Xerox DocuMate 510 by Xerox
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Digital camera reviews of Xerox DocuMate 510
Digital camera Review: great on windows
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had great experiences with this scanner connected to Win XP, using the ADF to scan 50 pages at a time without problems. Unfortunately I just bought a iMac G5 desktop & discovered that there is no Xerox support for Mac OS X ! So I will need to keep using my Windows laptop if I want to scan....otherwise a fine product.Digital camera Review: Good hardware, bad software
Summary: 3 Stars
This scanner works, most of the time. I am moving toward the (still distant) paperless office, and this scanner has gotten me much closer. However, I can't recommend purchasing one because it has some maddening problems that just don't seem to be tractable.
The DocuMate 510 doesn't work at all with Windows Server 2003, because apparently corporations don't need to scan documents.
On Windows XP, it provides both TWAIN and WIA drivers. In my case, I can choose between the TWAIN driver, which inverts the colors of all black and white scans (the option to correct this simply doesn't work on my PC), and the WIA driver, which ignores the auto document feeder, forcing me to babysit the machine while it scans. I've worked around this in Microsoft Office Document Scanning with a greyscale scan that converts to black and white, but that slows it down from its rated 10ppm to about 3.
The Documate 510 software bundle includes (indeed, centers around) PaperPort 9 Deluxe, which allows scanning to PDF. Despite the "Deluxe" this product is crippleware, designed to entice you to buy the "real" version: PaperPort Pro. Except PaperPort Pro is now at version 10, which isn't really compatible with this scanner, due to the driver problems mentioned above (which are pervasive no matter what application is used, except the shipped version of PaperPort 9 Deluxe appears to have some kind of workaround).
I've tried several times to reinstall the drivers in the hopes of correcting some of these issues. Doing so requires on-the-spot "registration" every single time, including typing in the 20-character alphanumeric serial number from the back of the unit. As an added bonus, it requires you to enter your email address and subscribes you (with no indication that it is happening) to Xerox's marketing email list.
I believe this scanner is actually made by Visioneer, who sells or sold it under another name (4650?) and OEM'd to Xerox as the Documate 510. The "beauty" of OEMing a product made by someone else is that you can take it to market without a single person in your organization knowing how it works. This certainly appears to be Xerox's approach, as evidenced by the product's second-class citizen status on their website and their support personnel's inability to deviate from their call scripts.
So the Documate 510 does work, sort of. I have scanned quite a bit of material with it; my complaint is that the experience is inevitably much slower and far more frustrating than there is any need for it to be.
I am unconvinced that there are any superior alternatives in this price range, but as a result of my experiences, my office won't be buying any more scanners from either Xerox or Visioneer.
Digital camera Review: Steer clear of Xerox/Visioneer
Summary: 1 Stars
This Documate 510 scanner is sold under the Xerox brand but is made by Visioneer. You should not buy it because (1) it is a BAD, POORLY-MADE product (parts of the ADF wore out so badly after 8 months we couldn't use the scanner anymore), and (2) the CUSTOMER SERVICE is some of the WORST and MOST ARROGANT I have encountered in a long time. My company bought this item new from Amazon on 4/26/04; it was paid for with a credit card on the Amazon web site. As I said, by the end of October it had fallen apart to the extent the document feeder wouldn't work anymore. There is a 1- year warranty, so I called the customer service number to find out how to return it, and got Visioneer. I explained the problem and the rep said to fax a proof of purchase and they would issue an RMA. I faxed the shipping label from the original box from Amazon, showing all info (product, serial number, date of shipment,etc. I got a call the next day saying the rep's supervisor would not approve the return, that I needed something with the date of purchase on it. I said how about if I fax the credit card statement showing the purchase from Amazon, made one day before the shipping date on the shipping label. Nope, not good enough. I said we evidently had not saved the e-mail confirmation from 8 months ago, and it would be very hard to get a new receipt from Amazon, since there were at least 5 different people in the company (2 of whom are not even here anymore), each with a different Amazon user name, who use this credit card, and we could not see the purchase history on Amazon unless we had the username that placed the order. He still couldn't help, so I asked to talk to his supervisor, who could not talk at the moment but would call me back. Well, 24 hours later, no call, so I called back,and after 2 transfers and being on hold for 10 minutes and calling back in, I got the supervisor. He said there was nothing he could do. I said, do you think Amazon shipped us this without us paying for it, especially since we have the credit card statement showing the purchase date coinciding with the shipment date? Sorry, can't help you. I asked, what if we got it as a gift. Well,you'd need a gift receipt, etc.... I told him if we can find somebody that has the time we'll try to get a receipt otherwise we'll turn it over to our lawyer. I guess the new motto is "the customer is always wrong".Digital camera Review: DocuMate 510 is Horrible
Summary: 2 Stars
This scanner is absolutely terrible. I have a small home business and I want to go paperless. If you are in the middle of a scan job, say you are on the 30th page already, and something is wrong, there is no recovery feature so you have to start from scratch. In fact, tech support says you will get constant errors if you scan more than 20 pages at a time, yet the document feeder is supposed to hold 50 pages (?). You can scan and then merge multiple scans to become one, but that is not the point. The point is that out of 900 pages of scanning, i got about two dozen errors which requires me to shut off the machine, close the scanning program and start all over again. I returned the product and got another documate 510 because tech support said it must be faulty, but the second is exactly the same. This scanner is nothing but a pain in the rear. I am shipping the second one back in the morning.Digital camera Review: Xerox 510
Summary: 3 Stars
The unit seems to do a pretty good job as a document scanner. The rating depends on the purpose for which you purchase this scanner. Couple items to note:
1. The unit does not come with the PaperPort Pro 9 office as advertised by Amazon. It is bundled with the Deluxe 9 software which is a less costly product.
2. The flat bed scanning of photos is not up to my expectations. It is probably ok if you're scanning photos for commercial / non-artistic reasons. I do not believe that this takes the place of a 'decent' photo scanner. I had planned to compromise on getting shorted on the Pro 9 Office software and keep this scanner. However I decided that it was not worth it given the compromise that I would also have to accept in the photo scanning.
3. The ADF always pulls slightly to the left as the pages go through. I don't know if this is a typical problem on other ADFs or not.
4. The instructions for the software both hard copy and on the web site are not thorough. A lot of trial and error is required in order to better understand the scanner options.
5. I don't like the fact that the Deluxe 9 software provides the 'preview' scan in a small sub-window. The window is too small to get any valuable 'preview' info.
6. A positive item is that Xerox has spare parts available for the ADF and scanner which may need replacing. I don't believe that this is typical for other non-commercial consumer type units.