NeatDesk Desktop Scanner and Digital Filing System
Pros:
* Scans FAST. Scans double-sided in one pass, just as fast!
* Scans multiple documents with one button press.
* Can scan hundreds of documents and catalog them later.
* Surprisingly good at handling receipts that have been crumpled in pocket!
* No double-feeds! (2 receipts getting pulled in together) even though receipts are of varying size and thickness.
* Automatically rotates sideways or upside down receipts. Haven’t had one yet that wasn’t oriented properly.
* Recognizes vendor selections from previous receipts when scanning new receipts (though this is flawed).
* National chain vendors are already recognized by the system (though this is also flawed).
* Receipts can be split into multiple transactions.
Cons:
* Expensive.
* Output tray is poorly designed – documents end up pushing previous documents onto floor.
* Input tray should be adjustable. I have receipts of all shapes and sizes.
* Auto-detect miscategorizes some receipts as documents.
* Misses a lot of dates.
* Vendor recognition of previously scanned vendors doesn’t always work.
* “UPS” defaults as the vendor for most things that shipped via UPS, though the vendor is not UPS.
* Poor at reading zeroes containing slashes – often translated as 6 or 8. This is most common on gas station receipts.
* Poor at reading “$” without a space before the number. Often translated as a “5″.
* If a corner is missing from something, it fills in as black. This wastes toner when printing and looks ugly.
* Popup windows are not resizable and you have to scroll through things or click on “+” to enlarge them in the window (thus having to scroll more). I have a large screen and would prefer to be able to resize the windows and have them remember where I last set them.
* The filing system is a bit cumbersome. Every time you go through the inbox you need to tell the first document in the inbox which folder to file in, which takes 3 extra clicks, though I usually forget the first time, resulting in a popup error. I would prefer the folder names right there for a single click.
* I really want to file receipts by YEAR. No easy way to do that. I created a 2009 folder but I still have to manually tell it to file there every time I scan and if I have a 2010 receipt mixed in it ends up in the wrong folder and I have to move it.
* In Windows 7 64 bit I got an “unhandled exception” error for no particular reason. I was not scanning at the time, just adjusting info. I chose “continue” and quit the software. It would not run again until after a reboot.
*IMPORTANT NOTE*: Turn “blank page removal” OFF (it defaults to on) or some of your scans will appear to work fine but be rejected by the system without warning or notification of any kind. They simply won’t appear in the inbox. This happens mainly with faded receipts or those printed on dark paper. They scan just fine. The rejection system is flawed.
While the hardware has minor issues and the software has some larger ones, I still consider this a good purchase. It’s still much better than my old system of filing receipts into an accordion binder by category and then grabbing each category one-by-one and adding them up in Excel. I am much more likely to keep up throughout the year whereas previously I would attack the big shoebox full of receipts in February.
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Overview
home or on the go. Key features: scan receipts for expense reports, digitize business cards, prep for taxes (IRS accepted!),
Feature
- Desktop ADF scanner with unique paper input tray
- Faster scanning
- Proprietary industrial design
Customer Reviews
emptying my file cabinet & clearing my desk – Georgia A. Leech – Denton, TX
Have one at work and love it so decided I would like one at home. It’s a miracle for me.
Best sheet-fed scanner for any document – Mark D. Olander – Citrus Heights, CA USA
We use this scanner with QuickBooks 2010 and Intuit’s Document Management System. Nothing else we tried works better. We now have 14 of these units deployed and being used constantly for this purpose.
Does NOT work with Windows 7 – Eric Collins – Houston, Texas
The proprietary software from NeatCo simply does not work with Windows 7. Their support forums have a number of people that are trying with mixed results.
On January 19th, I opened a help desk ticket with NeatCo support. Support is available via email ONLY. After duplicating my error over the course of several days, it has now been ten days with no response, and 15 days since I opened the original ticket.
There is a much better way: Get the fujitsu SnapScan and [...]’s software.
NeatCo uses a proprietary SQL engine, proprietary database format, and proprietary software. They will essentially hold your data hostage. Not good. Evernote works with more platforms and is simply a better solution.
Unless they fix this, I strongly recommend you take a look at the Fujitsu/Evernote combo.
Update 2/9/10: I opened a ticket with them on 1/19 with their Tech “Matt Toth”. Duplicated the error over the course of six days. Since everything goes via email, and each email is a “new” six hour response, only one troubleshooting step is completed each day. Miserable.
Then, after duplicating the error, I have not heard from them at ALL since the 25th of January. I have sent several emails asking for a status update, and reminding them how long this has been open. NO response for 15 days, and the ticket has been opened for 21 days.
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