Xerox XDM1525D-WU DocuMate 152 Color Sheetfed Duplex Scanner with One Touch PDF and VRS Image Enhancement

Finally, a (relatively) affordable duplex scanner with automatic document feed! I literally have boxes of papers and magazines I've been waiting to scan, but have never been able to find a quality, affordable scanner.For all the good things about this scanner, be sure to read the PC Magazine review (July 2006).Here, I wanted to mention a few downsides that were not evident from the Xerox product specifications or the PC Mag review.1) Pages per Minute - the Xerox specs state 15 pages per minute for color duplex (both sides) scan at 150 dpi. Realistically, for anything with images/pictures, 150dpi is too low, so I end up scanning at 400dpi (typically magazine pages). At this setting, the scanner only scans 1.6 pages per minute! It seems that part of the slowness is related to the driver/software, as about 40% of the scan time is due to the driver/software "catching up" with the physical scanner.2) ADF (Automatic Document Feeder) Capacity - the Xerox specs state the feeder holds 50 pages. This may be true, however, it is not possible to use this capacity, due to what I consider to be a major software flaw. The driver software actually times out after a certain amount of processing time. I haven't found any way to change this setting (nor any mention of it in the documentation). So, if I put in any more than about 8 pages in the ADF and perform a color duplex scan at 400dpi, the scan job will complete on the hardware, and then the software will actually time out and erase the entire scan job! You may get a few more pages by reducing dpi or going black and white. But beware, that you could find yourself having to load only 8 pages at a time.3) Image lines - the scanner lamp seems to be affected by dust/paper "lint" heavily. About every 100 pages scanned, I start seeing red and green lines showing up on my scans. I then have to open up the scanner and dust/wipe off the lamp cover. This is not as easy as it sounds, as the opening is very narrow, and sometimes it takes 2-3 tries before the lines really go away.4) Error Handling - I consider another major software flaw to be that whenever a scanner error occurs (usually a paper jam), the software deletes the entire scan job (all pages scanned before the error). So, if you've just waited 5 minutes for a scan job to complete and the last page jams, the software deletes all the pages already scanned, and you have to start all over! Another reason that you won't necessarily want to or be able to use the full ADF capacity.So far, I'm still on the fence regarding whether these issues will cause me to return the scanner. (I've been using the scanner for about 2 weeks).

Awhile back, I had a chance to use a DocuMate 162 that someone else had purchased. I was blown away by its speed, quality and small footprint. I could not get over how something that compact could plow through so much paper so fast. On top of that, it handled duplexing very well. The software seemed Ok, and I was familiar with Nuance products. That was the 162.I bought the 152 because I really could not justify the additional $. The footprint for both machines is almost identical. What I found with the 152 was pretty much the same thing, except it was not quite as fast as the 162. However, it still was great. In a day, I got rid of most of my paper that had been piling up in the last few years. It actually took me a lot less time than that to actually scan. The time came in managing the hundreds of files it created in a short time. The management software was fine, but you simply have to create an electronic filing system to handle all the files it can throw at you - and it does. Takes them in, scans them, and then spits them out. FAST!It does at times jam. But it seems much more forgiving and better engineered than my older scanners. Scanning technology is getting better, and this machine has certainly kept up!I run it on a Vista machine. I did not quite understand some of the connection issues, so at one point I lost my connection and it would not come back. I believe this was a Vista issue, not the fault of the scanner. That has not happened again, so I can't say I have not had any problems. For this reason, I give it 4 stars rather than 5.If you have a business, you might want the 162. The 152 is great for a small home office. Comes with a lots of software. The Nuance software has some small issues - but they are Vista issues for me. The OCR was Ok, but I am very satisfied with the machine.

I am really glad we were able to find an autofeed scanner that double-sides for a reasonable price. We chose this over the Fujitsu Scan Snap because it seemed more solid and I think it takes more papers at a time.I can see why there are many people split between 4 stars and 5 stars. I debated giving it 3, but felt it was a good product, just annoying at times.Here are the CONs that I wish weren't so:- There was no bundled software for all of the growing population of Mac users, including myself. This is ridiculous and crazy! I had to download a free version of VueScan and work around the shareware limitations.- When you put the paper in, it kind of teeters on the feeder "feet" that pulls the papers in. This is a problem because it consistently scans the pages off-kilter. It doesn't feel "right" when you just leave the paper sitting on top of the feeder -- it feels like it's not in correctly or not going to be fed.PROs:- Price- Seems solid (was worried Fujitsu would be flimsy)- Volume is great -- and if you're quick, you can even load in more pages while it is still rendering the last batch, and in VueScan, it will continue to add on to the PDF if you add more papers in time.- Auto document feeder = huge time saver.- Double-sided option = huge time saver.