Scanner with no computer

April 8, 2009 12:29 PM

My office is looking for a scanner that doesn't need to be connected to a computer

What we are looking for is a scanner for 8.5x11 documents that could save documents on a flash drive and doesn't require a computer. I'm not sure whether or not this exists, but would love to know for sure.

posted by mjcon to computers & internet (8 comments total)

In case it helps: my workplace's photocopier (not connected to any computer) can scan documents and email the resulting Pdfs to any address.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 12:39 PM on April 8

Mine too. It also faxes and does a couple other copier-of-the-future type things.
posted by box at 12:43 PM on April 8

Thanks on the photocopiers. Ours does that too, but we are looking for something smaller to put at some off-site locations....Something more tabletop sized. Is it out there?
posted by mjcon at 12:53 PM on April 8

I've never seen a unit that does this. That doesn't mean one doesn't exist, but I do a fair bit of work with document capture and I've seen most of what's offered by the big manufacturers. The systems seem to go from regular units that attach to a computer (via SCSI or USB, mostly) to networked machines that either send out emails, or communicate with a host machine using a proprietary protocol of some sort.

I've seen some big copier/printer/scanner devices that have USB slots (manufacturer uncertain, might have been a Xerox?) but I think it was just for bringing documents to the printer; I don't know whether it could scan something and save it there. And it was probably about the price of a nice Porsche.

If you are price-sensitive you are probably best off getting a computer with a built-in card reader, attaching it to the best scanner you can afford (I like the Kodak and Fuji desktop scanners, HP not so much), and then using it for nothing else but running the scanner and saving the images to memory cards or sending them out via email. As long as you never, ever, ever install anything else on the system again, it will probably be almost as good as a standalone piece of equipment. (My company has a "scan station" that's an old Win98 machine hooked up to a SCSI scanner ... if any part of it it broke we'd probably have to can the whole business because I doubt you'd be able to replace any single part without running into driver problems or breaking the delicate software stack, but it ticks along.) Not the most elegant solution certainly, but probably the cheapest.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:58 PM on April 8

My office's Xerox Phaser 6110MFP print/scan/fax can scan to a USB drive. It weighs 40 pounds and is not very portable but I imagine if Xerox went through the trouble to design a USB host system they would put it in more than one device, maybe in something that weighs less than a small child.
posted by Chrishartley at 1:04 PM on April 8

Actually looks like I might have spoke too soon: check out the Xerox 3100MFP. It has a USB port and advertises that you can use it as a destination for scans. Might be a little overkill but with an MSRP of under $300 I doubt you'll do better. You can barely get a good sheet-feeding desktop scanner for less than that.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:05 PM on April 8

I have a Brother printer/fax/scanner that can scan to memory card. Not quite flash drive, but close. I believe most of those little combo printer/fax/scanners do this.
posted by rokusan at 2:04 PM on April 8

I was recently asked to find a document scanner for an office setting that could scan to e-mail, a network folder and USB. My recommendation was this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Fujitsu-ScanSnap-S510-Sheet-fed-Scanner/dp/B000RUOW66/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1228258166&sr=8-1

This is for PC, but the MAC version has gotten good reviews. This scanner works really well and is simple to use. It's got a very small footprint too. I'd recommend it based on feedback I've received from the office folks that use it.
posted by loquat at 6:48 PM on April 8