VuPoint Solutions Magic Wand Portable Scanner

I love this product! Its easy to use, so handy, seems well made. Of course, it is an electronic gadget, so I have been handling it with care and put it away in its case as soon as I am finished with it. I have used it to scan a few hundred pictures so far, and the picture quality is excellent (for my needs, its clear enough to see detail and read text) in both low and high resolution. Took me just a few scans to guage how quickly to move across a page. If the page is too large to do in one swipe, simply do it in two or three overlapping passes. You could stitch it together if you had to, but I have found it to be sufficient to have multiple images rather than spend time putting them together. I then hook it up to the pc (included usb cord), it is recognized as an external storage device, and the images are quickly transferred to my computer. I have used my Picassa photo software to crop the edges neatly, but you dont have to. Currently I am trying to figure out what Id like to do with my kitchen, so I have been scanning pictures of ideas from books, magazines etc, and saving them to a file on my computer. I can use this anywhere for that! Im using the files on my computer right now, but am getting an e-tablet soon, so will be able to have the files with me when i am out and about. I will also be using this to organize receipts, warranties, etc. And, since we homeschool, I can see this coming in handy to scan and organize co-op notes, schedules, all sorts of things. I love this so much I dont even mind I paid $20 more for it a few weeks ago, than it is now. My friend has gotten them for herself and siblings because of mine, and I think I am getting one for my sister for a gift, too. I highly recommend buying the extra storage case, I cant imagine throwing this wand into a backpack or purse without it. And you will want to get rechargeable batteries ( I recommend the hybrid kind, they hold a charge much longer), and keep spares with you if youre out of the house or at the library with it. I only cannot comment fully on the included software, it is supposed to allow you to convert text in the picture to useable text, I havent messed with it enough to be able to give an honest report. Ive got an 8gb micro card for it, the most pictures Ive had on it at one time was 139, of high resolution, and it wasnt full....I didnt think to check and see how much room was left. I do have a desktop scanner, and I found it to be quite a pain to sit at the desk and try to put a book in there the right way, it was so nice to sit at the table and scan that way! Ill still use it as a copy machine, or for quick flat scans, but my go-to scanner is my magic wand. Oh, another recommendation, if you have younger children you may not want to call it a magic wand, mine have been having Harry Potter fantasies about moms new gadget! I think this would be an excellent gift for students, craftspeople.......

I got a refurbished one of these to scan documents out of old statute books for legal research. I have five minor issues that keep this from getting 5 stars. First, I was very disappointed that the software the scanner comes with does not work for Macs. After an hour searching online, I was unable to find a mac-specific driver for the scanner. But I just plugged it into my computer anyway, without installing any software, and it worked. I have a MacBook Pro running OS X 10.6.6. iPhoto (7.1.5) thinks the scanner is a camera and pulls up the scanned images to import. The scanner also mounts like a USB Flash drive--just a removable disc. You can download and delete the stored JPG images manually. You could probably download and delete through iPhoto too; though, I havent tried. Second, You *do need* a Micro SD card in order to use the scanner. It does not seem to have any built-in memory at all. This is a little annoying, but the cards are pretty cheap. I happened to have one lying around so this was less frustrating to me than it seemed to be for other reviewers. Third, the scanner comes with a leather carrying case. I bought the hard case that Amazon suggests, thinking I needed some kind of storage case to keep it from getting dusty. If youre not going to be abusing it, like by carrying it around in a backpack filled with heavy textbooks, then you shouldnt need the hard-sided case--save yourself the extra $20. For me, the hard case is probably worthwhile because the scanners plastic casing probably wouldnt appreciate being carted around in a bookbag. Fourth, the scanner has four rollers on the bottom that spin as you scan a page, so that the scanner knows how fast youre going and can piece the page together; however, they dont spin very smoothly. This could be due to my scanner being refurbished. So far I have been able to scan things successfully, even when the Error light pops up mid-scan, but the jerky action seems like it could be problematic in the future. Fifth, some of the things Ive scanned so far have pretty thin pages and the scanner actually picks up the print on the back side of the page. I might be able to manipulate the image to erase these ghost images, by correcting the contrast or something. I havent had that problem with traditional scanners before. Overall, this is a light, portable scanner that I can use to scan pages out of old books and keep from having to live at the library all the time. It does what I need it to do. And it works with my Mac, no thanks to VuPoint.

