How is the OCR software that comes with this scanner?

I've been looking for a way to get my recipes from their current paper mess to cloud with the least amount of effort possible.

how well does it handle book crease shadows?

Hmmm, these keep getting more and more affordable, but... between the Evernote and Camscanner apps on android, I just don't see much use for a standalone portable scanner anymore. I've got a scansnap s1500 at home to do the heavy lifting. For anything beyond that, my phone now does an absolutely fantastic job.

Ailetoile wrote:How is the OCR software that comes with this scanner?

I've been looking for a way to get my recipes from their current paper mess to cloud with the least amount of effort possible.

Never tried it, I will later on and let you know. I'm not hopeful.

jweb223 wrote:how well does it handle book crease shadows?

Not well.

@Jester747 - ITA.

These small scanners that have a feeder are alright, but using it to free-form scan is terrible. It is hit or miss. And since this one doesn't show you the image on the tiny display window, you don't know if you have hit or missed until you take the SD card out and check. I never could get mine to work with the usb cable, but tested it too late to return it. But hey, I paid $100.00 for mine (and got some other crap software with it, the same kind that comes with every printer...)

Do you have to have a really steady hand to keep the wand moving steadily across the page (at the same pace and without wiggling at all)?

SperkMik wrote:Do you have to have a really steady hand to keep the wand moving steadily across the page (at the same pace and without wiggling at all)?

Resounding YES, you do. And at the same speed for the whole page. What a mess.

Do you guys get the idea I'm not all for this item? :-/

Okay, for $10.00 and free shipping, I'd go for it. If you really want one, go for the Pandigital, at least it both scans "manually" and has a feed, and you can (barely) see the result in the display on the wand. Still, not as perfect as the last product I'm suggesting, but better than the VuPoint.

Pandigital

Better yet, if you can make it work (and I've scanned over 1000 photos with 99.99% success), get this:

Photo,etc Scanner

Ailetoile wrote:How is the OCR software that comes with this scanner?

I've been looking for a way to get my recipes from their current paper mess to cloud with the least amount of effort possible.

Comes with Abbyy screenshot reader - very basic one. Small receipt works or you need to do it multiple times.

jweb223 wrote:how well does it handle book crease shadows?

If the books are small(like small paper backs with spine around 8"), you can scan from crease to the outer margin. That avoids the crease shadow. If the spine is more than 8" long and pages cannot be flattened crease will show up.

You can scan time magazine as you can flatten it but a hard bound text book with letter size pages will be difficult.

This is a CIS scanner and depth is smaller than CCD.

Got this from staples for $119. For a quick scan at the library, or a page of magazine, it is great.

For OCR, 600 dpi comes handy. This is not for precise scanning of images.

This handy scanner outsmarts other ones, including most flat beds, in one aspect - you can scan a long long page in 8" width !

Edited: sorry, taking out a few VPS links and correcting them

Product page:
http://www.vupointsolutions.com/browse.php?cat=scanner&page=PDS-ST441-VP

including manual
http://www.vupointsolutions.com/manuals/PDS-ST441-VP_Manual.pdf

PCMag review 3.5 stars
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397986,00.asp

video with music way too exciting for the product


4 stars/15 reviews B&H (discontinued)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/769648-REG/VuPoint_Solutions_PDS_ST415_VP_Magic_Wand_Portable_Scanner.html

Staples $79.99 new, 4.3 stars, 42 reviews vs. $34.99 refurb here (refurb definition below):
http://www.staples.com/VuPoint-Magic-Wand-Portable-Scanner-Black/product_900544

4.1 stars, 9 reviews, $99.99 best buy
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/VuPoint---Magic-Wand-Portable-Scanner/3512117.p?id=1218410803410&skuId=3512117

That should give you some extra stuff to look at.

Edit: I think corrected now.

voovfeegbean wrote:Not well.

@Jester747 - ITA.

These small scanners that have a feeder are alright, but using it to free-form scan is terrible. It is hit or miss. And since this one doesn't show you the image on the tiny display window, you don't know if you have hit or missed until you take the SD card out and check. I never could get mine to work with the usb cable, but tested it too late to return it. But hey, I paid $100.00 for mine (and got some other crap software with it, the same kind that comes with every printer...)

aftab7000 wrote:Comes with Abbyy screenshot reader - very basic one. Small receipt works or you need to do it multiple times.

Thank you for the helpful replies! I think I will check out some alternative options despite the tempting price point here.

For what it's worth, I tried setting up EverNote to take pictures and use the OCR. I was discouraged at the storage and photo OCR per month limitations, though, since my whole purpose is to scan and OCR a lot of things as quickly as possible. I wonder if they've dropped those restrictions.

PDS-ST415-VP comes in six different colours.

This scanner scans at 300 dpi and 600 dpi. Not 900 dpi as the listing mentions.

