MAUREEN AZUH writes on the unique advantages of hand-held scanners
Like many other devices that now come in portable models, scanners have also been designed in handheld form that is less complicated for the end-user.
Compact scanners are good for many purposes, which include items such as business contacts, expenses, travel claims, contracts and checks. As pcworld.com notes, portable scanners offer scanning clarity in different format options, and are convenient for use both at home and work.
There are also different types to choose from. IRIScan, for instance, is one portable scanner which offers a user the option of scanning documents without a computer.
According to pricerunner.co.uk, it scans to memory, which means one can scan and upload to a computer later. That puts it less in competition with portable sheet-fed scanners. It eliminates the need to carry a computer along, when on the go. It looks much like any other manually fed portable scanner, at 1.7 by 10.6 and 2.3 inches (HWD), and weighs slightly less than one pound.
It is also easy to set up, as all a user needs to do is to simply open the box, connect the scanner to a computer with the supplied USB cable, and let the battery charge. There is no scan driver to install, because the scanner does not scan to a computer. Instead, in addition to charging when plugged, the device appears like USB memory to the computer, so the user can copy the scanned files to a hard drive. Once copied, the files can be opened anytime using any software.
When a photo, sheet of paper, or business card is slotted into the input slot in front, the scanner will automatically feed and scan it, and then save the results to a file. The scanner itself includes 512MB of internal memory. When a user is ready to upload the scanned files to a computer, he can simply move the USB key or MicroSD card to the computer and copy or move the files to a hard disk.
The Plustek MobileOffice is another scanning device that offers portability and speed. Although it is a little bigger than the others, it makes up in speed and has the ability to scan both sides of a page at once. The features lead to a larger, heavier scanner, but for most purposes, the extra capability is worth it.
It measures 3.8 by 11.4 by three inches and weighs 2.9 pounds. But in addition to its 20-page ADF and duplexer – the ability to scan both sides – it offers a 600-pixel-per-inch (ppi) optical resolution, while its rated speed in grayscale mode is nine pages per minute for simplex (single-sided) scanning at 300 ppi and 18 images per minute (ipm) for duplex scanning.
The Xerox Mobile Scanner on the other hand, as pcadvisor.co.uk notes, offers a few extra features that make it portable in a way that some other models cannot match. It also does not require a computer to function.
The battery-operated Xerox can be used in almost any situation. The battery is rated for 300 shots, which gives plenty of scanning time before it runs out. Included in the bundle is a 4GB Eye-Fi card. This device doubles as both storage card and as an 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi adapter, allowing a user to connect to a laptop via a wireless network.
Xerox is also capable of sending scanned files through the ether, and a user can wirelessly divert scans to sites like Evernote, Picasa, Shutterfly or Facebook. The device can also communicate with most mobile devices, and an Airplane Mode button allows a user to switch off the Wi-Fi radio. And for traditionalists, the Xerox can still be hooked up with a good old-fashioned USB cable.
Apart from portable scanners, one can also use a smartphone through an application called CamScanner Free, to do almost the same that scanners do. Just run this app, aim the device’s camera at any text or graphics, and then press the “Capture” button.
The app will suggest a part of the image for cropping and the image is enlarged with little loss of detail. Depending on the device, a user can also adjust details, brightness and contrast of the image. After editing, the pictures can be saved into a document which acts like an album, with tags.
One interesting feature of the app is that a user can export documents into PDFs and share them in many ways, either by uploading it to a Google account, email or fax. The app charges to use the fax function though while the exported PDF is usually the size of the scanned image.
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Source : punchng[dot]com
