Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 5550c

I purchased the scanner for invoice scanning in our AP department. The quality is great and the speed is good as well. There was a disappointment that it would not scan multiple documents from the ADF. Everything in the tray is scanned to one .pdf, .rtf, or .htm. It will prompt for more pages from glass scans but not from the ADF. The ADF also doubles the scan time but is nice for multi-page documents.

High quality even at low dpi. Fast - four seconds scan time for 100 dpi. This does not include software startup and file save time which totals 25-30 seconds start to finish.

System service fails occasionally which causes the scanner buttons not to respond. Service shows running but a restart of the service re-enables the buttons.

Visioneer 6100; HP 5500c

n/a

This is a fast scanner and works as described, the scans look fine. However, I bought it for the Automatic Document Feeder to archive business records. Unfortunately, it cannot create a separate scan for each document that goes through the feeder, it can only create a multiple page scan containing ALL the documents stacked in the ADF. And it can only save those multiple page scans as .pdf or .rtf or .htm files. This is a serious drawback if you want to create separate scans of a group of unrelated documents. For that you must still place each document on the glass separately, defeating the purpose of the Automatic Document Feeder. Another oddity is that the scanner comes with PaperPort 7.0 LE software. However it cannot scan directly to the .max (Paperports native file type.) Though can send the scan directly to Paperport you will not be able to edit it. For editing you must send the scan to a file and then import it into Paperport. My final ratings are a little problematic. If you are only planning on creating multiple page scans from the Automatic Document Feeder and are content that they only can be saved as .pdf, .rtf or .htm files then this is a five star scanner. And if you only want to use PaperPort as a filing cabinet you will also be fine with this scanner. But for me the considerable extra cost of the Automatic Document Feeder is a total loss, so my Benefit/Cost rating is the lowest possible. If you can accept the limitations of the ADF then this is a fine scanner. Otherwise you should look elsewhere or consider purchasing a less expensive scanner without an Automatic Document Feeder.

Fast, high quality scans

Automatic Document Feeder cannot create a separate scan for each document and can only save to .pdf, .rtf and .htm file formats.

I contacted HP about the inability to save the scans sent through the ADF as anything but .pdf, .rtf and .htm. They first responded that I needed to re-install the software. I responded that that made no difference. The then sent me a chart of what output types (B&W, greyscale, etc.) could be saved as what file type. I replied that I was selecting B&W and that should be able to be saved as bitmap. They finally admitted that documents sent through the ADF could only be saved as multiple page documents and only as .pdf, .rft and .htm file types.