VuPoint Solutions Magic Wand Portable Scanner

Like so many families, we have many old photo albums stored in our closets. They languish there, never seen, fading over the years but treasures nevertheless. Its long been a dream of mine to scan our photos to my computer, possibly even make up CDs for our children, etc. The time finally came when I had to give the idea a try. I tried scanning photos on my All-in-One printer but it was tedious work with marginal results. Enter the Magic Wand. In two days, 300 photos have been scanned and transferred to CDs. Its not a dream, its a reality. Being technically challenged, I ran into difficulties: I couldnt open the battery compartment (using your fingernail, press down in-between the On/Off button and the silver part of the wand and the door will pop open). Then, I couldnt figure out how to install the microSD card (slide into the Wand with the metal side up). My first scans had light spots--my fault again because when I ran the white balance calibration, I scanned the white sheet in the portrait mode not the horizontal mode. After making the above adjustments, I was off to the races. I found working the wand fun and easy but some advance preparation will enhance your results. Make sure the surface you will use is smooth. Line up your photos if possible because it makes for a better presentation in the end. The Wand itself has two markings, one on the left and one on the right--stay within the guides. Love love love the plastic sheets in most albums because it helps the Wand glide smoothly.

I have been looking for a way to scan my pilots logbook for some time now and finally came across this. I gave it a shot and it works perfectly for this application. I have found the B&W Low Resolution mode to be perfect for scanning text. It almost never has an error when using this mode. However, in high resolution or color, and even more so when both are selected, the scanner has trouble keeping up. Unfortunately there is no way to tell if youre going too fast unless the red light comes on, in which case its already too late. It would be great to have a yellow led as a warning. I found for scanning across the spine, a $10 piece of lexan from Home Depot works wonders. I just put whatever I need to scan under it and have at it. Great scans every time and I dont have to worry about it being unreadable in the middle. Perfect for oversize scans.

If all you want is to scan an article or recipe, where the quality of the scan isnt so important, this would be a useful product. I purchased it to scan images from antique books that would be damaged if placed on a flatbed scanner. I found the product extremely disappointing, for the following reasons. 1) The scanning portion of the wand is recessed at least 1/2 inch at the end of the wand, which means that if youre trying to fit it against the inner margin (gutter) of a book, youll end up losing much of your image. Basically your margin has to be about an inch wide for it to work. You can try rotating the wand, but if you scan over a surface that is not COMPLETELY flat (e.g., an open book), youll get distortions. 2) Distortions. Again, if the surface isnt completely flat, if you dont scan completely straight, if you jiggle the scanner at all, youll get distortions. If there are curves to the surface of your page (again, common in an open book), theyll show and distort the image. Youll find that a square picture will come out skewed. So if an EXACT reproduction of a page or image is what youre after, this isnt going to do the job. 3) Going off the edge of a page... This scanner works pretty well if you can scan a flat document on a solid flat surface (e.g., a single piece of paper on a tabletop). But if youre scanning a large book, you have the problem of the scanner dropping off the edge once you reach the bottom or side of the book. You may not have reached the end of the portion you wish scanned when the scanner itself runs out of room. 4) No ability to remove screening. If youre scanning photos or color illustrations from a book or magazine, there is no mechanism to get rid of the moire patterns that result from scanning a screened image. Most flatbed scanners have a descreening option that enables you to get rid of this. Since its just about impossible to get rid of a screen moire AFTER the fact, this greatly reduces the scanners usefulness. 5) No ability to view the image as it is being scanned. If you want to see how it came out, you have to stop work, plug it in, go look at the picture, then click on the remove device icon to remove it, go back, scan again, and so on... It would be helpful if you could plug this directly into your computer and see the scans as you make them. I havent quite decided if Im going to keep this product or just give up and try to resell it (the return-by date being long gone), but again... it depends on what you want it for. If youre a student and you just need to be able to scan in material to study, but it doesnt have to be a perfect reproduction (just readable), I think this would be very helpful. But if you need a high-quality image, its going to be very, very frustrating.

