Raven Original Document Scanner

Product	Format	Scanning area	Connectivity	Sheets per minute	Images per minute	ADF Size	Daily Duty Cycle	Price
Raven Original Document Scanner	A4	8.5 in. x 11.7 in.	Wi-Fi (2.4ghz), Ethernet	17	34	50 sheets	1500 sheets	Click for more info

This device is the most popular top rated document scanner on Amazon because it has the highest number of features for a great price and it has proven to be very reliable.

You get a duplex document scanner with a 7 inch LCD touchscreen to operate not just the basic scanning settings like destinations and scan profiles, but also to enhance and adjust the scanned images by cropping them and adjusting the color balance directly from the screen. This is the first device to allow you to do this kind of thing.

We also like the automatic document feeder with a 50-page capacity and multifeed detection. What we don’t like is the speed which is very slow at just 17 PPM. But let’s just say the scanner compensates by not having to connect to the computer first because this top scanner can scan directly to the cloud either to Dropbox, Google Drive or Evernote or to its own cloud to which you get access as a customer.

Connectivity options? 2.4ghz Wi-fi, an ethernet port and a USB Port (But not for connecting to the computer, for scanning to USB memory sticks). Sensor type? It is a CIS Contact Image Sensor with an optical resolution of 600 DPI.

Raven Pro Document Scanner

Product	Format	Scanning area	Connectivity	Sheets per minute	Images per minute	ADF Size	Daily Duty Cycle	Price
Raven Pro Document Scanner	A4	8.5 in. x 11.7 in.	Wi-Fi (2.4ghz), Ethernet	60	120	100 sheets	6000 sheets	Click for more info

The Pro is our top rated document scanner and our prime choice. The obvious question is: How does it differ from the Original?

The LCD screen is bigger and better having 8 inches in diameter, you also get TWAIN drivers to connect this document scanner to your personal computer via USB cable and transfer the digital images. The drivers are compatible with both operating systems: Windows and Mac OS.

The biggest improvement comes from the scan speed which is now 60 PPM, which translates into 120 IPM in duplex mode. The ADF tray is also much bigger as you can stack 100 A4 documents in it.

On the image post-processing side, you get automatic layout orientation something you don’t get with the previous device and the recommended daily scanning volume is much bigger at a 6000 scans per day.

This is basically our choice from our Top 10 scanners list.

Fujitsu Scansnap IX1500

Product	Format	Scanning area	Connectivity	Sheets per minute	Images per minute	ADF Size	Daily Duty Cycle	Price
Fujitsu Scansnap IX1500	A4	8.27 in x 11.69 in	USB 3.1, WiFi	30	60	50 sheets	400 sheets	Click for more info

This is another one of our top document scanners and you will understand why. In terms of price it compares directly to the Raven Original and also in terms of features.

For example it is faster with a scaning speed of 30 PPM. It is also a fully standalone scanner with Wireless connectivity and USB 3.1. Sure it doesn’t have an ethernet port but nowadays most routers have wireless network support. Plus it can connect to your computer via USB through the ScanSnap driver (ScanSnap devices don’t use TWAIN). It doesn’t have the USB flash drive support however.

The better part of this scanner is the Optical Character Recognition software that is bundled in. It uses an ABBYY FineReader for ScanSnap license which is the best choice. It is a great OCR software, it can convert high-quality images to anything you want be it searchable PDF files or Microsoft Word documents with editable text like DOC or XLS.

Another big advantage is that it can output to multiple file formats which the Raven scanners can’t. It can save the digital files in JPEG, TIFF, BMP and PNG with an RGB color depth of 24-bits in Color and 8-bits Grayscale.

There is also a touchscreen but smaller without all the fancy features and honestly they don’t even compare.

Brother ImageCenter ADS-2800W

Product	Format	Scanning area	Connectivity	Sheets per minute	Images per minute	ADF Size	Daily Duty Cycle	Price
Brother ImageCenter ADS-2800W		A4 – 215.9 mm x 355.6 mm ( 8.5 in. x 14.0 in.)	Gigabit Ethernet, Hi-Speed USB 2.0 or Wifi	30PPM	60IPM	50 Sheets	3000 Sheets	Click for more info

This top document scanner from Brother is a great alternative to the IX1500 and the Original. It has all 3 connectivity functions: Gigabit Ethernet, Hi-speed USB 2.0 and wireless network with enterprise security protocols. The USB port can be used for flash drives and for connecting to your Windows PC or Mac via SANE, WIA, ISIS or TWAIN drivers. Clearly, the Brother has the best connectivity options at this price point.

The scanning speed is great, up to 40 PPM and it comes with all the automatic image enhancements like background removal, detecting and removing blank pages, Deskew and removal of punch holes so you spend less time in Photoshop and more time scanning. It can scan up to a paper size of A4 format. Brother say it is Kofax VRS certified which just means you can use it with the scanner, you don’t get it in the package.

You can stack most types of paper in the automatic feeder like invoices, business cards, plastic cards and it even supports embossed ones. The document feeder can stack up to 50 pages in it at once.

Fujitsu fi-7160

Product	Format	Scanning area	Connectivity	Sheets per minute	Images per minute	ADF Size	Daily Duty Cycle	Price
Fujitsu fi-7160	A4	8.27 in x 11.69 in	USB 3.0	60	120	80 sheets	4,000 sheets	Click for more info

The Fujitsu Fi-7160 is one of our top rated professional scanners because it has enterprise level features in a scanner that is quite affordable.

