best industrial scanner for under $1500.00?

[mmbond]

any thoughts?

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

flatbed or drum scanner?

 

[mmbond]

well right now we're using an entry model scanjet series scanner but are searching for something better. The company is considering an hp scanjet 6390c; but I cant find any reviews on it. (flatbed with sheet feeding option - i guess.)

 

[BoberFett]

I use Fujitsu at work. The ones we use are closer to $3,000, but their lower models are probably quality products. Otherwise I've heard good things about Panasonic and Canon scanners.

 

[mmbond]

Thanks for the heads up. I will look into those brands. Any others and/or specific models?

 

[BoberFett]

Without knowing what you want to do with the scanners, it's hard to recommend one in particular. Once you get beyond the capacity of a simple HP desktop level scanner with the optional auto-feed, there's a whole world of options. I can just point you in the general direction.

Fujitsu

Canon

Panasonic

Figure out what your daily scan output is going to be and the type of scanning to be done. For instance, if you're scanning forms on colored paper, you'll want a scanner that can take different bulbs. For full text a standard green bulb will suffice. If you need some more specific info and can provide with more details about your needs, I'd be happy to help you choose. I've done quite a bit of research in scanning and OCR.

 

[mmbond]

Thanks Bober:

I work at a law firm and the last scanner sucked for scanning huge docs. They just purchased and HP scanjet 6390c. Don't know how it'll do but it cost 3x as much as the original scanjet. Any arguments that may help me pursuade them to go with one of the scanners you've listed?

 

[BoberFett]

Like I said, it depends on your need. Strangely enough, I work in the legal field also. I'm the lead software developer at a company that builds computer legal research systems. I've overseen the scanning of millions of pages. Our most recent big scan jobs included scanning the entire F.2d and F.3d series from West, all of Wests F.Supps, and all case law and statutes from an African nation.

I'm guessing you don't have anything of that magnitude.

At a level like it sounds you're probably scanning at, that HP would probably work just fine. The only thing I could think of that you'd be better of with a different model for would be the scan quality. That appears to be a color scanner, which uses a standard white bulb. The scanners I pointed you to are B&W or grayscale only. They use a green bulb, which enhances the contrast if you're scanning text only documents, which can give you a better source to OCR. That would be the biggest advantage I can think for your price range.

 

[mmbond]

thanks boba.