Hey gang, Valkor here. Back in 2011, the gang over at Fujitsu paid the cave a visit with a pretty swank scanner that gave the likes of another competitive scanner a run for its money – I’m talking about the ScanSnap S1100. It was fast, easy to use and very portable. Three years later and Fujitsu makes a cave return with a new and improved scanner in the form of the ScanSnap iX100 mobile scanner. And this latest entry in the ScanSnap series comes with some cool tricks up its sleeve.
On the outset, the iX100 looks very similar to its older brother, except its all black. It has a top and front opening doors, the front leads into the paper feed, which ejects through the top (paper) or through the back (for business cards) and it’s smart enough to recognize which is which. At the top right you have your scan/stop button and beneath that is the battery/Wi-Fi indicator (Wi-Fi? More on that in a bit). At the rear is the Wi-Fi on and off switch plus a WPS button. And finally on the left is a MicroUSB port, which is used to not only connect the scanner to your PC but also to recharge the internal battery. The set comes with a DVD for installing drivers and additional software, but you can also connect directly through the Fujitsu website to get the drivers if necessary. My Lenovo is pretty up to date, but it still took some time to complete installation. But once that was done, I could begin scanning. And what’s great is that you don’t need to open any software to begin; pic below very related. Once you scan an object, a box will appear allowing you to designate where your objects will go.
What about that Wi-Fi capability? While the iX100 does come with a cable to connect to your PC, you’re also given a wireless option, especially if you need to free up a port, but it also gives you more flexibility in terms of where in the room you can use the scanner. During installation, the software will prompt you to setup and connect the iX100 to your router. Once that’s done you simply unplug the device from your PC and it acts just as if it were plugged in, making this mobile scanner truly mobile. But then Fujitsu took the Wi-Fi thing a bit further and way cooler too.
With the addition of using the iX100 with Wi-Fi, you can also use it alongside your smartphone or tablet, taking your mobile office to a whole new level. Rather than powering up your laptop and having to plug in the scanner, all you need to do is download the app (available for iOS, Android and Kindle) and you can begin scanning and storing objects directly onto your mobile device, which you can then send, edit, share or stash it away into a dropbox or other cloud-storage account. Once you’ve set up the iX100 on your PC, setting up the device on your mobile is cake and scanning is ever simpler – just press a button. But what if there’s no service where you are and you need to scan some important documents? Thankfully with the ScanSnap mobile software, you can wirelessly connect directly to the iX100 so you can continue working no matter the situation.
The iX100 comes with some serious updates, but recalling my last review, I did have some gripes with the S1100. Did those negatives carry over or were they taken care of? And how does this new scanner fare overall? We’re about to find out in the TOV Breakdown.
The Bang:
I gotta say Fujitsu, you guys really know how to make an impressive piece of hardware. And I was pretty impressed with the ScanSnap iX100. For starters, just like with the S1100, this baby can scan with the quickness along with the added bonus of instantly being able to assign my documents where needed with a convenient pop-up without having to open individual software. And it works equally well wirelessly as the scanning process was pain-free, no lag. Working on my smartphone was a whole new experience and I can see its usefulness. However, the iX100 performed beautifully; the mobile software is very simple and straightforward, again no issues with the scanning process. And there’s definitely room to grow as I can see future applications in terms of how the app recognizes different documents, much like it does on the PC. Imagine scanning a business card through the mobile app, allowing you to add it to your contacts, or even allowing you to scan your receipts to track your expenses. It would be a business traveler’s dream! I look forward to that and more. But back to PC scanning; the OCR does a great job of capturing details from business cards and receipts, with very few hiccups. And if it misses an item or two, editing is quite easy. HUGE plus on the new item boxes for CardMinder; that was one of my gripes when I first tested the software with the S1100. Another gripe was with the blue light for the scan/stop button. Thankfully it’s not as annoyingly bright as before as the blue is much softer. So whether your scanning requirements are needed at home or on the go, the iX100 has you covered as it’s definitely a step up from the S1100, giving you fast scanning alongside a simple, easy to use interface. Color me impressed.
The Slack:
N/A
Initially only available internationally, the ScanSnap iX100 is about to make its US debut – just in time for the holiday season no less. It would make for a great gift to anyone’s home office or the business traveler in your life. So out of TOV 5 stars, the ScanSnap iX100 gets a perfect score of 5 and its been Valkor tested, TOV Approved!
