Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 Scanner for PC and Mac (PA03656-B005)

The ix500 Fujitsu ScanSnap is an absolutely first rate product! I don't know if I have ever bought a piece of computer hardware that operates as well as this scanner. And the software works unfailingly, to boot. This product is SO intutive and easy to use. I am not surprised other people have raved about it. I had initially planned to purchase one of the Neato scanners, but after reading reviews of both products, I chose the ScanSnap. Man, am I glad I did. I am now archiving virtually every piece of paper I come across that I may need to refer to one day. I scan it with the ScanSnap, and then transfer it to Evernote in PDF format. The combination of this scanner and Evernote is mindbogglingly simple and powerful. One thing to note. I purchased this scanner about one week before the "ScanSnap for Evernote" product was released. At first I thought about swapping the scanners. Ultimately, I kept the ix500, and I am glad I did. The Evernote ScanSnap purportedly is easier to use with Evernote because its software bundle imports the scans directly into Evernote. However, this only saves one step in the whole process. With the ix500, you must select Evernote as the target location after scanning is complete. I don't mind this step a bit. In fact, it is much preferable to the Evernote ScanSnap, as the ix500 software bundle allows you to send your scans not just to Evernote, but also to any number of other target locations. It also allows you to manipulate the scan, and create PDF's and JPEG's. The ix500 software bundle also comes with a full blown copy of Adobe Acrobat, which is easily worth $100 if you bought it separately. You also get Cardminder, which allows you to scan and index business cards. Trust me, the ScanSnap ix500 is one of the best things you will ever buy. And the ix500 software bundle is far preferable to the dedicated Evernote bundle. I should also mention that you can buy the ix500 from Amazon, Costco and other retailers which offer a 30-day return policy. Evernote offers no return policy. So, you can buy the ix500 with the confidence that if you don't like the product for any reason (and I can't see that happening), you can return it for a full refund. One other thing I almost forgot. This scanner is blazingly FAST! It will do a two-sided scan of a leter-sized page in mere SECONDS. I used to have to wait more than half a minute for a page to scan on my All-in-One scanners. And that was just for one-sided scanning. I don't leave many reviews, but for this product, I couldn't forgive myself for not doing so. The ix500 is truly a magnificent product. Enjoy.

I was looking to buy the larger Neat-scanner, as I own the small one, but I did have some issues with that, like paper-jams, which would tear up the (thin) paper as well as small papers, and sorting out where to file the scanned papers. Then I read some very negative reviews about this larger one, and the last review I read mentioned the iX500 Scanner. So, I went looking for reviews on the iX500, which were almost all very positive. I bought mine, it arrived really quick. Setting it up is very easy, and it works fabulously! You can use your own filing system that you build in the Snap Scan Folder, which is easily located in 'My Documents' on your computer, and you can also scan to pre-existing folders on your computer, it's all really easy. It comes with a large cover for small or fragile papers, that takes care of the tearing problem and works really good. The scanner has a single or duplex scan mode, in the later both sides are copied at the same time. Now there is the only slight problem I have, which may very well be that I did not read the - on line - instructions to the fullest, because it resets itself to 'duplex' all the time (except when you count on it...), so to avoid excess memory usage, you have to manually set it to single on a regular basis. When the back of the paper you're scanning is spotless, it will remove the blank side itself, which works well, until there is some see-through from the front or some spots on the back. With business cards it has the possibility to manually remove the back - blank - page, with regular papers to scan it doesn't. If you scan several pages on the same subject, it will put them together in one file, which is really neat. I have gone, in the short period I own it, already through stacks of papers, that I could then destroy. I love what that does to my room! As for business cards - it reads some very well, others really bad, but the image is still visible and one can manually correct the most important parts. Fancy cards with Italic lettering are the worst. But for me personally that is less important, the 50 or so I wanted to scan did not take up too much of my time. And you can, in the 'cardminder' folder that comes with the iX500, look them up on name, profession etc. After I put in my cards and destroyed most of them, my computer, however, gave up the ghost, so I felt lucky I had not destroyed the computer guy's card... (though his name is in my cell phone, for safety's sake). This of course was an extra warning sign: make sure you have a good back-up system. I use Carbonite, which picks up everything I put newly into my computer within minutes and I'm safe. My computer wasn't really dead this time, only the monitor, bad enough!, but we had an issue with my husband's laptop that was slowly dying while I had just convinced him to also use Carbonite. It died, and through Carbonite all his important papers could be retrieved and restored on his new laptop! Back to the iX500: I just found somewhere (in Help I think) that the 'roll' has to be renewed after 1000 pages, but it stated my count stood at only 100 just now (I feel I've used far more already). I haven't looked up what the cost of renewal would be or how complicated it might be to exchange it, but it seems it is some way off still. It seems the cover sheet hat to be renewed too, as logically that my get some wear & tear as it is floppy and it is a hassle to put it back into its protective plastic bag. One of the reviewers I 'consulted', though, mentioned that he didn't bother so far, and everything still worked fine. So, we'll see how that works out. For now, I'm just very happy with this iX500 Scanner, even though the price is higher than the Neat Scanner, but Amazon had a cheaper price, so that worked out too.

Uno de los mejores aparatos que he comprado!!!! Me ha dado un resultado increíble ya que escanea por las dos caras al mismo tiempo y lo hace rápido!!! Es un excelente equipo!!!!

El scaner ScanSnap iX500 superó mis expectativas. Realmente es el mejor escaner para uso personal que he visto, incluso supera a varios que son para el ambiente empresarial. Escaner de alta gama, sin duda.