NeatReceipts Scanalizer Professional 2.5 Mobile Scanner and Software

The NeatReceipts product is useful, labor saving and fun to use. I bought it to clear a large backlog of unfiled trip expenses - it was neat to join forces with my 6 year old kid who found it amusing to scan receipts into the scanalizer, while I quickly validated, corrected and/or refiled missing numbers. The job felt like it took shorter than it would have, otherwise. But be warned of software glitches: 1. Always check the Vendor, date and amount. Dont trust the software implicitly; it has a hit-or-miss rate of about 50%. 2. There was some kind of software memory leak bug that just wiped out 150 receipts that Id entered!! A good 4+ hours of work just disappeared. That Im still using the product (exiting and restarting after every 10 receipts) is a testament to the value of the product. So use it -- but dont trust it.

I am a very heavy and long term user of scanners of all kinds as part of my quest to have a completely digital (paperless) life. Before buying this portable, I had used Visioneer scanners for many years and many models (each of which got more limited and less reliable over time). Thus, I switched to Neat Receipts about two years ago. This scanner and similar models are exactly what the name implies. For small receipts that need to be organized. It is NOT a high volume machine but is one that fits perfectly on the desktop between the keyboard and the moniter where it is easily and immediately available. I do not use the Neat Receipts software as I find PaperPort is a stonger program for sorting, creating files, and reading/converting formats from PDF, TIFF, JPEG and its own proprietary format. However, the Neat Receipt scanner captures a great image directly into the PaperPort problem, so my unhappiness with the Visioneer scanners was solved. The weakness with the current portable scanners (all of them!) is that they no longer have their own power supplies. Rather, they rely on the USB power and TWAIN interface to operate. This leaves the user with much fewer choices about how they want to scan. For example, Neat Receipts cannot scan an 8-1/2 x l4 inch page (as far as I can see). Other than that, it is super easy to use. I have recommended it to my clients. And, I am on my seond scanner -- whenever a (*&(*^%@@ dust particle gets caught in the mechanism it leaves a line down the entire scan; and, it is next to impossible to get that particle out. I have tried the cleaing paper that comes with the scanner, sticky paper, q-tips and in the end, I just pony up for a new scanner and give the old one to someone just starting out...... I like my images to be PERFECT! Anyway, a solid product. And I will continue to use it for the forseeable future in connection with my other (flatbed) scanners.

NeatReceipts 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.

Great device for cutting down on paper clutter. Main uses for me are receipts (I create a PDF of all receipts from a single trip and zip it with the expense report), for business cards which I sync with Outlook and for general notes -- I never have to worry about having the right paper folder along on a trip. Outlook sync for business cards is great but could map more fields or allow user to adjust the maping. For example, would like to map attachments and back of card (particularly Chinese cards) into Outlook.

I was very excited about this scanner. I purchased from Amazon because it was cheaper. The disk that came with the scanner did not work with my Mac, even though I purchased the Mac version. I tried to download software directly from Neat.com, but the product key on the disk I purchased from Amazon did not work with the Neat website. Neat wont provide service since I did not buy it from them. I dont have the box as I am traveling and had to discard, so now I cant return it. Waste of time and money.

I 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.

Covienent size. Scans ok. Software ok. Had problem scanning an orange receipt. Poor support. Answer was will not scan orange and could not manually enter data.

I would have liked it a lot except that the product I recieved does not scan properly. Half of the scanner does not scan color images and when using black and white documents half the document is darker than the other half. This is right down the middle of the page from top to bottom. I will not be ordering anything from that seller again.

When I received the product I wasnt able to get the software that drives the scanner to work. After calling support I learned that the software was several releases out of date and was given a link to upgrade the software. After several attempts, the scanner did not work using the updated software. Calling the support folks who were good to deal with, but informed me that the scanner would have to be replaced and they would be sending me the information to return the defective product. Its been weeks to actually get this scanner operative which has been a big waste of time. To add to the problem I was told that the product can not work if Carbonite is running and presently there is no fix. Perhaps a small thing, but you have to remember to freeze Carbonite in order to use the scanner and remember to unfreeze it when youre done. It just makes the scanner less user friendly than it should be. Its been working for a day or so and well see, but Im convinced this is my last purchase of Neat products which have turned out to be not so neat.

It is compact, I can take it with me <fits in my laptop case> Very simple to use. The installation was quick. I also save recipes, now I can scan it and the picture, without having to type so much. It will scan and store 2 sides in color or black & white. For a small business that has alot of receipts to keep or someone who wants to store business cards <not have to keep in a folder & try to remember where it is>. I always have my laptop so my info is immediately stored. Great product. BB