Network Scanning

[Pumaedition]

Hey all,

Our Graphics teacher wants a scanner that the students can access to use. His plan was to get a couple of scanners and long USB leads (5m+, possible health and safety?) so they could reach various desks. I dont have too much a problem with this, apart from the obvious issue of installing the software on 21 machines (not a fun task).

My thought was to acquire a network scanner (HP Scanjet 7650N to name it), and use that. Has anyone got any experience with this scanner, or indeed, got a better solution?!

Cheers

[Quackers]

I'm sure you can get network usb box's, which then can be shared out and installed.

EDIT: Found this one. http://www.belkin.com/pressroom/rele...orkUSBHub.html

[mac_shinobi]

not sure if this is viable / valid but a small desktop type copier that can do scan to folder / scan to email or twain scanning over the network ?

[JJonas]

What about a couple of cheap usb scanners install software on all the pcs then just move the scanners to where they are needed? If you have a network scanner you can still only scan one document at a time, with the two cheap usb scanner option you effectively double the students productivity and save money.

[mac_shinobi]

with a desktop copier that supports scan to folder / scan to email etc assuming it has an ADF ( Automatic Document Feeder ) you can setup a shared folder on a network accessable drive that all the students have access to and they can shove what they want to scan through the ADF - which scans pretty fast and then said pages are sent electronically as either a pdf or image file type ie TIFF or Jpeg to said shared folder

[localzuk]

Personally, I'd say a network scanner wouldn't be the best option - they cost a large sum of money, and wouldn't be being used for their real designed purpose (bulk document scanning).

If you're considering spending £650 on a 6750N, then for the same price you could get 14 Canon LiDE 100 scanners instead...

I'd go for setting up a handful of the computers with scanners, and then have those set up as 'scanning stations'. People don't need to be able to scan constantly - they will mostly just scan once and then edit their scan etc...

[MatthewL]

Get a network scanner, will save so much hassle. You can use the Belkin 1 port print servers to share it on the network but it gets messy here, we have a similar setup with one of our scanners that came with one of those, we have some 20 people that can connect to it and it they cant get their heads around it even though I have been through it with them many times!

[dgsmith]

Well, what we did was get an old desktop computer, install the software on it and hook up 1 scanner to that (the scanner has buttons on the front, like the Canon lide series), and set it so when someone pressed the scan button, it scanned and saved the image to a shared area.

Really, really simple and really cheap (we already had the scanners and old computers)! Works like a dream - I actually got the idea from someone on here last year and it works great!

[broc]

We looked at networking options in our Art ICT suite when they wanted an A3 scanner to share between 25 PCs and decided to keep it simple; we set up an old PC dedicated to just running the scanner, the students log on & scan their material, save it to their network drive and go back to their normal workstation. Cheap & cheerful. Looking at how little use the PC gets, I would say it was by far the most cost effective solution. A networked solution would have been a serious waste of money in our case.

[K.C.Leblanc]

If you really really really want to do this one option to consider is leasing a networkable photocopier. Modern ones can be used as both network printers and scanners.

I'd personaly go with the LIDE option. On the older ones I've managed to install the drivers remotley by using their silent install and PSEXEC.

[dhicks]

Well, what we did was get an old desktop computer, install the software on it and hook up 1 scanner to that (the scanner has buttons on the front, like the Canon lide series), and set it so when someone pressed the scan button, it scanned and saved the image to a shared area.

That's what we did too. If you have money to spend it might be worth splashing out on a new ultra-mini PC to plug the laptop in to (£200) and a higher-end scanner (£100-ish) - the £25 scanners are very good value for money but the image quality could be a bit better.

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David Hicks

[cookie_monster]

I'd go for setting up a handful of the computers with scanners, and then have those set up as 'scanning stations'. People don't need to be able to scan constantly - they will mostly just scan once and then edit their scan etc...

We only have 5 scanners in the whole school and they aren't that frequently used, one in the library and others in IT suites. We didn't bother with a network one as you have to go to the unit to insert your document anyway so you might as well sit at the PC next to it only one person can use it at a time anyway.

[Ric_]

We have one of these in our art department. You can do pull scanning over the network (about the only thing it's really any good at!).

[dgsmith]

That's what we did too. If you have money to spend it might be worth splashing out on a new ultra-mini PC to plug the laptop in to (£200) and a higher-end scanner (£100-ish) - the £25 scanners are very good value for money but the image quality could be a bit better.

--
David Hicks

Yup, I think it was you who originally suggested it a year or two back! For a school like here where we have very, very little funding (slicing even just £10 off an order is encouraged), this was an excellent solution. Only thing we need to be aware of is when someone wants to scan something personal, but we say they can come and see us to have it removed immediately if that is the case.

[Pumaedition]

Thanks for the replies.

I mentioned having a machine set up with a scanner attached, but it was considered too much hassle to expect the students to log on to that machine, then scan, then go back to the machine they are working at

The cheap scan and cable alternative seems the best...but how can I save myself the leg work of installing the software on 21 machines?