, post:4, topic:427520]
Why would anyone need this when you can just use a free scan app on your smartphone? Seriously, I’m really wondering!
[/quote]
This would let you get a higher resolution and quality scan of whatever you’re scanning, without distortion caused by your phone’s camera lens. To put it into megapixel terms you can get a 236.7 megapixel image using this scanner. How many megapixels is your phone? 5? 8? 12? In actual practice, of course, the quality wouldn’t really be anywhere near what that high number might have you expect, but it should still be markedly better than what your phone’s tiny camera sensor can come up with.
Here’s the math I did to come up with the megapixel number. Please review and correct any mistakes I’ve made:
From specs, max DPI is 900, at 900 DPI max scan size is 35″ by 8.35″ (8.35″ is max width of scanner):
(8.35×900)×(35×900)
7,515×31,500
236,722,500
How good do the scans from cellphone camera apps look? That’s a serious question; I’ve never used them because I expect them to be mediocre at best.
If you are a genealogist, a scanner is a must have. I would hate to have to use up my phone battery for all the scanning I do in a library. Not to mention the difference in quality.
I have owned one of these for about a year. I paid $10 more for a refurbished unit so this is a very good price. I have it in my computer backpack at all times. I only use it about once a month, but when I do, it’s AWESOME.
I have a smart phone and used to take pictures of things and call it “scanning” but it really isn’t. Scanning produces a flat, non-distorted, high resolution, small file size PDF (this can scan to JPG or PDF in high, medium or low quality). A camera produces a distorted large image file (JPG) of a document. It’s also really tough to use flash (without glare) in dimly lit areas to “scan” with my phone, while the scanner has its own light so you can scan in pitch dark if you need to.
The VuPoint scanner uses a micro SD card and I already own lots of adapters for SD, so pretty much any computer I own can read the card. It uses AA batteries, so I always have spares available (but when it’s off, it’s off, so batteries last a LONG time, unlike my phone).
It is a little tricky to learn to get straight document scans from the very top of the page to the bottom, but with a little practice, it’s a breeze and the scans look great. The included ABBYY OCR software works very well to convert to editable text (though I rarely use it).
Scanning pictures is a little more cumbersome and the results are not as good as a flatbed scanner, but it’s still WAY better than taking a picture of a picture.
I bought a hard case to keep it protected and to store a couple of extra batteries and the SD adapter. It’s a little bulky but really protects the scanner.
If you take pictures of documents with your phone on an anywhere near regular basis, this device is really worth it.
[QUOTE=Flugerbill, post:4, topic:427520]
Why would anyone need this when you can just use a free scan app on your smartphone? Seriously, I’m really wondering!
[/quote]
Because I have no use for a smartphone.
Bought two from woot awhile ago for 2x the price thinking it would be a great addition to scan and email. Tried them out, they worked great, carried them with me for a month, haven’t seen them since them since. Really didn’t need them after all as most office copiers will scan and email now anyways and the times in the field that I would have used this to be “quick” never materialized.
A phone taking a picture and this is night and day difference. Don’t even go there.
Phone = shadows, glare, distortion, low resolution, poor font quality, etc.
That being said, I still found that an office scanner was just simple enough.
[QUOTE=lstaff, post:5, topic:427520]
My kid was just saying i should get a scanner to manage all my receipts!!
I think i could get used to not having all those little pieces of paper (that fade out so you can’t read them anyway . . . ) around.
Now, what color would be best???
[/quote]
I’ve got a similar model, and I would not recommend it for receipts. You know how when you scan something with a real scanner, there’s a lit up horizontal bar in the scanner under the glass that moves all the way down the page? Well, this wand is like that bar. Only you’re physically moving it with your hands down a page. Receipts are too small and lightweight to stay put for that.
Personally, this type of scanner didn’t work well for us. My husband wanted it for scanning docs while in his work truck, but how well it works kind of relies on steady hands and a stable surface. For receipts and “in the field” document applications, an app like CamScanner works better. A plus to CamScanner is that it does increase the contrast, sharpen text, and allow you to adjust a not-quite-rectangular photo of a rectangular piece of paper back into a rectangle.
From the Specs:
ABBYY Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Software included converts and exports scanned files to computer for editing text. Compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. (Not compatible with Mac OS)
I’ve been looking for an inexpensive way to digitize receipts and have them searchable. Do owners of this think it would work well for that?
I’ve tried the apps, but they’re hit-or-miss as far as digitizing and making the text searchable.
I’m also not sure that if once the receipts are scanned and converted, are they searchable? For example, if I have a directory on my computer filled with these, can I do a ctrl+f and look for “DVD” and will receipts with that on it show up? Or will it only search the name of the file? Or maybe there’s a better way I don’t know about …
edit: just saw the post from chicken620; thanks for the details.
[QUOTE=Flugerbill, post:4, topic:427520]
Why would anyone need this when you can just use a free scan app on your smartphone? Seriously, I’m really wondering!
[/quote]
Lessee…better quality…Scan to PDF…better quality.
Your “app” is not scanning, it’s taking a mediocre photo.
I don’t see why anyone uses a spoon to stir cream in their coffee when they could use a SmartPhone. Seriously, I’m wondering!
Get the right tool for the job.
If you just need to make a photographic copy of a receipt that you can email or make a so-so print to prove something, fine, snap away with your phone or camera.
If you are scanning at home,get a cheap flatbed scanner.I suggest the Canon Lide models that are USB powered.
If you need to scan photos and slides, etc, consider and Epson Perfection. VERY high DPI!
If you need portability and want better quality than a 'phone,try one of these.
Be sure to read the instructions and calibrate the unit.
[QUOTE=jqubed, post:9, topic:427520]
This would let you get a higher resolution and quality scan of whatever you’re scanning, without distortion caused by your phone’s camera lens. To put it into megapixel terms you can get a 236.7 megapixel image using this scanner. How many megapixels is your phone? 5? 8? 12? In actual practice, of course, the quality wouldn’t really be anywhere near what that high number might have you expect, but it should still be markedly better than what your phone’s tiny camera sensor can come up with.
Here’s the math I did to come up with the megapixel number. Please review and correct any mistakes I’ve made:
From specs, max DPI is 900, at 900 DPI max scan size is 35″ by 8.35″ (8.35″ is max width of scanner):
(8.35×900)×(35×900)
7,515×31,500
236,722,500
How good do the scans from cellphone camera apps look? That’s a serious question; I’ve never used them because I expect them to be mediocre at best.
[/quote]
Camscanner and a few others turn the images into OCR. The pics are great and very legible. Stored on your phone, computer and cloud. You can tweak the settings in second just like the scanner here so even the most difficult receipts are easy to read. Plus they keep them together in groups depending on how you like to organize. They apps are NOT for photographs. They are for paper receipts.
I’m tempted to buy one of these. I’ve been on the road for 15 years and have never found a way to manage all my paper receipts.
However, my company requires me to put all my expense reports along with scans of the receipts into a single document for submission, which I can do by scanning everything together on my home printer.
Is there a way to combine several of theses “scans” into a single document? I’ve never been able to find one.
Edit. You know…sometimes I fail to follow my own advice. Finally googled “how to combine pdf files” and got at least 15 free methods. That’s it. I’m in for one.