Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500

[Tim Aucoin]

All I can say is WOW... this thing is FAST!
After reading several reviews and watching several YouTube videos on the Fujitsu S1500 vs. the NeatDesk, my head (& heart) went with the Fujitsu product. I hooked this up last weekend, and since then I've scanned around 800 pages (of household bills, receipts, etc...) and already cleared out half of my filing cabinet folders! Since purchasing this unit, I've learned even more...

I purchased it at a local Staples store for $575. Yes, that's crazy expensive, I know! The next day I got a Costco flyer e-mail showing they were on sale at Costco.ca for $499. I went back into Staples and they honored the difference and gave me a refund. Very nice of them! Well TODAY I dig a little deeper. I go onto Costco.ca to find that there are not 1, not 2, but 3 different versions of this scanner.

1. There is the S1500M. This is the Mac version of the scanner which is the EXACT SAME scanner with a white case rather than the brushed silver case. The only difference is the included software. The Mac version comes with ScanSnap Manager, but NOT ScanSnap Organizer. The Mac version does come with Evernote, but I found out that in order to use Evernote to it's fullest extent, you must subscribe annually to have higher storage capacity. NOTE: The Mac version is also bundled with the Windows software... go figure.

2. There is the S1500. This is the "basic" Windows version which does in fact work on the Mac, as the disk includes the Mac version of ScanSnap Manager, but not Evernote! The Windows version software includes ScanSnap Manager, ScanSnap Organizer, ABBYY Fine Reader, Adobe Acrobat 8 Standard, PFU Card Minder and a trial version of Rack2-Filer.

3. There is the S1500 Deluxe model. This is the exact same product as the S1500, but this comes with the full version of the Rack2-Filer software. Now, I tried the Rack2-Filer trial version and in my opinion... IT SUCKS! It is a waste of time. It's just a real pretty, fancied up filing system that is no different than the ScanSnap Organizer other than the graphics are supposedly cooler. Not selling this guy at all. They want $389 to upgrade to the full version... NO THANKS!

I am a Mac person... you all know that. I do however have Windows 7 PC's both at home and at the office in order to run certain software that is just not compatible with Mac. I don't need to get into that... you all understand that already! I must say that I much prefer using the S1500 on the PC because of the ScanSnap Organizer software that doesn't come with the Mac version. This is not a fault of the Mac... I blame it on Fujitsu for not making a Mac version of this software! Sure, I could just hook it up to the Mac, create my PDF files and "manually" file them in an organized manner, but I really like the features in the Organizer software on Windows. So I decided I will be using this on my Windows 7 PC's!

So, pricing.
Costco here in Canada is selling these for these prices (they're on sale till February 5th.

S1500M = $419.99 (after $80 instant rebate)
S1500 = $419.99 (after $80 instant rebate)
S1500 Deluxe = $499.99 (after $80 instant rebate)

I've ordered a SECOND one at the $419.99 price. I decided that for this price, it's worth it to have one at home AND at the office rather than carrying it back and forth!
Bye the way... I tried to go to Staples and get the second one for $419.99 and all of a sudden they DON'T price match Costco!!!

As for the iPhone scanning App? Sure, they are only $6.99 or whatever the price is, but go ahead and try scanning 800 pages using your iPhone camera. Start tomorrow morning and let me know when you're done and how it worked out. Remember... they need to be high resolution PDF files that have been OCR'd and are keyword searchable too!!!

 

[Border]

Great info Tim! Just got my scansnap mobile version s1100 yesterday and hooked it up a little while ago. I am curious as to how you set up the organizer. Do you scan multiple docs from the same vendors at a time into one folder then set up another folder for other receipts, etc.?

I tried to scan a couple of receipts from my main supplier, N.Glantz. They are on a thin yellow paper and the scanner doesn't seem to pick up the info from them.

I am wondering if the desktop version would do any better?

 

[Tim Aucoin]

I'm using the ScanSnap Organizer software and keeping it as if I were using an actual filing cabinet. So for instance, I create a "Drawer" called "Vendor Invoices", and within that "Drawer" I create a folder for each vendor.

To start with, I will just grab all the invoices for that vendor for this year so far and scan them all to one PDF document. This will be my transition file that contains more than one document. Then moving forward, I will scan them in as I pay them. I will keep the paper copy until I write the check, then I will scan any invoices represented by that check into the same PDF file, and file it in that vendor's folder. The PDF file will automatically have the date it was scanned as the file name, so it will basically file the invoices in the order that I pay them.

I will also be running the OCR filter as I go, giving me the option to search by key word for when I need to look up anything. Hope I made a little sense? I'm sure I'll tweak the process as I go, but with the ScanSnap Organizer software, it's very easy to move things around!!

 

[Border]

Thanks!
I am bummed about the N. Glantz receipts not working with it though, because I have so many of them! Hoping to find a solution for that but so far I don't see any way to adjust the scan quality/contrast...?

 

[Gene@mpls]

They (N.G) scan very well if you right click your (S) and select scan button
settings and then the scan setup- try black and white or grayscale- I forget
which works. Gene

 

[Tim Aucoin]

Thanks!
I am bummed about the N. Glantz receipts not working with it though, because I have so many of them! Hoping to find a solution for that but so far I don't see any way to adjust the scan quality/contrast...?

What Gene said! I believe the quality/contrast controls reside in here also. I'll check at home this evening!

 

[Border]

Thanks, Gene! That worked, now I feel better about it already.