I just got this on my doorstep today and I couldnt wait to try it out. My math teacher only uses the new version of our math book (I got an older edition to save money). The concepts are still the same, but with some changes to the exercises. So in order to do the correct homework problems (he only assigns a few problems per chapter) without having to buy the new edition book, I wanted to be able to scan pages from a peers book. From the test scans that I did with my book (which I will post), I think this will be perfect for me. I dont need super clean scans -- I just need to be able to read the content. I just need to figure out how to scan the entire page without the edge getting cut off. With a little more playing, I should be able to get it no problem. There are also guidelines on either side of the device, which are very helpful to keep the scan straight and ensure that you are actually scanning the content you want. As it says in the description, the files are saved as JPEG. Super easy to connect the scanner to my laptop via the usb cable provided. No software needed -- its recognized as a storage device. So I just drag the files to my desired folder on my laptop, then delete them off the memory of the scanner (or really, the microSD card). It also comes with a carrying bag that has a little bit of extra room in case you want to keep extra batteries along with it (barely enough room for the usb cable if you squish), and a wipe cloth to protect the scanner part of the device. I can see how this scanner can be very useful in the future and not just for my original purpose. I seriously love being able to scan just about anything. I watched the YouTube video about this scanner, and I can definitely see myself scanning curtains, carpet, wallpaper, tables, etc to be able to have accurate colors and textures for decorating and other craft projects (as long as its flat enough to scan). Usually, its been guessing from memory since pictures from our digital camera arent very accurate in color because of lighting in the room or the flash of the camera. For fun, I also scanned other things around me, including a place mat, my curtains, and my leg (well, really my pajama pants) -- Ill post these pictures as well. Overall, I am happy with this. Ill have to see how this plays out in the long run, but I would recommend it for anyone that especially needs a portable way to scan book pages or random things like fabric patterns and the like. *Edit: This might be a duh for most people, but I finally realized that I wasnt getting the edges of the pages I scanned because the rollers on the bottom werent being engaged, which is necessary for the scanner to start scanning. There doesnt seem to be a way for me to completely scan a page out of a textbook without missing pieces, so now I know I will have to scan a page twice (flipping the orientation of the scanner) in order to get the entire page. Ill post another picture of getting the edge of the page.

You could rate this device anywhere from 1 star to 5 star. If you expect perfect machine quality scans every time, forget it. If you want an EXTREMELY compact, EXTREMELY simple item that will produce readable scans with a bit of practice, for personal use, then it goes up to 5 stars. At best, you may get a few scans with almost no ripples. Maybe. More likely, you will get scans that have a certain amount of jitter or waviness, but are readable for yourself. (Id be dubious that you could expect a lot of great optical character conversions). Its extremely easy to take to a library or in a briefcase - light, a few ounces, and 1x1x12. If you want a more-or-less decent record of documents or pages without carrying a real photocopier or scanner, then this is the thing. In our family, my wife and I both have home offices but only one system with a flatbed scanner. Ill use this often to quick image a couple pages of one or another book that I need at the last minute before a business trip. If I was going to image 30 pages, or use images clipped into Powerpoint for a business presentation, Id (politely) kick my wife out of the other office to use a flatbed for fifteen minutes. This will be the budget, ten-second, one page back up scanner in the more remote home office. Net-net: Happy I bought it, worth the low price for certain key moments. Its a bit of a nuisance to buy a separate tiny memory card but theyre cheap enough nowadays.

