Friday, January 31, 2014

Deals for Plustek OpticFilm 8200i Ai Film Scanner. OPTICFILM 8200I AI CLR SLIDE 7200DPI 64BIT 36.8X25.4MM USB 2.0. 48-bit Color - 16-bit Grayscale - USB

Plustek OpticFilm 8200i Ai Film Scanner. OPTICFILM 8200I AI CLR SLIDE 7200DPI 64BIT 36.8X25.4MM USB 2.0. 48-bit Color - 16-bit Grayscale - USB

Plustek OpticFilm 8200i Ai Film Scanner. OPTICFILM 8200I AI CLR SLIDE 7200DPI 64BIT 36.8X25.4MM USB 2.0. 48-bit Color - 16-bit Grayscale - USB Review


Main Features

  • Manufacturer/Supplier: Plustek, Inc
  • Manufacturer Part Number: 783064365338
  • Manufacturer Website Address: /usa
  • Brand Name: Plustek
  • Product Line: OpticFilm
  • Product Model: 8200i Ai
  • Product Name: OpticFilm 8200i Ai
  • Marketing Information: Plustek OpticFilm 8200i Ai is a powerful scanner with 7200 dpi resolution. Its sharp optical system produces excellent detail in shadow areas and remarkable tonal range. A built-in infrared channel helps users remove dust and scratches on the original negatives and slides without additional post-processing. With the included IT 8 calibration slide, this powerful scanner consistently delivers accurate colors and detail.
  • Product Type: Film Scanner
  • Large Format: No
  • Image Sensor: CCD
  • Optical Resolution: 7200 dpi
  • Scan Color: Color
  • Color Depth: 48-bit
  • Grayscale Depth: 16-bit
  • Media Type: Film, Photo, 35mm Film
  • Media Size: 35mm Film, Custom Size
  • Infrared: Yes
  • USB: Yes
  • Form Factor: Desktop
  • Height: 4.7
  • Width: 4.7
  • Depth: 10.7
  • Weight (Approximate): 3.53 lb
  • Package Contents:
      OpticFilm 8200i Ai, Software CD, Two Film Holders
  • Platform Supported: PC, Mac
  • Green Compliant: Yes
  • Green Compliance Certificate/Authority: ENERGY STAR
  • Country of Origin: China


Price : $582.59
* Get the best price and special discount only for limited time



Plustek OpticFilm 8200i Ai Film Scanner. OPTICFILM 8200I AI CLR SLIDE 7200DPI 64BIT 36.8X25.4MM USB 2.0. 48-bit Color - 16-bit Grayscale - USB Feature


  • 7200DPI
  • 36.8X25.4MM
  • USB 2.0






Maybe you should visit the following website to get a better price and specification details

Costumer review

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
4Very nice scanner.
By NMG
This is a slide and film scanner with high resolution- at the max I generated a file of .4GB! I normally scan at a resolution to generate a 12MB Tiff file which seems to produce quite accptable 8x10 pictures on a color laser printer.
It is a little slow and would probably benefit from a USB 3 connection.
The enclosed software seems good but the manual supplied is sparse. It will take me a while to use it effeciently.
All in all I am quite satisfied with it. I have several thousand slides to scan. I will see how it holds up!

Best Epson B11B193141 Perfection V30 Photo Scanner

Epson B11B193141 Perfection V30 Photo Scanner

Epson B11B193141 Perfection V30 Photo Scanner Review


Scan photos and 3D objects with amazing clarity and detail. The value priced Epson Perfection V30 makes it easier than ever with 4800 dpi optical resolution and a host of automatic features. With the scanner remarkable resolution, you can easily create extraordinary images. And it offers easy setup plus one touch scanning. So, whether you choose to archive important documents or your favorite photos, you can be up and running in no time. Bring those faded color photos back to life effortlessly with the Perfection V30. This versatile performer even includes a high-rise lid for scanning books and other 3D objects. With an innovative LED light source, the Perfection V30 provides fast scans with no warmup time.Power Requirements: 100-120V AC; 50-60Hz.


