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We survey eight scanners and pick the right one for capturing an image, document, or this article
TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT your desk. Most likely, you're adrift in a sea of documents, memos, faxes, clipped newspaper articles, and other scraps that are keeping you away from your real work. But there's no need to feel as if you're drowning in paper. With a flatbed scanner, you can clear up all the paperwork cluttering your home office. Whether you suffer from excessive invoices or fearinducing faxes, this tool can scan, sort, and store documents in your PC with little effort.
Thanks to increasingly accurate optical character recognition (OCR) software, scanners convert printed documents into electronic, customizable versions that you can edit at will. And if you don't own a fax machine, with a quick scan and your computer's fax modem you can take care of this essential business duty as well. In addition to storing documents, scanners can import colorful images into your business correspondence, turning drab documentsfrom brochures and advertisements to presentations, Web pages, and e-mail messages-into marketing masterpieces.
What's holding you back from buying a scanner? Just a few years ago, your excuse was probably the $600-plus price tag. But in the last few months, prices for flatbed scanners have tumbled below $300, and both the performance of and the software bundled with these units have vastly improved.
How good are the newest scanners? Did the manufacturers skimp on quality in order to reach their alluring prices? To find out, we asked vendors to supply midlevel flatbed scanners with optical resolutions of 600dpi and price tags under $300. After inviting all the major manufacturers to participate, we reviewed the Agfa SnapScan EZ, Microtek ScanMaker X6, Mustek Plug-n-Scan 1200 III EP, Plustek OpticPro 9636T, Storm Technology TotalScan, Umax Astra 1220P, and Visioneer PaperPort OneTouch. Hewlett-Packard sent us its ScanJet 5100Cse, whose resolution is only 300dpi, but we decided to test it for comparison's sake. Another popular manufacturer of scanners, Epson, was unfortunately unable to provide us with a unit for this Buyer's Guide.
SCANNING THE COMPETITION
To subject these scanners to the most strenuous tests available, we employed the resources of CurtCo Freedom Group's CFG Technical Labs. For this review, we incorporated...