Ricoh ScanSnap iX1600 Assessment | PCMag

Editors’ Observe: That is the latest model of the Ricoh ScanSnap iX1600, which was offered underneath the Fujitsu model after we reviewed it on Jan. 19, 2021. Our unique evaluation is under, up to date solely to replicate the present Ricoh branding.

The Ricoh ScanSnap iX1600 ($495) is just a terrific desktop doc scanner. It is a alternative for the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 we reviewed again in December 2018, and a direct competitor in each worth and options to the Editors’ Alternative–profitable Brother ADS-2700W ($400). The iX1600 is comparatively quick and extremely correct, and it comes with the well-regarded ScanSnap and ScanSnap Residence software program. This finish of the sector has many nice merchandise to select from, however the iX1600 stands out with its glorious software program bundle, efficiency, and ease of use, to not point out a really cheap record worth (although the ADS-2700W and different opponents are inexpensive). That makes it our newest high choose amongst desktop doc scanners for SOHO (small workplace, residence workplace) customers.

Compact, Pleasant, and Highly effective

Ricoh is launching two scanners collectively: the ScanSnap iX1600 and the iX1400. The latter is barely slower than the iX1600 and lacks the intuitive shade touchscreen and some different options. Although the iX1600 prices $100 extra, it is a greater worth total for the worth.

The ScanSnap iX1600 (left) is extra sturdy and comes with a way more highly effective ScanSnap interface than the iX1400 (proper).

Measuring 6.0 by 11.5 by 6.3 inches (HWD) with its trays closed and weighing 7.5 kilos, the iX1600 matches its iX1500 predecessor’s measurement and girth, and it’s not far off from a number of different entry-level fashions. These embody the Brother ADS-2700W talked about above, Epson’s WorkForce DS-575W Wi-fi Duplex Doc Scanner ($400), and HP’s barely greater ScanJet Professional 3000 s3 Sheet-Feed Scanner ($400). Canon’s imageFormula DR-C230 Workplace Doc Scanner ($495) weighs about 2 kilos lower than the iX1600 however stands about 3.1 inches taller and 4 inches longer.

Comparable Merchandise

Brother ADS-2700W Wi-fi Excessive-Velocity Desktop Doc Scanner

HP ScanJet Professional 3000 s3 Sheet-Feed Scanner

Canon imageFormula DR-C230 Workplace Doc Scanner

Epson WorkForce DS-575W Wi-fi Coloration Doc Scanner

Unusually for a scanner, the ScanSnap iX1600 is available in two colours, white and black.

If you lengthen the trays to put them in service, all these machines improve in size by thrice or extra. Be certain your meant location for the scanner can accommodate it unfolded.

The iX1600 takes up little or no area when closed, however its paper trays lengthen considerably from the back and front.

The iX1600 comes with a 50-sheet single-pass computerized doc feeder (ADF). A 50-sheet ADF is the usual measurement for scanners on this worth vary; in reality, all of the machines talked about right here to this point have 50-page feeders, besides Canon’s DR-C230, which holds 60 pages.

The iX1600’s single-pass ADF can maintain as much as 50 two-sided pages.

Most of those machines are designed to be configured and operated through bundled interface and doc processing software program, however all of them include onboard controls of various complexity. With out query, the iX1600’s management panel is the most important, most elaborate, and most useful of all of them. We’ll discuss extra concerning the ScanSnap interface and software program somewhat later.

On the rear of the chassis you’ll discover a USB port that helps each charging and information, in addition to an influence jack.

You’ll be able to join a single laptop to the iX1600 through USB, or a pc, cellular gadget, or wi-fi community through Wi-Fi. The ScanSnap Join app runs on most smartphones and tablets and has lots of the options of the ScanSnap desktop app.

In accordance with Ricoh, the iX1600’s every day obligation cycle is 6,000 scans. That is a better ranking than the DS-575W (4,000 scans), the DR-C230 and ScanJet 3000 (3,500 scans), or the ADS-2700W (3,000 scans). Contemplating that to scan 6,000 pages you’d should load a 50-sheet ADF 120 instances over the course of a day, it is unlikely you will push the machine to wherever close to its formidable capability.

High-Notch Scanning Software program

The configurations obtainable from scanner management panels are normally restricted, with the machine getting most of its performance from software program situated on one other gadget. The iX1600 can function that means, letting you select amongst profiles which can be arrange via ScanSnap software program on a pc or cellular gadget, however it additionally has its personal copy of the ScanSnap interface, ScanSnap Residence, inbuilt. The process for choosing a profile and initiating a scan is easy and constant throughout units.

Customers can alter configurations and scanning locations with the ScanSnap management panel.

ScanSnap permits you to create as much as 5 separate customers with personalized residence screens that present workflow profiles, chosen apps and instruments, and different choices. You’ll be able to create your individual scanning profiles from scratch or modify one of many current templates. All profiles are accessible on each the touchscreen show on the scanner and your computing gadget.

