VuPoint PDS-ST470PU-VP Compact Portable Wand Scanner

I bought this to scan pages from books. I'm college student and thought this scan would make it easier to pull definitions and such from books instead of hand writing them. It works okay with books until you get close to the spin. Then you lose data and the OCR just guesses at what the scanner doesn't pickup. You for overall book scanning, it's iffy. I'm also a college professor. This does allow me to scan other lose type pages, magazines and other materials that you can flatten out. The scan on these once you get use to the scanning process is good. It comes with the necessary software and USB cable. The software allows you to turn you scanned data into pictures, PDF or MS Word documents. The software does the translation from picture to text. This scanner is rechargeable. So, no need to have it constantly connect to system for power. The only necessary item you will need is a MicroSDHC memory card. The capacity depends on how much data you plan to scan and how much time there would be between data downloads. It says up to 32GB memory card. I think the average user could get away with a 4GB - 8GB. They aren't that expensive. I'm using a 16GB card at $14. If you plan of carrying this around with you, you may need a case to protect it. The one they have paired with this on the product page is a nice case that will protect the scanner and provides a space for the USB cable and memory card container. However, it is a very tight fit.If you are looking for a scanner that will scan lines of text in hard bound type books, a pen scanner would be better.

If I could give it 3.5 stars, I would. It's a great scanner for documents. An amazing feature is that it can keep scanning for several feet (if you even had the space to lay something flat for that amount of distance).However, this is not as amazing for scanning images. No matter how high I go, there is distortion and some kind of 'faux' pixelation. I tried scanning really large and shrinking down, but the distortion is still very noticeable. It's never going to come out as clean as a bed or drum scanner because you scan manually with the movement of your hands. Lines won't even be as clean as a picture I take with my Samsung Galaxy II.Another thing is that I can't get the computer to read the scanner at all, so I have to pull out the tiny SD card every time.Not too bad a buy for such a low price though, I think I got it for about $65, and after using it, I wouldn't pay much more than $75 for this product. If your job requires you to scan a lot of documents though, it's well worth your money for the convenience.

It is super light, and scans great photos. I consider this plug and play. I bought a separate 8gb microSD card, and didn't get anywhere near filling it halfway. I brought this abroad to scan family photos and documents from relatives. It's particularly useful as most people do not like to let you take such momentos. I was lucky to buy this from a seller as "used" because it was a returned product. It had all the documentation, cords and package and a smaller price. It took me a long time to figure out that I could zoom in on the photo (actually I found out by accident). It does PDFs or JPGs, in Hi, Med, Lo resolution. That's about all you need to choose. I travelled for 10 days with three days of heavy use. I thought to use my cell phone charger since it uses a microUSB port for charging, but I didn't charge it once. I just made sure to charge it before I left. I sewed by own cover from pre-quilted fabric that matches the blue, it cost about $3 with the zipper, unlike the case that is sold.

I purchased this scanner after using an older model a friend owns. I am happy with the scanner. However, a few points of clarification regarding product information from the amazon site. When you read that it is 1050 dpi and 1200 if hooked to a computer, that means if you purchase the docking station, not if you connect the USB cord. Also, be sure to order the correct case for this scanner. You need the case that has "s" in the product number - the other case is too short. Finally, the power adapter will NOT fit in the case as it did in previous models. The power tongs don't fold over so it will not fit in the carry case. I called and asked and she said "no, it does not fit." I did ask if I could use any USB power adaptor for recharging and she said that I could.So, great scanner. But be sure to order the correct case and realize that the power adaptor will not fit in the case. I also posted this review with the case.

I got this because my wife and I tend to hoard magazines to save an artificial or recipe we want to have as a reference. We also seem to have a ton of paperwork for her business and our farm so I wanted to be able to clean it up without getting rid of anything we need for taxes.Pros: This works much better than a flat scanner for books and magazines. Not needing to have it connected to a computer. Doesn't take up much spaceCons: For papers it leaves a little to be desired since you have to try to pull it straight and snow enough that it can capture the document but not so slow it times out.I know there is an sheet feeder adapter that might solve some of the manual pulling issues and looking around you can get the feeder and scanner as a set.

We are using the wand to scan old historical journals in oversize formats. It's clarity is very good although the scans are hard to keep completely straight, which doesn't matter for the script in the journals, but would be a problem for seeming images for pages wider than the wand and might be a problem for printed text and OCR. We had to create a jig of clear lexan to place over the journal pages to enable the wand to scan from top to bottom and over the center fold, the scans are still sharp despite the increased distance from the surface. Having to stop every-so-often to plug the scanner into a computer to check the images at a high resolution interrupts the flow of the work, but the wifi version (at a higher price) would probably be a solution.

It takes some practice to run smoothly but even slightly shaky ones are better than fax copies. Very useful but I have it on the lowest resolution because more than 300 dpi is overkill for my needs.