Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100

The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 is a portable document scanner that runs off of a single USB cable. It's quite fast and accurate in addition to being small, and it will automatically deskew scans so you don't need to worry about feeding paper in exactly at the correct angle. Included software allows the ScanSnap Manager to do optical character recognition on documents as well as business cards from around the world.

A while back, I reviewed the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 and noted that it was fast, accurate, small, and a very good buy. The new Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 is just as fast and accurate and even smaller--and thus is even a better buy. It runs off a single USB cable (included) and takes up no more desk space than a ruler.

The ScanSnap S1100 takes about eight seconds to scan a single page to a searchable PDF, a bit faster than the S1300. The unit has a single button on it that instantly begins the scan and then opens the ScanSnap Manager, where you can choose to scan to e-mail, to a folder, to a Word, Excel, or even PowerPoint document. You can also scan directly to the cloud if you use Google Docs. CardMinder software is included, allowing scans of business cards directly into CSV or other exportable formats, which makes keeping smartphone address books current. Character recognition was excellent, with options for recognizing languages other than English easy to configure, which is a real boon if you have dozens of international cards that need to be reformatted after scanning. --even complicated cards with multiple colors and images came through (nearly) perfectly.

I didn't notice any appreciable problems with scan results, and I was impressed by some small features. For example, after scanning the small tear-off part of an airline boarding pass which I fed into the scanner at a 45-degree angle, the resulting scan had deskewed the image which appeared perfectly square. This is particularly welcome since there are no movable paper guides, and the scanner grabs paper somewhat aggressively when you begin to feed it, so it would be quite difficult to get perfect scans if the software wasn't helping out.

With such a small scanner, you might find it cumbersome if you have a lot of papers to scan, since you have to do one at a time (though you can quickly scan both sides of a sheet with the S1100). And while it's extremely portable, it doesn't come with a carrying case (you can buy one separately). Given that this is meant to be portable, I was a bit disappointed that the case wasn't included.

Still, the size, speed, and quality of the ScanSnap S1100 make it an excellent value if you only have occasional need for a scanner or need to use one to scan receipts and documents on the road.

Disclosure: Review samples were provided by the manufacturer. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.