Canon imageFORMULA P-150 Scan-tini Personal Document Scanner

• USB Cable Powered
• 15 ppm B&W/10ppm Color
• 20 Sheet ADF
• ISIS and Twain compatible
• Lightweight (2.1 lbs) and Extremely Portable
• Compact size, Practical
• Liberates document capture by taking it beyond the walls of the office to the convenience of any user location`

Good points:

--Small, I can easily carry it to and from work

--Acts in stand-alone mode (no drivers required)

--Fast, quiet, duplexes

--"Skip blank page" works fine

--Feeds almost anything. I'm archiving family records now--feeds almost anything up to 100-year-old letters, card stock, stacks of photos.

--TWAIN and ISIS drivers, that the Fujitsu does not have

--Paper path is less angled than an all-in-one ADF's 180 degrees.

--Easy to clear paper jam

--Deskew generally works, but not always. I scan a stack of veiably-sized items, so I often do not use the paper guides. It's pretty gppd about keeping things straight.

Bad points:

--Does not like onionskin paper

--Takes 2 USB ports unless I want to pay $35 for an AC adapter

--Black-and-white (1 bit) mode does not really like anything except crisp black test. Typewritten text, of which I have reams, does not come in well, I scan in grayscale or color. Have not played with the sensitivity

--No output tray

--I'm not at all pleased with the quality of scanned photos, but I suppose that's to be expected. I have an Epson Perfection for that.

--Scanner software will handle only a few variations. Button can be assigned only to one

--Will only scan to 14" long

Have not tried OCR

I like it. I'm glad I bought it.

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I've been using this scanner for six months and have come past my initial enthusiasm to a more settled satisfaction. The scanner is fast and gives results as good as any scanner I've owned--and I've owned a number over the years. Moreover, it's a classy little instrument--well-built, folds up into a perfect little glossy black box. I leave it on a window ledge in my living room and except for the cords, it doesn't look out of place.

I've found that convenience is the most important factor in my life with scanners. It can be fast, but if it's bulky or ugly and I have to put it away when I'm done with it, then it's inconvenient to use and I get tired of it. My multi-function printer/scanner is fast, but woefully inconvenient. Either it won't work on the network, its driver won't work with my computer, or it's physically distant because I don't want it near the living area of my house. I never use the thing to scan.

I also have a little NeatWorks scanner. It's small and convenient, but slow as molasses in January. I hate waiting on it. And I have a Canon plate-type scanner. It does beautiful scans, but it's slow and though slim, still too large to leave out in the living room.

This scanner's chief charms are its looks, compactness and speed. It's physically fast. It's also fast on the software side. I plug in the scanner, hit the big scan button and the scanner fires up its software utility on the computer, scans the document and asks me where I want it saved. That simple. One button and you're done: from plugging in the scanner to scan on your desktop it's a matter of seconds.

One positive about the scanner I didn't fully appreciate when I ordered it is its ability to do double-sided scans without a second pass through the machine. It incorporates two scan surfaces into its feed allowing a double-sided scan with just one pass through the machine.

The negatives which have become more apparent to me over time are few but significant. Most significant in my mind is the machine's inability to sheet-feed certain types of paper consistently. I use legal pads for handwriting and then scan my notes. The scanner is unable to grab one sheet at a time with this paper. It does better with thinner, flimsier, cheaper paper. Good quality paper causes it to grab three and even four sheets at a time. This is a real frustration.

Less frustrating is the automatic duplexing capability. Sometimes I want only one side of a sheet, but if there's anything at all on the back it gets scanned as well, leaving you with an extra page you must remove from the scan. Since I own the full version of Acrobat I can do this easily, but I'm not sure this would be so easily accomplished for someone possessing just Acrobat Reader.

Finally, when folding the machine up into its little box it's important to close the paper guides first. If you forget, they'll get force-closed by contact with the inside of the box, but I suspect over time such contact could break the guides.

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I had this scanner for a few days and had to have it returned because many of the scanned images were skewed which the deskew option could not correct. The degree of skew translates to one edge of an A4-size scan being about 0.5 cm (0.2 inch) higher than the other, viewed portrait-wise. Canon service explained that this was considered within limits but it wasn't for me.

Where there was skew, it was observed that the document being scanned would roll off the two paper guides in the feeder during the scan process.

Skew was more apparent under the following circumstances:

scanning full-sized documents e.g. A4 paper,

scanning thin documents,

scanning creased documents,

single sheet scanning.

