PLANon DocuPen RC800 Portable Scanner Author:  Jason Jacobs Date:  2007.04.20 Topic:  Peripherals Provider:  PLANon Manufacturer:  PLANon

PROS:

• Smallest and Lightest hand held scanner we have seen
• Good Guality Scanning on highest settings
• Built in Rechargable Battery
• Built in ability to use Micro SD cards
• Mode Switching at the touch of a button
• Profile Manager
• Knowledgable Customer Support
• Indicator lights for scanning and speed
• Proprietary USB transfer cable

Conclusion:

• Transfer Speed is not USB 2.0
• Transfer of 50MB of scanned images takes an average of 7 minutes
• Additional Onboard Memory should be included at the price point of the RC800
• Default setup will save files that take up a large amount of space
• Poor B&W Low Resolution Performance
• Scanner turns off immediately after every scan. Need to turn back on to continue scanning.
• Deletion of pictures can take quite a long time.

Update:

PLANon has released the DocuPen Executive Kit which retails for $399 and includes several upgrades that address most of our issues. These are:

• Universale Mobile Charger
• Additional Memory upgradable to 1GB
• Universal Memory Reader to speed up transfers
• Retractable USB Cable

These upgrades are exactly what the DocuPen needs and we highly suggest that anyone interested in the DocuPen RC800 check out their Executive Kit.

For the mobile professional with a need to scan in documents the RC800 will serve quite nicely. The RC800 is easy to use, light weight, and expandable. Unfortunately the RC800 has a few problems that prevents us from backing this product 100%. The need to constantly turn the device back on after every scan is annoying and the transfer speed is simply unacceptable for a modern device rated at USB 2.0 speeds. The software that the RC800 ships with is quite simply the easiest to setup that we have come across for a scanner and works the first time without the need to configure endless settings or search for drivers. We would like to see PLANon fix the small problems with the RC800 and feel as a product it has enormous potential.

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