This is definitely a product you need to practice with to get good quality scans. Its easiest if youre scanning something large and flat with sufficient white space on all sides of the intended scanning area. Small items require using either a clear sleeve or tape on the back to hold the small item still. For scanning pages in books (which is the main purpose I bought this) its tricky. The scanner doesnt go totally from end to end. Leaving the user to figure out which direction is likely to yield the best copy...So, for example with text that goes almost into the inner binding, youd probably have the best luck holding the book in front of you with the scanner held vertically - and then scanning from the inner binding side of the page to the right margin. Does that make sense? I picked up a tip from another review, which suggested that you use a piece of stiff white paper under book pages or for book covers (front or back). The reason is that there are small wheels that need to be engaged in order to keep the scanner on and then tell it when its done off. So, if youre scanning a book page from top to bottom and you get to the end of the page, you actually need to scan past the last section of text, for it to be included in the scanned image. If you dont extend the page by using a piece of white paper (like craft medium tagboard) the scan will stop as soon as both wheels stop turning and you wont get everything in the scan. I tried to explain this as clearly as possible, but, I suspect it would make 100% sense if you actually had the scanner in hand. That workaround isnt terrible. But, it was a disappointing discovery that you cant, for example, be reading a paperback and come to something you want to scan and just roll the scanner over the page. With a paperback, it wouldnt do anything unless you had a large enough piece of paper under the page - large enough to come in contact with the wheels on either side of the scanning window. There might be other scanners with simply turn scanning on and off with a button and dont require physical wheels to control ANYTHING. To clarify, there IS an on/off switch for the product, and you DO click it on to start, but, it stops scanning once the wheels arent turning. This will make sense if you can find an image of the bottom of the scanner - or, of course, if youre actually holding it! Good luck. I decided to keep it and figured Id have to use bookmarks for pages and then have a second step where Id set the book up on a flat surface with a piece of tagboard (which I bought) and then scan all the pages I wanted - just not as Im reading. Too bad! A positive: The color quality is outstanding the the detail is also outstanding. I happened to get a part of my tablecloth in a scan and I could see the threads and the color was incredibly true! I hope this helped!

It has been way too long since anyone made a really usable hand scanner. Ive been looking for one for years. So I was very excited when I saw a review of the Magic Wand on one of my news feeds. This product does the trick. You have to be fairly slow and steady to get a good scan, but hey... its a hand scanner! So no surprise there. The scan quality is quite acceptable for a device of this type. Not what you would get from a flatbed scanner, but hey... its a hand scanner! Print is readable, photo quality isnt fantastic but might improve as my scanning skills get better. The scanner is bundled with ABBYY Screenshot Reader, which extracts text from an image. ABBYY is one of the major producers of optical character recognition (OCR)software. I have a document scanner that came with and ABBYY OCR program. But I have never seen a screenshot reader before. This product allows you to select an area on your computer screen, and it will extract text from that area and put it in your clipboard. So when you scan an image with the Magic Wand, you can connect the scanner to your computer with a USB cable (included); open the image in a picture viewer; and use Screenshot Reader to capture the text. You will probably have to do a bit of touch-up after you paste the text into another application. I have yet to see an OCR program that does perfect text conversion. One trick that helps a lot is to zoom in on the text to make it larger. OCR programs work better with larger text. I am very pleased with the Magic Wand. I keep it next to my laptop in the living room (yeah, Im a multi-computer geek, and I do side surfing while Im watching TV) so I can quickly scan things out of magazines or books. And its small enough to toss in my computer bag when Im on the road. Along with my Planon Printsitk portable printer (

This is one of those items I wasnt sure why I purchased it but would probably find some uses for it. Not that I have money just to throw around but I love gadgets and this was to interesting to pass up. As it turns out I have found quite a few uses for it such as scanning entire pages of old photo albums at once so I can preserve the pictures on CDs & DVDs. This method is much easier than removing and scanning one photo at a time. As for the scanner itself its very well made and very easy to use. If you have some specific projects or uses in mind for this item than I think youre going to be very happy with it. Just remember to order a Micro SD Card along with it because it doesnt come with one as you might think it would. Im using a 4gig card which will store hundreds of images on it. And one more thing, make sure you push the small SD card in all the way or you might think the scanner does not work, um like someone I know thought at first.

