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A. Cook
> 3 dayI just received my NeatReceipt scanner today. I paid over $160 for this thing, so I expected it to be awesome, you know? Ok, after 2 hours of fussing around with it, here is my initial review: 1. The scanner is kind of budget looking. I dont know why, but I got a cream colored USB data cable with mine - personally I think it looks unprofessional since it doesnt match the unit. 2. The calibration is annoying. They include the calibration sheets with the unit - you cant scan anything until you use the sheet. Thats fine with me, but based on that information, I have to keep the damn sheets because I format my PC about once a year and it wont work if I dont keep the sheets. Ugh! 3. The software: awful! The software was clearly outsourced. The company did a poor job focusing on what features are important and what features are not. Here are my general complaints about the software: - Its slow. It takes 30 seconds to boot and I am running a $1500 Dell PC. - Its not intuative. Once you scan an image in its hard to manipulate (e.g. zoom in) on the image... - Scanning multiple documents is super hard. I thought you could just scan in each page of a contract in and then merge them together (that seems like it would obvioulsy be a feature, right?) but you cant. You have to open the program, make a new document, and then go to the software and go to Scan->Scan Additional Image to add a second page to a document. Its so dumb that you cant merge... that makes no sense! - Speed of the scanner is not that impressive. I just scanned a 2 foot grocery receipt in and it took about 25 seconds. I thought it would be faster. - Scanning in long receipts = problems. The scanner cut out 3 times while it was scanning and did not complete my image. Overall: Product is not ready for market! Wish I didnt spend the $160 since I could have gotten a really nice high-res scanner for cheaper. Thinking about sending it back but I bet the return policy from the Amazon seller I got it from is awful.
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A. Mock
> 3 dayI bought the NeatReceipts Scanalizer for a small business because I was becoming overwhelmed with all the paper. I have been using it for about a month now and think it has been worth it. Set up was easy. Initial use is like a tutorial until you are ready. Receipts are categoried and is easy to customize and search. Scanalizer reads most of this information and enters it for you but not always acurate, but better than nothing. It recognizes some vendors and categories and mostly always gets the receipt price right. It even has tax forms you can print. Recommend you get extra memory and external backup just incase IRS needs receipts, you have them all. Each receipt is about 1 MB but when backed up compresses files to about a third. At the end of the year, I wont be stressing during tax season. Priceless.
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Charlotte
Greater than one weekI operate a small business. I purchased this unit to scan credit card sales merchant copies. Pluses: compact. Fits unobtrusively on my desk. USB powered so no bulky transformer. Resolution is high enough to print from. Minuses: I dont need the cloud storage service and it just adds another layer of unnecessary complexity to installing and using the device. My system (Windows 7 Pro) does not always detect the device. I have to unplug and insert plug several times before it appears. The scanner does not do any background removal so the images are gray. The unit has a hard time feeding the thermal paper used on credit card terminals. There is no automatic cropping of the image so if you want to save disk space you have to go in and crop each scan separately.
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S. Nielsen
> 3 dayNeatReceipts Scanalizer is seen at airports and retail shops throughout the country. However, the product is slow, requires extensive input and does not produce the results it advertises. I would recommend a regular scanner and a reasonable filing system. The product is very portable, but for the price, it doesnt accomplish its goal.
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N. Veloz
> 3 dayAs other reviews have said it is slow to load, and as with all OCR programs it is slow to process, but the quality of the final product is worth the wait. Nice little scanner, even if you don use the software, but wish it was a little easier to export selective information and that there were keyboard shortcuts for most of the actions. Really does a nice job of scanning receipts after some experince and quality improves if they are scanned sideways whenever possible. I am sure Ill get more adept and as nice as the tech support people are, I am sure they will continue to improve on the product. (Only 4 stars because nothing is perfect, and there is always a little room for improvement)
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Ms. Providenci Farrell PhD
> 3 dayOh my god, I should stop reading the amazon or magazine reviews or should not buy products with 5 ***** reviews !!.. When I installed the Software this scanner came with, I spent whole night recovering the my PC as it crashed my outlook and I ended up with lot, lot of lost emails and headache. It did NOT scan the Business cards 100%. I would say, it can scan only 75% of card info. most of the time and one big disappointment, that It does not scan lender bills or any bills , so its use is limited. For the price of $175, I was expecting more mature product but... I think this product needs more quality control testing and more wider approach in their business area. I strongly think this tiny scanner at $175 is too expensive and a waste of money and if you dont like it on day one, you will never use it. I am Returning it as I wont use it anymore for sure .
