Scanners are something that many people overlook when it comes to computer peripherals, most people think that any old scanner will do, but there are many differences between them. I’ve personally owned one scanner or another over the years, mainly for copying, and scanning images into my computer, and I’ve come to realize that, as with anything, you get what you pay for.

Today for review I’ve got a scanner, it’s the Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 Mobile scanner and it’s just an excellent all around product that works perfectly for everything that it does. It features dual power sources, so you can use it while traveling with power from a USB port, or use a standard AC adapter for home or office use. Its small and lightweight making it very portable, it scans double sided documents and can import them directly to PDF format if you wish. the ScanSnap S300 can also scan to JPEG and will scan business cards, then import the information directly into your contacts for you. The ScanSnap S300 is just a great scanner all around, be it for home/office use or on the go…

Here’s the unboxing video up first, then continue on:

Specifications:
Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 Instant PDF Sheet-Fed Scanner

Take document scanning to a whole new level with the ScanSnap S300 mobile scanning solution. Whether you’re at home digitizing receipts, bank statements or term papers, or at the office capturing mission critical documents for a business trip, ScanSnap takes scanning beyond the desktop and into your world.

The ScanSnap S300 is the world’s smallest duplex ADF scanner. It’s designed to provide best-in-class performance inside or outside of the home or office.
ScanSnap S300 PDF Scanner: The Easy Way To Organize and View PDF Files

With the S300 scanner, you can:
* View PDF and JPEG files with the thumbnail viewer
* Arrange files with simple drag and drop actions
* Easily insert and delete images
* Change thumbnail display sizes
* Automatically create searchable PDF files
* Quick drag and drop to e-mail or to a printer

General Technical Specifications
Scanner Type     ADF (Automatic Document Feeder). Duplex color scanning
Scanning Modes     Color / B&W / Automatic Color & B&W detection
Image Sensor     CIS (Color Image Sensor) X 2
Light Source     3 color LED (Red / Green / Blue)
Optical Resolution     600 dpi x 600 dpi

Scanning Speed (A4 portrait / AC adapter)    
Normal mode     Color 150 dpi, B&W 300 dpi:8 pages per minute / 16 images per minute
Better mode     Color 200 dpi, B&W 400 dpi:6 pages per minute / 12 images per minute
Best mode     Color 300 dpi, B&W 600 dpi:4 pages per minute / 8 images per minute
Excellent mode     Color 600 dpi, B&W 1,200 dpi:0.5 pages per minute / 1 image per minute

Scanning Speed(A4 portrait / USB bus power)   
Normal mode     Color 150 dpi, B&W 300 dpi:4 pages per minute / 8 images per minute
Better mode     Color 200 dpi, B&W 400 dpi:3 pages per minute / 6 images per minute
Best mode     Color 300 dpi, B&W 600 dpi:2 pages per minute / 4 images per minute
Excellent mode     Color 600 dpi, B&W 1,200 dpi:0.5 pages per minute / 1 image per minute
Scanning Range     A4, A5, A6, B5, B6, Business card, Letter, Legal and Custom sizes. Max: 8.5 X 14.17 in. (216 X 360mm),Min: 2 X 2 in. (50.8 X 50.8mm), Automatically recognizes document type by paper length.

Paper Weight (Thickness): 17 to 28 lb. (64 to 104.7 g/m²)
Paper Chute Capacity:     Maximum 10 sheets (A4 size at 20 lb. or 80 g/m²)
Interface: USB 2.0 (USB 1.1 Compatible)
Driver: ScanSnap specific driver (TWAIN/ISIS not supported)
Applications: ScanSnap Manager V4.2, ScanSnap Organizer V3.2, CardMinder V3.2
Included Items: USB cable, USB bus power cable, AC adapter, AC cable, Getting started guide and Setup CD-ROM
Power Requirement:     AC Adapter     AC 100V to 240V, 50 / 60 Hz
USB Bus Power:     5V / 1A (0.5A X 2 Port)
Power Consumption:     Operating: 9W or less
Sleep mode: Less than 5W

Dimensions (W x D x H): 11.18 in. x 3.74 in. x 3.03 in. (284mm x 95mm x 77mm)
Device Weight: 3.08 lb. (1.4kg) without power adapter
Environmental Compliance: ENERGY STAR Compliant / RoHS

Price: $230+ (depending where you look)

Installing the ScanSnap is easy to do, just install the drivers and software and you’re set, you’ll need to at least install ScanSnap manager for scanning, but if you want full functionality it’s best install ScanSnap Organizer and  CardMinder as well.

CardMinder is an easy to use OCR business card scanning program that will scan your cards and import them to your contacts if you wish. It scans both sides of the cards and reads them for you, for the most part it does a very good job at recognition, with the exception of odd logos and graphical logos.

When you’ve got the ScanSnap S300 up and running you should have ScanSnap Manger running in the tray, it has two modes, basic and advanced, I personally use advanced mode as it offers more options and more control over scanning. The interface is easy to use, it’s essentially for setting up the scanner, if you wish to scan either PDF or JPEG files you’ll need to select which one from the interface. You can also go in and associate the scanner with other applications as well, so it can be used with them. The interface allows you full control over all aspects of scanning, from resolution and quality to paper size and compression rates.

Here’s the basic mode:

and here’s the advanced mode menus, they’re mostly the same with a few differences:

When you scan a document you can scan to either PDF or JPEG, depending on what you want or how you have it configured, when you’re scanning a progress window pops open for you:

When it’s done scanning, in a few seconds, ScanSnap Organizer opens to let you see and edit the file if need be:

Scanning is very fast actually it easily gets the rated times, I was pleasantly surprised by how fast this thing is. The ScanSnap S300 is fairly quiet as well, and the scans come out nice and sharp. Even with pictures they look great in either JPEG or PDF formats.

Overall the ScanSnap is very easy to use, and I really like the fact that it can scan double sided pages, no more flipping it over, one pass and you’re done.

While using USB power, scanning is a bit slower as can be expected, but not as much as you would think running off of a 5v USB connection. Of course though if you’re using it with your laptop, you might lose a bit of battery life, though that would be more if you were scanning tons of documents via USB power. I think for just a few documents you’d never notice any diminish in battery life.

The size of this scanner is small, it’s small enough, and light enough to throw in a bag or briefcase, and even it you’re not going mobile with it, the ScanSnap S300 won’t take up much space at all on your desk. You could probably just toss it into a desk drawer for storage and easy access.

Conclusion:
Even if you’re not using the ScanSnap S300 for mobile use, it makes a great stand alone scanner, it’s fast, does double sided scans and it’s very easy to use, overall it’s really a great product.

It’s a bit on the expensive side yes, but I think it’s well worth it for the features it gives you, and for the fact that it is very portable and of course easy to use.

Pros:
Small, Lightweight, Well made
Includes easy to use software
Scans business cards and imports to contacts
Fairly accurate OCR
Double sided scanning!
Easy to use
Creates PDFs instantly
Relatively quiet
Dual power, USB or AC

Cons:
A bit expensive
Cons2
Cons3

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance