Customer Reviews

ScanSnap FI-5110EOX2 Color Duplex Scanner

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought the Scansnap partly because of the glowing reviews here on Amazon, and I not disappointed. Rarely do I find a product worthy of 5 stars, but this little guy deserves it. As noted in some of the other reviews, the ScanSnap is sort of a one trick poney - it is designed to quickly scan and archive documents in PDF. Don't expect it do a good job with photos, and as noted, it won't do a grayscale image.

It's small size, ability to duplex, excellent document feeder, and fast operation make archiving large numbers of documents feasible. The driver software is simple to use, and you can create and save profiles for different scanning needs such as simplex, duplex, color, better quality etc. The profiles make it easy to switch settings on the fly. The vast majority of documents will be legible using the Normal (fastest) settiing, which helps keep file sizes small. For documents with very fine print, I found that the "Better" mode adds enough resolution to make even the smallest text legible.

The ScanSnap Organizer software that ships with the scanner is a simple Paperport-style document manager, in which you can create File Cabinets with Folders to organize your paperwork. What I like about it is that it the folder structure you create in the Organizer is mirrored on your harddrive with a ScanSnap directory and subdirectories named the same as the File Cabinets and Folders you create. You can therefore find your documents by just browsing your harddrive. Because the file format is PDF, you can't stack pages and documents together through the Organizer like you can in Paperport. You have do this in Acrobat and save the file. Organizer doesn't have a lot of advanced features, but I prefer the simplicity of it.

I went through a big pile of personal stuff in about an hour. It sure feels good to put that stack of paper into the shredder. Of course, the downside to archiving documents into digital format and getting rid of the originals (which I suppose is the point of the endeavor) is the possibility of data loss. You'd better adopt a reduntant backup strategy, because hard disc drives can and do fail. I sycnhonize to multiple computers and will write my files to DVD for protection. I suppose if you're really cautious, you could subscribe to one of the online backup services for secure off-site backup.

If you think the price is a little stiff, remember this scannor duplexes, which enormously simplifies the archiving process by eliminating the need to flip and rescan pages. Also, by duplexing, all pages are put into a single file in the proper order. I'd also point out again that the document feeder is truly remarkable in it's ability to feed just about any size and shape with out jamming. You can even do receipts that come on slick thermal paper. Occasionally ScanSnap will make a mistake in page orientation or will crop improperly. I found this happens with half-length documents, which you need to insert sideways to scan properly.

One of the reasons this package was appealing to me is because it comes with Acrobate Standard 7.0. A word of warning - Adobe has seen fit to remove all the form-making features from Acrobat Standard, though they left the ability to insert and remove pages, annotate and comment. If you want the all the great features of Acrobat to create forms, you have to buy the Pro version.

I suffered from constant clutter do to all the bills, statements, contracts, etc that I get bombarded with on a daily basis. I searched for HP duplex scanners, but they're pretty pricey and, having owned an HP flatbed scanner, I new that the software sucked. So, when I saw the Fujitsu came with Adobe Acrobat (Std), I became interested. I finally sprang for it ($420 - $50 rebate) when I had some extra cash laying around.

Let me tell you, this is one of the best home office purchases I've ever made! The scnaner has a small footprint and the in and out feed guides fold or slide back into the unit to save even more space. Additionally, the fliptop infeed guide automatically powers the unit on, which is a nice little convenience!

If you're scared by the price, remember that the software comprises a LARGE share of that price. Acrobat retails for $300 by itself. For $75 more, you get a pretty cool little scanner too with this unit. The Adobe software is outstanding. It allows for EASY manipulation of all your pdf files....For example, I had bank statements dating back to 2000. I scanned them all in individually at first to separate files. However, I later realized it would be easier to save the statements in one file, bookmark each month, and just add new statements to the beginning of the file keeping it in chronological order. So, fired up adobe, selected "Create new pdf from multiple files", arranged them in chronological order, and pressed OK....Voila, a new file with all the statements for 5 years...Little more work to bookmark, but easily done. File is about 40 MB in size, but each month had about 5-8 pages, for 60 mos....

Anyhow, this scanner is outstanding.....unjams VERY easily....Only thing I don't like is that it doesn't scan odd-sized paper very well in the "Auto" mode...But this package was WELL worth the price to me...If it ever breaks down, I'd definitely buy the same model again. I rarely am impressed by things, but I must say this little unit is an outstanding buy!! I HIGHLY recommend it...

I purchased this unit to reduce the boxes of papers I have in storage. As my files have grown, I have found it increasingly difficult to find a given document in short period of time. I am also concerned about the security of my documents is this era of identity theft. I purchased the unit to address each concern, but not as a scanner for photos and slides. I plan on purchasing a flatbed scanner for that mission.

So, after reading a bunch of reviews online, I purchased this scanner. As is typical for me, I didn't even open the box for about a month - too much going on. I finally busted it out tonight. Setting it up was a snap and I had no issues with compatibility with Windows XP on my lap top. I plugged the ScanSnap into the wall and into my laptop's USB port and in moments I was scanning documents. The software controls are pretty basic and all I needed for scanning a lot of loose text documents (my primary purpose for this unit).

