An ancient flatbed scanner at my day job decided to take immediate retirement from the scanning business, leaving one of our employees in need of a replacement. Luckily, I have an unexpected opportunity to take a brand new Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S50 document scanner for a run and put it through its paces.
These days, most scanning tasks seem to fall into one of two basic categories; scanning of important documents to store electronically or email and scanning of photos. While there’s no substitute for a good flatbed scanner to scan a photographic print, almost everything else is done more quickly and effectively with the new breed of document scanners. I’ve been using a Fujitsu ScanSnap s1500m at home for the last year or so, and I’m quite pleased with it for scanning receipts, utility bills, insurance documents, and other such forms. Unfortunately, at work, we use an expensive document management software package (OpenText Alchemy), which works best with scanners including ISIS drivers. The ScanSnap only includes a proprietary device driver, ruling it out as a good option.
I discovered the Epson WorkForce Pro document scanners include standard TWAIN and ISIS drivers, but in most other aspects, look and function much like my ScanSnap. A typical letter-sized page feeds through in about two seconds (possibly more slowly if you use a really high DPI scan setting), and its scanned on both sides at once unless the software is configured otherwise. The included software has the ability to skip blank pages automatically, so only back sides of pages with actual content are saved. Software also features the ability to select a specific color to delete from scans (such as a red ink stamp on pages).
Epson claims a duty cycle of 1,200 sheets per day and recommends a replacement roller assembly kit at 100,000 scans. (That’s a lot of scanning for a personal, desktop scanner!) It also has double-feed detection built-in, so you’re immediately warned of a misfeed, instead of learning about it only after pulling up the scanned copy in the future and discovering a page is missing. Another nice thing about the GT-S50 is Epson’s use of an LED backlight. This should give the unit a longer lifespan than the fluorescent tubes found in most older scanners and also eliminates the need to wait for the lamp to warm up before scanning the first job.
Best of all, the GT-S50 retails for only $399 and can be found on Amazon for as little as $339. I recommend the WorkForce Pro for anyone interested in reducing the amount of paper they file away at home or at work. In speed and quality of scans, it matches my Fujitsu ScanSnap at a price around $150 lower, while having a nicer front panel and more flexible drivers. My only regret about this scanner is the fact we only bought one of them.
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