After PDFzone found two options for a reader seeking a duplex scanner that would scan to PDF, some readers pointed out that we overlooked the machines they use and love, so we continued our investigation.Responding to a reader's request for help finding a duplex scanner that did direct PDF conversions, PDFzone did some research and in "Seeking the Perfect Scanner," detailed two options, the Canon 2080 and the HP Scanjet 7650.
But, like seeing a favorite actor overlooked for an Oscar, several readers wrote in to praise the virtues of their own hardworking and affordable scanners. So, in this follow-up, we highlight two more options for getting the scan-to-PDF job done:
Fujitsu ScanSnap
Who knew a little scanner could inspire such devotion? Several readers were quick to defend the Fujitsu ScanSnap as the perfect machine for duplex scanning and PDF conversion.
"Perhaps the ScanSnap isn't intended for a corporate office with constant heavy use, though I use mine daily and with great success," said Michele Sengstock, a loan specialist at Minnesota-based U.S. Mortgage and Finance Inc.
Sengstock appreciates the machine's ability to work with legal papers, even though it's a sheet-fed scanner. Its most compelling options are that it is adept at detecting paper size, automatically knows whether the document is color or black and white, and creates PDF documents easily. Retailing at about $450, the ScanSnap is on the lower-priced end of the spectrum.
Click here to read Don Fluckinger's column on the pursuit of the paperless office.
With the PDF software that's included, Sengstock is able to create PDFs quickly that can be digitally faxed, a task she does quite often. "Since my faxes are received in PDF format as well, all of my customers' electronic files are in a consistent format," she said.
Another reader, Steve McDonald, also praised the ScanSnap's performance for the price. When doing duplex scanning, the software automatically removes that blank side. It also comes with a host of tasty extras, he noted.
"It comes with Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Standard and a plethora of other useful software for organizing your PDFs and business cards," he said. "I found this scanner to be a winner in my book."
The ScanSnap does have a few drawbacks. If an item, such as a book or magazine, needs to be scanned, the machine won't be up to the task, since it's not a flat-bed scanner. Also, McDonald reported that it has the "usual" Windows device attachment problems.
"It's a USB device, and if you shut the cover it powers down the device," he said. "It's not always recognized when you start it back up, so you have to reboot to get it back."
Xerox DocuMate 252
At the other end of the price spectrum is the Xerox DocuMate 252, which goes for about $900. But its advocates insist that it's worth every penny.
Larry Johnson, the Africa regional finance director for nonprofit organization World Vision International, needed a dependable scanner to process accounting records, so that if his Africa-based office had to move suddenly due to security concerns, the employees wouldn't have to figure out how to move boxes of papers.
He chose the Xerox 252 and grew so fond of its capability that he later bought several more. Subsequently, he's been able to discard about 90 percent of the office's files.
What Johnson found particular noteworthy about the scanner is that it can scan 50 double-sided pages a minute, and can be set to scan and save PDFs at small file sizes. To save storage media space, he chooses about 40K per page. Its speed is what impresses Johnson the most, especially for large-scale projects.
The machine is also portable, as he found out for a personal task: "Because it worked so well, I took one of them home and scanned all the files in my home filing cabinet," he said. "Then, I threw away about 70 percent of the papers."
The 252 has a similar downside as the ScanSnap, in that it isn't a flat-bed scanner, so large documents or book and magazine pages can't be scanned. Johnson noted that an additional challenge is that the built-in OCR slows down the process considerably, so he doesn't use it.
In general, it seems the market has enough options to suit every taste, and a variety of budgets. That means there's never been a better time to start making the office truly paperless, one scan at a time.
Document Management 