Price :
* Get the best price and special discount only for limited time



Epson B11B193141 Perfection V30 Photo Scanner Feature


  • 4800 x 9600 dpi optical resolution
  • Beautiful enlargements up to 13 x 19
  • Advanced Digital Dust Correction
  • One-touch photo restoration
  • compatible with Windows and Macintosh; Hi-Speed USB 2.0 connection






Maybe you should visit the following website to get a better price and specification details

Costumer review

209 of 215 people found the following review helpful.
5Fantastic. Same as V300 except for negative holder.
By salute_to_veterans
I just got this and have been trying it out. As I surmised, it is identical to the V300 except there is no negative holder in the box. The driver CDROM and all documentation lists both models. I'm using this with Photoshop and Indesign to make personal studies for portrait drawing practice, using art book and magazine images for source material. I was holding my breath to make sure the TIFF file type is included with this version, and it is (in the professional scan mode.) Fabulously smooth images made from ordinary newspaper color ad inserts using only 800 dpi. You can select various destination image types, including up to 48-bit color and up to 12,800 dpi (in professional mode). TIFF files are rather large, but I plan to dump them as soon as I print the cropped images. (After I draw, I no longer need the images.) Of course, also does jpeg format (default) and has a tremendous range of custom formatting before saving, as well as ultra simple 'point and shoot' scanning. Also has customizable presets for home mode (email scanning, etc.) and office mode (RGB value settings, for example). I haven't tried this yet, but it makes PDF files in all but full auto mode, without purchasing Adobe Acrobat, unbelievable. (I have a Fujitsu document scanner that outputs to PDF, but it cost several times more.)

There is the same user selection option for film as a document type as on the V300 so I don't see why you can't scan slides and negatives, using a homemade holder or even just guessing where to position film in the center strip of the scanner bed. I don't plan to scan many film images or I would have gotten the V300, but it was not available for prime shipping. I do have some favorite Velvia slides I will eventually try to scan and see what happens. Will let you know how it goes when I get a chance. Superb scanner, incredible price, and arguably unbeatable Epson reliability, per my previous experience with color inkjets going back to windows 3.1 that just never stopped working well. I based my purchase on all the high praise for the V300/V200 and the assumption that this one uses the same scan engine and software, which it does, the only difference I can tell being the missing film holder. If anything, the V30 is more recent and probably has higher specs than the V300. If you don't need a film holder, or if you just need to update your flatbed scanner, this is a total no brainer. Forgot to mention, top is hinged and lifts/flips back out of the way.

120 of 128 people found the following review helpful.
5Easy to use and does a nice job scanning photos and documents
By Book and Dog Lover
The Epson V30 does a nice job of combining an easy-to-use scanner for those who don't want to have to tweak - just scan please! - with a scanner that has the bells and whistles for those who want to do more.

I used the scanner to scan photos and documents (as a jpeg and also as a PDF). I did not use the email feature (as it basically uses Outlook and I don't use that email package on my home computer).

Photo Scanning

I tried the Epson with a variety of photos. Photos consisted of several photos of Bryce Canyon in winter (contrast of snow and colors), your basic Grand Canyon photos, a couple of typical people photos (a couple of people standing in a dark room and also photos where the light was more evenly distributed). I also had some photos that had spots in them (black marks in the sky) to test the dust removal option and an old yellowing photo (40+ years old) of a couple to test the color restoration features.

Epson's default mode is Full Auto mode. If you don't have any issues with the photos, don't want to preview them, don't need to change the size and you just want to scan them, use this option. As in all other modes, there's no warm-up needed - photos scan quickly and the Epson does a nice job. By default, all photos are saved in your My Pictures directory. (Select Customize and then select the File Save Settings option to change that - you can also change the default name). You can also use this mode if your photos do have issues (dust marks or need the color restored). Select the Full Auto mode, select Customize, select the options - Dust Removal and/or Color Restoration and even for those photos with issues, you can have the Epson give its best shot. I used this option with my "problem" photos to see how the Epson would do. I found that the Epson did a decent job - all of my dust "spots" were gone. My yellowing photo was nice and clear - no yellowing, and a crisp clear photo. As far as the color restoration, I'd give it a B+. It did a nice job of removing the yellow tinge that was in the photo, though personally, I would have liked to see more color put in the photo (which I could do myself in the other modes).