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 purchased the

For letter or legal size paper that is perfectly flat, without tears, creases, staples, etc., The VuPoint MagicWand Portable scanner does a good job scanning. However, it doesnt do very well on paper that has been folded and thus contains creases. It also doesnt do very well with books. Since my primary purpose for purchasing the The VuPoint MagicWand Portable scanner was to scan deeds at the courthouse, it should perform well, although I havent yet tried it. I research deeds in my genealogy research. The deed books are designed to opened so that individual pages can be photocopied. Previously, I placed each sheet on the table and photographed them with my digital camera, which worked pretty well but I feel that a scan would produce better results. These sheets of paper are flat and without creases or folds, so they should scan perfectly. When you are rolling the scanner across a sheet of paper (yes there are rollers on the bottom) and it hits a crease, the error light comes on and that spot will be distorted and, sometimes, the scanner stops and closes the file at that point with a partial scan. The bottom line is that IF you are going to scan letter or legal size flat sheets of paper, then this scanner should work well for you. With books or other less than flat pieces of paper, your results will be mixed, at best. By the way, this scanner works perfectly with Linux. You plug the cable into a USB port and it is detected as a camera. You may then move or process the jpg files as you would with any camera. Of course the Windows OCR software included on a CD in the box is of no value to a Linux user. It is a shame that they advertise the device as compatible with only Windows and Mac when the only thing incompatible with Linux is the software CD, which is superfluous anyway. Linux already has tesseract as a perfectly OCR solution and even Windows has alternatives which many users will probably already have installed.

I saw this in an ad and bought it almost as an impulse buy---at Staples---but it is cheaper at Amazon. If you have tons of paper to keep track of (I do) you will kiss this item every day. You need a micro sd card (unless you want to use it with the cord to connect to your computer---you can do it that way, but its a hassle to keep track of that cord). The card is $9. I slip it in and push the button to turn it on (you can choose with another button whether you want it to be high or low resolution). A green light will come on and you slide the wand over your paper. Thats it. Then push the button and turn it off. That creates a file so that when you pop the SD card into your computer, it will show up as a storage device. You click on it and it will have each thing that you scanned in a separate file. Then you can save that to MS word as a document and rename it. When you open it, you have a scan of the document (JPEG) and this is the best part---you trash your original. I went through a pile of bills and bank statements, which I would normally file---grrrr and never be able to find if I need them. Now I tear them up and have the file right on my computer. I just went to the bank to deposit some checks and I scanned each one before I handed it to her. Soooo awesome. And if you get those flimsy receipts that fade in a month, scan them immediately and trash them. Its just so awesome. It comes with a CD so I thought there would need to be some sort of software put into my computer---no. I do already have MS word, so you need that if you are going to save it there, but they give you a lot of other ways to save the document. You also have some sort of a white sheet of paper you have to run the thing across to white balance it. I did that at the get go and had this terrible feeling (what with the CD) that it was going to be a nightmare to get this thing figured out. But its cake. And the results are so amazing, you will want stock in this company. I LOVE MINE---best thing I have purchased this year!!! and I buy a lot)

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.

For what it does, I dont think there is anything out there that does it better, but really that isnt saying too much. I bought this scanner as a substitute for a textbook since it the text book cost over $200, and this thing only cost about $100, after I got the case and Micro SD card. Unfortunately, not only was scanning the pages tedious, but a lot of the times the scanner didnt line up right and the scans were horrible, also there is only about a 1/2 inch on each side of the scanner where it wont scan, but that 1/2 inch bit me in the but to no end. And though it is marked where the scanner will stop, it is just a complete pain working around it when scanning a book or even notebook; especially if they are the more expensive notebooks, like five-star, and have a big ring holding the pages together. Honestly, after 2 chapters of scanning the textbook I bought the thing for, I pretty much gave up and just bought the thing. I didnt feel like returning the product so I kept it around for copying notes from classmates when I miss class or for sending in handwritten homework via e-mail, but honestly these are very rare occasions. On the plus side, you do get better at scanning, and if you are scanning a single document on a flat surface it should work flawless, but this is just rarely the case. So if you dont mind not having the last inch of a page when scanning a notebook or textbook, or if you are just going to use this to scan documents on a flat-surface, then I can recommend this product; otherwise it would be best to steer clear until something less fallible comes along.

I like it, but it does NOT last long on batteries. Even after re-charging after downloading images scanned from a 32GB SD card, I can barely get another 12 images from the yearly Calendars Ive bought. I forgot to do this for 2016 and will be scanning them in 2017. I will try scanning while usb is plugged into an outlet on computer, but I bought it to scan on the road also. It needs NEW batteries after about 30 scans. How ever at least you provided software which my Poloroid scanner also did but stopped working and I got NO help trying to get software upgrade which stopped with Windows 10, which I hate this software. Be that as may, if this scanner could scan 17 inch by any length, and more battery back-up or re-charging a built in lithium battery, I would buy again at even more expensive because I could go into ANY library and scan ANY book or map I wanted. One of the benefits of this type of wand scanning is that you do NOT have to destroy a document to scan it, like most other hand scanners that you feed a page into a scanner means you MUST tear the page from the documents, books, magazine, maps etc. This hand wand works for what I generally wish to do, but if you built one where the scan size was 17 to 24 inches wide by and length and added better battery, Id pay another $200 for one.

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.