Here are the two big pluses, the image resolution of 1200 dots per inch which makes for great photo scanning bringing out as many pixels as possible out of your vivid photos (For scanning documents, 300 DPI is usually enough) and the PaperStream software bundle.

The PaperStream software is one of the best scanning software on the market and it has some great Digital ICE functions like background removal, dust removal, automatic color detection, automatic layout orientation, cropping and deskew.

The Capture part of the PaperStream handles things like OCR functions. For example it can read everything from Barcodes, patch codes, page numbers and it also does form processing.

The scanner’s speed is rated at 60 PPM (120 IPM in duplex mode).

This scanner is on our top 10 scanners list because you need its advanced functions and image resolution, because it has a big downside: You can only connect it via USB.

Canon DR-C225WII

Product	Format	Scanning area	Connectivity	Sheets per minute	Images per minute	ADF Size	Daily Duty Cycle	Price
Canon DR-C225WII	A4	8.27 in x 11.69 in	USB 2.0, WiFi	25	50	30 sheets	1,500 sheets	Click for more info

This top rated document scanner from Canon is priced at about 400$ at the moment so it falls into the same category with the IX1500 and 2800W, but it doesn’t quite match them with a small 30-page document feeder which is not the best or greatest by any means and a 25 PPM scanning speed which is not superior either. It is however surprisingly compact and slim and this is a thing that Canon has been pushing with its Canon CanoScan Lide flatbed scanner line.

It is minimalistic so it has auto color mode, auto resolution, text orientation so that you don’t have to be a geek to correctly adjust them. This is a lawyer’s office type of scanner.

Canon ImageFormula R40

Product	Format	Scanning area	Connectivity	Sheets per minute	Images per minute	ADF Size	Daily Duty Cycle	Price
Canon ImageFormula R40	A4	8.5 in x 14 in	USB 2.0	30	60	60 sheets	4000 sheets	Click for more info

This is a cheap entry-level document scanner that was launched in 2019 which has the basic features but they work great. It has a 30 PPM speed which is far from the top but great for this price, decent OCR that comes from the bundled ReadIris software and a 60-page ADF tray.

The big downside is that it only has USB connection, but at this price point every feature adds to the final cost so it is completely understandable. The reason it did make our top 10 list is because people have had a great experience using it.

Epson ES-400

Product	Format	Scanning area	Connectivity	Sheets per minute	Images per minute	ADF Size	Daily Duty Cycle	Price
Epson ES-400	A4	8.27 in x 11.69 in	SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and Ethernet (optional)	35	70	50 sheets	4,000 sheets	Click for more info

The Epson ES-400 is a direct competitor to the R40 for the top spot on the entry-level category but it is faster, comes with a Nuance OCR software package which is not better, just different. The great thing is that you can buy an optional ethernet port for it. The ADF tray is a tiny bit smaller with a capacity of 50 pages. This one and the R40 are great for a home office where you don’t have to produce that many digital copies and you don’t have to share it with everyone.

We think that this is the best budget scanner out of our top 10 scanners if you exclude the flatbeds.

Epson DS-1630

Product	Format	Scanning area	Connectivity	Sheets per minute	Images per minute	ADF Size	Daily Duty Cycle	Price
Epson DS-1630	A4	8.27 in x 11.69 in	SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and Ethernet (optional)	25	10	50 sheets	1,500 sheets	Click for more info

With the Epson DS-1630 we get to our final class of devices, the top rated flatbed ADF scanners. The idea with this device is that it has a flatbed glass and Automatic Document Feeder all bundled into one device. The speed isn’t that great at 25 pages per minute, but the automatic feeder does hold 50 pages.

Given the fact that you can scan documents, books, passports and fragile documents in general, you buy this top rated document scanner because it is versatile. The price is amazing too, it is price almost the same as a Canon R40. Given that you get an auto document feeder and a flatbed glass for under 250$ we say this is a great deal. You can also get the optional Ethernet network port with this one too.

Hp Scanjet Pro 2500 f1

Product	Format	Scanning area	Connectivity	Sheets per minute	Images per minute	ADF Size	Daily Duty Cycle	Price
Hp Scanjet Pro 2500 f1	A4	8.5 in. x 11.7 in.	Hi-Speed USB 2.0	20	40	50 sheets	1500 sheets	Click for more info

To finish our top 10 document scanners list, this is your alternative to the Epson DS-1630 for a document scanner with flatbed and a feeder tray. It is priced almost the same but a bit slower with just 20 PPM and no option for any other port than USB.

Its flatbed can get up to 1200 DPI pixel density for scanning photos just like the Epson can, but this one comes with the ReadIris OCR software which we prefer to the Capture Pro because it can export to a multitude of file formats. The warranty is not as long as on the Epson with it being just a 1-year limited warranty. Just like on the previous scanner, you can stack up to 50 pages in the document feeder.

Ok so which of these top rated document scanners to buy?

For general use and flexibility, either the Raven Original or the IX1500 which both provide great value for money.

For professional scanning, the Fi-7160 or the Raven Pro if you don’t need the PaperStream special features.

As a top rated budget scanner for your home, we think the leading scanner is the ES-400.

If you need a document scanner with a flatbed and an automatic document feeder then the DS-1630 is our pick.