If you want to do more than just scan in the photo - you want to do some tweaking yourself - use one of the other modes that are provided. Office Mode is for scanning documents and previewing the documents (more on that below). Home Mode allows you to customize the settings and preview the photo. It's a nice in-between option between the Full Auto mode where the scanner does it all and the Professional Mode where you need to figure it out - it gives you the ability to tweak, but doesn't give you so many options that you don't know what to do. Professional Mode on the other hand, gives you total control - you tell it about the original, the destination, and the adjustments you want to make. As someone with little experience in tweaking photos, I found the Home Mode the mode I would use most often. I think the Professional Mode is something I would use only occasionally or after playing with this tool a lot.

Scanning documents
I also tried the Epson V30 to scan documents - scanned as jpeg images and also as a PDF. The document was a tax form with my signature on it. I used the Full Auto mode and the Office mode and found in both cases, it was easy and quick to use. Office mode gives you more options - I could tell the scanner the resolution, orientation, and make any adjustments to the image. I could also use Full Auto mode to create the PDF. Very easy.

ArcSoft MediaImpression came with the Epson scanner. It's another tool that (among other things) allows you to tweak your photos after you've scanned them. It works with "all media files" though I only used it for my scanned photos. It's a photo tool which you can also use to email and archive items. It's a pretty basic tool that's easy to use. A nice addition to the scanner.

Documentation that comes along with the product consists of a Quick Start page (English, Spanish, and French versions) and an online User Guide. All were well written and helped me to use the product.

All in all, I recommend the Epson scanner if you want to quickly and easily scan your photos and documents. I like how you can have the scanner do it all, or when you're ready, have the ability to tweak it yourself. Nicely done!

91 of 97 people found the following review helpful.
5Fantastic, Fast Scanner at a Very Affordable Price
By Tom Tracy
I love my Epson Perfection v30 scanner. It replaced a trusty Epson Perfection 2400 Photo that I have had for about 3 years. The quality of scanned images is better with this new scanner, thanks to the higher DPI rating. And, thanks to the new LED scan technology, there is no longer any warm-up time at all and, on top of that, once the scanning starts, It scans faster than my Perfection 2400 Photo. Finally, it is quieter. It is a winner on all three of these counts compared to my old scanner, no doubt.

Plus, at just under 1 ½" high it is less than half as tall as the Perfection 2400 Photo. This, coupled with the fact that the top opens across the width of the scanner as opposed to along the length, means that this scanner works much, MUCH better for me on the wall-mounted shelf in my home office where I like to put a scanner. This alone has me sold on this scanner as a replacement for my old one, which was always a little hard to get to and kind of "clunky" to use on the shelf.

Finally, this scanner works great with both Mac OS X (v10.5.6) & Windows Vista 64-bit (SP1). I have both a Mac & a PC in my office, and I use a USB switch to switch the scanner back and forth between the two systems. The supplied driver works well on both operating systems - the interface is even the same. And, as a bonus, the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software with the strange name (ABBYY FineReader Sprint) that comes included with the scanner works great (Windows only, however - there is no Mac version of this OCR software).

Finally, at the incredibly affordable price being charged for this scanner, I think it is an awesome deal. For anyone with less-than-professional scanning needs who wants a fast, quiet & capable scanner for either Mac OS X or Windows, I cannot recommend this scanner highly enough. I'd give it 6 stars if I could!

