Home > Consumer Reviews > CardScan 600c - Sheetfed scanner - USB

OK so the title is only half right I really can't type. That's why this little machine is a godsend.

I'm a computer builder and programmer by trade so I get lots of people who ask me what they should buy in the way of toys. Without question if you "collect" business cards this is a must have.

Installation is a no-brainer and the software is better than what would be expected. I would say that the export features in the software will take care of 99% of PIMS and DBF's that people frequently use.

Sure its a pain in the arse to verify every card you scan but once your collection is added you will only be doing a few a week and that's not so bad.

As with all current OCR that has to work with many fonts and styles you are going to get errors. The included OCR software really does a above average job of getting it right the first time. Better than my typing it in that's for sure.

Another nice feature is that you get a stored copy of your card you scanned. Why is that important? If your eyesight is going like mine, seeing the card at 300% resolution for correction is far easier than reading 6 point type from people who feel they need a life story on a business card.

I could go on and on but this is a top notch product. So why only 4 stars?

Until OCR can get it right 10 out of 10 times I can't say its perfect. This unit is pretty darn close though and well worth the money.

I have a bunch of business cards collected through out the years about 500+. Things where very hectek going through them, even the latest rolodex couldn't handle that much. But the cardscan solution is amazing.I reaserched it for a while and couldn't find a better product. When my wife got it for my birthday I was very exited and opened it out and set it up in few minutes. But I was really surprised when the cardscanning went like a brease over many different patterns and fonts. The ones that had realy difficult patterns hard to see by eye the card scan tried its best and I had to make minor corrections in some of the fields.
The only reason I'm giving it a 4 not a 5 is because it couldn't work with my Lotus Notes Mail Client. It can export to it but it cannot launch it and send a mail directly from cardscan.
I do recommend this to anyone who wants to stop spending more time looking for business card than the actual phone call to be made. I use to find the price high but now I can see it is well worth it.

To the person who says it doesnt scan the graphics - it does.
It can store the image from both sides of the card and the english text from one side.
I find it easy to use and very useful. Mostly i dont bother to verify the cards as there is almost always enough data stored correctly.

Why only 4 stars

I would like easier ways to select which contacts to transfer into other programs (I scan everything since its so easy but i dont need a lot of the data on a daily basis so i dont want to transfer everything) and easier ways to split and merge databases by batch selection. It has these facilities but its too hard !

As someone who lives and travels in Asia many of my cards have the local language details on the back. You can scan the back you cant print it. Give a printed copy to a cab driver is an easy way to get to where i want to go when i cant speak the language.

Finally the copy and paste is fiddly.

But i use it every day and i have all my cards going back 7 years accessible by a simple text search.

If you regularly collect business cards, this is a must have addition. It seamlessly scans them to your computer and puts all items in the correct fields. It also hot syncs with your palm and keeps a backup at cardscan.net. Prints address labels in a snap too. Love it.

Tired of the piles of business cards on the desk? This may be the solution to a clean desk. The scanner scans each business card and the software places the text into its corresponding fields in the address book. The scanned image goes in the address book entry.

The set up including installing the software, connecting the scanner into the USB port, and scanning the first card takes ten minutes. Like any scanner on the market, the scanned text has typos and it is not always in the correct field. The software compensates by retaining a scanned image in the address book entry for easy reference.

Use the CardScan software and integrate it with other technologies. Click on a contact's address while connected to the Internet and it takes you to Mapquest for a map. Include a personal business card with outgoing Outlook emails. Transfer contact information to compatible PDAs, contact managers, digital mobile phones or paper organizer software.

Also useful especially for travelers is CardScan.Net, a secure server that stores the scanned contact information for accessing on any Web browser using a personal password.