Review: NeatDesk Desktop Scanner

It’s been a while since I reviewed the original Neat Receipts Scanner.  Well, recently I had a chance to take a look at the new NeatDesk.

This new machine is a power tool for those who do some heavy duty, high speed scanning.  The Neat Desk sits on a desktop, and is not meant to be carried about, like it’s other cousin scanner.

What I liked:

Scan & PDF buttons.  See those two buttons on the front of the machine?  One is for scanning, and the other is for PDF.  So, load your docs into the top, and press one of those, and you are on your way.  Pretty cool stuff.

Three sizes of paper, no problem.  Invoices, receipts and business cards all get their own bay.  They are all lined up separately, making scanning simple.  Once they are scanned, they are deposited in a tray on the bottom.

The layout of the new software.   I was a fan of the older version, and I have to say I was pretty taken with the visual of this new version.  Here’s a few screen shots so you can see what I mean:

I love this new layout, it’s easy to see where things are.  Once you scan in your document, it goes into this “inbox”.  From there, you process them, categorize or whatever else.  And that’s, well, neat.

This screen is how you shore up your receipts.  The list on the lower right shows your other receipts, complete with all the details of each.  The best part is Neatworks (the software that comes with the scanner) stores a visual image of your documents.  Why is that cool?  You can ditch your paper.  LOVE that.

Related to that, a quote from their website:

“Does the IRS accept digital receipts?

Yes. According to ruling Rev. Proc. 97-22, the IRS allows one to prepare, record, transfer, index, store, preserve, retrieve, and reproduce books and records by either electronically imaging hard copy documents to an electronic storage media, or transferring computerized books and records to an electronic storage media that allows them to be viewed or reproduced without using the original program.”

What could be improved:

Slow software install. I had to uninstall my old Neat Co. software, and reinstall the new.  It took, well, it took a loooooong time.  Now, a short disclaimer: my laptop is old…. like dinosaur in laptop years.  So, it could very well have been a hardware issue.  However, once the software was (finally) loaded, it worked like a dream.  It locked up a couple times (ok, crashed, but again, may have been a hardware issue).

Overall Rating:

This machine is would be a great for an accountant, or one who does some heavy-duty scanning (for expense reports, etc.).   The speed of scanning lends itself to higher volume usage.  It’s also great if you need to scan directly to PDF on a pretty regular basis, or need to share a scanner in a small to medium sized office.

Where to get it:

NeatDesk Desktop Scanner

For more information on Neat Co., go to their website.

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(Disclosure:  The NeatCo provided me with a review model of this machine, which was loaned to me on a temporary basis.  No compensation was received to write this review.)