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Where Can You Buy Epson B11B181011 GT-2500 Document Scanner

Epson B11B181011 GT-2500 Document Scanner

Epson B11B181011 GT-2500 Document Scanner Review


Epson GT-2500 Series Color Flatbed Scanner


Price :
* Get the best price and special discount only for limited time



Epson B11B181011 GT-2500 Document Scanner Feature


  • Flatbed scanner with built-in Automatic Document Feeder can scan up to 27 ppm
  • 50 page capacity Automatic Document Feeder features automatic duplexing and can scan paper up to 8.5 x 14 inches
  • 1200 dpi, 48 bit color scanning
  • USB 2.0 connectivity, with optional network adapter
  • Compact, desktop design is ideal for busy workgroups






Maybe you should visit the following website to get a better price and specification details

Costumer review

50 of 50 people found the following review helpful.
4Best scanner under $1000
By J. Mandell
This is my third scanner within the past year.
First was the highly regarded Fujitsu Snapscan. It worked really well for about 6 months on normal letter size documents. But after that, the automatic paper feeder started grabbing more than one sheet at a time.
I cleaned it following instructions and even sent it in for service, but the problem only got worse. Even three sheet scans seized up in the middle when the feeder grabbed all three and jammed. I couldn't finish many jobs at all.
And forget about odd shaped docs - it would take them, but no matter how they went in, they scanned in wild, off center angles, making reading them nearly impossible. The scanner is now somewhere in the garage.
Next: a Brother multi-function center, purchased primarily for its scanner capabilities.
Except that it draws more than a thousand watts of power. And it blew up my battery back-up power system. Posts on the net indicated this wasn't a fluke, so that one went back.
So, now to the new Epson. Here's what I found:
1. After the first half dozen scans (during which the machine made scary loud groaning noises), it now runs very quietly and dependably. Guess I'll never know what those first ones were about, but I'm not worried about it.
2. The quality of the scans is excellent. I advise setting the software for light sharpening.
3. However, there is a little too much scanner interface involvement. You should be able to set all of the various choices (paper size; color vs. black and white; where to save it, etc) and then store that setting and tell the machine to just keep scanning that way until you change it. Instead, you have to approve it for every scan. It only takes a second, but it's annoying.
4. Ironically, the software doesnt stop at the one place you do want it to wait for you - after the scan and before saving, to give you a chance to rename it. It just numbers and saves the file automatically.
This is really dumb, as you have to reopen it and rename it each time(though you can set the software to automatically reopen the file where you keep the scans so it's one step less to do this).
I have to believe they'll fix this in a software update, as this is a new product. I've registered my vote on this and if you buy this product, you should too.
Other than that, I'm very happy with the scanner. It also works well with magazine articles as well as regular bond paper. It's not as fast as the Fujitsu and it requires a couple of extra steps per scan, but... this one works! (and really weird stuff can always go on the flatbed, which the Fujitsu didn't have)
I'm keeping this one and using it to start a project I've been wanting to do for a couple of years now: scan the contents of my file cabinets onto my hard drive.
After that, I'm gonna back it all up on another drive and toss out the originals.
Sweet.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful.
5Exceptional genuine office-quality scanner for less than $600
By Virtualmonk
I'm a long-time user of scanners going back to the earliest H-P ScanJet models, and this Epson GT 2500 is a terrific scanner for the money. I'm running it in an office environment scanning all types of items from heavily wrinkled and torn paper documents to photos to CD face images and it's handled everything I've thrown at it. The ADF picks up and feeds even hastily smoothed out very crumpled sheets of paper without jamming and the scanned images require little if any deskewing. The Epson Scan software interfaces well with PaintShop Pro and Adobe Acrobat 7.x and 8.x. Plus, the scanner makes very little noise, even when feeding through the ADF.

The only two minor shortcomings I've found thus far are a) the fit of the scanner glass and the scanner body at the front isn't completely tight, so items (such as CDs) can slip in between if you slide them forward instead of lifting them straight up off the glass, and b) the scanner activation button on the front (there's only one) isn't very sensitive and has to be pressed down for a second for the software to launch.

Otherwise, I'm very pleased with the unit and can highly recommend it.

