Re: How to buy a scanner for Linux?

On Mon, 26 Oct 2009, Andrew Gideon wrote:


> Something that emails scans as PDFs or TIFFs would be
> perfect (as compatibility wouldn't be an issue). But I've
> not seen this as a feature except in larger "document management"
> type solutions (which I believe are expensive).
>
>
I don't think this is a scanner issue. Mine has some buttons that suggest
such things, but it seems to just be a method of controlling software that
does the actual work. I'm assuming that, since I've only used it with
Linux and there's nothing magical going on. I suppose one might even find
software to read such buttons, though I don't know.

Michael

On Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:52:14 -0400, Michael Black wrote:

>> Something that emails scans as PDFs or TIFFs would be perfect (as
>> compatibility wouldn't be an issue). But I've not seen this as a
>> feature except in larger "document management" type solutions
(which I
>> believe are expensive).
>>
>>
> I don't think this is a scanner issue. Mine has some buttons that
> suggest such things, but it seems to just be a method of controlling
> software that does the actual work

We've a large Ricoh in our office which does this. No software outside
the device doing the actual work. I know: I configured the scanner there
to know our SMTP server's name.

But this is a large office device, with very fast printing, only B&W
scanning, FAX, etc. It's not suitable for a home, which is what I'm
seeking.

It looks like some HP scanners do this:

http://h71028.www7.hp.com/hho/us/en/...k-folders.html

But I'm not sure, since using a Microsoft environment
is involved in the setup.

- Andrew

On 2011-02-19, Andrew Gideon <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> On Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:52:14 -0400, Michael Black wrote:
>
>>> Something that emails scans as PDFs or TIFFs would be perfect (as
>>> compatibility wouldn't be an issue). But I've not seen this as a
>>> feature except in larger "document management" type solutions
> (which I
>>> believe are expensive).
>>>
>>>
>> I don't think this is a scanner issue. Mine has some buttons that
>> suggest such things, but it seems to just be a method of controlling
>> software that does the actual work
>
> We've a large Ricoh in our office which does this. No software outside
> the device doing the actual work. I know: I configured the scanner there
> to know our SMTP server's name.

We have a large Canon photocopier that does that. But then that is
because the photocopier is really a big computer which has software
included which does that. Most consumer scanners do not have that kind
of power (esp since they connect to the computer via usb not ethernet).
Those buttons can be read by the software, the software then scans the
document and emails it. But then so does xsane--Viewer Save Copy
Multipage Fax Email are the options mine give me.

I have an Epson 1660Photo scanner-- great scanner (undoubtedly no longer
made) -- scans a page in
about 2 sec even at 150dpi resolution. (Slower at 600DPI). One of the
things I discovered when I was looking for scanners is how terribly slow
most of them were. --20-50 sec to scan a page. It is well worth making
sure that your scanner scans fast. When you want to scan in 20 sheets of
music, sitting there for an hour is no fun.

>
> But this is a large office device, with very fast printing, only B&W
> scanning, FAX, etc. It's not suitable for a home, which is what I'm
> seeking.

The Canon copier does colour scanning as well--it is very very fast (ie
the same time as it takes to copy a page << 1 sec at 600dpi) but a bit
out of my price range as well.

>
> It looks like some HP scanners do this:
>
> http://h71028.www7.hp.com/hho/us/en/...k-folders.html
>
> But I'm not sure, since using a Microsoft environment
> is involved in the setup.

If it attaches via usb it is the software in the computer.

Andrew Gideon wrote:
> On Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:52:14 -0400, Michael Black wrote:
>
>>> Something that emails scans as PDFs or TIFFs would be perfect (as
>>> compatibility wouldn't be an issue). But I've not seen this as a
>>> feature except in larger "document management" type solutions
> (which I
>>> believe are expensive).
>>>
>>>
>> I don't think this is a scanner issue. Mine has some buttons that
>> suggest such things, but it seems to just be a method of controlling
>> software that does the actual work
>
> We've a large Ricoh in our office which does this. No software outside
> the device doing the actual work. I know: I configured the scanner there
> to know our SMTP server's name.
>
> But this is a large office device, with very fast printing, only B&W
> scanning, FAX, etc. It's not suitable for a home, which is what I'm
> seeking.
>
> It looks like some HP scanners do this:
>
> http://h71028.www7.hp.com/hho/us/en/...k-folders.html
>
> But I'm not sure, since using a Microsoft environment
> is involved in the setup.
>
> - Andrew

After looking for network scanner, I had finally decided I would have to
use Windows to get what I wanted. I purchased a Brother MFC-7840W laser
all-in-one. After going to the Brother website, I found, to my surprise,
Linux drivers available for download. This printer will do everything
you say you want. It can be hooked up as a USB or parallel port, or it
can be hooked to the network, via cable or wirelessly. I run mine
wirelessly, set up through an access point.

