Fujitsu Scansnap S510M

On the short lived Mediawiki incarnation of my blog, I wrote a review of the ScanSnap 510M document scanner from Fujitsu. Since I didn't restore any content from that version of my site, I've decided to write a new review, one that reflects the six months of use that I've given this fantastic device.

As we're now in spring, and it is also tax season, I've just started my annual ritual of cleaning out the office before I do my taxes. Part of the office cleaning has been scanning all the documents in my file folders. In the past few days alone, I've probably scanned over a thousand pages.




The ScanSnap 500 series, while expensive for consumer scanners, is actually a pretty inexpensive document scanner. Not a lot of people are going to spring $500 for a scanner that doesn't even really do a good job of scanning photos. The key to appreciating the ScanSnap is that it is a one-trick pony that does its one trick especially well.

The ScanSnap is only one of three scanners that I have. I also have a flatbed scanner (for photos and slides) and a sheetfed scanner on my all-in-one printer. Neither are truly up to the task of bulk document scanning. Believe me, I've tried. And tried. And tried.

The ScanSnap is a fast and quiet duplex scanner with a tiny footprint. It's also extremely easy to use. Unlike some other inexpensive scanners that can duplex, the ScanSnap scans both sides simultaneously. Because of that, it can run through a stack of pages very quickly. The software that comes with it is also smart enough to throw out blank pages, and to rotate any misfed pages so that they are saved appropriately. The scanner can also autodetect whether a page should be saved as a colour page, or a black and white page.

To trigger a scan, you just feed a stack of pages into the feeder, face and top down, and press the scan button. That's it. The software handles the rest.

I try to keep a very simple workflow with my scanning, so I don't bother with OCR or proper file naming. I just use the default mode of scanning into a date stamped PDF file. Part of the price of the scanner includes the full version of Adobe Acrobat and some OCR software, and once you factor the price for a full version of Acrobat ($449 US list), the scanner doesn't seem very expensive at all.

Now let me tell you why I don't really bother with OCR. For me to maintain any level of discipline in using this scanner regularly, the workflow has to be simple and fast. OCR takes time and effort for a feature that I don't really need. All of the files get dumped into a single folder, and then I use another app (Yep) to simply tag the files. I try to use very simple tagging: subject matter and year.

Before I got the scanner, each year, I'd finally sit down and spend a few days going through stacks of papers and putting them into proper folders in my filing cabinet. My new methodology is to have a couple of Rubbermaid Boxes for a given calendar/tax year. One box for non-tax related items, and the other for tax-related items. I don't bother with sorting, I just toss the scanned document into the box. If I need to look something up, well that's why I use Yep to tag them. Because I do need hard copies to include with my tax returns, the tax-related box makes things a lot easier to find every April.

My big hopes for this workflow is to reduce the buildup of paper clutter in my home office, and spend less time filing stuff that I rarely pull back out. I think I'm on the way to achieving this, but I won't really know until next year. I've finally had a little time to work on finalizing the complete conversion of paper in our filing cabinets into electronic format, so the true test won't happen until that effort is complete.

In terms of limitations for the scanner, there really aren't any if you factor my previous comment that this is a one-trick-pony. Software support is a little limited, since this is not a TWAIN scanner, but I have yet to use any software outside of the pack-ins.

If you are looking to pick up a Fujitsu Scansnap, there is only a big gotcha related to it, and that's more related to software licensing than anything. There is no such thing as a cross-platform version of the scanner. You have the choice of Windows or Mac. It's literally a black and white decision. The black scanners are for Windows, and the white scanners (suffixed with an M after the product number) are for Mac. Since the scanners are bundled with full versions of Acrobat, I suspect that Adobe didn't want to grant dual platform licenses for the software to go as a pack in with the scanner.

I highly recommend this scanner if you're trying to reduce the amount of paper in your life. It works extremely well at the task it is designed for.

Tags: fujitsu, scansnap, 510M