AFTER FOUR MONTHS OF USE:

I'm still very pleased with this scanner. Since buying it, I added the optional network card, so I could scan from more than one workstation. The network feature works great. There are two minor annoyances. One, the scanner activation button is deactivated when the network card is installed. Two, the scanner connection will timeout after a certain amount of inactivity and the maximum you can set this to is 300 seconds. Still, the network connection is a great feature to have.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
4I'm Impressed
By Dave H
I've just installed the scanner on a dual-boot Mac Tiger and Vista with no problems - works great on both. First delight was putting in a 50 page bw double-sided document and watching it smoothly and quickly become a pdf. The machine just 'feels' good - solid, nice fit and finish, and the software seems 'quite good' That's the only reason for 4 stars vs 5 at this point -- I have a sense that there will be a few little convenience issues in the user interface that I may not love. No showstoppers but little things like things flow and the options it does or doesn't provide. I'll feed back any suggestions to Epson and hope for response in new releases. Bottom line - I've had HP's and this seems as good and even better in the feel so-far.

Compare and Get the best price for Brother DS920DW Wireless Duplex Mobile Color Page Scanner

Brother DS920DW Wireless Duplex Mobile Color Page Scanner

Brother DS920DW Wireless Duplex Mobile Color Page Scanner Review


Brother DSMobile 920DW Scanner

920DW Scanner scans both sides of documents in one pass
The DS-920DW captures both sides of double-sided documents in a single pass.


Price : $149.99
* Get the best price and special discount only for limited time



Brother DS920DW Wireless Duplex Mobile Color Page Scanner Feature


  • Wi-Fi transfer scanned documents to your computer or mobile device
  • Scans single-sided materials at up to 8 ppm and double-sided materials at up to 5 ppm in both color and black/white
  • Bundled with a valuable suite of scanning software, including desktop document, receipt and business card management programs
  • 4GB SD Memory Card included
  • Easily scans documents, photos, plastic I.D. cards and more, from business card size up to 8.5"(W) x 32"(L)






Maybe you should visit the following website to get a better price and specification details

Costumer review

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful.
2Dissapointing ...
By rsteel1
I purchased the DS920DW to replace a Brother DSMobile 600. There are a few things I'd like to point out to prospective buyers of this device that they may not understand.

1. This scanner cannot be wirelessly interfaced with interactive scanning software on a computer. Rather, you scan to the included SD card and then transfer the images over wireless to your PC as a separate operation. You can't control scanner settings over wireless and can't initiate scanning over wireless. The scanner contains a web server that can display the SD card's contents when you connect to its IP address wirelessly and allows you to download scanned images.

2. When connected over USB, the SD card's content can be directly accessed in Windows Explorer and transferred over USB. To me this seems simpler than messing with the WiFi settings to do this wirelessly.

3. The driver software for this device does not work on my Windows 8.1 machine. It installs, but any attempt at using USB results in a USB 2023 error.

4. Since the scanner's settings cannot be modified wirelessly, you have to use the button menus on the scanner when operating in standalone (scan to SD card) mode. Not all of the scanner's capability is exposed through the button interface. For example, you can choose color or monochrome on the scanner. In the software you can choose color, grayscale and black and white.

The speed of the scanner seems to be quite good as does the image quality. One feature I liked that my DS600 lacked was a sliding document width guide that helps keep documents straight as they go through the scanner. The included software suite seems pretty extensive but since I'll be returning the scanner I haven't tested it extensively.

The scanner is quite a bit heavier than other mobile scanners I've used but is still quite portable. On of the other features I liked was the ability to open the scanner to clean rollers and clear out stray dirt.

As others have noted, the documentation included in the box is limited to a quick start guide that was not very helpful. The full manual is on the included CD/DVD. Like many with newer laptops, this was also a bit of a frustration as my machine does not have a CD/DVD player to load the software. I do have an SD slot and it would have made life much easier if the software was also included on the SD card.

All in all this may be a decent mobile duplex scanner but the wireless capabilities, the on scanner controls and the driver maturity were all disappointments.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
5Convenient and easy to use scanner ...
By Amazonian Consumer
You must first determine if this is the kind of scanner suitable for your application. The Brother DS920DW is a sheet-fed type of scanner that welcomes single sheet of copy material at a time, such as reports or presentations coming from a looseleaf binder. If you need to copy pages of information from a book, or anything that has pages bound together, then you need a hand scanner or a flatbed scanner.

There are three features that make this Brother DS920DW scanner more convenient than others: it is portable/mobile (can be battery and USB powered), it can scan two sides at once, and it can store scanned image files on a SD memory card or send scanned files to a computer wirelessly.

