ScanSnap S510M Instant PDF Sheet-Fed Scanner

If you have Snow Leopard, or planning to upgrade dont buy this scanner. It was great until I upgraded to Snow Leopard now its just a paper weight. I cant use it until they come out with an update to fix it. Fujitsu says it could be until the end of December before I could use it again. Hopefully its fix before tax time because that was the reason I bought this thing.

This machine is a pretty good solution for Mac users whose desks (and sometimes floor) have gotten lost under towering stacks of paper. Scanning really is more snappy with the automatic paper/document feeder, one-button scanning and Fujitsus ScanSnap software that allows you to adjust controls for: - quality (normal=fast, better=faster, best=slow, excellent=slower) p.s. best is not actually the best. - color mode (auto-detect, color, black and white) - which sides you scan (duplex, single-sided -- if you choose duplex, it automatically deletes blank pages) Although scanning with this machine is normally a smooth process, paper jams do happen. The likelihood of a paper jam obviously depends on the documents paper quality. Clean and uncreased documents go through most smoothly. With these documents, you can practically walk away worry-free and come back when the scanning is done. For documents that have been stacked tightly together for some time, I do have to watch out for two sheets feeding through at the same time. For documents that tend to stick to each other, I have to smooth out dog ears and creases as best I can, cut off corners that have been stapled (not just use a staple remover), feed singly and/or watch over the scanner to clear any jams that reoccur. Clearing paper jams is extremely simple: use the grey latch (above the scan and power buttons) to swing open the front part of the machine, and pull out any paper. Other perks: The inclusion of Adobe Acrobat Professional helps justify the pricetag. The small size (and lack of bulk) makes it easy to carry or store. Downside: Besides the price, PC users cannot use this model of ScanSnap. Im not sure why Fujitsu has to have two separate models for Mac vs. PC users.

This product has solved my desktop paper organization issues. Ive been using it for about four months, and it has been superb. I recommend it highly. 1. Reliable: does not jam often, and when it does, jams are very easy to fix. 2. Good quality scans. 3. Simple and easy to learn software makes organizing scanned files a breeze. 4. Hardware is as simple and straightforward as it gets. 5. Easy to install. 6. Small desktop footprint. 7. Very fairly priced given the quality of the product and the fact that you get a full version of Adobe Acrobat with the product. 8. Scans quickly. 9. Not a portable product but lightweight and easy to move around. At first I had problems with the document feed for multiple page scans. However, I quickly learned that if you begin the scan of a multiple page document with the scan button (as opposed to the automatic system in the feeder) the issue with multiple page scans goes away. (This based on scans of up to 20 pages. I have not had need to try more.)

If you are thinking to go paperless (or reduce the clutter) in your office or home and keep digital archives this is the product you need. I have it for 2 weeks now, I use it with an Apple computer and it works flawlessly. The installation is easy, the software is intuitive, comes with Adobe Acrobat and the machine is as simple as you can imagine. The quality of the scans is great. The paper feeding system works well. Sometimes the papers may get trapped in the rolling system but it is easy to resolve opening the front panel. The footprint of this scanner is very small (it will surprise you) so it sits well on the side of my computer without using much desk space. Something to remember ... once you do digital, be sure to implement a backup system that is automatic so you never loose these important documents. Second, implement an organization system for the files [..] and think about the need to encrypt some of the files that contain personal information ... so if your computer is stolen, you dont loose all the personal and critical information with it.

We bought this scanner a few years ago after doing a lot of research. I think it paid for itself in terms of time saved, within the first month of use. It has continued to give us outstanding service all this time. I never had much success with the Cardiris but we have been so thrilled with its other functions that this is a minor regret. We are getting ready to buy a new one (newer model?) for home and bring the old one to our second house because, no matter where you are, there are always papers to be reckoned with, and this little machine makes short work of them!

When I got lost one day in my labyrinth of stacked journal articles, receipts, photographs, and other paper detritus, I knew I needed help. While Timothy Ferriss, author of

In the first month of use, the ScanSnap has allowed me to digitally archive a large stack of documents. The included optical character recognition software is very good; while not perfect, particularly on documents with some distortion or noise, it exceeds every other solution Ive tried. This device has paid for itself already, allowing me to do in two hours what would have previously taken many days. Two minor issues 1. On five (out of 500+) documents scanned, the device has jammed. In each case I suspect use of the included sheet carrier would have prevented the issue. The device does such a great job even on slightly wrinkled paper that I perhaps expected too much... until two important receipts jammed and were then crumpled as the device continued to feed. Lesson: when in doubt, slow down and use the carrier. 2. The Mac software is very good: fast, intuitive, and everything else youd want for something that will be used many times a day. But... keyboard shortcuts are not Mac standard, and some additional user interface should be built for commonly-used operations. Example: changing between scanning profiles (B+W vs. color, simplex vs. duplex) is accessed via Settings... Cmd-S. Mac standard would be Preferences... Cmd-,, or better yet providing a separate button or keyboard shortcut to toggle profiles. Overall, the above issues do not take away from the usefulness of the device. Its earned a spot on my desk, and the relatively high price is justified by the utility of the device and included software.

A friend insisted that I upgrade to a ScanSnap S510....I didnt read ad carefully enough to note that scanner offered for sale was for a mac and not a windows pc.... but all was not lost. My daughter was pleased to get such a wonderful gift and loves it. Me..I went to the Amazon Market Place and purchased a Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 to work on my Windows system and I am very pleased. Anyone interested in a used Visioneer XP450 in great condition? I find that recently I have become long on scanners

It does its job. Really fast. Scan well on color pages but not black and white pictures. There were several pictures from a fashion magazine I wanted to keep so I scanned it in and it turn out really bad. The scan looked like pencil sketchings and you cannot see any color gradation at all (basically black and white...no greys). I gave it 3 stars cos its good overall if you dont need to scan black and white pictures. Plus I think its a bit expensive for a pretty basic function.

I bought this so I could send faxes from home. I know, you can get fax machines for much less, but I didnt want to mess with shared lines or installing a separate line. The image quality on scanned sheets is great, it automatically saves the file as a pdf and it integrated perfectly with my MacBook Pro. The files work fine with my online fax service and the pdf format makes file handling simple for emails, file sharing, etc. Its a little challenging to get the paper to feed straight for the scan (especially a multi-page scan), but thats the only (minor) issue Ive had with this unit.