Brother ADS-1700W

Product	Images / Minute	Resolution	Connectivity	Duplex Scanning	ADF Tray	Weight	Price
Brother ADS-1700W	50 IPM	600 dpi	Wireless 802.11 b/g/n, Micro USB 3.0	Yes	Yes	3.7 lb. (1.67 kg)	Click for more info

We will start with the Brother ADS-1700W, our favorite portable scanner and the reference.

The best part? It has an automatic document feeder ADF tray that can hold up to 20 pages in it. And then it gets better because it has single-pass duplex scanning mode, so you only need to run the double-sided paper once through the scanner.

But things don’t end there. The scanning speed is fast and we mean really fast. It has a duplex scan speed of 25 pages per minute which is desktop scanner level. The Dual CIS sensor provides a 600 dpi optical resolution.

You can connect this scanner to your computer via USB cable or Wireless connectivity in the form of 802.11 b/g/n Wi-fi. You can use the USB port to save the digital files to USB flash memory drives. When you connect it to the computer, you use the Micro USB port.

We like the 2.8″ LCD touchscreen that helps you operate the scanning process and much more. You can use it to connect to your wireless network, you can set up shortcuts and also change the scan destinations like FTP, E-mail and also the option in which it scans directly to the Cloud. Supported cloud storage platforms include OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox and Evernote. There is also a settings menu.

Drivers? There is TWAIN, WIA, ICA and SANE which guarantees full compatibility with any scanning software and photo editing application whether it be on Windows PC or Mac OS.

In order to convert the digital the digital images to searchable PDF files, it uses the Nuance PaperPort SE with Optical Character Recognition.

There is a special card slot on the front where you can put in plastic cards and ID cards and it easily scans them. This can be a receipt scanner, an ID card scanner and a document scanner at the same time.

This wireless compact desktop scanner has a 600 DPI resolution that comes from its CIS image sensor.

Outside the Brother scanner line its main competitors are the ScanSnap S1300i and the Epson workforce es-300w.

Brother ADS-1500W

Product	Images / Minute	Resolution	Connectivity	Duplex Scanning	ADF Tray	Weight	Price
Brother ADS-1500W	36 IPM	600 dpi	Wireless 802.11 b/g/n, Hi-Speed USB 2.0	Yes	Yes	3.5 lb. (1.58 kg)	Click for more info

The Brother ADS-1500W is the older version of the ADS-1700W. In the Brother ADS-1500W vs Brother ADS-1700W battle we can quickly notice that the speed is lower at 18 pages per minute.

The high-capacity auto document feeder trays are identical, the color touchscreen display is not as good as on the new one.

The USB port on this Brother wireless is also slower, it only has USB 2.0.

The old color duplex document scanner is a bit lighter than the newer one, but there is just a 0.2 lbs difference.

The idea is that this isn’t worth buying unless you get a really good deal on a refurbished or renewed one on Amazon.

Now it’s true, some users have reported that their ADS-1500W worked better than their ADS-1700W in some cases, like connecting to their NAS but these are isolated cases which appear on almost any replacement model.

Brother ADS-1250W

Product	Images / Minute	Resolution	Connectivity	Duplex Scanning	ADF Tray	Weight	Price
Brother ADS-1250W	50 IPM	600 dpi	Wireless 802.11 b/g/n, Micro USB 3.0	Yes	Yes	3.7 lb. (1.67 kg)	Click for more info

In the Brother ADS-1250W vs ADS-1700W comparison, the biggest difference is the lack of a touchscreen. It has the same fast scan speeds and the same software bundle consisting of Nuance PaperPort SE with OCR software for Windows, Brother iPrint&Scan, Power PDF. The internet connectivity is the same as well and they kept the duplex mode in a single pass.

When scanning documents, you can run the same types of paper through it: Plain Paper, Thin Paper, Thick Paper, Thicker Paper, Recycled Paper, Business Card, Plastic Card.

So the ADS-1250W doesn’t have one and the question arises. Is the 60 USD difference for a touchscreen worth it?

And the answer is, depends at which moment you find yourself. The idea with this scanner is that it has to be fully independent. When you are doing the research, 60 USD seems like a lot but when you find yourself using the device without the touchscreen, trust me you’d wish you had spent the extra money.

If it is to be the independent scanner that you need it to be, it has to have the screen to operate it.

All these Brother scanners come with a 1-year limited warranty.

Fujitsu Scansnap S1300i

Product	Images / Minute	Resolution	Connectivity	Duplex Scanning	ADF Tray	Weight	Price
Fujitsu Scansnap S1300i	24 IPM	600 dpi	USB 2.0, USB 1.1	Yes	Yes	3.08 lb. (1.4 kg)	Click for more info

The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i is a bit different from these Brother portable document scanners.

In the Brother ADS-1700W vs Fujitsu ScanSnap comparison, we will notice that this mobile desktop document scanner is slower. It only does half the scanning speed of the Brother.

It can also do duplex scans in a single pass, there is a document feeder but which is limited to 10 sheets max, it doesn’t have the large 20-page capacity feeder of the Brother scanners.

The big problem is that it only allows scanning to USB, it is not a wireless document scanner.

It’s a great choice to include the ABBYY FineReader for ScanSnap OCR software because it has multiple file formats like Word Doc with editable text, the layout recognition is very good and the text recognition accuracy also.

The ScanSnap platform is great because you can find several apps for document management, business card processing and receipt organizers.

The scanning app on this particular device has advanced scan features such as automatic deskew, size detection, auto resolution and color mode detection.

Even though it doesn’t have wi-fi it still connects to the Cloud and scans there through your computer. The range of destinations includes: Scan to folder, Scan to E-mail (obviously), Scan to Print, Google Docs, Powerpoint, ScanSnap Receipt and even to Salesforce Chatter.

Brother ADS-1500W vs Brother ADS-1700W vs ScanSnap S1300i vs Brother ADS-1250W. Which is the one for me?

In the Brother ADS-1500W vs Brother ADS-1700W, there is no doubt that the newer model is the one to get unless you get the older one at half price.

In the Brother ADS-1700W vs ScanSnap S1300i choice, the ADS-1700W is our pick because the price difference is too small and you get so many extra features with the Brother like the touchscreen, wireless connectivity, faster scanning speed, bigger ADF tray, plastic card slot and USB Flash drive support.

In the Brother ADS-1250W vs Brother ADS-1700W comparison, we would spend the extra 60 USD for the touchscreen, yes.