THE SCANNER I GOT WAS USED ONCE OR TWICE. IT WAS ALL I COULD AFFORD. I HAD LIKE THE PRICE. I RATHER HAD ONE I COULD GOT BETTER BUT YOU HAVE TO GET WHAT YOU HAVE TO GET. THE SELLER SAID CAME WITH THE CABLES, SD CARD, AND A COVER BUT NO CLOTH, NO NEW BATTERIES. THE BATTERIES WERE DEAD. THERE WAS NO DVD , NO INSTRUCTIONS, NO WAY TO TELL HOW TO USE IT. IT ARRIVE ON TIME BY THIS SELLER AND IT WAS IN GOOD SHAPE. ONLY THE BATTERY NEEDED TO BE REPLACE. THAT WAS NOT SUCH A BIG DEAL. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND SO MUCH BUYING THIS BUT IT WORKS AND IT DOES NOT WORK BECAUSE IF YOU HAVE OLD PICTURES FROM YOUR MOMS HOUSE YOU WANT TO SCAN YOU NEED TO FIND A GOOD FLAT SURFACE AND FIND A LITTLE PIECE OF TAPE THAT IS NOT SO STICKY THAT WILL DESTROY THE PICTURE. IT WILL WORK THAT WAY SOME. YOU ALSO NEED TO TRY NOT TO SHAKE YOUR HAND TOO MUCH. I ALMOST THROWED THIS MACHINE OUT THE WINDOW TRYING SO MANY TIMES. BEST THINGS SCAN SAME PICTURE A FEW TIMES AND GET THE BEST ONE OUT OF IT. THE CABLES CAME WITH IT DID NOT WORK, I HAD TO USE THE PLUGABLE HIGH SPEED USB 2.0 CARD READER THAT I ALSO GOT FROM AMAZON. I KNEW ABOUT THIS BECAUSE MY FRIEND HAD A CARD READER LIKE THIS. IT HAS THREE SLOTS FOR DIFFERENT CARD SIZES. THIS WAS THE ONLY WAY I COULD SEE MY PICTURES CABLES DID THAT CAME WITH IT DID NOT . I DONT KNOW WHY MAYBE ITS MY COMPUTER. IF I COULD I WOULD OF BOUGHT ONE BETTER BUT IT WILL DO FOR A START BETTER THAN A DIGITAL CAMERA THAT I HAD THAT DID NOT WORK SO WELL ON PICTURES. THESE SCANNER PRICES ARE VERY HIGH. YOU CAN TRY TO USE THIS FOR SOMETHING IMPORTANT BUT A OFFICE SCANNER WOULD BE MORE SUGGEST ON BUYING. THIS PORTABLE SCANNER WELL THE VUPOINT IS GOOD IF YOU HAVE NO CHOICE. I HAD TO FIND MY INFO ON THE INTERNET THROUGH WEBSITES AND YOUTUBE SINCE SELLER GAVE ME NO INSTRUCTIONS. I DID MY HOMEWORK BEFORE BUYING BUT THIS WAS THE CHEAPEST I COULD AFFORD TILL I CAN GET A BETTER ONE IN FUTURE. WHEN YOU CANT BRING YOUR BIG SCANNER THAT IS ON YOUR DESK THIS IS BETTER A PORATBLES SCANNER IF YOU NEED GO MOMS HOUSE WHEN YOU KNOW YOU CANT TAKE HOME THOSE OLD PICTURES BECAUSE SHE HAS NO EXTRA COPIES. I SAY ITS LONG ENOUGH FOR A NOTEBOOK SIZE TO SCAN. I WOULD GIVE MORE STARS BUT SELLER LEFT ME IN THE DARK BUT I GUESS I READ NO INSTRUCTIONS WITH IT SINCE IT WAS NOT NEW. LIKE I SAY IT WILL WORK BUT IT CAN BE FUSTRATED JUST PUT A LITTLE TAPE NOT SO STICK, A GOOD, AND A FLAT SURFACE AND IT SHOULD WORK SOME . THIS SCANNER PRICE SHOULD BE MORE LOWER.

My intention in purchasing this magic wand scanner was to get a good reproduction of a pinball playfield so I could create a vector file and reprint the art. Unfortunately, this is not the tool for my job. The package contained the wand, a cloth sleeve to store it, and a USB cable to hook up to a PC. A Micro SD card is not included in the base model, so that will need to be purchased separately as there is no on-board storage. I eagerly brought this out to the shop where the pinball machines are kept. I wanted to get a proportional scan of the entire playfield art of a pinball machine to reproduce it. Unfortunately, it was impossible to take any scan and get the image to come out with no distortion. Any small imperfections in the movement of the scanner will throw off any consistency in the image. This could come from minor imperfections in the surface of the image being scanned (bumps etc) or issues with the guide wheels not properly moving in sync with each other. In the end, trying to stitch multiple scans together into a single image was impossible due to flaws in the scans. My use was very specialized and it didnt work out for the use I needed. That being said, the color reproduction and the resolution was actually quite excellent. Using this to scan photos or documents would be a no-brainer. I would highly recommend this for scanning items that fit within the 8.5 parameters and do not require absolute perfection. I still plan on keeping it for those purposes.