Kodak i260 Duplex Scanner ( 184-4414 ) Review

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(More customer reviews)My department has four of these scanners and they have performed adequately over the past two and a half years.
The Kodak i260 scanner is a decent machine for low production use. However, contrary to Kodak's claim you should not expect to process more than 2,000 pages per day. While it can technically handle more than that, it comes at the cost of higher maintenance and a shorter product life.
The other specifications for the scanner are misleading as well. The rating of 67ppm is purely theoretical. My department has never received more than 50ppm, and our average is closer to 20ppm. The reason is simple, in the real world paper is not perfect. Paper has folds, wrinkles and tears that drastically slow the process time. An important note: the feeder will not handle small documents like checks and receipts. You must use the flatbed attachment for these types of documents.
Every i260 scanner I have worked with has both USB and Firewire. My department was sold on the idea that we should go with USB due to the lower implementation cost. This was the wrong thing to do. The bandwidth of the USB interface is to narrow for full time scanning. Our production could not pass 1,000 pages a day with a USB interface.
USB was only part of that problem. My department also made the mistake of opting out of the extended RAM. The i260 only comes with a paltry 64MB of RAM, but it can be upgraded to 256MB. 64MB is great for desktop office scanners but it is inexcusable in a production level machine.
The wise will not waste their time with Kodak's included software. The truth is that any scanner is only as good as the software that makes use of the scanner. Spend the time and money to get production level software.
The price to performance ratio is outrageous. You can purchase an HP Scanjet N8420 for $1,199.00 and it will beat the performance of Kodak scanners in most areas and it will not require the purchase of annual maintenance. (State/local government annual rates are around $1,000.00) Note: I am not recommending the N8420 over the i260. I am simply pointing out the vast price/performance difference.
My final advice is this: If you need entry level production scanning and you have or will have production level scanning software, then this is an OK machine to buy if your production levels will exceed 1,000 pages a day.
If your production levels are below 1,000 pages a day then I recommend that you look at HP's scanners.


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