You can scan images as either color JPEG or PDF files. You have the
option to email the scanned images, but with the software on the client
desktop (either Windows or Linux), you can transfer the files directly
to the PC, rather than having to email them.

This printer can OCR text, can copy or fax (note: fax feature was not
supported for Linux when I last checked).

There are other models if you prefer an inkjet or color laser printer. I
have not confirmed availability of Linux drivers for them, so you will
need to do some homework.

I am completely satisfied with the Brother MFC7840W. Toner yield is good
(you can ignore low toner warnings for a long time). Price of cartridges
is competitive. The drum is replaced separately from the toner
cartridge. Print quality is excellent, as is page rendering. Scan
quality is excellent (resolution is selectable up to 600x600). OCR
capability is very good, and I have found that useful from time to time.
Wireless performance (802.11b/g) is outstanding--I have never had a
problem with it).

Hope this helps.
Phil Gilmer

On Mon, 21 Feb 2011 07:42:13 -0600, Phil Gilmer wrote:

> You can scan images as either color JPEG or PDF files. You have the
> option to email the scanned images, but with the software on the client
> desktop (either Windows or Linux), you can transfer the files directly
> to the PC, rather than having to email them.

The Brother MFC line is looking very promising. I'd found them previously
(via a USENET posting from several years back asking the same question as
mine, basically). But I could not tell for sure whether the "scan to
email" is actually the scanner speaking SMTP or using some dedicated
software on a separate computer.

From what you've written, it sounds like the software isn't needed for
SMTP. That's perfect.

Out of curiosity: How does "transfer the files directly to the PC" work?
FTP? HTTP? Something else?

Just to be clear: Why I'm looking for "scan to email" is that I want to
be able to scan quickly, with minimum futzing around with a computer. If
I can toss a chunk of paper into the ADF, push a couple of buttons, and
find the image file in my email later, that would be perfect. I don't
want to have to open up a computer window, see if some software is
running, perhaps choose a file name or other such things...

>
> This printer can OCR text, can copy or fax (note: fax feature was not
> supported for Linux when I last checked).

I'm actually looking at the 9010CN. Color, but no FAX. I don't need FAX.

[...]
> I am completely satisfied with the Brother MFC7840W. Toner yield is good
> (you can ignore low toner warnings for a long time). Price of cartridges
> is competitive. The drum is replaced separately from the toner
> cartridge. Print quality is excellent, as is page rendering. Scan
> quality is excellent (resolution is selectable up to 600x600). OCR
> capability is very good, and I have found that useful from time to time.
> Wireless performance (802.11b/g) is outstanding--I have never had a
> problem with it).
>
> Hope this helps.

It helps a lot. Thanks very much...

Andrew

On Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:55:50 +0000, Andrew Gideon wrote:

> I'm actually looking at the 9010CN. Color, but no FAX. I don't need
> FAX.

Oops. I've just noticed that the 9010CN was single-sided printing. So
I've "upgraded my target" to the MFC-9450CDN.

We need double-sided printing. Just yesterday, this was required by a
son to most effectively complete his homework (he was producing a kind of
"flash card").

Thanks again...

Andrew

On 2011-03-02, Andrew Gideon <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> On Mon, 21 Feb 2011 07:42:13 -0600, Phil Gilmer wrote:
>
>> You can scan images as either color JPEG or PDF files. You have the
>> option to email the scanned images, but with the software on the client
>> desktop (either Windows or Linux), you can transfer the files directly
>> to the PC, rather than having to email them.
>
> The Brother MFC line is looking very promising. I'd found them previously
> (via a USENET posting from several years back asking the same question as
> mine, basically). But I could not tell for sure whether the "scan to
> email" is actually the scanner speaking SMTP or using some dedicated
> software on a separate computer.
>
> From what you've written, it sounds like the software isn't needed for
> SMTP. That's perfect.
>
> Out of curiosity: How does "transfer the files directly to the PC" work?
> FTP? HTTP? Something else?
>
> Just to be clear: Why I'm looking for "scan to email" is that I want to
> be able to scan quickly, with minimum futzing around with a computer. If
> I can toss a chunk of paper into the ADF, push a couple of buttons, and
> find the image file in my email later, that would be perfect. I don't
> want to have to open up a computer window, see if some software is
> running, perhaps choose a file name or other such things...

