daveh@compnect.UUCP (Dave Hultberg) (06/13/91)
The latest catalog from DAK has a handheld scanner and software advertised for $149. The picture in the catalog shows scanner with "Mars 105 HAND-SCANNER" on it. On one side it has a three position switch, 400/300/200 dpi and a light/dark thumbwheel. There is also a text/photo switch somewhere on the scanner. The catalog description calls it a Marstek 400 dpi Hand Scanner. Included in the $149 price is ReadRight Personal, PC Paintbrush and ScanKit software and an expansion card. The catalog wright-up makes this scanner look like just what I am looking for to scan in a large database that I only have available on paper right now. I would appreciate any comments from those who know anything about this hardware and software. Specifically, I would like to know of any problems I would have with it trying to scan 8.5x11" pages of data that are in landscape mode. The data base is in 2 columns on the page lengthwise. -- Dave Hultberg Packet: KA3UZR @ WB3EAH.PA.USA.NA Fidonet: 1:270/101.28 uunet!rutgers!psuvax1!eds1!wa3wbu!compnect!daveh CI$: 72437,3215 Snail mail: 1407 Concord Rd., Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-1955 FAX: 717-790-3689
scotte@applix.com (Scott Evernden) (06/15/91)
In article <973@compnect.UUCP> daveh@compnect.UUCP (Dave Hultberg) writes: >The latest catalog from DAK has a handheld scanner and software >advertised for $149. .... >... The catalog wright-up makes this scanner look like just what I am >looking for to scan in a large database that I only have available on >paper right now. You won't be happy. There's simply no way that a cheapo OCR program will do the job you want. I've messed around a bit with these pathetic toy programs, and they're really only useful if you enjoy the tedious manual "post- processing" required to spot all the recognition errors. If you are scanning a pile of numbers, then you're really really going to be upset when you notice letters and incorrect digits inserted. You really need to think about getting some serious (Calera, Caere, etc) OCR software to do what you need. Else, hire someone to type in your database. In lieu of that, order the DAK product, try it for a while until you see what I'm talking about, and then send it back and pay the 15% restocking fee. See recent April BYTE mag for more info on OCR software... -scott