I had not used the full version of Adobe Acrobat previously, and found the "extraction" feature to be a big time saver, as one can scan a bunch of unrelated documents and "extract" them in to separate files later on the computer, instead of creating files one at a time via scanning.

Documents that had been damaged, dog-eared or folded sometimes would not feed properly. The same documents would have jammed the photocopier at work, too. Clearing jams is easy: lift the lid with one finger, pull out the document, correct the paper defect, reinsert and scan from where you left off. Very cool.

I got a couple of messages that a data transfer error had occured during the scanning. Not sure what that was about. I stopped the scan, restarted it, and scanned the documents with no problems.

It's simple, fast on all but the highest setting, tiny, and works great. It is definitely portable, which is good, as I have a lot of stuff at work for it to digest. Check it out.

Chris

I bought this scanner to help me better organize the voluminous amounts of paper I collect through both my work and volunteer activities.

In many ways this scanner works as advertised - it is very fast with great image quality. The ability to quickly scan both pages of a two sided document simultaneously is this product's best feature.

I do have some frustrations that any potential buyer should be aware of prior to adding it to their cart:

1. My biggest gripe is that the scanner does an awful job feeding paper. As fast as it is, it frequently grabs more than one page at a time. This does not often result in a jam condition, so the document keeps going. This is a real pain for large documents, and an even bigger pain to have to rescan pages and resinsert them in the original PDF document.

I simply cannot trust the scanner to scan an entire document flawlessly, so I have to supervise it. The scanner even has problems with documents that are 'perfect' (no folds, staple holes, etc).

2. The scanner does not have TWAIN drivers, so you can't scan directly into an application. You have to use the included software that scans documents to a folder on your hard disk.

3. The scanning software does not allow you to name the file prior to or after scanning. It uses an automated naming process that includes the date and time of the scan. It's not difficult to rename a file, of course, but it certainly would be nice to not have to jump to an explorer window after each scan.

At first this scanner may seem expensive. And when you receive this item you might wonder why it is so small. But, if you have a lot of documents to scan then this scanner is perfect. I have had all in one scanners, scanners with ADF,regular scanners and they do have their purpose but when it comes to scanning documents this little scanner is fast and efficient. I cant believe how well this thing works. I cant believe i have been using other scannners for the same purpose. Just fork over your money and get this. Also, as an added significant bonus you get a full version of adobe acrobat 7 not 6 but 7. Just the cost of this software alone is a great incentive. And who cares if it doesnt have native twain or whatever. You wanna scan photos? But a photo scanner. You want a paperless office (or at least as less paper as possible) well this unit will suit you just fine.

This scanner is simply awesome. I have had a dozen scanners or so over the years and the integration of this one into the software is the cleanest yet. Setup was flawless and took only a few minutes. Open the folding top, push the magic button, and you have a pdf file in seconds. Auto descew works great with very minor artifacting. Auto rotation doesn't always work but pretty good. The highest resolution mode can't even remotely compete with my 2400 dpi optical scanner, but if you want to scan a thousand photos from your family album I think the time savings would be worth a little quality sacrafice, getting the job done at all is better then not getting the job done perfectly iykwim.
The software drivers could use a little rewording on some of their prompts, hate seeing broken english in a product of this quality otherwise.

Pros: Super fast, sharp double sided scanning directly to pdf files. Effortless setup. Excellent software integration. Easy cleaning. Easy unjamming.

Cons: Auto size detection won't use custom sizes. Actual scanning resolutions not stated anywhere (still don't know).

Wish: It had a 200 page input tray, and do automatic page reshuffling for scanning brochures/instructions.

I selected this scanner to speed up our small office scanning needs, but it has FAR exceeded expectations. Software is amazing - and thats an understatement. Hardware works flawlessly, save for an occasional jam caused by dogeared originals. I love one button scanning, too.

I didn't expect to have much use the Business card reader, but after running a few thru for effect, I am smitten with it - you will be too. It not only scans an image of both sides of the card, but its OCR reliably recognizes and inserts Company name, Person's name, phone number and e-mail address and creates in a format compatible with your e-mail and contact listings. Stunning!!

Can's say enough about the simplicity, speed and user friendliness of this small gem.

I doubt you will find a better desktop scanner, and if you can use a copy of Adobe Acrobat 7.0 that comes with this package, this is a mega deal.

This scanner is truly one of the best I have ever used. It truly is a one button scanner. Just click the scan button and it automatically creates the scan as a PDF. It also scans both sides of your scan! It's amazing the options and software bundle this small scanner comes with. Although its a bit pricey, its well worth it. If you're looking for superb quality scanning, then this is your scanner!

I have been dreaming of a scanner that could take my customers loan documents scan them fast and automatically send them to my computer as a pdf so that I could email them to the bank. Well this is the product. It should win an award.

I bought this on the review from someone putting archived files in pdf. Needed a first class sheet feeder.

It's been 8 or 9 months and this little machine is absolutely great. Very few jams. Fast and pretty reliable on back and front scanning. I have not used it for anything except documents (8.5 by 11 and by 14).

Very helpful getting full (almost) Acrobat version too.