a review by Tom Piper
The conversion of paper materials into digital images has a long history. I have had many small handheld scanners up through large specialized automated units, all connected to various computers. But, portability and iDevice compatibility have been largely absent from all of them. At CES 2015, this all changed with an incredible new product from a veteran company.
The ScanSnap iX100 from Fujitsu is now the world's fastest battery-powered ScanSnap. Whether scanning receipts, contracts, recipes, or plastic cards, this iX100 takes scanning beyond the desktop and into my mobile world. It is completely wireless and weighs only 14.1 ounces. This unit brings portability and wireless scanning to my Mac and iOS devices (as well as PCs and Android devices, for those in the “other world”).
This amazingly small scanner (only 1.2” x 1.8” x 10.8”) has one-button searchable PDF creation with the ability to scan a color document in 5.2 seconds. It is battery powered, has a built-in GI microprocessor, does Direct Connect mode for Wi-Fi scanning anywhere, and can scan two small documents at the same time.
The ScanSnap iX100 starts with the touch of a single button and ends with a host of productivity features that keep me ahead of the stack. When I scan to my computer, I can produce searchable PDF, Word (editable), Excel (editable), and Business Cards, plus PDF and JPEG, if in wireless mode. On the computer, I have the option of scanning to ScanSnap Organizer, CardMinder, ScanSnap Receipt, Folder, Email, Print, Mobile, Cloud, Word (.doc), Excel (.xls), PowerPoint (.ppt), or Picture Folder.
It is so cool . . . when I open the front paper gate, it automatically detects my Wi-Fi network at home, or wherever I happen to be. Or, with Direct Connect mode, I can scan wirelessly beyond my network when my iPhone or iPad communicates directly to the scanner (via peer-to-peer Wi-Fi), starts a scan, then saves it on the iDevice. Although the scans are single-sided, I can immediately turn the paper over, feed it again, and it is saved as the second page of a set (more pages can be added too).
The battery life is very robust too with the ability to scan up to 260 documents on a full charge, then easily recharge using a USB charger. At a scan rate of 5.2 seconds per page, I can go through a lot of paper at 300 dpi in color. Not only that, I scan two small-sized documents, such as business cards or receipts, at the same time which intelligently produces two separate pages. Even charts and diagrams larger than A4 can be scanned by folding the paper in half, and scanning both sides, then the iX100 will automatically stitch them back together into one image.
A dual-core CPU mounted "GI" processor performs the intelligent image enhancement responsible for great-looking images with dramatically faster results and more sophisticated connectivity. It handles image processing with automatic corrections and image output and supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) wireless LAN (IEEE802.11b/g/n). For those who need it, it even works on both Mac and PC operating systems, making flexibility a breeze.
There is great software for the computer to process the products of scans. ScanSnap iX100 can quickly scan business cards, extract the content information and place it into editable fields that can be exported to Address Book, Excel, Salesforce, and other contact managers. ScanSnap Organizer allows me to view, manage and edit PDF and JPEG files, as well as convert scanned PDF files into searchable content, embed custom keywords, attach to email or SharePoint and remain productive with paperwork long after it is scanned. The ScanSnap Receipt software allows me to easily scan and extract information from my receipts (which I can scan one after another), and even export the data for tax filing. The versatility is great.
To learn more about it, or get your own ScanSnap iX100 ($229.00), just visit fujitsu.com/scansnapiX100. Fujitsu also produces other ScanSnap scanners including the iX500 Color Duplex Scanner (mine is used almost every day), ScanSnap S1300i Color Personal Scanner, and ScanSnap SV600 Contactless Scanner (a version I hope to acquire in the future). These units are reliable, high-quality, convenient, powerful, and economical . . . I highly recommend both the iX500 and iX100, which I’ve used extensively and successfully.
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