The DS920DW is relatively light at 1.2 pounds and measures 12.1 X 2.6 X 1.6 inches.

There is a small LCD display window on the right side of the scanner and there are 6 buttons below it to allow you to select various settings: mono or color, 1-side or 2-side, PDF or JPG file format, menu, and power. There is a suite of software provided to make managing scanned documents very easy.

19 of 25 people found the following review helpful.
3Oh Brother...
By Jerry P. Danzig
I had an awful time getting my computer (running Windows 7 Home Premium) to recognize this portable duplex scanner.

The documentation is terrible. You get a Quick Start guide and a lengthier manual on the disc, but neither gives you a thorough and well-integrated step-by-step walk-through of how to get the scanner up and running. It was some time (and a phone call to Brother's tech support) before I saw anywhere that you need to press the OK button to shift between the PC and SD (self-contained) modes to engage the former.

I also found two -- count 'em, two -- last-minute clarification sheets included in the package, testifying to the inadequate documentation of the manual and quick start guide.

So after spending two hours with Brother on the phone and escalating to a second level of support, we eventually got my computer to recognize the scanner. The trick was to connect the scanner to the computer via the USB cable and then press the scanner's ON button (even though the green light was already lit) and then press the aforementioned OK button.

One down side remains -- the wireless mode doesn't seem very useful. The full-featured PaperPort scanning program they include on the installation disc seems to recognize the scanner ONLY via the USB cable.

So if you want the advanced features that PaperPort gives you, including Optical Character Recognition, you MUST hook up the scanner via USB (or read a file off the SD card). Except that PP doesn't seem to support the duplex (double-sided scanning function). For that, you need to scan to SD card and then open the file with a photo program, file viewer, or the PP program. (I later discovered that the BizCard and DS Mobile programs included -- Brother's own stripper scanner program -- support duplex.)

I also tried scanning a color document and having PP perform an OCR routine -- the results were dreadful. Completely unusable. I then tried scanning a b&w page of text and the OCR worked perfectly, sending an editable file to Word. It appears that PP will also fax a scan or enter a scan into an Excel spreadsheet.

If you use the scanner in wireless mode, it basically scans images to the SD card, and then allows you to see your images on a special website page. Why would you want to do that? Beats me!

Does all this confuse you? Me too -- and the nice (American) guys on the Brother help line in New Jersey, who said they haven't been trained on the machine yet.

I should mention that Brother also includes another program called Button Manager which -- um, I'm really not sure what it does... I don't suppose it interfaces with Brother sewing machines so you can attach buttons to shirts and sweaters? When you register your scanner at their website, they also let you download a free receipt manager program which is supposed to let you scan, store, and organize receipts for export to QuickBooks and Quicken.

The BizCard program, which scans business cards, interpreting and storing the information, works very well. This is a handy routine, to be sure!

So I guess this scanner is useful for people who need to bring a small portable scanner to a remote site to scan stuff and save it to an SD card. AND you can use the scanner in a more full-featured mode by connecting it to your computer via the USB cable. I should mention that the scanner is completely silent in operation and, like Brother printers and fax machines, handles paper like a champ.

It can scan documents from 2.2 inches to 8.5 inches in width and 3.5 inches to 32 inches in length. It will scan a letter-sized page in 7.5 seconds at 300 dpi or 14.1 seconds at higher resolutions. Duplex speeds are lower -- 11.3 seconds per letter-sized page at 300 dpi and 19.8 seconds at higher resolutions.

Charging time for the lithium-ion battery is listed at 4 hours, with scan time listed as 140 sheets with the wireless on and 680 sheets with wireless off.

On the plus side, you get everything you need to do all this, including the SD card, the programs mentioned, the USB cable, a lithium-ion battery, and a travel pouch.

But don't be surprised if you also get some headaches trying to figure all this out. I certainly did...

