I just installed a new Fujitsu ScanSnap S500 desktop scanner in my office, and it may be the best piece of office equipment I have ever purchased. It is absolutely amazing.
Let's start with the most fundamental issue -- price. This little desktop wonder costs just over $400. But that INCLUDES a full copy of Adobe Acrobat, which alone will cost nearly $300. Plus it also includes ABBYY Finereader OCR software so you can scan documents directly into your word processor. It's like you just buy the software, and they throw in the scanner for free.
But this scanner is the star of the package. It is small -- with a footprint smaller than a standard sheet of paper. It will quietly scan nearly 20 pages a minute directly into pdf format -- scanning both sides at once for 2-sided documents. And the quality of the scan is outstanding.
If you're not a "techie", don't worry. Just load the software, which takes only 2 or 3 mouse clicks. Then plug in the scanner in, then plug in the usb cable, and you're ready to roll. And operation is, well, a snap. Just push the big green button that says "scan". That's all there is to it.
In my solo office, I have the scanner hooked directly to my secretary's computer, which is also the "server" for my TimeMatters data base. My secretary can scan a 10-page document and save it directly into the case file on TimeMatters in less than 90 seconds.
If you have a need for scanning -- and in this electronic age every lawyer does -- check this out.
Great scanner...one drawback, it is not TWAIN compatible, so if you ever want to link to case management software, it will be difficult, if not impossible.
Some other scanners:
http://www.scanguru.com/e107_plugins/links_page/links.php?cat.1
Fujitsus are great scanners!!
Posted by: Steve | February 10, 2007 at 12:37 AM