Fujitsu Scansnap IX500 Review | Worth buying in 2019?

Fujitsu ix500 Specifications

In this section, we will go through the technical specifications and characteristics of this sheetfed scanner. We love a color duplex document scanner that doesn’t cost much and delivers top specifications for this range.

Scanning Speed

The Fujitsu Scansnap ix500 desktop scanner scans at 25 pages per minute, color or monochrome, at 300dpi resolution. We love equipment that is just as fast for color scans as it is for grayscale ones. Scanning documents at this speed will definitely take longer than using a high-speed scanner. 

When you think about the scenarios in which you are using it, and considering the Scansnap ix500 wireless highspeed transfer, the scan speed is suddenly less important. The fact that it goes directly to your PC or Mac, or even to your Android device, greatly reduces processing times.

When you also consider that it can do a duplex scan while maintaining the speed in color or monochrome, you quickly realize this scanner is a top performer in quick office environments. It has the ability to scan a searchable pdf file from a business card for example. The entire process takes a minute and it’s scanning directly to my mobile phone.

Paper feeding

This scanner has a very advanced paper feeding system. Considering the price range, I did not expect it to be so reliable. Especially when you realize that it does not feature a separation roller. This reduces the price of the consumables kit by about 30-40%.

Don’t worry though, it the scanner does pick 2 or more sheets at a time, the ultrasonic double feed detection sensor will immediately intervene. When you want to scan business cards or even a plastic credit card, the double feed detection will be turned off.

The same applies when you use the scansnap carrier sheets for photos, fragile documents or other paper sheets that require it. If you don’t disable the multi-feed detection, the scanner will recognize the carrier sheet as a double feed and stop the scanning process.

Image Quality

To achieve the desired scanning quality, Fujitsu has created 5 different scanning modes that are already configured.

• Auto Mode scans in simplex or duplex at 25 pages per minute.
• Normal Mode scans in Colour and Grayscale at 150dpi. Monochrome scanning is 300dpi in Simplex or Duplex at 25ppm.
• Better Mode works in Color or Grayscale at 200dpi, while Monochrome 400dpi. Speed remains constant at 25ppm. 
• Best Mode in Color and Grayscale at 300dpi. Monochrome scanning is done at 600dpi and the scanner works at 25ppm. 
• Excellent mode for high-quality scanning works at a resolution of 600 dpi and 1200 dpi monochrome. The speed drops to 7 ppm. 

Connectivity

If you don’t want to scan wirelessly, then you can connect your ix500 color duplex desk scanner via USB 3.0. I always a dedicated scanstation to be USB connected.

The Scansnap connection via USB is usually more stable than the wireless connection. Most of the time it will also be faster. Especially when you are working with Scansnap Manager, I really recommend using USB cable. 

Depending on your operating system, this equipment can be just as well a scanner for pc or a scanner for mac. The drivers are mature enough to support both OS’s without any major issues occurring. 

If you want, you can try the Scansnap Cloud service. Create a new profile with a user name and password. After that, you can immediately start scanning to the cloud service. 

Software

Fujitsu bundles the IX500 document scanner with the following software: 

• ScanSnap Installer
• ScanSnap Organizer
• Business CardMinder
• ScanSnap Receipt
• ABBYY FineReader Express for ScanSnap™ 5.5
• Scan to Microsoft SharePoint
• Adobe Acrobat

I really recommend trying the Scansnap Organizer if you are a small office or an individual. It is a small document management application that lets you scan documents directly from your Scansnap and into this software.

A great thing about it is that it has Abby Finereader for Scansnap integrated into the software. This allows for quick searchable pdf creation,  directly from your scanned documents. As you probably know, this process involves text recognition from image files and it’s called OCR.

This version of Abby Finereader Express will work with both Mac and PC. Same can be said about the Cardminder business card software and the Nuance Power PDF.

Please check if the scanner you are buying has this software bundled with it. As a result, editing PDF documents that you have OCR’d is quite simple when you use this Nuance product. Especially when you consider that it is bundled and you don’t need to pay extra.

Fujitsu SCANSNAP IX500 Alternative

There are quite a number of competitors for the IX500 on the market. Some of these scanners are still available, some aren’t any more.

Fujitsu Ix500 vs Epson-500w

Epson makes a lot of scanners, and given their distribution network, they are quite popular. 

The Epson Workforce ES-5ooW is a wireless document scanner, that offers pretty much the same features as the IX500.

You can scan to PDF and Searchable PDF, as you can with the Scansnap. The OCR engine allows you also to create Word files and Excel Files.

It does however offer a couple of advantages over the IX500. It scans faster, at 35ppm or 70ipm in duplex mode. The driver works through Twain, which means it can easily be integrated into customer built software.

As with the Fujitsu, the Epson will work when scanning to smart devices, such as tablets and smartphones.

IX500 VS EPSON FF640

Comparing the Scansnap with the Epson FastFoto FF-640 is a bit unfair, but some users run both scanners for photos.

The first thing you should know is that neither will deliver the best quality. They are based on CIS sensors, so that won’t be a match for a CCD scanner.

While this is one thing, they both perform quite well. Again, the Epson scanner is faster than the Fujitsu scanner, given that it will scan at 45ppm or 90ipm in duplex.

The Epson will process thicker documents a bit better, but at the same time, if you use them for most documents, you won’t notice that.

The Scansnap IX500 has a big advantage as it works through a wireless connection. The FF-640 is a full on desktop scanner, as it only connects through USB.

BROTHER ADS-2800W VS IX500

Now it’s time to compare the Scansnap with a model from Brother, the ADS-2800W. I don’t think this comparison is fair, as there is quite a time difference between the release of these scanners.

The Brother is a newer scanner, scans a bit faster than the Fujitsu and has both a Twain and an ISIS driver.

It also features a 3″ display to shortcut your scanning process and streamline your work.

The major advantage of the Brother is that it can be connected through Wireless or Gigabit Ethernet. This makes the Brother scanner a full on network scanner, that can be secured easily in corporate environments.

Should you still buy the scansnap IX500

We think this product still has value in 2019. Although the new model, the IX500 is 5 years younger, the features it offers are not significantly different. The products are still pretty much neck and neck when compared.

The quick menu works for PC and Mac and working on it will save you a lot of time. It allows you to access all the options at the touch of a button. Therefore most processes that you do with the scanner will work like a wizard, guiding you from the beginning to the end of this process.

It features a lot of bundled software. If you add up how much extra it would cost, you quickly realize there is an element of cost saving involved when purchasing this scanner.

We think you will love this machine even if you buy it today. It has updated software and drivers, and scanning to different devices is just as simple as it used to be. And with the new model coming out, this will definitely be discounted heavily.