I clicked on the Application Button (upper left corner) then clicked on the "S" icon (Scan Button Settings).
I then clicked on the "details" drop down menu button to show more options.
Click on the "scanning" menu then switched it to B&W, Automatic Resolution, then clicked on the "Option" button in that menu and slid the adjuster over 2 notches toward the "Darker" side.

Works great now, thanks again!

 

[Tim Aucoin]

So glad to hear it's working for you! It is a pretty powerful little scanner... and the software interface is pretty slick, I must say!

 

[premiercolour]

Nice. Please update more. Going to setup mine in a few days S1500.

 

[Border]

Working good now that I'm getting the hang of if. Still haven't actually started saving anything for real, just doing lots of tests and getting familiar with it.

One thing that I don't see if the ability to save your custom scanning profiles so that you can call them up quickly and switch between them but I don't think that will be much of an issue as there will really be only a couple different settings needed (hopefully).

Amazed with the OCR recognition accuracy so far!

 

[premiercolour]

I think if you use AMEX Gold business credit card, supposed you get 2nd year warranty free cover by AMEX. It applies to most of the electronics i believe. fyi.

 

[signswi]

Discover has the same type of deal on most their cards. Never get store warranty, biggest ripoff in retail.

 

[Tim Aucoin]

Never get store warranty, biggest ripoff in retail.

AGREED!!! The store "Protection Plans" are not worth the paper they're printed on! I've actually had electronic stores try and sell me a Protection Plan on a $99 item for a cost of $49.95!! Now, I'm no math genius, but that looks pretty close to 50% to me. As far as I'm concerned, anything under $1000 becomes a "disposable" item after the initial manufacturers 1-year warranty runs out!

In the case of the S1500 Scanner, I did not purchase any protection plan on either one! I figure that by the time I've used them for a year, they will have paid for themselves several times over. Now... I'm going home... to the gym for an hour, then home to do some scanning!!

 

[jrsc]

This is on sale today an tomorrow for $390 with free shipping form newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16838115052. Use coupon code EMCYTZT1112.

 

[James Burke]

The thought of one of these or the Neat Desk has been appealing, but I'm having a hard time justifying the initial cost, and tying up the extra desk space.

My laser copier / scanner does a great job already, and since I'm using Adobe Acrobat I have a very wide latitude for creating, searching (OCR) and othewise manipulating .PDF files. Even if a page happens to scan considerabally crooked, the OCR still does its job...and snoops out a keyword search...amazing.

I've had an electronic .pdf "file" system like T3's for years. It's an awesome way to back up files and to dig up jobs/quotes from eons ago. All our receipts, PO's, quotes, work orders, invoices and payments (checks from customers) get scanned...no exceptions. When done correctly, you can have your hands on just about any document in just seconds.

When I keep up on my regular paperwork, I really don't have all that much to enter everyday and my auto feeder on the scanner takes care of the big jobs...even duplex scanning.

So, doing things the way I am, what am I really missing here?

And for others who might be considering making the jump, but already have a scanner, why not invest in a copy of Acrobat (which is more versatile for other applications) for about half the price?

 

[Gene@mpls]

So, doing things the way I am, what am I really missing here?

Why... the new electronics rush of course.

 

[James Burke]

Why... the new electronics rush of course.

Oh crap...I forgot all about the "new smell"...and those squeaky cubes of styrofoam that send chills down my spine whenever I rub them together.


JB

 

[rcook99]

And for others who might be considering making the jump, but already have a scanner, why not invest in a copy of Acrobat (which is more versatile for other applications) for about half the price?

I could not agree more with you James, I just bought CS 5.5 with Adobe Acrobat X Pro. I am just blown away with the option I have to produce different types of .pdf files. It is an absolutely great program to have.

 

[James Burke]

After watching the videos for NeatDesk and the ScanSnap, I appreciate their ability to automatically pull metadata from a document. But in each case, neither machine reviewed was 100% foolproof at extracting metadata, thus requiring manual corrections or new manual input (typing).

Looking for a similar feature with Adobe Acrobat, I got to tinkering and found that you can place additional metadata (key words, and descriptions about the document) in the properties page of each .pdf document. That metadata is searchable via Adobe Bridge search bar...even though those keywords do not appear in the file name of the document. Properties can also be customized, further extending its search (and organization) capabilities.

Don't get me wrong...I'm not knocking NeatDesk or ScanSnap...they're cool little gizmos, and are extremely quick...a lot faster than my setup. But if you already have Adobe Acrobat, Bridge and a scanner, you're closer to being organized than you thought.

JB

 

[GypsyGraphics]

Ordered mine from Newegg on Sunday, paid $402 including shipping. I didn't know it had arrived till very late Tuesday evening, but had to play with it immediately. It was a magical moment... wasn't it Tim.
tim???? helloooooo?
well, i'm sure that's what he'd say if he were here. i caught him and wendy before bed and made them hang out with me. i kept them on pins and needles with an exciting blow-by-blow... until they got sleepy (or something ).

Other than a few really silly mistakes, the thing was up and running in nothing flat.... one might even say... in a Snap!

yesterday i ran into a little trouble though. one paper jam after another... it was pretty frustrating. turns out, if you're scanning very long docs or receipts... hitting the scan button twice lets the scanner know the doc are longer than 12"

this morning my husband swiped it and is using the 15000M ("m" for mac) with his HP laptop!

i'm realizing there are going to be some great uses for this awesome little piece of technology... projects i dreaded with my regular scanner. starting with a binder full of finance articles my dad started writing in the 80's. i'm going to scan them all and give him, not only a searchable PDF, but an audio book on CD!

maybe i'll video the process... to razzle dazzle you with just how Scan-damn-tastic this little puppy is.