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Fujitsu just sent me the brand-new ScanSnap S1500, a major revision its popular line of document scanners. I bought my old Fujitsu ScanSnap S510 in early 2006, when I made the switch to a paperless law office. Since then, I have been recommending it to everyone.
The new S1500 is better-looking, faster, comes with updated software, and sticks to the ScanSnap formula: efficient and easy to use. For solo practitioners or small offices, a ScanSnap (or a few of them) is still the best option.
Here is what I think of the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 after spending an afternoon playing with it.
The S1500 has been replaced by the iX500, which is faster and better in every way, but also includes wi-fi scanning to your portable devices. Read our ScanSnap iX500 review.
S1500 Form Factor
The S1500 (and S1500M for Mac) is a major update to the form factor. As you can see from the picture, this iteration of the ScanSnap is sleeker and more modern-looking. I like the new look.
As I note in the video, below, the S1500 does seem slightly taller, but the new “catch tray” is my only complaint (well, besides the fact that Fujitsu does not support Linux). It seems decidedly flimsier than the tray on my old scanner. I think it will probably hold up pretty well, but as you can see in the video, it does have quite a lot of give to it.
Fujitsu ScanSnap Bundled Software
Like all Fujitsu ScanSnap scanners, the new model comes bundled with Adobe Acrobat Standard 9 (PC) and Adobe Acrobat Professional 8 (Mac). For a paperless office, Acrobat is not strictly necessary, but it is very useful. Plus, Acrobat Standard is a $300 piece of software, while Acrobat Professional for Mac is normally $500, making the $459 (ScanSnap on Amazon) a pretty good deal.
The ScanSnap Manager is a useful scanning utility. I have it set to automatically detect color and double-sided pages, recognize text on the first page (for speed), and simply ask me where to save the file. It makes scanning quick and easy.
For, for scanning a stack of photos I had lying around, I just set the ScanSnap Manager to automatically name and save each photo to my pictures directory. I plowed through a few shoeboxes in about a half hour.
The scanner also comes with a few other bits of software, including a PDF organizer and a business card utility. I don’t use any of those, though, so I cannot comment on them.
S1500 Scanning
What really matters, of course, is how well the thing scans.
The S1500 is significantly faster than my old ScanSnap. As you can see in the video that follows, scanning five pages took 20 seconds on the old scanner, or about 15 ppm. The new scanner did the same pages with the same settings in only 15 seconds, making it about 20 ppm, a significant improvement.
Fujitsu ScanSnap scanners are meant to simplify scanning. They scan both sides of the page at the same time, and automatically detect double-sided pages and different sizes of paper, and the bundled software can automatically recognize the text in the documents.
All it takes to scan a stack of paper is a press of the big, blue button. This is especially useful for big stacks of discovery production. I just hit the button and let the scanner do the work.
In several years with my S510, the scanner would occasionally pick up two sheets at a time, so it pays to keep an eye on the scanner. It looks like the pick assembly is similar on the S1500, so I will keep an eye on it, just in case.
Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 in action
Here is a short video showing the relative speed of the S510 and the new S1500, along with a side-by-side look at the two scanners:
Conclusion
Like I said in the video clip, the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 is a great upgrade. It feels like the same scanner as my old S510, just better. And since I had no complaints, and lots of good things to say about my old scanner, that is a very good thing.
Update: Since the comments have gotten so long, I summed up your ScanSnap questions in a FAQ. Please read it first if you have any questions.
Summary
Reviewed by Sam Glover on .
Summary: The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 is simple to set up and use, and makes scanning documents as simple as pushing a button.
The new ScanSnap S1500 is better-looking, faster, comes with updated software, and sticks to the ScanSnap formula: efficient and easy to use. For solo practitioners or small offices, a ScanSnap (or a few of them) is still the best option.
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 | Amazon
Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M (for Mac) | Amazon
Sam Glover has been writing about law practice technology, management, marketing, and other stuff on Lawyerist since 2007. He consults on appeals and motion practice in his solo practice. When he isn't blogging or lawyering, Sam drinks espresso and plays with fountain pens.
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I am new to paperless. What software will I use to mange the information I have imported? Does it come with print recognition like the TryNeat? Will I have to spend a lot of time naming and filing this information or will it do it for me? we have a small copy shop with great amounts of paper to file but I don’t want to have to spend a lot of time filing after I have scanned. I can do that with a filing cabinet. Maybe I do not truely get the concept of going paperless. Could you help me please? Thank you – Ci
Since computers and servers are built from the ground up to manage files, I don’t use any software to manage my paperless files, just good paperless procedures and naming conventions.
Since you seem to have contacts within Fujitsu, can you inquire about their inclusion of Acrobat X? On September 17th, I was on their website & they had a press release dated September 16th that mentioned the software bundle was being updated to include Acrobat X. I bookmarked it, since I figured I’d wait until the channel has the newer bundle before ordering. But by the next day when I went to show my wife, that press release had disappeared from the website. Poof! It was gone. I’m guessing someone pulled the trigger too fast on posting it, but it was there for a day.
