# Scanners, anyone? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanners-anyone/791502 "2017-07-17T17:21:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanners-anyone/791502/1 "2017-07-17T17:21:46Z")
Anyone have any personal experience with scanners that don’t require a computer hook-up, saving images to [something else] without a computer attached? I know they’re available, but was wondering if anyone had any personal experience with them. So much info to sift thru,it’s enough to make your head explode. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanners-anyone/791502/2 "2017-07-17T19:59:17Z")
Aren’t modern photocopiers basically that, saving scanned copies of pages to an internal HD? ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanners-anyone/791502/3 "2017-07-17T20:17:23Z")
Not sure what you are looking for, but there are some very good scanner apps for iOS that use the excellent iPhone/iPad cameras to generate a proper PDF of a document, with no external computer needed. I use Scanner Pro. I use this all the time to get sheet music onto my iPad while at a practice session. Given a network printer, I could easily scan and print with iPad alone. I wouldn’t use it for more than a few dozen pages at a shot, but it is pretty darned fast and the deskewing / contrast tools work well. My scans don’t look any different from a proper photocopy of a page. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanners-anyone/791502/4 "2017-07-17T20:22:25Z")
Fujitsu Scansnap scanners are awesome, and newer models have the ability to scan directly to the cloud. I haven’t tried that feature myself, but I’m pretty sure the scanner connects through WiFi to Fujitsu’s cloud server, which then sends it to your cloud storage site of choice (e.g. Dropbox). ScanSnap scanners are primarily designed for documents. It’s awesome if you have a filing cabinet full of old paperwork which you want to turn into PDFs. But if you want high-quality scans of color photos, it may not be the best choice. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanners-anyone/791502/5 "2017-07-18T00:07:37Z")
If you’re looking for a desktop scanner, many combo printer/scanners (mostly models with an interactive screen) will allow you to scan to an attached USB key or SD card, without a computer attached. For instance, I just looked at [HP.com](http://HP.com) and randomly found the HP Envy 7640 e-All-in-One Printer, which offers : > [@](#): > > Scan input modes: Front panel or HP Solution Center desktop scanning to computer, SD card or E-mail We used to have a similar thingy, Lexmark brand. You chose if you wanted PDF or TIFF or JPEG files, IIRC, and it just saved your pages to the SD card, with names like “SCAN000001.JPG” etc. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanners-anyone/791502/6 "2017-07-18T01:37:48Z")
And I always thought scanners lived in vain. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanners-anyone/791502/7 "2017-07-18T01:41:53Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Anyone have any personal experience with scanners that don’t require a computer hook-up, saving images to [something else] without a computer attached? I know they’re available, but was wondering if anyone had any personal experience with them. So much info to sift thru,it’s enough to make your head explode. I have no advice to give, but I do see what you did there, and I approve. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanners-anyone/791502/8 "2017-07-18T14:16:30Z")
Thanks, all. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanners-anyone/791502/9 "2017-07-18T14:27:46Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Aren’t modern photocopiers basically that, saving scanned copies of pages to an internal HD? Yes, and most photocopiers are now actually MFDs (multifunction devices) - i.e. a combination of scanner, printer and copier. Not all of them have the ability to save a scan without being connected to a computer, but many do - [this one](https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/details/copiers-mfps-fax-machines/multifunction-copiers/imagerunner-1435i), for example, allows you to scan and save to a USB stick. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanners-anyone/791502/10 "2017-07-18T14:36:07Z")
I think pretty much all of the HP multifunctions that have “Pro” or “Office” in the name can do this. Depending on what you mean by “computer attached”, many of the network ones can send the scans via the Internet as an e-mail, too, rather than having to be directly connected to a specific computer. ---
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanners-anyone/791502/11 "2017-07-18T17:30:27Z")
I’ve got a Doxie, which is a small, portable one-sheet-at-time thing. IIRC it saves to its internal memory, and you can sync with various cloud services. To be honest though, these days I just use my phone and scan straight into Evernote. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanners-anyone/791502/12 "2017-07-18T18:43:33Z")
[Yes.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e9/Scanners.jpg) About melted my brain. Not recommended.