Document Scanners

[Dave Lehnert]

Like to have a document scanner for home use. My tax guy used one and looked handy.
Looking for something with a document feed of multiple sheets.
I have an all in one scanner/ printer now but not very efficient doing one page and side at a time.
Don't want to spend more than needed but what will a $500 one do a $200 won't?
What features will I need or can overlook for home use?

Link to one that caught my eye.
https://www.amazon.com/Brother-ADS10...5TWK1BMAWQ754P

[Mike Henderson]

Many all-in-one printer/scanners will automatically feed documents. I have a HP PhotoSmart 7520 that does that. I've had it for a number of years so I'm sure there are more modern ones out there. If I recall when I bought the 7520 it was about $150.

The 7520 will not scan in duplex so you'd have to turn the stack over to scan the back.

Mike

[George Bokros]

I have an HP 8600 - prints, scans and copies. Does not automatically duplex but all you have to do is follow the instructions and scanning two side is a piece of cake. Works wireless from any device in the house.

[Todd Willhoit]

The HP Officejet 8600 series can absolutely do automatic duplex scanning. It is a selection option when starting a job and is retained until switched back to one-sided. Presumably, the 8700 series has the same function.

[Larry Frank]

I use my HP all in one and scan everything with it and does have a document feeder.

The one issue that I have is the software is awful. I bought and use a program called Vuescan to control the scanning. It seems to work with almost every scanner made. If you struggle with your scanner, this might be worth looking at.

[Matt Meiser]

Both our newer Epson inkjet color photo printer and the ancient Brother all-in-one laser do a good job with multiple sheets. The software for the Brother was pretty good up to Win 7 but its so old they don't support it anymore. There's a Windows Store app that gets me by for now.

Receipts are a pain. They won't feed in the sheet feeder and usually won't lie flat after being in your wallet, pocket, etc. For work expense reports, I've started using One Note on my phone to snap a photo of them immediately. The result is better than the scan and I don't have to keep track of the hard copies anymore. I can enter notes if needed in One Note and export the whole thing as a PDF to attach to the expense report.

[Ronald Blue]

I would vote for HP. I have an HP 8615 and while I don't know if it will duplex scan it will print in duplex with no issues. It replaced an Epson and I doubt I will ever buy another Epson. It reached the point even with new cartridges it was saying it was out of ink. Any printer can cause problems but that one soured me on Epson. My work has the HP 7520 Mike mentions and it has been a workhorse. It's not a clean environment and it just keeps on going. Change cartridges when it asks for it and load more paper. It also prints duplex but not as efficiently as the newer models. I think you can get a really nice printer for less than $200. The $500 range would have you in a laser printer.

[Kev Williams]

I know nothing of these things except for ad's I've seen on TV for portable ones...

They would have me believe that all you do is shove a piece of paper in, and after scanning it know exactly what the paper is, and files it on your computer accordingly.

True or False?

[Roger Feeley]

+1 on the all-in-one. I prefer a laser printer, though. I've had nothing but bad luck with inkjet printers. I don't get nearly the pages from them that are advertised. It's probably because I don't print that much. Several weeks can go by without printing anything. A laser printer just patiently waits and the toner never seems to get old. My current all-in-one is a Canon and it seems to run just fine. Much better than the HP's that I had. I bought a second cartridge when I got it a year ago and I'm still on the starter cartridge.

One side note, my mother got to a point where she could no longer operate an email client program (or computer in general). The HP e-Print series is a printer with an email address. I installed that for her and it would print out letters from her grandchildren. All they had to do was fire off a weekly email. Mom would glance at the printer on her way to the bathroom and there would be mail in the hopper. I had to replace ink cartridges from time to time and I would reboot the printer whenever I visited (couple of times a month). Other than that, the thing just ran. I think it's a great solution for the elderly.

[Ronald Blue]

That's at least partly correct Kev. You can wireless scan and it will transmit to a folder you have setup on your computer. If it's a photo you can choose the type or if it's a document you can make it automatically a PDF.

[Richard Flinn]

Document scanners are pretty much wasted money nowadays. Like others have said almost every all-in-one commercial printer has a scanning ability similar to document scanners.

Some let you even configure the sizes of each document so that it scans it in a perfect ratio. Only thing I can see a document scanner being more useful in is that you don't have to go through the process of defining particular document sizes on some allin1s.

[Lee DeRaud]

The one issue that I have is the software is awful. I bought and use a program called Vuescan to control the scanning. It seems to work with almost every scanner made. If you struggle with your scanner, this might be worth looking at.

+1 on Vuescan. It even works with my old Minolta film scanner that I'd given up for dead due to lack of drivers for anything newer than XP.