Any idea of their plans for this model? Now I’m wondering if they have an entirely new version coming out before the holidays…
Just wanted to follow up on this. Despite their removing the press release from their website within a day & the website still listing Acrobat 9 as coming with it, I can confirm that it’s now coming with Acrobat X Standard. The only place I see X mentioned on their website is on the promo video, while everywhere else mentions version 9.
I ordered one from Amazon on Sunday, and it just arrived with X.
I was wondering if purchasing an all in one (printer, copier, fax, scanner) laser printer would be a good idea?
Nope. I strongly recommend avoiding all-in-one systems.
Thanks, Sam! Great advice. This site is awesome for all the info it has. Kudos.
Thanks for the wonderful info on the scansnap.
I bought the S1500 2 years ago, installed software on an XP machine and I have been very happy with it. I now have a Win 7 64bit computer and decided to move the scanner to this Win7 machine. The problem starts here. When I start the setup program that came with the S1500 DVD, I get a blue screen. Basically, I am unable to install this on a Win7 64bit machine.
Any one seen this issue? I found “Win 7 64bit” service packs on fujitsu site, but looks like they need the original Scansnap manager software and drivers installed first.
Thanks for any thoughts on this.
Regards,
Huh, that’s weird. I’m running the software on Windows 7 64 bit with no problems. If there are no updates, see if Fujitsu can help.
I didn’t see anyone mention the Scansnap S1300. We recently bought one and have been very pleased. I would rate it 5 Stars. A couple of pluses; You can use it on a Mac and PC and it is really easy to travel with. Also the price is less than the S1500.
Here is our review: http://lawyerist.com/fujitsu-scansnap-s1300-portable-document-scanner/
Great Reviews Sam! As time goes on, I feel the smaller scansnap machines will become much more popular than the larger desktop models. So many people and companies have switched to electronic storage that it is rare to see large boxes of paper documents these days.
That may be true. I have found that I get less and less paper as more firms go paperless, or just realize they are welcome to email documents to me instead of sending a stack of paper. I could probably get by with a smaller scanner at the office, although I prefer having the speed of my S1500 when I need it.
I read in a review on Amazon that the S1500 had to create a pdf for every document when scanning mixed sizes, but I’ve seen no other mention of that. If so, it would be a dealbreaker. Is it true, or did the user just have their settings wrong?
Yeah, that user just had his/her settings wrong. That’s not even the default behavior.
Fantastic, thanks. That was my suspicion, but I wanted to confirm. Thanks for the great review!
Will I be able to scan receipts and export them somehow into Quicken?
No. If you want to do that, get the NeatWorks software, or just get the Neat scanner. Although it’s not very good.
You might also consider whether you can get those receipts in another format that you can import directly into Quickbooks. For example, most merchant accounts will make the transaction data available directly in a Quickbooks-compatible format. The same goes for most banks, which make transactions available in Quickbooks formats.
I’m closer to purchasing the S1500 but have one question:
I own properties in PA and the utility companies are the same for each property (water, electric, trash removal, etc.). I have created an income and expense excel spreadsheets for each property and input the monthly payments per company for each property. Can I get the monthly payments from the scanned document transferred to the spreadsheet?
P.S. Your comments were so helpful in making a decision against the NeatDesk. Thanks,
No. See the comment directly above yours.
Thanks for the great info, Sam.
I’m seriously considering buying the S1500 for Mac. Here’s my question: I have a dual boot setup using Lion on one volume of my HD and Snow Leopard on the other. If I upgrade the S1500 software to the latest Lion version, will the scanner still work with my Snow Leopard volume?
No idea.
But I’m curious why you would want to run two different versions of OS X. Are you just upgrading slowly, keeping the old version around in case something breaks?
My work requires programs that will not run on lion, e.g. MS Word X and Quicken. Yet, I want to be up to date with lion.
I have not upgraded to Lion, but I cannot recall any concerns on the Macs in Law Offices listserv with Scansnap functionality after people upgraded to Lion. There was a problem with compatibility when Snow Leopard first came out, but that was fixed with a Scansnap software upgrade quite some time ago.
Do you know when a new model of the Fujitsu ScanSnap will be coming out. I want to buy one but I don’t want a new model to come out right after I buy one.
I’m not aware of an impending new model. Although I’m sure that by saying that, I’ve just guaranteed a new one will come out in a week or two. (Probably not, though. Document scanners aren’t updated very often, and there isn’t much reason for them to be.)
After reading about the S1500 several times, I decided to spend the money and get one. It is so much better (and faster) at scanning than my Cannon Scanner/Fax/Laser printer. I did have one issue. The S1500 was advertised as coming with Acrobat X and showed up with 9. I called Fujitsu and they have been incredible. They took my information and called me back the same day to say they would replace the machine. Then, I received a call a couple days later letting me know they were waiting on a new batch to make sure I received the latest scanner. Amazing customer service.
That’s great to hear!