Except that almost all email has size limits. Thus when you scan that
full page 1200x1200 picture, and suddenly find that your email throws it
away, you might wonder why you found emailing such a great option.

I would rather have a usb cable attached ( or, more expensively,
internt) and just transfer it directly to the computer ( yes, with me
choosing a filename since I will have to do that anyway).


>
>>
>> This printer can OCR text, can copy or fax (note: fax feature was not
>> supported for Linux when I last checked).
>
> I'm actually looking at the 9010CN. Color, but no FAX. I don't need FAX.
>
> [...]
>> I am completely satisfied with the Brother MFC7840W. Toner yield is good
>> (you can ignore low toner warnings for a long time). Price of cartridges
>> is competitive. The drum is replaced separately from the toner
>> cartridge. Print quality is excellent, as is page rendering. Scan
>> quality is excellent (resolution is selectable up to 600x600). OCR
>> capability is very good, and I have found that useful from time to time.
>> Wireless performance (802.11b/g) is outstanding--I have never had a
>> problem with it).
>>
>> Hope this helps.
>
> It helps a lot. Thanks very much...
>
> Andrew
>

On Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:54:17 +0000, unruh wrote:

> Except that almost all email has size limits. Thus when you scan that
> full page 1200x1200 picture, and suddenly find that your email throws it
> away, you might wonder why you found emailing such a great option.

The email size limit is set by a tyrant. But since I'm the tyrant...

Admittedly, though, the "scan to FTP" option I'm seeing on these MFC
devices does seem like a reasonable alternative to me. That's still
"hands off".

> I would rather have a usb cable attached ( or, more expensively,
> internt) and just transfer it directly to the computer ( yes, with me
> choosing a filename since I will have to do that anyway).

Not immediately. I can always just save the email in a folder until I've
the time to think about where to store the file. And that's only when I
get around to checking my email.

Meanwhile, the physical paper is no longer required to be clutter.

- Andrew

Andrew Gideon wrote:
> On Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:54:17 +0000, unruh wrote:
>
>> Except that almost all email has size limits. Thus when you scan that
>> full page 1200x1200 picture, and suddenly find that your email throws it
>> away, you might wonder why you found emailing such a great option.
>
> The email size limit is set by a tyrant. But since I'm the tyrant...
>
> Admittedly, though, the "scan to FTP" option I'm seeing on these MFC
> devices does seem like a reasonable alternative to me. That's still
> "hands off".
>
>> I would rather have a usb cable attached ( or, more expensively,
>> internt) and just transfer it directly to the computer ( yes, with me
>> choosing a filename since I will have to do that anyway).
>
> Not immediately. I can always just save the email in a folder until I've
> the time to think about where to store the file. And that's only when I
> get around to checking my email.
>
> Meanwhile, the physical paper is no longer required to be clutter.
>
> - Andrew

The Brother software will send to whatever SMTP server you specify. If
that is an internal server rather than an ISP server, that should make
no difference.

My MFC does support USB connections or parallel as well as direct and
wireless connection to my network. I LOVE this because I have PCs all
over the place, and my wife and daughter use the MFC all the time. They
are Windows, I am Linux. I use the wireless AP connection, so I don't
have to worry about running CAT-5 everywhere.

I am very satisfied with the MFC.

Phil

On Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:48:11 +0000, Andrew Gideon wrote:

> Oops. I've just noticed that the 9010CN was single-sided printing. So
> I've "upgraded my target" to the MFC-9450CDN.

This is where I start to get a little frustrated. While I've found
plenty of information on the MFC-9450CDN, I cannot find it for sale in
the stores I've checked. Best guess: It's an older model.

It looks like a replacement is the MFC-9460CDN. This I've found for
sale, and the specifications look comparable to the MFC-9450CDN.
However, I don't see it listed on:

http://www.openprinting.org/printers...cturer/Brother

This does make me a little nervous as there are a few devices from
Brother - even MFC models - that are listed there as paperweights.

It looks like Brother provides the PPD for the printer in an RPM at:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com...s/id/linux/en/
download_prn.html#MFC-9460CDN

and "scan to an SMTP server" or "scan to FTP" should be OS agnostic. So
I'm still going to give this a try. But this is exactly the problem with
which I started: a lack of certainty that these devices will fully/
properly support Linux.

On the other hand, that Brother releases an RPM for their printers is a
Good Sign. I've not noticed that before from any other manufacturer.

- Andrew