Dedicated ADF scanner or all in one printer (MFP) with ADF

Added by Nikola Z. Guscic over 9 years ago

My new school doesn't have an automated document feeder (ADF) scanner and at this point I am hooked to using AMC. So, I might invest some money and purchase a scanner to use at home. However, dedicated ADF scanners tend to be more expensive than mid-range all in one printers with ADF scanning capacity. Weird, no? I have never used all in one printer to batch scan via automated document feeder (ADF).

Anyone has experience with this? Would I get proper results and acceptable speeds if I just used a multifunction printer for my scanning needs? It would certainly be more cost-efficient and I'd get a home printer to boot. There must be a catch though...


Replies (4)

RE: Dedicated ADF scanner or all in one printer (MFP) with ADF - Added by Roberto González over 9 years ago

Hi, Nikola.

Well, I don't know exactly what do you mean by 'a mid range all in one printer' (the term 'mid range' is the one I don't know exactly how to understand here, as I'm not an expert). But I can tell you that, at the school I work in, we have an all in one printer with ADF scanning capacity (Xerox Phaser MFP, to be precise. For details see http://www.office.xerox.com/multifunction-printer/multifunction-over-30ppm/phaser-3635mfp/enus.html ). It is not able to scan using OCR mode, but it works fine if you scan your answer sheets in black and white mode (do not use grayscale mode). The only change I needed to make to AMC default configuration was a little adjustment to the darkness threshold in the scanning preferences (setting it to 0.90, since some corner dots weren't properly recognized using the default value). Previously we had a Canon all in one printer (maybe, Canon imageRUNER 1024N or 1024iF, see http://www.canon.cl/canon/html/general/minificha.php?cat_id=2045), with a scanning software which enabled the use of OCR mode, and it worked fine too.

I hope this can help you a little bit.

Kind regards.
Roberto.

RE: Dedicated ADF scanner or all in one printer (MFP) with ADF - Added by Nikola Z. Guscic over 9 years ago

Hi Roberto,

Thank you for the feedback! The term mid-range printer I'd define as something that can be bought for $300-$400. It's not any sort of 'expert' definition, it's just the amount of money that I am willing to spend :).
Anything more expensive than that, I might as well buy a dedicated ADF scanner such as Fujitsu ScanSnap.
The printers that you have mentioned are definitely above that threshold but it is still interesting to know of your experience with them.

I am investigating the opportunity to buy an all in one printer in the price range that I have mentioned and whether it would work with AMC. However, any hardware related feedback is appreciated, it might help others to decide what equipment to purchase for their specific needs.

Best,

Niko Z.

RE: Dedicated ADF scanner or all in one printer (MFP) with ADF - Added by Alexis Bienvenüe over 9 years ago

Scanners that has been named in the forum : RE: ID field covers orientation circle after upgrade, RE: Ubuntu 11.10: After launch all greyed out.
However, these are not extensive feedbacks…
In my university we use high-end multifunction printers.

RE: Dedicated ADF scanner or all in one printer (MFP) with ADF - Added by Nikola Z. Guscic over 9 years ago

Thank you for those links. In our school we also have Fujitsu ScanSnap series, it works great, they scan tens of thousands of pages reliably during exam weeks. So, it seems that no one has tried an all in one in the lower prices ranges. Well, I suppose someone has to be the first one. :)

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