The Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 Scanner: The Best Scanner I Have Ever Used

I received a demo unit of the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 Scanner. Honestly, I thought it was going to be just another scanner, and I haven't had much luck with them. I have to scan so many things for the school website; it was worth trying it out. (The scanner on our copier always breaks.) Plus, now I'm using Haiku Learning and scan many of the things I used to hand out.

As I was unpackaging it, I had a great sign. The CEO of the IT company that we hire to do our contract computer repair was in my room for a meeting. He said,

“That is the ScanSnap, I got rid of every other scanner and bought five of them. It is the only thing we use and is the best scanner I've ever used.”

And he's picky. So am I. I've included the video from the company below because this is one of the rare cases that the video DOES do justice for the device.

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/1jTY_vazup8″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

So, why is the Fujitsu ScanSnap Scanner so incredible?

Here's why:

• The scanner is crazy fast, and it intelligently detects if it is single or double sided (if you leave that setting on).
• If there is a problem, it will ask you what to do and let you rescan. (I've had to scan my drivers license before and even got it to do that!)
• You can scan to their iPad or iPhone app directly. I have it set up on wi-fi if students need to scan something for a project directly to their phone (how cool is that) – This uses the ScanSnap mobile connect software.
• The software is awesome. (More on that in a moment)
• It scans in color, gray or black and white up to 1500 rez
• It has the software (ABBYY Fine Reader) to scan to Microsoft Word with the text typed in Word (This is called OCR – Optical Character Recognition). It does the same for Excel.
• It will scan to Powerpoint, and it turns the paper slides into PowerPoint slides. I will admit this area was less than perfect as most of the images and text insert as graphics. That said, it is very functional.
• You can edit the scan before you save or work with it using the ScanSnap Organizer. It also flips the pages for you and auto-detects that side faces up!! It will ignore blank pages.
• It will scan up to 50 pages at a time.
• It connects via wi-fi to mobiles and computers.
• It has never jammed or misfed paper on me since I've been using it in October.

Set up the Scansnap Software

I have my Scansnap set up to do some very cool things. It scans to Evernote as either a document (all the pages in one note as a PDF) or a note (one page per note). It scans to Dropbox and Pocket. I even have it set up with ifttt to scan important items into Pocket (I scan it to a Dropbox folder which IFTTT puts into Pocket.) I scan all of my “to read” straight to Pocket and read it on the weekends.

If I had never had another scanner, it wouldn't be such a big deal. But I have had the NEAT, several flatbed scanners, and even fight with the scanner on our copier at school (which I have to wait for.) I don't use anything but the Scansnap and am saving to get one at home. I have it right beside my computer.

Now, you might wonder with the photography what it is on the iPhone and mobile devices why you would need a scanner. SPEED. Plain and simple. I take pictures of my journal pages and put them in Evernote (because they are bound pages and won't go on the scanner.) However, my Scansnap can scan full documents quickly. I scan everything.

So, for example, you can see in the video below where I show you how to make a table of contents for notes pages, how I've scanned the rubrics. I scan everything I return. I'm done making paper copies. It is entirely pointless. I scan each child's rubric as its own note and tag it with the name of the student. I'm able to assemble quickly and search all of the work for each student if I need it for a conference or reference.

About Product Reviews on Cool Cat Teacher

Frequent readers will know that I rarely review items on my blog. This is because I take so few items for consideration because they have to be something I NEED. When I review them, I have a policy to do no harm. If I don't like it or have issues recommending it, I'll communicate that to the manufacturer and give them suggestions. I have returned products that just didn't work out.

If I have reviewed it long enough to see that it is trustworthy, then I tell you.

There is a reason this scanner is being recommended for anyone and everyone. It is fantastic. I love it. It makes Evernote more powerful, my website updating faster, and makes me more productive. I highly recommend the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 Scanner. Great Scanner!

[callout]Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”[/callout]