Scanner for mixed network

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Level 1

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Scanner for mixed network

Does anyone have a suggestion for a (network?) scanner that will allow both Windows and Mac machines to use the scanner over a network?

Or, stated another way, we have an office environment with both Windows and Mac machines and we are hoping to find a scanner that we can either plug into one computer and share or plug into our network and access over IP or the like.

I can find several solutions for a Windows only environment- is this a huge hole in the idea of using Mac's in an office situation?

Thanks,
Jared

MacBook Pro 17, Mac OS X (10.6.2), Other macs, Windows XP machines

Posted on Feb 20, 2010 7:04 AM

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Answer 1

PAHU

Level 6

16,723 points

Feb 21, 2010 3:32 AM in response to oDroD

A number of office-ranger copier MFD's have the ability to scan to a shared folder across the network using SMB or FTP as a protocol. This protocol support allows you to configure shared folders on an individuals Mac or PC and 'push' scan a document directly to the computer as an image (such as TIFF or JPEG) or text (PDF using built-in OCR). This function of pushing gets around the limitation of finding a pull scanner that has Mac software. Also, being networked, it does not have to rely on the sharing device being turned on.

We have a number of Canon imageRUNNER's configured to do exactly this, although the majority of the office uses Mac. The SMB share path to the users shared folder on their Mac is saved into the copier's address book and all the user has to do is select the address after loading the documents into the feeder. The machine has built-in OCR so if they select PDF, the copier does a reasonably good job of converting the scanned image into a search-able text PDF.

On the Canon's this function is called Universal Send. It is most likely called something else on other brands. But the term 'push scanning to SMB' would mean something to any sales rep flogging an office product.

If you didn't want to get a copier-based product there are dedicated office scanners that provide the same feature. Again, you just need to look for a device that support push scanning via SMB or FTP.

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Answer 2

oDroD Author

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Feb 21, 2010 7:45 AM in response to PAHU

Thanks for the information PAHU! That's exactly what I needed to know. We run a peer-to-peer network without a server so I'm hoping to find a dedicated scanner (we already have more printers, copiers, etc. than we need) that will push the scanned documents over SMB or FTP to our network attached storage device.

I'll look for a scanner with scan to SMB or scan to FTP capabilities.

Thanks!

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Answer 3

PAHU

Level 6

16,723 points

Feb 21, 2010 11:41 PM in response to oDroD

This is a good model to consider...

http://www.canon.com.au/en-AU/Business/Faxes-Scanners/imageFORMULA/imageFORMULA% 20ScanFront%20220P

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Answer 4

oDroD Author

Level 1

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Feb 22, 2010 7:08 AM in response to PAHU

Thanks for the info- I've looked over that unit a bit and it seems to fit the bill. I also found an HP (the only thing I usually buy from HP these days are printers...) that fits the bill- the N6350.

http://tinyurl.com/yesbpnf

I had a price point in mind of under $2K (US)- which the Canon you mentioned actually falls into. However, if I can get something that does the job for $750, I'll do it. We don't have a lot of scanning work- maybe less than 10 pages per day on average.

Any thoughts on the HP? I used to own a old HP 300C scanner- at the time, it was one of the better scanners you could buy. The N6350 is pretty new so I'm unable to find any reviews on the unit.

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Answer 5

PAHU

Level 6

16,723 points

Feb 22, 2010 2:42 PM in response to oDroD

No thoughts on the HP. I'm a Canon user.

Maybe someone else reading this posting may have some info on this model. However, since you have the question set as solved, people may bypass it so you may want to start a new thread asking about the N6350.

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