I’m in a similar position to the original poster. I had always assumed I would be getting a Fujitsu but clearly many users are having issues with them. I would love to hear from any owners of Brother scanners. I have a Brother multifunction printer which has been great for over eight years. However, it does not have duplex scanning.
I’m sure you all have seen this link. They don’t discuss the higher end Fujitsu. https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-portable-document-scanner/
As @drfierce noted,Wirecutter’s top two picks were $200 Brother units and their ‘upgrade’ pick was a $600 Epson.
Two weeks ago PCmag also listed their top document scanners (check for Mac compatibility), and none of the top 10, ranging from $150-$3000, were Fujitsu models:
Ouch.
Both of those seem like very bad signs for Fujitsu. Not even getting a mention is pretty severe.
I don’t scan enough to justify buying a new one when this one dies, but I’d still be interested to know what people find as a better alternative.
While I use my ScanSnap at home, at work I’ve been doing occasional scanning using my iPhone; either using the feature built into Notes or the Scanner Pro app.
They deserved it. I mean, at some point in time my Canon all-in-one wasn’t supported anymore too. But that was a less than $100 devices. Not a $300 single purpose thing like the ScanSnap.
I own a ScanSnap but with the new software update, I can’t recommend it. If I was in the market for a new scanner, I doubt I’d buy Fujitsu right now.
This is particularly maddening. After not paying attention, upgrading to Mojave and discovering that I can only install Scansnap home on a limited number of computers I was livid. Really wish companies that did this were constantly and completely shamed so it goes away. I won’t be purchasing another Fujitsu product and I ADORE my scan snap
I believe that you can still use the old software on Mojave. It will be the next version of OS X that makes it impossible to use, because it is only 32-bit.
That may at least be a temporary reprieve.
Any thoughts on Epson vs Brother?l
i have an Epson gt-s50 that no longer works with movaje.
For the past 4 years, I’ve owned the ScanSnap iX500. I couldn’t recommend it more highly, especially now that I’ve installed the much-improved 64-bit “ScanSnap Home” operating software. Amazingly, I’ve never had a paper jam with the ix500, which can feed up to 50 pages for fast single-sided or double-sided scanning.
In the flatbed scanning world the two biggest consumer manufacturers are Epson and Canon. But Brother makes good scanners too - I know at least one person with a Brother all-in-one fax/scanner/laser-printer that’s worked well for years.
I’ve nuked and paved my mac, reinstalled mojave and still cannot get the scanner to work.
Yes, many owners of the ScanSnap iX500 have had a relatively good experience for a few years. They apparently were not bothered by (or didn’t notice) the substantial problems with OCR and with scanning to multi-page PDF files from late 2016 to early 2017 due to Fujitsu’s software update problems (related to a macOS update; see post #14 above).
The iX500 was introduced in January 2013 - 6 years ago. The S1500M (my model, functionally similar except for wireless capability) was introduced in July 2009 - 9 1/2 years ago and just became effectively obsolete. The new software can’t be used and no software updates will be available going forward. The scanner will not function with current software after macOS enforces its already-announced 64-bit software restriction.
Two questions:
1.When will the ix500 become obsolete, given the history of the S1500M? (No answer expected; no way to know this)
2. Did the software upgrade for your iX500 come with the restriction that it is limited to your current computer? Another forum member (I think it was @tomalmy) elsewhere on this forum made this observation, as did @fubar in this thread.
To be clear on this (well, at least as clear as mud), you can move it to another computer if you uninstall the license on the first computer before you install on the second. Additionally, there is a limited number of moves over time so you can’t use the scanner with two computers and bounce the license back and forth. If you buy a new iX1500 you get five licenses and can buy more (you can’t buy more than the one when you upgrade the software on the iX500.
Considering that the software can only be used with Fujitsu scanners and you can’t pirate the scanner, having a license file for the scanner software is totally absurd, offering no benefit to Fujitsu and nothing but grief to their customers.
Pretty important limitations to be aware of, I think! Bad company policy - more like self strangulation that is
I’m alo in the market for a new scanner. I am currently using a Fujitsu S510M under both Sierra and High Sierra. I’ve already rebuilt the hardware once and the rollers and other parts are wearing out and I can’t get the replacement parts anymore.
All the info here on the Fujitsu scanners is pushing me away from Fujitsu.
My needs are fairly simple, automatic feed of multipage documents, duplex scanning, save to PDF files or to specified folders and OCR on scan if desired. I have 2 other scanners for pictures so this is a document scanner only. It does not need to be portable.
I’m considering a Brother but wanted to ask for any updated info from folks using them. I do plan to upgrade to Mojave this year.
Quick Update, I received my Brother ADS-1000W today. Late in the afternoon, but I was able to go on-line and get the software for both Sierra and High Sierra. Got it set up as a wireless system and successfully scanned a couple of documents to a folder on a mac before I had to run out and do chores and head down to town to do errands. Running successfully on an iMac with Sierra and a MacBook Air under High Sierra.
More details sometime later this week, have a lot of other tasks to do tomorrow, no time to play with the scanner and OCR stuff yet.
Do you still have success with this scanner? I’m in the market for a scanner as well.