I got lost in the comments. Please clarify one item: does the ScanSnap file documents or will I have to do that as a separate task? I’m assuming Neat does label and file documents into categories?
I’m not aware of any scanner that will automatically file your documents for you (well, not unless you consider filing to mean dumping them all into one big folder). Whether you get the ScanSnap or the Neatdesk, you will have to do your own filing. It’s just a question of where. You can use the Neatdesk software, the ScanSnap software, or your own file system.
I know this is a really old post, but I was wondering if you ever got a chance to try putting your passport through the scanner. I just talked with a Fujitsu rep who said absolutely no way would that work. Thoughts?
I think I did. Or else I just took a photo of it with my phone, which would be way easier.
Have been following the Lawyerist blog for a while but last night I received some real help from the posts and I am not trying Clio for the free 30 days and I have ordered one of these scanners.. Very excited about going paperless!
I was introduced to this scanner at a CLE seminar on law office technology. The CLE presenter thought so highly of this device that he brought one with to display to all attendees.
I eventually bought one. It took a few months before I started to use it enough to realize the capability of this product. Now I recommend this device to others in my office.
This product allows you to quickly convert any document into a PDF. The OCR software also allows you to convert PDFs into editable document files.
The scanner is amazingly fast and very portable. The only issue I encountered after several years of using this scanner is that is does need occasional cleaning to keep the image clear. There are cleaning products specifically made for this scanner that can be purchased online.
The software alone that comes with this scanner is worth the price of the product.
Thanks for your review and information about the S1500. I got the same deal as others with the Acrobat Standard X on sale through Costco.
I’m particularly interested in your take on this because you’re an attorney. I somehow wound up becoming not only the family genealogist/historian but the keeper of family records as well, which includes a boat load of legal paperwork from various estates, cases and other things which are still active and could need to be used in future situations. Some of it is difficult to read from the bad copy services they send out to gather evidence and I have no idea which of the softwares that they include would do the most good to keep the information on the pages ‘searchable/compileable’ for evidence later.
I may need to do topical or thematical (or phrased/word) searches of the documents and the organization of all of this is really overwhelming me. Some places say that the Acrobat is better at this and others say to use the Rack 2… I don’t know where to begin. Once we scan a set of documents to one system can we copy/paste them to a new binder or to the Acrobat section without a lot of drama or do they all need to be re-scanned into the other system? Or – do I just bite the bullet and scan it all 2 or 3 times, one for each type of software it came with?
Also, I wont have time to go to law school between the time this will be needed and now so, can you make any suggestions of HOW to organize all of this or a book to get that tells how to organize legal information? (As in case of medical for example, lab work, doctors notes, surgeries, procedures, medications or topical by ‘type’ of doctor or ‘diagnostic proof/notes’ of medical issue etc ,it’s mind boggling.)
Also as in the case of things above like medication, how do you scan the labels information into this scanner? Can you take a picture with your phone and insert the file into the picture binders through transfer?
Believe me I’ve looked on Amazon and everywhere else I could to find books that describe how to organize this kind of info and found nothing. The comedy of errors in the software package included on the scanner is that there’s several options and not enough info that explains how they’re different in functionality ‘in-use’, once the items are scanned.
Thanks again!
Just scan everything using OCR, dump all the files in one folder, and use Windows search to find what you need. It’s much easier than you are making it.
Thank you for your reply.
Apparently there are literally thousands of pages for each situation spanning more than 20 years of legal history in some of the cases… OCR… where? Which file type, which bundled software? Or are you saying it doesn’t matter because they all have it in equal accuracy and functionality?
Thanks again!
Just scan to PDF using the plain old ScanSnap Manager. If you want to use additional document software to organize those files, go for it, but as long as they are OCR’d PDFs, you will be able to find what you need by searching.
Every other scan is upside down. Very frustrating! As mentioned earlier it does pick up ink on the other side and scan both sides, but you can change that option to single-side scan. Also, if you put it on the higher quality setting, its scans worse that auto setting. All my pages scan in and are faded. Its quick and easy to use, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
If you put the pages in upside-down, they will come out upside-down.
As for the “fading,” it sounds like you are using grayscale (or color) instead of black-and-white. Set it to auto-detect the color mode or else set it to black-and-white, and you won’t get that effect.
I have the same problem. If I put in a page with printing on both sides and scan it. The first page is fine, the backside page is upside down. I am scanning in color with default settings. Anyone know how to fix this ?
Go to Settings, Scanning tab, Options. Is the box checked for “allow automatic image rotation?” Mine is checked; I rarely ever have a problem with page direction on double-sided scans. If that doesn’t work, see if “automatic detection” is selected for the paper size.
As an interim fix, if you have Adobe Acrobat, the “rotate pages” feature will let you choose to rotate only the odd or even pages, so you can fix the documents you’ve already scanned in one step.
Hi, When will you be reviewing the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i? I look forward to reading your review. Thanks. Shaun Benater
We did review the ScanSnap S1300. The S1300i doesn’t look any different, but I’ve got an email in to my contact at Fujitsu to find out if the i is significant.
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