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rossuk
> 3 dayWhen I first got it I loaded the software, and then tried the scanner. It did not work and I had got the receipt face down. I reloaded the software and downloaded the latest update and the scanner worked. I found that it does not support foreign currencies and usually got the date and the amount wrong (the former was partly because my computer comes from Switzerland. And I was in the USA at the time so my receipts were all American. What I did like was that I can scan all my receipts and export them as a pdf file which I can use to back up my expenses. It also does not import pdf files so that if I save my internet receipt in pdf format, I cannot import it and I have to print it out and rescan it, which seems to defeat the purpose of the paperless office. However, it also offers a business card scanner and it works as a general purpose scanner which is useful when I have to send an electronic scan back to the office. For those based solely in the USA this should do the trick but for those travelling overseas you will still have to do the currency conversion at the next level.
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Rocket57
> 3 dayIf you hate clutter, and want to take the time to digitize your receipts, this is a dream come true. I just got the NeatReceipts and like what Ive seen so far. The speed is pretty good if you are multi-tasking, which is usually part of my bill paying process. If youre looking for quick throughput, its not the system youre looking for. One word of caution, make sure you save as you go! My system crashed (due to a printer problem, not NeatReceipts) and I lost several of my scans. I also havent had a chance to work on the business card scan, so Ill update my review after I have had a chance to try it. I still havent worked through how Im going to incorporate this process into Quicken, but the category system included with NeatReceipts software appears to allow this to work pretty efficiently. I would give this five stars if 2 things were added, drag and drop of receipts into other programs and more analysis of individual items on receipts. But for now, it makes some sense out of the envelopes of receipts that I have stuffed in my drawer. So, in conclusion, if you had issues while you were potty training, this is a must have system for you. It will help you keep everything AS IT SHOULD BE (right Dr. Freud)!
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Michael A. Keating
Greater than one weekBought this item the other day. Received it last night. Tried it on a few things and seemed to work ok. Today I used it on several Home Depot and Lowes receipts. I am a contractor and bring home dozens of these receipts each week. Tooooo bad it will not read half of them. They are completely flat and I notice the scanner pulls them in and they slowly begin to rotate a bit. It comes back with errors galore. Waste of time, money, and my patience on this Professional Scanner. I will be sending this item back. Rather keep my $170 and deal with it come tax time.
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DeniseA
> 3 dayOK, I read all the reviews on this product and still purchased one. Here is my scoop: This product fills a great little niche for those of us with home businesses that need some help keeping track of our expenses and contacts. But dont expect the world from this product. First, it hasnt been out that long, so yes, there is definate room for improvement. The scans sometimes dont work, and yes, the software does hangup sometimes. But considering what this product does for me, I can live with that. Also, the real beauty of this is the software it comes with that has some great reporting functions. You will be able to hand your tax preparer all your expenses in a tidy report. The reports alone will save me a ton of time. And I love the business card scanning. Im one of those who just came back from a week long conference with a ton of cards I normally would have just pitched after awhile, even though it will definately be an asset to my business to be able to contact these people. I was able to scan them in and export them easily into Outlook in a short amount of time. SWEET! Now, to address some other peoples concerns I saw in other reviews: First, I have no idea what they meant about having to reboot the system 3 times. Mine didnt need to reboot at all, although it did inform me that a reboot may be needed in a couple of spots. And the software was a breeze to install. I have also seen no affect on the performance of my machine, and I run a TON of software and hardware. This may be because I have an up to date system with plenty of memory. Second, the software does hangup sometimes and lose all your data since your last save if you scan too many times in a row. Just save your data by doing a backup every few scans - it only takes a few seconds. Also, you will be prompted during the setup to be part of a test group that can provide feedback on the product - join it. This is a relatively new product that is a real timesaver - help the company fix the bugs in the product instead of just complaining about them. Third, make sure you perform all the upgrades it prompts you for, before you actually start scanning anything. This alone will save you a ton of headaches. And dont forget to do the calibration. While were on the subject, the program will start a little tutorial program after you install it - take a few minutes to go through it and you will save yourself a lot of headaches. Fourth, the accuracy of the scans is completely related to how good your original is. I scanned business cards with dark type on either a dark or light background and got 100% accuracy. The accuracy rate dropped to about 90% if the card or receipt had light print or any damage to it. Did I have to do some typing - yes, but not a lot. And hey, each field it fills in is one I dont have to type myself. Fifth, yes - you do have to give the receipt or card a little push most times to get it to start the scan. HELLO - this is a sheetfed scanner! If you can show me another sheetfed scanner where this doesnt happen, Id be very surprised. The software easily uses any scanner on your system (I have 3) so just use another scanner if a particular reciept or business card gives you trouble. I would not recommend buying this as the sole scanner for your system - sheetfed scanners do have limited abilities. In short folks, this is a great little product, but it isnt perfect yet. I am computer savvy and able to deal with the little hiccups it throws my way without any trouble. If you are one of those people challenged using scanners or computers in general, then this product is not for you. But if you have no trouble in these areas, then this baby can save you a ton of time and you can then throw away those shoeboxes of receipts and business cards you have.