Review: Automate Document Scanning

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With a price of $499.99, the Scanjet N6010 packs in a lot of functionality at a reasonable price for small and midsize customers.

The HP Scanjet N6010 can scan at resolutions up to 600 dots per inch (dpi) in 48-bit color or 256 levels of grayscale. It scans at speeds up to 18 pages per minute (ppm), but that's in black and white and at the scanner's default resolution of 200 dpi. Users have the choice of scanning documents at resolutions of 75, 150, 200, 300 or 600 dpi. Of course, the higher the dpi, the longer scans take and the larger the file sizes will be. CRN Test Center engineers found that the Scanjet N6010 did indeed scan 18 pages in black and white in just 59 seconds.

The HP Scanjet N6010 also features built-in automatic duplex scanning, taking images of dual-sided pages without slowing down. Double-sided documents can be scanned at speeds up to 18 ppm or, more appropriately, 36 images per minute (ipm).

The unit's automatic document feeder can handle up to 50 sheets of 20-pound paper stock. The feeder has adjustable paper guides that allow the scanner to accommodate a wide variety of paper types and sizes, thick or thin, and ranging from small business cards to legal-size documents measuring 8.5 inches x 14 inches.

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Another key convenience feature is the Scanjet N6010's one-touch scan-to-PDF function. Pressing a single button on the scanner's front panel quickly scans a stack of documents and saves them to the Adobe PDF format using a default date-related naming convention. File names then can be changed from the default to whatever the user prefers. In addition to the PDF format, scanned images also can be saved in TIFF, JPEG and Microsoft Word formats.

HP also includes bundled NewSoft Presto BizCard Reader software, which, like a stand-alone business card reader, can store the information printed on business cards in a digital database. It's an extra feature that provides an easy way to keep track of important business contacts.

The scanner features a USB 2.0 interface, which makes for easy plug-and-play operation. Included with the scanner are power and USB cables, an external power adapter, a paper path cleaning cloth, a setup and support guide, software on CD-ROM and multilanguage stickers that describe the functions of the control buttons and LED indicators, which can be applied to a pull-down panel on the front of the scanner. The unit is backed by a one-year limited warranty.

Next: The Bottom Line The external power adapter has a convenient power-indicator LED right on the power plug itself. Normally it's impossible to know if a power adapter is working or if there's even power going to the outlet into which it is plugged. But the power LED on the adapter's plug glows brightly when the power adapter is functioning properly. This helps with troubleshooting in case the scanner isn't working properly.

All the necessary software comes bundled with the scanner, including an HP PDF writer utility, HP copy utility, NewSoft Presto PageManager 7 and BizCard 5 SE, I.R.I.S. Readiris Pro and Captiva TWAIN drivers.

Presto PageManager 7 is a general-purpose scanning utility that helps users share and organize scanned photos and documents. It lets users view, edit and back up files in many different formats. BizCard 5 helps users organize business card contact information in a searchable database that can be synchronized between PCs, notebooks, PDAs and PIMs. Readiris Pro is an optical character recognition (OCR) application that can convert scanned documents into editable text formats. The Captiva TWAIN drivers allow applications that are already installed on a system to be used with the new HP scanner. This is convenient when solution providers have customers that already use special software packages that aren't included with the scanner.

The HP Scanjet N6010 is compatible with most any Microsoft Windows computer, although, without a network port, it cannot be connected directly to a network. Networking the scanner requires that it be connected to a networked computer and used as a shared device. Minimum system requirements are a PC with at least a Pentium II processor running at 266MHz, 128 Mbytes of memory, 400 Mbytes of available hard-disk space and Windows 2000, XP or Vista.

Easy to set up, the scanner measures 12.6 inches wide x 10.63 inches deep x 12.28 inches high without the output tray attached. It weighs about 12 pounds.

When customers need a document scanner, that provides an opening for solution providers to explore their clients' broader document management, data backup and compliance needs. Scanners also create data that must be backed up—often by law. It's quite likely that the same customers will require storage arrays and backup devices to properly preserve the digital records.

Solution providers are generally pleased with HP's document scanners. "We sell tons of N6010 scanners, and no news is good news here; we rarely see any failures," said Jerod Medeiros, vice president of purchasing at Golden Star Technology, a solution provider in Brea, Calif.

HP's top-notch channel program contains three levels, providing varying degrees of financial incentives and support.