Xerox Documate 510 Scanner

After just moving to Florida, I thought I'd finally better get my AA degree from Palm Beach Community College.

My significant other having a Lawn Service Business and me just starting school again after 15 years, it was my quest to obtain a scanner for turning in my College Algebra homework assignments and to have something useful for his business. At Office Depot we found the Xerox Documate 510 Scanner.

Having previously purchased a Xerox "8400 Phaser" Solid Ink Color printer that prints waterproof pictures and documents from easy-to-load solid, drop-in, wax-like, ink sticks that melt for the printing process, we knew Xerox was a name for quality. I couldn't believe I found a Xerox scanner at our local walk-in store as the printer had to be ordered, online, as well as the solid-ink sticks it consumes for printing. Giving no second thoughts to other scanners available, we bought and set-up this baby at home.

Set up was a breeze. A small cable from the Automatic Document Feeder needs to be connected to the scanner's main body. The USB cable that connects the scanner to the computer is a little shorter than one might like, but with the scanner set to the left of the monitor, an arms length away, the cable transverses behind the monitor and to the right, where it connects to the computer, an arms length away. Also included with the unit is a replacement pad for the feeder tray of the automatic document feeder device. After owning the scanner for almost two years now, this replacement pad device is not yet needed, at all. (Good to know that when document feeding issues do arise that one has a spare on-hand to correct the issue, immediately.)

Software installation is easy, as well. The Paperport Software is the only software of choice that we use, -though it does offer other scanning utilities such as Scan-Direct, Photo Impression software, and Image to Text converters.

Okay, so I have 17 algebraic scribbled pages of homework that I have to turn in. Although homework is preferred to be typed into Word and then sent as a *.doc email attachment, it was too time-consuming for me to insert the algebraic math symbols such as ª for element, symbols for subsets, standard deviation, powers and square roots of numbers, etc. So, these spiral bound notebook pages with the frill from the spiral edge trimmed, are placed face-up, top-down into the document feeder.

With the scanner turned on and the Paperport Software up, I choose to scan the the pages in through the "ADF" or Automatic Document Feeder option rather than using the "Flatbed" option which requires one to lift the cover and place the picture or document on the glass each time for each page.

I chose "300 dpi", "Greyscale" resolution as the pencil markings all weren't really a true black, the notebook paper, not a true white. 300 dpi is also the "Fine" resolution setting of most fax machines, and my file size shouldn't be too large at this setting.

Resolutions available are:
100 through 2400 bit available in Black & White, Half-tone, Greyscale, and 24-bit Color settings.

So, I click the Scan button and off we go.

At first, I became worried because I thought that the scanner was scanning each page as one long page since once a page is scanned, it is not ejected immediately. Once the process was complete however, I learned that the page previously scanned is not ejected fully until the next page begins to get scanned. Whew!

All pages scanned beautifully and legibly, the first time!!
No problems or jams with the ADF or Automatic Document Feeder, at all. The software placed all of the pages into a single Acrobat Reader *.pdf format which made it a cinch to send off to my instructor as an email attachment. He replied and stated, "Very Good", and I was very pleased that this push in my life was over, for now.

Subsequent, multi-page homework assignments have been scanned and sent, as well. The scanner works like a dream and I am so happy I found and purchased it.

Peter is currently in the process of selling his aunt's house and he can scan sample clippings of other houses with prices he sees advertised and have them emailed to his family or real estate agent to see. This makes communication easier and makes use of the saying, "A picture is like a thousand words."

The Paperport software that is included on the enclosed "Setup CD" is the full version of Paperport Deluxe 9 software. It works great and I really love the way it can place multiple pages of scanned documents into a single *.pdf file in one fell swoop. There is a taskbar located at the bottom of the software's window that includes the Word, Excel, and Powerpoint icons that you "click on" and have your scanned document converted into that icons format, instantly. The Image to Text converter obviously will not work on my scribbled homework assignments, however it can transfer a scanned *.pdf document into Word format rather easily with only a few, minor "image to text" transfer inconsistencies to deal with.

As a final feature, the scanner automatically turns off its scanning bulb if one would happen to forget to shut off the scanner at the end of a scanning session.

In summary,

I am so glad I bought a Xerox Scanner. It's a little pricey, but worth every penny.