Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Pen-Sized Color Scanner Reviewed

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the other-kind-of-spyware dept.

moto writes "ThinkComputers has a review up of a cool pen-sized scanner, the Planon RC800 Portable Color Scanner. From the article: 'I've noticed one major constant about most technology, as it changes it gets smaller. Take scanners for instance, I have a few of them, an older one that is pretty big, you could use it for a computer case if need be, if I lined them up in order of age you would find that they get smaller as they get newer. Today for review I have the smallest scanner yet, it's from Planon, and they actually made it into the Guinness Book of World Records.'"

13 of 125 comments (clear)

  1. This is old news. by yagu · · Score: 4, Informative

    While a handheld pen-sized scanner may intrigue, it's not very new, not even for this particular device. If you go to the amazon.com review of this device, and look and see the oldest review for this device is in October of 2004!

    Additionally, while there are only fifteen reviews, the average is only 3.5/5 stars, enough of an indicator (to me at least) this isn't exciting or very interesting technology (for the record, a running theme at amazon seems to indicate a klunky package with difficult to use software and controls). Also fifteen reviews over a 15 month period would indicate a product that isn't moving. Perhaps this review is a nudge to try and get the product moving?

    1. Re:This is old news. by SteelV · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It is possible that it's just too new, so it isn't ready for market yet--that could by why the items aren't moving. Of course, I'm sure the first iterations of this product won't be amazing, but as time goes by, they'll probably improve.

      Of course, the idea of having such a tiny scanner is amazing. It would be great to one day have a normal pen that you can just slide along a piece of paper anywhere and it will save the image. Later, you could upload it to your computer wirelessly. I would definitely pay a few hundred dollars for something like that, if not a thousand. It would be great in class to quickly scan in and then throw away every handout, so I don't need to keep them in a folder somewhere collecting dust.

  2. When size matters... by eMartin · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I've noticed one major constant about most technology, as it changes it gets smaller."

    Hey baby..

    I'm just more technologically advanced.

    1. Re:When size matters... by typical · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Actually, "small" and "futuristic" are not necessarily mentally intertwined as you might think.

      I remember looking at old futuristic art from, oh, the 30s through the 50s. The future was big. Big buildings, bridges, ships, and later big airplanes and spaceships. Big cars, big roads. I suspect that for the typical person from that period, "futuristic" would be more closely associated with "big" than "small".

      --
      Any program relying on (nontrivial) preemptive multithreading will be buggy.
  3. Is that a... by cuteseal · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... scanner in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? :D

    --

    The friendliest digital photography forums on the net!

  4. Are you SUURE this is a good idea? by MrAnnoyanceToYou · · Score: 3, Funny

    See, like, 'cause I just saw this movie Firewall where Harrison Ford transferred 10,000 bank account numbers from a screen into digital data in an iPod in, like, three minutes, and I think this could really cause a problem because, you know, people could totally scan all sorts of secure data virtually instantaneously and then use it to, say, steal a hundred miiillion dollars.

    And he even did it with the scanner used in a Fax machine. Totally awesome techie feat, not to mention impossible. The greatest line ever, though: "Ten thousand songs, ten thousand account numbers. It can't tell the difference." I fell out of my chair.

    --
    My little site.
  5. Useful in class/workplace by SteelV · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is a great way to start moving even further from the paper world. Every one or two-page document you get in class/the office you can quickly scan with a pen, then upload wirelessly to your computer. The day this becomes effective and viable--and the software for converting scanned images to text/pdf/.doc files becomes more accurate--we'll start to see an even greater shift away from traditional documents.

    Already, most handouts in class can be found online. This will just make it even easier to keep everything on your computer for easy retrieval--especially through SEARCH (spotlight, google DS, vista, etc.).

    Can't wait till they technology is cheaper and more efficient.

  6. I remember my first scanner by Ralph+Spoilsport · · Score: 4, Interesting
    300 dpi, 3 pass scanner, 8.5in x 11in, slow as mollasses and cost me $1500.

    Now I have an 8.5 x 11 scanner that does 2400 dpi in a single pass and it only cost me $89 on sale at Best Buy.

    Amazing what happens in a dozen years...

    RS

    --
    Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
  7. There's a reason scanners are big by fm6 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    While a handheld pen-sized scanner may intrigue, it's not very new...
    Indeed, Slashdot's sibling site, ThinkGeek, used to sell little monochrome scanners meant for OCR work. I actually bought one, but found it too hard to hold it steady enough to work reliably. And come to think of it, the first scanner I ever bought was a little handheld thing. I didn't buy it (ten years ago, I think) because it was small, I bought it because it was cheap. But again, too hard to hold steady.

    If you look carefully at a typical $100 scanner, you'll realize that the electronics contribute very little to its size. Most of the bulk is due to the mechnical stuff that holds the paper in place and moves the sensors across it.

    That kind of mechanical engineering has clearly hit its fundamental limits in terms of size. To get a real breakthrough, you'd have to find a way to do without moving the sensor over the image. You can already image a piece of paper with a digital camera — and some digital cameras are very tiny indeed. But they don't include the ability to correct the image for the arbitrary positioning of the camera. Invent that, and you'd have a handheld scanner worth talking about.

  8. Useful to genealogists by brian0918 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This would be useful for those doing research in libraries' historical records. They rarely lend out their older collections, and in some cases won't let them be scanned either. This could be a useful covert way of doing just that.

  9. usable with Linux? by srk · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Does anybody know if it works with Linux or Mac? Manufacturer's web site has only Windows as a supported system.

  10. Most consumer stuff is crap by Jaime2 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I work with scanners regularly and all the destop scanners we recommend to our clients cost around $1000 or more. Dedicated 8hr-a-day scanners run close to $5000. We don't make a dime on hardware, so we're not trying to squeeze cash out of anyone. Just try a $1000 scanner like a Kodak i40 someday and you'll see why anyone who depends on a scanner for a business shouldn't consider anything inferior.

    Now, if you show me a pen scanner that makes images good enough to ORC or recognize a bar code and I'll sell a million of them for you. But for now, I love to have an ultra-reliable, self-feeding, double-sided, 60+ ppm scanner whenever I need to scan anything worthwhile.

  11. All I want from scanner manufacturers by melted · · Score: 3, Interesting

    All I want from scanner manufacturers is come up with a model of scanner that can scan _multiple_ pages, from _both sides_, _automatically_, bundled with decent OCR software and archiving software. I'd just feed all the paperwork I receive in a week into it and have a searchable archive. Unfortunately, the industry is run by morons and it's not gonna happen.