ScanSnap can scan on to your iOS or Android units in addition to your PC. You may also scan on to the cloud with no PC or handheld cellular gadget required, or scan to a number of cloud websites concurrently. If want be, the xScanSnap Cloud doc recognition function may even ship paperwork, enterprise playing cards, and receipts to separate cloud providers. 

ScanSnap Join permits you to handle scanning out of your smartphone or pill.

Throughout a briefing I had with the ScanSnap crew, the venture supervisor stated the scanner has “computerized every part,” which looks as if an apt description. You’ll be able to stack several types of paperwork in the identical batch; ScanSnap will acknowledge every web page’s shade setting, orientation, and measurement routinely, and omit clean pages. The software program additionally identifies paperwork, receipts, and enterprise playing cards and can set up the content material accordingly.

The software program bundle consists of Abbyy FineReader for optical character recognition (OCR) and Kofax Energy PDF Commonplace for creating and enhancing PDFs.

Sooner Than Its Scores, and Correct

Ricoh charges the iX1600 at 40 one-sided pages per minute (ppm) and 80 pictures per minute (or ipm, the place every web page facet is a picture). That’s barely sooner than the opposite fashions talked about right here to this point. All are rated at 35ppm/70ipm, besides the ScanSnap iX1500 and the Canon DR-C230 (30ppm/60ipm).

I examined the iX1600 (and all these others) over a USB connection from our commonplace Intel Core i5 PC working Home windows 10 Skilled. I additionally examined it utilizing ScanSnap Residence from the management panel and obtained mainly the identical efficiency. To make sure consistency, we attempt to take a look at all machines the identical means, so the scores reported listed below are for PC-initiated scans.

The iX1600 scanned our one-sided 25-page textual content doc and saved it to picture PDF on the price of 41.2ppm, and captured and saved our two-sided 25-page (50 scans) textual content doc to picture PDF at 85.7ipm—a bit sooner than its scores on each exams. These scores beat the iX1500 by 9.6ppm and 23.8ipm; had been 3.6ppm slower than the ADS-2700W however 12.5ipm sooner on the duplex take a look at; tied the DS-575W in simplex mode and fell behind it by 13.4ipm in duplex mode; and beat the ScanJet Professional 3000 by 7.9ppm and 30.2ipm.

See How We Check Scanners

Subsequent, I clocked how briskly the iX1600 scanned, processed, and saved our two-sided 25-page doc to the extra versatile searchable PDF. After a number of runs, it averaged a powerful 40 seconds to scan and convert your complete doc. That rating beat all the opposite machines talked about on this evaluation, most of them by just some seconds. The Canon mannequin, which got here in 10 seconds behind the iX1600, was the slowest.

Additionally spectacular was the iX1600’s accuracy on each our Arial and Occasions New Roman font pages. It managed to transform the Arial textual content web page with out errors all the way in which all the way down to 4 factors and the Occasions New Roman web page mistake-free down to six factors. Not solely are these outcomes far past the necessities of almost all enterprise functions, they’re among the many finest I’ve seen. Many of the different scanners on this group achieved distinctive accuracy scores too. The Epson DS-575W turned in an underwhelming 8 factors Arial and 10 factors Occasions New Roman with out errors, however I examined it some time again, so it might have acquired software program and firmware updates since then.

I additionally scanned a few stacks of enterprise playing cards into the cardboard archiving part of ScanSnap. As with the opposite scanners I’ve examined, total accuracy was affected primarily by the design of the person playing cards. Playing cards with shade backgrounds, gradients, and different options in and across the necessary textual content fields performed havoc with the popularity course of. Making use of the assorted background and different noise filters helped some, however typically I discovered that typing the info from probably the most elaborately designed playing cards was the quickest data-entry methodology. Given how typically enterprise playing cards are scanned with machines like these, I hope folks designing them will think about that being machine-legible is as necessary as having eye-catching and memorable graphics.

A Scanner Anybody Can Use With Ease

Over the previous few years, ScanSnap scanners have develop into sooner, extra correct, and simpler to make use of, making them ideally suited for places of work the place some crew members could also be technologically challenged. The power to customise the interface for every consumer is particularly helpful. All the interface is icon-driven, and the scanner does precisely what’s anticipated every time you contact Scan. The ScanSnap iX1600 simply receives our newest Editors’ Alternative nod for SOHO desktop doc scanners.

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About William Harrel

Former Contributing Editor

For almost a decade, Invoice centered on printer and scanner expertise and evaluations for PCMag, and wrote about laptop expertise since nicely earlier than the arrival of the web. He authored or co-authored 20 books—together with titles within the in style Bible, Secrets and techniques, and For Dummies sequence—on digital design and desktop publishing software program functions. His printed experience in these areas included Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, and QuarkXPress, in addition to prepress imaging expertise. (Over his lengthy profession, although, he lined many elements of IT.)

Along with writing tons of of articles for PCMag, through the years he additionally wrote for a lot of different laptop and enterprise publications, amongst them Laptop Shopper, Digital Tendencies, MacUser, PC World, The Wirecutter, and Home windows Journal. He additionally served because the Printers and Scanners Knowledgeable at About.com.

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