I can’t say enough good things about the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 mobile scanner. It’s really the only peripheral I use with my MacBook Pro on a regular basis—other than a French press.
The S1100 has been extremely reliable in the three months I’ve been using it. And I’ve been using it a lot as a new parent who’s entered a whole new universe of medical and financial record keeping.
The S1100 scans fast, works off USB power only, and is small enough to slip in almost any bag.
If you have an iMac, Mac Pro, or other more stationary setup, you might want to spring for one of Fujitsu’s larger multi-sheet desktop models, but if you use some flavor of MacBook and don’t like to sit in the same place (like me), the USB-powered S1100 is the only choice in my opinion.
By the way, if you’re scanning a lot of sensitive documents like I am, you’ll probably want to keep them in a secure disk image on your Mac. That’s what I do.
Check out the S1100 at Amazon.com [affiliate link]
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I’m curious about these receipt scanners. Do you keep the physical receipts, too? I’m just wondering if I ever needed to produce a receipt for some reason whether a printed copy of a scanned image would be acceptable?
I guess even if you had to store the hardcopy receipts, the OCR record-keeping benefits would still make the scanner worthwhile.
Doug
I was torn between this one and the S1300. Decided to to with the 1300, since I don’t have much of a need for uber-portable scanning. Purchased about a year ago. Very happy with the decision. I think the same software bundle and basic functions (except multisheet) are common to both the 1100 and 1300.
Also, (1) it works great with Yojimbo [and many other apps] and (2) the bundled business card S/W is ok but still looking for better options. It improves my business travel expense processing workflow for sure.
Would love to see better direct input into MacOS Contacts app from business cards. Maybe could tweak this with Automator or Applescript. Hmmm…
Do you happen to use any type of PDF file manipulation software to rearrange pages and/or or delete blank or unwanted pages? I am a big fan of Combine PDFs from MonkeyBreak Software and find that it really compliments my ScanSnap fi-5110EOXM (…yeah, I know I’m old school). I have it set up as the application that opens when I scan a document with my ScanSnap. The program isn’t very pretty to look but it gets the job done.
I grabbed a copy of Combine PDFs when I first got my ScanSnap a couple of years ago and haven’t really looked again…is there any other package that others have found to be useful?
@Bruce Full disclosure: I work at Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc. We recommend that people use the Adobe Acrobat software that came with the scanner for PDF-file manipulation. If you’re looking for a third party application though there are a few like Evernote and Yep that work well too.
You probably know this, but Preview.app is actually very good for basic document manipulation like moving pages, deleting pages, etc. Just expose the sidebar and go to work.
Does this scanner make it easy to scan directly into Evernote when using a Mac?
Yes, and the software is super easy to use.
Yep, the software comes with Evernote integration built-in (the only ScanSnap to do so), and you can either scan to Evernote as a PDF or as an image.
I have a very alternative suggestion.
I use the larger ScanSnap at work. Take my Mac, please, but leave the ScanSnap . . .
Ok, that’s an exaggeration. but not much.
I’ve had several “portable” scanners, most recently the VuPoint that sells for about $100, scans to a camera card, and can be used to non-destructively scan books.
But here’s the alternative.
The refrigerator scanner.
That’s right, your fridge is a scanner. If you don’t have a fridge, any large appliance will do, even an automobile or filing cabinet.
Affix the document you want to scan to the flat metal surface using magnetic clips or even magnetic tape. All available cheap at a supermarket or office supply. Smooth out your document.
Whip out your iPhone ( me, I’m an Android guy and my Nexus One does just fine ). Snap a pic. “Share” the pic to yourself via email or Dropbox or Evernote.
Good suggestion to use your mobile device. You don’t necessarily need to go as far as putting it on the fridge. There are document scanning apps that do quite a good job now, and you can take the picture flat on the table (at a slight angle to avoid shadows) and the software compensates for that. Genius Scan is a good free one and JotNot is good too. Worth a try if you a doing one-offs vs. regular scanning.
Brooks – I’ve done the “flat on the table” and the results are not as good as “flat on the fridge.”
Documents I’ve “snapped” from the fridge translate to my computer without (noticeable) skew. On the table it is (more) difficult to not be a human shadow on what I’m trying to photograph, and the pictures often look like 3D landscapes with the top receding away and the bottom large. Flat on the fridge increases the likelihood of square and regular.
I use an Android and have an APP that takes Pics as PDFs. I find the transfer to the computer is better if they’re JPGs.
I want to scan in receipts and have it read them so I can file them and hopefully create a spreadsheet or report of my expenses. Will this do it? I wanted the Neat Receipt since it specifically said it could do these things but my husband, god love him, decided to order me this one as a surprise birthday gift. Will I be disappointed?
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