Plustek SmartOffice PS506U Review - Review 2022

The Plustek SmartOffice PS506U document scanner ($749) isn't peculiarly fast (it was slower than its rated speed on our tests), and its scan utility isn't that like shooting fish in a barrel to use, but it offers enough to get the job done. Its 100-sail automatic document feeder (ADF) lets you scan relatively large stacks of paper, information technology delivers excellent text recognition, it includes conveniences similar ultrasonic multifeed detection to catch double feeds, and—for medical offices and others that need to scan long documents, like EKG printouts—it tin can browse individual pages every bit large as viii.5 by 200 inches. In short, if yous need a workhorse scanner for a minor-office or workgroup, it'southward worth a look.

One bespeak of comparison for the PS506U($499.00 at B&H Photo Video) is the Kodak i2420 Scanner ($299.00 at Amazon) , our Editors' Choice low-end, modest-role certificate scanner. The PS506U has a larger chapters than the Kodak model's 75 sheets and also a faster rating. On our tests, however, using the default settings for scanning in each case, the Kodak i2420 turned in somewhat improve speeds for scanning to image PDF files and was significantly faster for scanning to searchable PDF format. That'due south more than than enough to go on information technology firmly in place as our preferred pick.

Setup and Software
The PS506U follows a mutual blueprint for desktop scanners, with the input tray at the top rear, the output tray at the bottom front, and a forepart console that slopes backwards from bottom to top. It weighs just 5 pounds fifteen ounces and measures 9 past 12.6 past 9.1 inches (HWD), making it pocket-size plenty to keep on your desk.

For my tests, I continued the PS506U to a Windows Vista system. To set it upward, you plug in the power cord and USB cable first, await for Windows to ask for a disc, and then install the browse drivers and assorted programs.

The scanner comes with Abbyy FineReader Sprint 9.0 for optical character recognition (OCR) and Presto PageManager 9.37 for document management. In addition, the bundled disc includes Twain, WIA, and ISIS drivers which, together, volition let you browse from near any program that has a browse command. It besides comes with a utility that tin can scan directly to most common formats—including prototype PDF, searchable PDF, and editable text files—and which I used for all of our standard tests.

Scanning
Unfortunately, scanning with the Plustek utility is harder than it should be. The expert news is that you can customize the profile definitions, and you can apply the utility to handle nearly scanning tasks. You can also ascertain profiles to salvage scans to image PDF, searchable PDF, or JPG format; ship them to PageManager, MS Pigment, or Windows Photo Gallery to open them; plough them into editable text files; or send them to your printer, to an FTP server, or to your email plan as attachments.

The bad news is that finding the right contour to use for any given scan isn't as straightforward every bit with virtually scan utilities. The PS506U'southward forepart panel includes a 1-character LED brandish that can show a single number, ane through 9, with each number assigned to i of the ix scan profiles you can ascertain. To browse, you employ buttons on the control panel to scroll through the numbers, stop at the number y'all want, and then printing the Browse button.

The trouble with this approach is that y'all take to memorize which number goes with which scan profile. About scanners with similar controls, including the Kodak i2420, offering the alternative of letting you commencement the scan via your computer by clicking on an icon in the Windows system tray, which opens a pop-up window with a list of choices—including names for each profile—so you can easily discover the 1 you want. Other models, including the higher-stop Kodak i2620 Scanner ($900.00 at Amazon) , become farther, with a multi-character LCD that lets you choose a contour by its name from the front panel.

The PS506U offers neither of these conveniences. To start the browse from your figurer, yous take to open the browse utility, which is bachelor only on the Start card by default, and then double-click within the program itself on the icon for the profile you desire to use. Unfortunately, the icons don't include whatsoever text labels. To see the descriptive name for any contour, you get-go have to choose it. If you lot don't know which icon goes with which profile, that means you have to cull each icon in turn, so read the text description to discover the one you lot want.

Plustek SmartOffice PS506U

Performance
As with about document scanners, the PS506U's optical resolution is 600 pixels per inch (ppi), which is more than you need for near purposes. For my tests, I used the predefined settings for scanning to PDF format of 300ppi and color mode.

For scanning our standard 25-sheet examination document to prototype PDF format, I clocked the PS506U at 30 pages per infinitesimal (ppm) for simplex scans and 58 images per infinitesimal (ipm) for duplex scans. That makes the PS506U a scrap slower than the Kodak i2420, at 34ppm and 69ipm, respectively, and a lot slower than the Catechism imageFormula DR-C240 ($499.98 at Amazon) , at 40ppm and 78ipm, or the somewhat more than expensive Kodak i2620, at 48ppm and 99ipm.

The speed for scanning the same document to searchable PDF format in our tests was even less impressive. I timed the PS506U at 3 minutes 34 seconds, compared with one:18 for the Kodak i2420, ane:30 for the Kodak i2620, and a remarkably fast 46.seven seconds for the Canon DR-C240.

Fortunately for the PS506U, it did a much improve chore than many, if not near, scanners on our OCR accuracy test, which, for many applications, is more of import than scan speed. The combination of scanner and software read our Times New Roman test page at sizes as small as six points and our Arial test page at sizes equally small-scale as 8 points without a mistake. This level of accuracy isn't unusual. Yet, the PS506U besides did well on various other fonts that nosotros don't unremarkably report on because we don't expect virtually scanners to handle them well. With these harder-to-read fonts, the PS506U read ane at 4 points and 3 at 6 points without a error.

Conclusion
For scanning to image PDF format, the Canon DR-C240 and the Kodak i2420 and i2620 are faster than the Plustek SmartOffice PS506U. The Kodak i2620 delivers the fastest speed, and both the Canon model and the Editors' Option Kodak i2420 offer attractive combinations of speed and price. The PS506U loses points for both its speed and its scan utility, which makes scanning harder than information technology should be. However, its excellent OCR accuracy makes it worth considering for applications that focus on scanning to editable text or searchable PDF format.