PROS:

* Good portable battery-powered scanner with duplex (double-sided scanning) capability.
* Comes fully equipped with SD memory card, USB cable, lithium-ion rechargeable battery, driver, scanner software, travel pouch.
* Value-added capabilities include optical character recognition, business card and receipt organization, fax.
* Good customer support over the phone with friendly, helpful American agents and a toll-free number.
* Made by Brother, a company renowned for their superior paper-handling equipment (printers, fax machines).

CONS:

* Poor documentation. Very confusing and difficult to get scanner up and running with computer.
* Wireless capability doesn't seem very useful at present.
* Paper-feeder format prevents you from scanning books, as you could with a wand scanner.

UPDATE: I've been debating how many stars to give this product. I like the machine well enough, but the poor documentation and overall user experience to date have been less than optimal. Another case in point: yesterday I went to Brother's site to register the machine and get a FREE receipt reader program. The website absolutely refused to acknowledge my passport, which I thought we had established the week before when I was working with Brother on the phone to get the machine to interface with my computer.

Nor did the website send a link by email enabling me to reset the password, as probably more than nine out of ten good websites will do. Instead I had to get on the phone with Brother again, and after escalating to a second level, I am still awaiting their return phone call when they have discovered a solution to this most basic of problems!

Would Steve Jobs have tolerated such a poor user interface if Apple had effected such a sloppy product launch? Highly unlikely -- he would have cleaned house.

So -- though I might give the scanner itself five stars, I must give the overall user experience to date just one star. This has been the WORST USER EXPERIENCE I have encountered since the first PC I bought in the late eighties, which arrived unconfigured and with its hard drive in a paper bag! If I had been a user in immediate need of a scanner rather than an occasional user writing a review, I would have probably already sent the unit back and ordered a different one from a competitor.

I trust that Brother will clean up its scanner act in time. As I write this, however, it would appear that new users will suffer a bumpy ride...

UPDATE NUMBER TWO: Brother did get back to me at the end of the day with a fix to the password problem. It seems that there is no reset link on the page telling you there's a problem with your password. Instead, you have to get the lucky inspiration to click on the My Account button, and there you will find a password reset link. Intuitive? No, not at all. Good luck, Brother customers...

UPDATE NUMBER THREE: Well, I finally managed to download the BR Receipts program, and guess what -- I can't get it to scan receipts! I think it wants me to set up an online account and, again, it won't accept the password I had established at the other Brother site!!! So once again I am going to have to spend several hours on the phone with these guys to get this receipt program to work. Am I annoyed? VERY. Yikes...

Prospective buyers should also know that Brother only mans their support lines during business hours M-F, so you're on your own if you need help on the weekend. And good luck accessing the online chat mode, which again seems to set its own hours.

UPDATE NUMBER FOUR: I spent an hour with Brother on the phone today -- escalating to a second level of support. It turns out that you need to open a folder within a box to scan receipts! It also seems that the OCR does not always work very well, even on receipts for stores or businesses within the program's rather limited database. The solution is to highlight the pertinent area(s) on the receipt using the "Recognize Field" button, and then it will perform an OCR on just the selected area(s) -- like total amount on a bill.

It also seems that the maximum length of a receipt cannot exceed 14 inches. If you try to scan a longer receipt, you will get a document jam message, and the program will not record the scanned image. The easy fix here is to cut off the tops or bottoms of any receipts that run longer than fourteen inches.

So -- the program works, but not without some user intervention.

I have added back one star to my review, because I do appreciate the fact that Brother uses American phone support personnel, and they are friendly and helpful.

But my overall impression remains -- this product seems to have been released to the marketplace before it was ready for prime-time. And the wireless capability is more of a marketing claim than a truly useful function.

UPDATE NUMBER FIVE: To my amazement, I received a phone message today from one of the (American) support folks at Brother, checking in to see if I still had any issues with accessing their website or setting up the product.

For this level of concern and follow-through, I am giving them one more star than before. Again, what we have here is a good company offering a good product that I believe they put on the market, like Obamacare, before they had crossed all their T's and dotted their I's, at least in regard to documentation, software, and their website.

If you read this review some months down the road, I hope that Brother will by then have polished all the rough edges and that their future product roll-outs will be less problematic. Stranger things have happened, as Morticia Addams said...