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Question

Problems about the scanning speed and OCR function

Oct 25, 2013 1:00PM PDT

Hello everyone!
I'm a student and I want to scan my books for convenience.
I want a flatbed scanner because I don't want to destroy the binding of my books.
But here is the question.
Why does it take soooo long to scan a color A4 document?!
I haven't bought any scanner but as I searched through the products, for example,
The Canon LiDE 110 takes Approx. 16 sec (A4 / 300dpi)
It is very time-consuming!
Sheet-feed scanners usually take 2-3 sec.
I'm wondering it is true that, flatbed scanners take more than 10s to scan an A4 document with 300dpi?
Does the computer spec affect the speed?
I went to electronic stores and found that, multi-purposes printer with scanning function and faxing only costs about US$ 50!
What dpi is appropriate to scan document with photos? Is 900 dpi enough?
Is it the higher the dpi, the higher the chance for the OCR software to recognize the text?
But is it useless to increase the dpi as the words cannot get any clearer than a certain dpi?

My criterion:
Budget : <us$80
Flatbed scanner (The slimmer the better)
Faster scanning speed
No need to film scanning
Which brand do you prefer?

Besides, have anyone tried any OCR software? I want to be able to edit my texts after scanning. Are the texts accurate? Is it reliable? Of course, checking is important. I am afraid that the software can't 'recognize' my text book.

Sorry for my ignorance because I am very newSad Thank you very much! Your help is much appreciated!</us$80

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Scanners etc.
Oct 26, 2013 12:01AM PDT

The Lide series scanners from Canon are good little units and are reasonably priced, I saw one advertised at a box store for 69.00. They are going to be slow, the Lide 110 is USB driven, not powered off of an A/C inverter. If you want a scanner to scan more rapidly, you will have to spend a lot more than you'd spend on the little 110. The nice thing about stand alone scanners is that they normally come with OCR software, some of the all in one units may feature OCR software now but they didn't used to. Good OCR software can be pricey, more than the cost of a Lide 110. If you want fast, then you buy a sheet feed scanner, they are quite expensive, Xerox used to make them and I am sure there are other manufaturers, they are typically at least several hundred dollars. There are several very good flatbed scanners that include OCR software packages, Canon makes them so, so does Hewlett Packard and then there is the Epson perfection but they are a lot more money that a semi portable unit such as the Lide.Computer spec can make some difference with any hardware device, input (power) is more important, A/V vs USB. You could go on for hours about resolution dependent upon what you are doing, photos are different than text etc..and of course if printing, you get into the printing spec/.capabilities, it can go on and on. But honestly, with an 80.00 budget you are a little limited.

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Portable scanner
Oct 26, 2013 4:43PM PDT

Thank you very much for such detailed reply! Love
Using a sheet feed scanner will need to destroy the binding of my books which I don't and won't.
I went to electronic stores and found that, multipurpose printers with scanning function and faxing only costs about US$ 50!
I am in a dilemma. Cry I just want to scan books. Using high quality and costly scanner is not necessary.
Is portable scanner like the VuPoint Solutions Magic Wand Portable Scanner an option?
Thank you very much!

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Addition information
Oct 26, 2013 6:00PM PDT

Buying an expensive scanner with high dpi for scanning documents with 300 dpi is... a waste of money and the machine?
"Since scanners are input devices, the optical resolution of the sensor is only part of the equation when it comes to image quality. The resolution is a representation of its enlargement capability. The image quality of a scanner depends greatly on the sensor and lenses used within the scanner's optical system and how well those reproduce color, tonality and gradations with little to no mechanical image noise." (from Epson page)
Cheap portable scanners can scan documents with 600dpi (which is more than I need), but I think the senor and lenses are not good?

In conclusion, I think I will go with the Canon Lide 110?

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Answer
Look at the Epson V37
Oct 26, 2013 12:40AM PDT

It currently shows at under $80 at Amazon. It comes with Abbyy Fine Reader OCR plus the Epson scan and copy utilities. I recently set one up for a family member. I'm not crazy about the button placement but it works fairly well.

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Not available
Oct 26, 2013 4:54PM PDT

Thank you for your advice but the Epson V37 is not available in my country( Hong Kong).
About the OCR function, have you experienced any Mojibake( unreadable texts with numbers)?