Nowadays, keeping a scanned copy of an important document in your tablet has become very useful. But, where is a scanner when you need it the most? What you want is the iConvert which turns your iPad tablet into a scanning station.

The iConvert features a front feeder which can be adjusted from 2 inches to 8½ inches wide, so that you will be able to fit many important papers and photos into it. You just have to place your iPad on the scanner and you will get step-by-step prompts such as “scan”, “save” or “delete”.

It is capable of scanning in high-resolution 300dpi and converts hard copies to JPEG files. You will be able to access the e-copies from your tablet’s picture folder. The device works with the OCR app which is available for free at iTunes App Store and it fits easily into your backpack.

It can be put to use at your home for scanning those old photos and greeting cards, or at the office for saving signed documents and resumes, or on the go to make e-copies of receipts and expense reports.

The iConvert will be available on sale in the coming month with a price tag of $150 and begins shipping February 1, 2012 from Brookstone.

Alternatively, there’s the Visioneer Mobility which stores images directly on to your SD card, and the $250 Wi-Fi scanning Xerox that will send your documents to the cloud.  Both of which work standalone.

The post iConvert Scanner Scans Paper To Your iPad Photos Folder appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Even though many of us have moved on to a largely digital experience, physical pieces of paper (including business cards) are still in heavy use. We still need scanners and the MobileOffice D28 seems to suit the job.

Features and Specifications

Designed to be a compact solution at less than 4-inches by 12-inches, the MobileOffice D28 still doesn’t come up short in the features department. The effective resolution may only be 600dpi, but that should be suitable for the vast majority of business documents and the like.

Other highlights include the color CIS image sensor, single pass scanning, 28 pages per minute scanning speed, full OCR text recognition software, TWAIN technology, duplex support, and a compact easy-to-carry design.

Inside the box, you get the scanner itself, the power cable, a USB cable, supporting documentation, cleaning cloth, calibration sheets, and installation CD. For the sake of portability, I would have liked to see this Plustek scanner have the option of powering from a USB connection alone, but you do require a wall outlet for its operation.

First Impressions and Build Quality

Some people don’t have giant desks in the middle of corner offices. Some of us deal with smaller desks that we’d like, so we need to have electronics that suit these smaller dimensions. In addition to its small size, the Plustek MobileOffice D28 comes with one other major advantage.

The paper feeds in from the front after you flip down the front flap, but you have a choice how your paper feeds out of the back. The sheets can feed through horizontally like how you’d expect them, but you can also adjust the back portion so that the paper rotates 90-degrees and is sent out vertically.

This way, you can have the scanner placed almost right up to the wall, pushed out of the way. This works for regular letter and legal documents. The Plustek D28 will also handle business cards, plastic cards (like credit cards), payment cheques, and more.

The build quality appears to be up to par for the course. It seems that Plustek may have used a slightly cheaper plastic than I would have liked and there is some “give” at the seams, but I don’t have any concerns about it falling apart in any way.

One of the smaller features that I liked on this scanner is that it “grabbed” the sheet of paper when I fed it in through the front. It would pull in the sheet just a smidge, holding it place so that it could be ready for scanning. This way, you don’t have to hold it in place before hitting the scan button.

Setting Up to Nine Preset Scans

Looking at the simple on-device user interface, you see three buttons. One is for simplex (one-sided) scanning, another for duplex (two-sided), and a third that cycles through a series of numbers. If this were a copier, you’d assume that this was for the number of copies.

These numbers are not for that purpose, however. Instead, they correspond to up to nine preset configurations that you can define within the provided software. You might have one preset to work with OCR, another to feed out black-and-white PDF files, and so on.

The OCR seems to work very well and, in its basic form, will output a simple text file. Using the software, you can set up grayscale/color, simplex/duplex, and other options. Thankfully, a small sticker is provided to help you remember which setting is for what purpose.

Conclusion

Don’t let its relatively diminutive stature confuse you. The Plustek Mobile Office D28 is just as powerful a scanner as its larger and more expensive counterparts. The OCR works beautifully and I like the ability to define up to nine different setting schemes that are quickly accessed without fumbling through a menu each time.

The compact size is a definite plus and having the ability to have the forms feed out vertically helps to save even more space. The build quality still leaves something to be desired and the price (about $300) may scare off some people who are more accustomed to $100 all-in-ones, but the software really makes this is a strong outing for Plustek.

Overall Rating: 8.0/10

The post REVIEW – Plustek MobileOffice D28 Scanner appeared first on Mobile Magazine.