it probably won't make my head explode. (scanners!)
April 12, 2015 7:33 PM Subscribe
the neat desk scanner or the fujitsu scansnap ix500?
i am looking to go paperless. i am tired of hauling paper around and having it exist in my office, and yet there are things i have on paper i need to save/have stick around (cat records, car records, etc.).
i am currently trying to choose between the neat desk scanner and the fujitsu scansnap ix500. particulars:
i am on a cheese grater mac tower, i also have a (non-retina) mac laptop. bf has a (retina, most recent) mac laptop and an older iMac. we are running a combination of 10.9 and 10.10, and will probably move everything to 10.10 pretty soon. we will be sharing this scanner (i.e. it will probably be moving between our desks).
dropbox for storage? evernote? help.
i would like your experiences in using both. is the neat receipts/whatever software really that great? is this the kind of thing evernote is good for?
argue me over to your side/tell me what you like and hate about either option. i looked but there are only a couple of much earlier questions.
thanks, mefites!
i am looking to go paperless. i am tired of hauling paper around and having it exist in my office, and yet there are things i have on paper i need to save/have stick around (cat records, car records, etc.).
i am currently trying to choose between the neat desk scanner and the fujitsu scansnap ix500. particulars:
i am on a cheese grater mac tower, i also have a (non-retina) mac laptop. bf has a (retina, most recent) mac laptop and an older iMac. we are running a combination of 10.9 and 10.10, and will probably move everything to 10.10 pretty soon. we will be sharing this scanner (i.e. it will probably be moving between our desks).
dropbox for storage? evernote? help.
i would like your experiences in using both. is the neat receipts/whatever software really that great? is this the kind of thing evernote is good for?
argue me over to your side/tell me what you like and hate about either option. i looked but there are only a couple of much earlier questions.
thanks, mefites!
Love my Scansnap (older portable model -- still bulletproof). That + Evernote is a pretty awesome combo. (Evernote handles the ocr server-side for quick searching.)
posted by rdn at 10:30 PM on April 12, 2015
posted by rdn at 10:30 PM on April 12, 2015
Get a ScanSnap. The S1300i is what I recommend. Also read DocumentSnap.
posted by devnull at 12:40 AM on April 13, 2015
posted by devnull at 12:40 AM on April 13, 2015
ScanSnap by a mile. That plus Dropbox is a wonderful thing.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:24 AM on April 13, 2015
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:24 AM on April 13, 2015
I have a ScanSnap S1300i and have been happy with the device and the bundled software. I bought it mostly on the strength of Amazon reviews. I'm using it on a Mac mini on OS X 10.9.
I scan docs into searchable PDFs, give them a descriptive name, and I'm done. The software puts them in a folder which I've made shareable on my home network, so others in the house can access the docs. Then when I need to search for a doc, Spotlight always finds it.
My only issue with the process is that OCRing the PDFs takes a minute or so per doc, but that's because it's an older Mac mini and so it's probably processor-constrained. Having to wait a minute between each scan makes it a lot harder to get through those drawers full of old docs I've been meaning to scan someday.
posted by ejbenjamin at 12:56 PM on April 13, 2015
I scan docs into searchable PDFs, give them a descriptive name, and I'm done. The software puts them in a folder which I've made shareable on my home network, so others in the house can access the docs. Then when I need to search for a doc, Spotlight always finds it.
My only issue with the process is that OCRing the PDFs takes a minute or so per doc, but that's because it's an older Mac mini and so it's probably processor-constrained. Having to wait a minute between each scan makes it a lot harder to get through those drawers full of old docs I've been meaning to scan someday.
posted by ejbenjamin at 12:56 PM on April 13, 2015
@ejbenjamin I don't remember the name offhand, but other software can work with the ScanSnap to let you keep scanning. The OCR is done in a separate queue.
posted by devnull at 1:39 AM on April 14, 2015
posted by devnull at 1:39 AM on April 14, 2015
I've got a Fujitsu Scan Snap FI-5110EOXM from 2007 (!) that I still use once or twice a month to scan the papers that have been floating around that I want to get rid of. I love the thing. I bought new pads and rollers 5 years ago and have been using that second set since. I bought a spare set at the time too, thinking that by the time I need to replace them again, I may not be able to buy them.
When was the last time you heard of "I'd love to keep using that piece of computer hardware, but they don't make parts for it any more"? Everything else I've purchased since has broken irreparably or has ran into problems to the point that it just made sense to get a newer, better model.
posted by Brian Puccio at 3:46 PM on April 14, 2015
When was the last time you heard of "I'd love to keep using that piece of computer hardware, but they don't make parts for it any more"? Everything else I've purchased since has broken irreparably or has ran into problems to the point that it just made sense to get a newer, better model.
posted by Brian Puccio at 3:46 PM on April 14, 2015
Joining in the chorus of ScanSnap fans. (I've got an older S510M.) I've also recommended ScanSnaps to a couple clients, who now like them as much as I do. My old ScanSnap isn't supported on Yosemite, but it works fine. If it ever stops working due to an OS upgrade, I'll buy another ScanSnap with no hesitation.
posted by jeri at 5:06 PM on April 19, 2015
posted by jeri at 5:06 PM on April 19, 2015
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posted by cnc at 10:20 PM on April 12, 2015 [1 favorite]