(Archived) Scanning on a budget?

[trouwborst 5]

Greetings,

 

Been using Evernote more and more.  I'm considering going paperless or at least storing more and more documents in Evernote.  The different scanning options make my head spin.  

 

I am thinking of buying a dedicated scanner.  However, I also read about using my IPhone.  

 

If one is on a budget, can someone tell me the best options?  Or where I might read about the best options? What should I consider?  How helpful is it to have a scanner that imports directly into Evernote?  

 

Thank you!

 

Tom T.  

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

A quick note since I'm in the middle of some things.  IMO, it's not necessary to have a scanner that imports directly to EN.  I prefer to not have all my eggs in one basket.  So I scan to my hard drive, organize on my hard drive & then add to EN.  Second, starting with iPhone4, the cam is pretty good as a scanner.  Sucks as a multipage scanner unless you use an app.  IE, I save multipage docs as PDFs. WRT images, using a third party app such as FastEverSnap allows you to take a photo, send it to EN & specify the notebook & any tags.

[gazumped 11,666]

Don't let scanner options confuse you.  Start using Evernote with whatever you have to hand - phone,  flatbed scanner,  whatever.  Your practical experience will quickly tell you what's feasible and what is not.  If you only want to scan day to day letters and receipts,  you would do it quicker and more stylishly with a portable scanner like the Doxie,  but the phone will work.  If you plan on bulk scanning - old files,  books,  drawings - then try to afford a larger scanner like the Fujitsu desktops - it'll make things happen a lot quicker.  I use a ScanSnap S1500 and wouldn't part with it - but I started with a cheapo flatbed and a digital camera.  Even built my own copying stand out of ply and a sheet of glass.  Lifehacker did / are doing a feature that might help you - http://lifehacker.com/5993869/five-best-document-scanners-for-going-paperless

[Analyst444 182]

For $150-$200, you can buy a multifunction printer (print, copy, fax, scan) for your Windows or Mac computer. That's what I've done and it works just fine. I only scan documents that I want to have with me when I leave the house. I am not trying to go paperless. I've got a lot of paper in my filing cabinets that I rarely refer to. I don't see the great value in scanning a lot of paper into Evernote and then not refer to it there, either.

 

As gazumped said, get your feet wet with scanning. If you decide you want to do a lot more of it, then buy some devices that will make the process go even faster for you.