How does the Canon P-150 compare with its main competitor the Fujitsu S300? I also have some experience with the latter unit. The S300 images don't skew noticeably. It is also slightly cheaper. In most other aspects Canon is superior: faster, lighter, smaller, more streamlined, has Twain/ISIS drivers and requires only one USB cable to operate (Fujitsu requires two USBs, or one USB plus a cable from a separate power adapter). Bottomline: go for Canon if you can tolerate the skew.

Why only two stars? For me scan quality overrides everything else. All other features are secondary.

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Okay so I use scanners all the time because I am tired of having paper pile up on my desk. I've been using the flatbed that came with my HP Deskjet F4200 (which is a fantastic little printer by the way) and the although the scanner works fine, it is not duplex and does not have a feeder and is slow. But the quality is fine. It does work great for things you can't feed into the P150 such as credit cards, licenses, wrinkled/damaged documents etc.

So here is where the P150 shines and you will need sunglasses.

1. It does receipts seamlessly. The feeder narrows down for even the tiniest gas receipts.

2. It is quick. The paper just runs through without even the slightest of noises or whirring sounds.

3. It makes beautiful scans and very rarely requires adjustments to the settings.

4. OCR is performed automatically. (doesn't get everything but you can run OCR again with other software such as Acrobat pro etc)

5. The scan software is simple, intuitive, fast and just plain excellent.

6. You don't have to click on any software to scan. Just stick the paper in and hit the button and voila, it scans. Then just save and your ready for the next one.

7. I haven't had a jam yet. Seriously. Make sure you install in the included page separator component as it appears some other negative reviewers failed to do so.

8. The thing is tiny, but solid and just very cool. Dust on black is no big deal as some reviewers complain. The thing closes up and is completely protected. The gloss black is fine and quite nice actually. Take care of it, and get a HEPA air filter or something. Give me a break.

9. It doesn't need a power cable! Just plug into standard USB and you are in business. It apparently will go faster with the included 2nd USB power cable but it's already WAY faster than my flatbed. I suppose if you were douing a huge stack of paper you would, but I don't want it to go any faster with the creases and folds in my documents...I'd rather see it go at a nice medium pace.

10. Yes, I tried the NeatReceipts product and save your self. It is a total waste and a real piece of inferior equipment plus it is proprietary and the software is absolutely horrifying.

11. Even if the receipt doesn't feed straight, the software fixes it. What a time saver!!!

12. This is a biggie. It is DUPLEX meaning it scans both sides of documents and if a side is blank it is smart enough to ignore it.

13. I haven't had any problem with Skewing as some have mentioned. Sounds like those people need to get Adobe Acrobat and hit "Optimize". That automatically fixes the document if it fed slightly off. Come on people, this is a SCANNER not a printing press what goes in, is what comes out.

And last but definitely not least, this one is TWAIN COMPLIANT, unlike the similarly featured and pricey, Fujitsu Scan Snap!!! (the Fujitsu Scansnap, has to use it's own special proprietary software to get the scans. And you can't use other software. The Canon P-150 ImageFORMULA however, works with all standard scan software products that have the ability to acquire scans which is most of them these days, such as most image editing software, MS-Word, Adobe Acrobat, and the list goes on)

Hip Hip Hooray for CANON!

-Abe M. Alexander

Realtor, Windsor, CA

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As a college student, I live in a pretty small space. I also have to move around every year when I change dorm rooms and pack up for the summer. Because of this, and because I just don't like clutter, I've always scanned my notes each semester and then recycled the paper. This used to mean getting through 3 pages a minute on a flatbed scanner, so scanning all my notes at the end of the semester took me 2 or 3 days. In comparison, this little scanner goes at lightening speed. And I don't have to babysit it to make sure each new page gets scanned! Additionally, I can now easily scan whatever I want in just seconds to send to classmates, professors, my parents, and my friends. And it's tiny maybe a little bigger than a Chipotle burrito so I can take it to group meetings or anywhere else I may need to go. As I tell everyone I know, using this scanner is my new favorite hobby. It does a wonderful job and is the perfect item for anyone who likes organization.

Now, I gave this item five stars because I love the scanner so much. The software is a little slow and could definitely use some improvements, but it's a side show to the beauty of the scanner. So if you have high expectations of your software, maybe this isn't right for you. For everyone else, I would recommend this scanner without hesitation.