I'm purchasing our 12th ScanSnap scanner today, not because of any problems with prior units, but because it is the most sought after device in our law firm!

We purchased our first unit about a year ago and now everyone wants one on their desk because they are small, easy to operate and fast enough to avoid a trip to the high-output hogh-speed copier we have down the hall, and the files are easier to name and move after scanning.

They have held up well in a business environment where they get heavy daily use, it would be more than adequate in a home or small office situation.

I tried to use an HP multi-function printer for scanning and it just didn't meet my needs. I have lots of paper to handle, and spend a lot of time creating pdf's from paper documents for distribution. I had direct experience with the Fujitsu 5120c scanner and wondered if this lower cost unit could do what I needed at half the price.

It does. Fast scans, with duplex scanning on the fly, makes it perfect for my uses. It is set up to create pdf's directly, and comes with Acrobat Standard. Scans are great, and can be quick unless you need a higher resolution than usual.

Occasional misfeeds on the multipage documents are a small issue for me. Best thing to do is make sure staples are removed quickly and the papers are "fanned" to put some air between them.

We did have a faulty installation CD on the second scanner we ordered. Was able to download a copy of that installation program, though it was a bit difficult to find.

Installation and operation has been mostly trouble free.

Loading up a 10-15 page stack of paper, which is printed duplex and getting a quick pdf that can be emailed instantly is worth every penny.

Does more than PDF's. We did a large volume of family pictures as well. The variety of sizes were a problem, but we used the clear carrier to scan several at a time. Took a weekend to convert hard copy photos in a huge family album (boxes actually) and burn to CD for everyone in the family. Biggest problem was the sudden demand for those cd's from everyone who had any connection at all to the family.

The scan snap is truly amazing. I have scanned hundreds of pages of files in a very short time. This product scans both sides and automatically makes your files into PDF files. Scan time is so fast that
it's hard to believe. I would recommend this product whole heartedly.

I work with documents for a living and often need to scan hundreds of pages of documents from a variety of sources in a single session. The ScanSnap has improved my life immeasurably.

The fastest speed scan is blindingly fast, but you need perfect source material to use it -- if your document was stapled, on lightweight paper, or otherwise imperfect, the scanner will suck up pages so fast that you will have a jam or skipped pages due to more than one page feeding at a time. Fortunately, the second-fastest setting is still phenomenally fast and virtually eliminates all such paper-feed problems.

In addition to stacks of paper, I also use the ScanSnap for some non-standard uses with great success. For instance, I have cut books apart with an exacto and scanned the pages so that I can search the book. The scanner had very little problem accepting the cut pages, even when some edges were ragged. I also cut up some magazines (for the same reason) and the scanner handled the much lighter paper stock with no problem.

The software is fine, though not great. It does allow you pretty good recovery from mishaps -- i.e., you don't have to start over if you hit a paper jam or other complication.

I don't use the OCR so I can't comment on its strength or weakness -- I use and strongly recommend Acrobat for this purpose. Its OCR is the best I have tried and it's a must for anyone who has serious document management needs. Fortunately, the ScanSnap comes with Acrobat 8 Standard, and for most users, this is plenty of power.

Note that Acrobat 9 Standard cost $269 new, so this is a significant addition to the value of the scanner, which is pricier than many other models, but well worth it, in my opinion.

Been using this scanner for a few weeks now and basically, I'm pleased. Hardware works very well. I scanned-in a 300-page manual with varying thickness paper in just a few minutes without any feed problems or other errors. Works quickly and accurately. However, the software that comes with the machine is a bit lacking. It does not have a TWAIN driver, so you're stuck with the software supplied by Fujitsu. The main program, Scansnap Organizer, does an adequate job of organizing, viewing and managing scanned documents. However, it has only very rudimentary editing and modification capabilities. So, one has to run a separate supplied program, Adobe Acrobat (Version 8; not the current version 9), to do much with the documents. In addition, the OCR software supplied only works with documents scanned-in using the ScanSnap scanner. So if you want to make other PDF files searchable, or convert them to text for editing, you need to have another OCR software program available.