Scanner with sheet feeder

[Simon Finnigan]

Hi all,
I`m trying to find a half decent scanner that has a document feeder built
into it that isn`t going for silly money. It`s to get a load of A4
documents scanned in quickly and easily. Anyone got a suggestion for a
decent stand alone scanner, or would I be better off just getting a cheap
all in one printer that has a sheet feeder included?

Thanks for your help!

 

[-]

A 4180 or 4490 with a sheet feed adapter will run you a bit over $300
online. If you need something more robust for scanning higher quantities or
faster, you are going to have to pay a lot more.

Doug

 

[Barry Watzman]

Yes, I have a very good suggestion: Get an HP 5490C (or a 5470C, which
is the same scanner without the ADF, and then get the feeder separately
(the ADF for the 5470C is HP C9866A). There have been several of these
"old stock" but brand new in box on E-Bay recently that have gone for
like $25 plus shipping (which may cost more than the scanner).

The 5470/5490 is 2400 dpi (true hardware optical resolution), USB, it
was the "top of the line" in about 2002 and won PC Magazine's Editor's
choice. It's still a very good scanner, and you can pick them up cheap.
Just be certain that you get a complete unit: Especially be sure that
you get the power supply (the RIGHT power supply ... a different supply
is required when the ADF is added compared to the non-ADF configuration)
and be sure that the ADF includes the paper input tray. Both the power
supply and the input tray are often missing from used units on E-Bay and
they are difficult or impossible to obtain, HP doesn't even have them
any more (and the price was more than you will pay for an entire unit).

This is a much higher end unit than the scanning function of even most
current production multi-function printers.