Wednesday, May 02, 2007

The Scanner Test: "Which one reigns the winner at my workplace?"


This is something I would like to share with all office-related personnel out there. It's all about scanners, in general, and my own personal experience regarding which brand works best. But let's talk about scanners first for those of you not familiar with it. The function of the scanner is very important in a workplace especially if you want to save physical documents and putting them instead to a PDF digital format. Utilizing today's ever-changing technology makes this happen and the concept of scanning definitely saves room when it comes to archiving vintage as well as new documents for a company. That way, old documents can be finally tossed out forever (if your workplace allows) ... Ok, now let me share you my experience. I got three scanners pictured above. I have used each one: the Canon 3080CII (valued near $2400), the Fujitsu ScanSnap S500 (valued near $350), and the Hewlett-Packard HP N6010 (valued near $440). The results were what I've expected. The S500 and N6010 have similar problems. Both grabbed several sheets of paper all at once (especially sheets that were heavily-stapled for a long time) and the cycle has to be repeated until the problem is finally resolved. In my situation, I had to fan and slightly curl the top left portion of the paper to avoid the papers from sticking to each other during the scanning process. Sometimes that idea worked but it also backfired, as well. In order to further correct the scanning process in flawless fashion, I proceeded on to the 3080CII - the most expensive of the three. It did what I expected it to do. It grabbed the sheets individually from the bottom and later, turns it over on the top portion of the scanner. It totally ruled! It just didn't do what I want it to do, but the starting process was excellent, too. Before I scan on the 3080CII, it told me what to name it first and where I want the document to be scanned into on the computer's directory/folders. With the N6010 and the S500, I had to rename the file once the Adobe Acrobat software is opened and then locate where I want the document to be placed on the computer's directory/folders. And all of that happens right after the scanning process is done, too ... 3080CII is the clear winner while I place N6010 next because of it's sleek roomier appearance and user-friendly keys. Lastly, it would be the S500 because it had a large degree of difficulty in scanning than the other two ... In the end, I found out that money and high-quality performance DOES MATTER in the job I work in.

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