Entered CNET Catalog: 04/01/2006
SKU: PA03360-B505
Manufacturer: Fujitsu
Manufacturer description
Operated via a unique device driver the ScanSnap S500 is a professional PDF scanner enabling on-demand scanning without any additional work. The ScanSnap S500 can convert up to 18 pages per minute into a PDF file at the click of a button. It provides the user with two unique methods of optionally creating searchable PDF files - on-the-fly per document, or by setting the included ScanSnap Organizer to initiate an OCR process when the PC is not in use. The Organizer can display PDF content and let the user zoom in and scroll through the document without having to launch the file, and key word searches can be initiated on any PDF files containing text. ScanSnap S500 can transform paper into Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint 2003 presentations or business card contacts for Outlook, Act! and Goldmine. Making use of the ScanSnap S500's high compression settings will allow for efficient email transmission of "paper" documents.User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5
User Rating: 
9/10
Keep It Simple Stupid
Pros: Fast, Profiles, Intuitive, 2-sided, No worry jams, Small footprint
Cons: Can't flatbed scan, OCR PDF takes a pretty long time
User Rating: 
3/10
This is NOT Twain compatible so you cannot append in Acrobat
Pros: Easy to use and setup, scans well
Cons: Not Twain compliant so you cannot append to Acrobat
User Rating: 9/10
High quality and amazing scanner
Pros: super fast, good automation
Cons: no twain support but still workable
With the OCR text embedded into the PDF files, and the inclusion of Acrobat 7, this is really a great package. I use Copernic desktop search to make all the files indexed, and I can get at anything within a second.
I found that I eliminated paper jams by slightly fanning the stacks so that I could see the page edges as I inserted the stack. It now easliy takes 60 page documents and scans them at copy machine rates. It's amazing to watch.
User Rating: 9/10
The Best Document Scanner EVER!
Pros: Super fast, Super easy to use
Cons: No option for books, magazines, etc.
The OCR software is very accurate. I was hesitant to use it based upon past use of OCR technology, but it has really come up! This allows me to save time from typing in documents that I have hard copies of.
My only gripe (which isn't really one, I knew this going in) that there's no option to scan from a book or magazine. Simple solution: I bought a $99 personal copier and whenever I need to do this (which is every blue moon), I can copy it and scan it (I needed a copier anyway, so it works out).
I'm super pleased with this machine!
User Rating: 
5/10
The Avg rating is based on one major problem
Pros: Except for unacceptable file size, the scanner works fine
Cons: unacceptable file size