PDS-ST415-VPS scans in 900 dpi & comes in black colour only.

http://www.vupointsolutions.com/magic_wand_comparison_chart.php



[MOD: Thanks for pointing this out. We are correcting the specs now. See post below for more info.]

I had one of these a while back that I got for graduate school for when I was unable to make copies of something I needed. I ended up taking it back. I could get pretty decent scans, but it was tough. The biggest problem with that, is there is no way to check the images without actually hooking it up to a computer or removing the micro sdcard.

I ended up taking it back after a week and a half because I just couldn't justify the expense ($100 for me at the time) with the not so convenient usefulness it provided as well as the sub-par scans.

For $35...it might be worth it if you desperately need the portability, but honestly, I was able to get "scans" with scanner apps on my phone that were much more convenient for what I would have used the scanner wand for. Because of that, I just don't see it as being that useful.

For the person who asked about the crease in books...no, it's pretty difficult to deal with anything at all that changes the rate at which you move the wand. If anything causes any pause, angle turn, increase or decrease of speed, it's noticeable. So book pages that are not lying perfectly flat can run into issues very easily. You can get really good at using it I'm sure, but it's not easy to use at all anytime you run into irregularities.

Jester747 wrote:Hmmm, these keep getting more and more affordable, but... between the Evernote and Camscanner apps on android, I just don't see much use for a standalone portable scanner anymore. I've got a scansnap s1500 at home to do the heavy lifting. For anything beyond that, my phone now does an absolutely fantastic job.

Exactly what I do. The ScanSnap let me go nearly paperless, and "out in the field" my android scanner apps do the trick.

ThunderThighs wrote:

---

Good Grief, we had the specs wrong!

---

As noted above, we mistakenly had the wrong specs listed in our sale. This scanner does not scan at 900 dps. The specs are being updated now and should be corrected very soon.

If you already purchased this item and the 900 DPI scanning was important for you, you can email support@woot.com to cancel your order.

We are sorry for the confusion and error in the sale.

It happens, TT, glad it's corrected.

Is this not the exact same one for the same price on Amazon? http://www.amazon.com/Vupoint-PDS-ST510R-VP-Magic-Portable-Scanner/dp/B005X1N1IY/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1352462615&sr=1-2&keywords=portable+scanner

angelsgirl2002 wrote:Is this not the exact same one for the same price on Amazon? http://www.amazon.com/Vupoint-PDS-ST510R-VP-Magic-Portable-Scanner/dp/B005X1N1IY/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1352462615&sr=1-2&keywords=portable+scanner

It doesn't look like it. Compare model #'s. That's the 510. This is the 441. I haven't pulled all of the specs apart to be sure though.

angelsgirl2002 wrote:Is this not the exact same one for the same price on Amazon? http://www.amazon.com/Vupoint-PDS-ST510R-VP-Magic-Portable-Scanner/dp/B005X1N1IY/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1352462615&sr=1-2&keywords=portable+scanner

Not even close.....

Model PDS-ST510-VP Features Approx.
Scanning Width 4.9"
Compatible with Windows® XP, Windows® Vista™ and Windows® 7. (Not compatible with Mac OS)

Jester747 wrote:Hmmm, these keep getting more and more affordable, but... between the Evernote and Camscanner apps on android, I just don't see much use for a standalone portable scanner anymore. I've got a scansnap s1500 at home to do the heavy lifting. For anything beyond that, my phone now does an absolutely fantastic job.

Jester, I'm with you, but with different app/hardware: Genius Scan on iPhone/Brother MFC-8680 printer-scanner at home. Love Evernote as well on all platforms.

BUT, note there are still something like 40% of mobile phone users out there without Smart phones + probably another 25% of Smart phone users who cannot/do not do much more than text & email on their phones... For those folks some kind of portable scanner could make a lot of sense.

tennisplayer121 wrote:I had one of these a while back that I got for graduate school for when I was unable to make copies of something I needed. I ended up taking it back. I could get pretty decent scans, but it was tough. The biggest problem with that, is there is no way to check the images without actually hooking it up to a computer or removing the micro sdcard.

I ended up taking it back after a week and a half because I just couldn't justify the expense ($100 for me at the time) with the not so convenient usefulness it provided as well as the sub-par scans.

For $35...it might be worth it if you desperately need the portability, but honestly, I was able to get "scans" with scanner apps on my phone that were much more convenient for what I would have used the scanner wand for. Because of that, I just don't see it as being that useful.

For the person who asked about the crease in books...no, it's pretty difficult to deal with anything at all that changes the rate at which you move the wand. If anything causes any pause, angle turn, increase or decrease of speed, it's noticeable. So book pages that are not lying perfectly flat can run into issues very easily. You can get really good at using it I'm sure, but it's not easy to use at all anytime you run into irregularities.

