Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 Deluxe Bundle Sheet-Fed Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased this scanner as a first step in creating an electronic filing system for a home office. As I accumulated 20 filing cabinet drawers of paper documents going paperless seemed to be an answer.
Purchase of the Fujitsu S1500 was based on the numerous 5 star reviews. I am reasonably tech literate and have used the scanner for about 2 weeks. Here are my initial impressions:
Pros -
1. Speed: This scanner seems blazingly fast. Not a resource hog. Will scan duplex 20-25ppm at default settings on Win2K/1.8mhz/1gb platform.
2. Scan quality very good at all settings.
3. Size and looks: Small desk footprint. Looks great open or closed.
4. Excellent paper feeding as long as documents are same size and 20# or greater paper weight.
Cons -
1. NO TWAIN DRIVER. I knew this going in but did not appreciate how much this would cripple the device in day to day use. Let me explain. I had envisioned creating a virtual file cabinet in my computer using Windows Directory/Folder/File system then scanning my paper documents into this system as pdf files. The problem is that the native Fujitsu software does not let you append an existing pdf file!!!
As an example take a file for utility bills. D:/Home Expenses/Utilities/Gas_Electric.pdf. You can easily scan in all prior bills(limited by 50 sheet ADF)and a pdf with one page for each bill will be created. But if you had more than 50 prior bills or when next months bill comes then the next scan you perform to include these new documents will create a new pdf and does not allow the option of appending this more recent scan to the existing pdf. As you can see one could easily end up with 1000s of individual pdf documents in your filing system. The work around is to launch Adobe Acrobat (not reader) and use it to open the old composite pdf and use Acrobat to append the newly created pdf to the prior file. This work around takes longer than scanning in a 30 page document. Twain based scanners easily work with existing windows file structure and allow you to append an existing pdf without invoking Acrobat.
2. Paper catch tray very fragile and ADF paper support does not stay up (also reported by other reviewers).
3. Double feed sensor: stops scan and reports. This is good. However you cannot retrieve the double fed sheet and place it back in proper order because the next sheet is already in the scanner and cannot be backed out. You have to either cancel the scan and start over or put the unread sheet back in out of order and then use Acrobat to rearrange the pages in the resultant pdf document. If you choose to cancel the scan the document that is halfway into the scanner will not be ejected and you need to perform an new scan to retrieve that sheet.
4. A scanning run will only handle one size document at a time. In my experience if you have a mix of paper sizes you will need to do a scanning run for each paper size. Each run will generate a separate pdf file with you will then need to deal with.
5. I paid extra for the scanner bundle with Rack2File software thinking it would help me create the filing system I envisioned. After loading and spending several hours with this software I don't understand how it works or what it is supposed to do. I consider the extra $30 dollars I spent for the "bundled" scanner money poorly spent.
6. Other minor annoyances are:
While the scanner and snapscan software will run on older platforms the bundled software Rack2file and Acrobat require XPpro SP3 or newer. This is not clear from specs.
ADF will hold 40-50 sheets but output tray will start to jam after 20-25 sheets.
Documents printed on less than 20# paper and with printing on both sides the back side printing will show up on the front side scan. Many commercial invoices are printed both sides on thin paper.
Cannot set several default scanning profiles. You need to reset the scanner parameters each time you want a different profile.
Bottom line:
This would be a 5 star low end document scanner if it only offered a twain driver. As it is I can recommend it only to prospective buyers who understand the full implications of this limitation. I thought of returning this scanner and getting one of the twain based models like the Epson GT S50 but at this point I have learned enough of Acrobat to quickly append my pdfs retrospectively.
I strongly recommend avoiding the "bundled" product since I don't see what added value the Rack2File software brings.
I considered giving the scanner a one star review just to get people's attention but the hardware is so good 3 stars seems about right.

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With the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500, organizing your home or office is as easy as pushing a button. With a scanning speed of up to 20 pages per minute, the S1500 can quickly reduce paper clutter without sacrificing document quality. The smart scanner detects document size and coloration to ensure that your digitized copies are true to the originals. An added bonus, the scanner's included software bundle allows you to export, manipulate, and file your documents with ease.
Intelligent Detection Means Efficient, High-Quality Scans The ScanSnap S1500 offers resolutions of up to 300 dpi--color or grayscale--without sacrificing speed. With the touch of a single button, you can scan up to 20 double-sided pages per minute.

You won't need to do a thing to ensure that your scans look their best, because the S1500 comes equipped with paper-feed detection to monitor page size, as well as color and black-and-white detection. Better still, the scanner automatically rotates, crops, or de-skews documents.

If a small document (such as a receipt or business card) is mixed in with a stack of larger documents, the ScanSnap S1500 can be set to automatically increase the resolution of the small document to help ensure that finer print is discernable. What's more, an interactive interface allows you to choose to easily and quickly bypass double-feeds such as taped-receipts on expense reports.

Four Software Packages Included for Document Organization and Protection When it comes time to manage your digital files, use one of the four software packages included with the S1500. View, manage, and edit PDF and JPEG files using ScanSnap Organizer 4.0. Or, to do more than just view and print PDF versions of your documents, try Adobe Acrobat 9 Standard. This package allows you to create digital IDs and implement password protection to keep confidential documents safe.

To convert your paperwork into editable text, try ABBYY FineReader for ScanSnap 4.0 PC Edition. Alternatively, use CardMinder 4.0 to quickly scan business cards, extract the contact information, and place it into editable fields that can be exported to Excel, Outlook, and other contact managers.

What's in the Box Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 Scanner, A/C power cord, and software bundles (Adobe Acrobat 9 Standard, ScanSnap Organizer 4.0, ABBYY FineReader for ScanSnap 4.0 PC Edition, and CardMinder 4.0).

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