If you have a decent phone there are camera scanning apps that create pdfs. I have a rezound with an 8mp camera (camscanner is the free app I use), I guarantee it will scan at least as well as one of these wand scanners. It works well in a pinch, and is a lot more convenient then toting around a wand scanner. I'm sure Apple has something similar out there too.

say...is anyone else bored w/ the fact that there is no way to contact Woot? I ordered a knife almost 3 weeks ago and all I get (for the last 3 weeks) is a stupid box that says "were packing your order up"...this is BS

I have this, it works quite well for just scanning stuff out of magazines and books. It's very difficult to get a photograph 'just right' so that there are no lines or wriggles, but I'm usually using it to take notes at the library so I don't care about the wriggles. I bought it at $80, so this price is a steal.

JPEG only . . . ?

Gag . . .

gak0090 wrote:If you have a decent phone there are camera scanning apps that create pdfs. I have a rezound with an 8mp camera (camscanner is the free app I use), I guarantee it will scan at least as well as one of these wand scanners. It works well in a pinch, and is a lot more convenient then toting around a wand scanner. I'm sure Apple has something similar out there too.

Ditto, use the phone . . . .

Jester747 wrote:Hmmm, these keep getting more and more affordable, but... between the Evernote and Camscanner apps on android, I just don't see much use for a standalone portable scanner anymore...

gak0090 wrote:If you have a decent phone there are camera scanning apps that create pdfs. I have a rezound with an 8mp camera (camscanner is the free app I use), I guarantee it will scan at least as well as one of these wand scanners...

Thanks to you both for the camscanner tip. I'm downloading it now...

Judging from the responses from folks that do use wand scanners and paid $80-$100, this WOOT! appears to be an incredible deal if wand-scanning is what you're in the market for.

Looks OK, but I bet it is no where near as fun or useful as the Hitachi Magic Wand. Just sayin...

voovfeegbean wrote:Resounding YES, you do. And at the same speed for the whole page. What a mess.

Do you guys get the idea I'm not all for this item? :-/

Okay, for $10.00 and free shipping, I'd go for it. If you really want one, go for the Pandigital, at least it both scans "manually" and has a feed, and you can (barely) see the result in the display on the wand. Still, not as perfect as the last product I'm suggesting, but better than the VuPoint.

Pandigital

Better yet, if you can make it work (and I've scanned over 1000 photos with 99.99% success), get this:

Photo,etc Scanner

I own the Pandigital version and use it for document scanning in libraries for genealogical info. Can't speak to this company's version - but do rely on the Pandigital where it's not possible to use a regular scanner.

sosuemesdc wrote:say...is anyone else bored w/ the fact that there is no way to contact Woot? I ordered a knife almost 3 weeks ago and all I get (for the last 3 weeks) is a stupid box that says "were packing your order up"...this is BS

Have you emailed them? I've had 2 issues in the past which were quite quickly resolved. Sorry you've not had a good experience, but would strongly suggest you use their email system.

jelliebaby wrote:I own the Pandigital version and use it for document scanning in libraries for genealogical info. Can't speak to this company's version - but do rely on the Pandigital where it's not possible to use a regular scanner.

Ok..someone hid my glasses (my story and I'm stickin' to it)...I do NOT own a Pandigital..duh..I own the VuPoint that is being shown. Sheesh...so much for my reliability on this matter! Sorry

sosuemesdc wrote:say...is anyone else bored w/ the fact that there is no way to contact Woot? I ordered a knife almost 3 weeks ago and all I get (for the last 3 weeks) is a stupid box that says "were packing your order up"...this is BS

You may want to drop a line to support@woot.com, or use the handy link at the top of the screen (be sure to include your name and order number too).

that's not what my wife's magic wand looks like

crabclaw wrote:that's not what my wife's magic wand looks like

Is her's compatible with a Mac? Does it use the lightning port connector or did you have to buy an adapter?

I have this to use for genealogy and it is nice to use at times, but yes you have to be consistent in your scan so things like wrinkles, creases in pages, etc can make your scan look a little funky. You're hardly ever going to be able to get a good enough scan to make a nice print later at home. I will frequently scan something a few times, just to make sure that I get a decent scan out of the bunch. There is an indicator that shows if you've strayed too far off in your scan, but it can only do so much.

That said, it's a useful tool to have in my list of options. I'll never use it when the quality matters. Sometimes a plain old digital camera will work better.

crabclaw wrote:that's not what my wife's magic wand looks like

Ha, yeah, I dated a girl who had a battery-powered 'magic wand', and it was something totally different...

It works great in courthouses where they don't let you bring your camera phone in. $34 is 1/3 of what I paid at Walmart. It has some issues but you have to train on it some. Technology is not intended to make us lazy, impatient and stupid.

miken927 wrote:Ha, yeah, I dated a girl who had a battery-powered 'magic wand', and it was something totally different...

Let's get back to the magic of this wand, shall we?

whatsamattaU wrote:It happens, TT, glad it's corrected.