Well, I use a Fujitsu FI-5220C, which is a CCD scanner. I do mostly use the duplex feature, but it includes a flatbed as well. (Of course, there are probably lots of cheaper flatbeds around...) I uas Abbyy Finereader Professional, and I absolutely love this program. I use it with a CanoScan LiDE 70 as well, but I really haven't scanned a bound book in quite a while, so I don't know how helpful any of this is. Anyway...Abbyy Finereader is the best-performing OCR software I've used. I've used OmniPage, and I used OpenBook a really long time ago (so I guess that comparison isn't very fair). I have Kurzweil on my machine, but I only use that to deal with stuff the University sends me as well as the occasional Grade II file. In the situations in which I scan, Abbyy is fast and unbelievably accurate.
Yeah, FineReader is great. the 9.0 Pro OCR was one of the engines I tested with (also the 8.0 and Omnipage 15 engines in my older copy of Kurzweil). I think that that Fujitsu is probably more than I need though. :)
:) Yeah, it's a lot o' scanner. I don't really know that much about flatbed offerings by Fujitsu, but all the reviews I've seen of Fujitsus in general have been very positive.
I use Kurzweil 1000--version 10, I htink--and one of the HP flatbed scanners listed on the Kurzweil 1000 recommended scanners page. I forget which one, but it's my second or third (I put a lot of wear on my scanners, so they need to be replaced approx. every 3 years, but I don't blame them, since I scan about two books or more per week). Also, I ordered my most recent scanner from Amazon. Not only was it cheaper but it got delivered to my door, no hauling stuff around or subjecting myself to the mall.
I used a sample copy of Abbyy Fine Reader for a while, I have no idea where I got it, but it sadly went poof with my old OS. It is really wonderful though, but I hear the latest version is less accessible, and even some of the sighted users are rolling back a version because the older version is less of a resources hog. If you find out the price of this I would be interested in hearing it.
I think Abbyy Finereader Pro 9.0 was ... ummm, something like $99 from their web site, but I had a coupon, and I should warn you, the site is a bit of a headache to navigate. https://store.abbyyusa.com/cgi-bin/dlreg?ID=FR9TB
Right now, I'm hoping somebody soon comes up with a fairly reasonably priced digital camera arrangement that lets you adjust the camera through software and takes digital pictures instead of scanned images. Apparently, this kind of thing is becoming more popular for electronic archival purposes, but then they don't get integrated with OCR solutions (plus, they're geared for institutional consumers, not individuals.)
These people have one, but it seems overpriced to me, and doesn't save to anything but .txt (iirc.)
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I think that that Fujitsu is probably more than I need though. :)
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I do like Kurzweil's automatic adjustment ability, and a few other of its special features, which is why I still have it on my machine.
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Also, I ordered my most recent scanner from Amazon. Not only was it cheaper but it got delivered to my door, no hauling stuff around or subjecting myself to the mall.
I used a sample copy of Abbyy Fine Reader for a while, I have no idea where I got it, but it sadly went poof with my old OS. It is really wonderful though, but I hear the latest version is less accessible, and even some of the sighted users are rolling back a version because the older version is less of a resources hog. If you find out the price of this I would be interested in hearing it.
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https://store.abbyyusa.com/cgi-bin/dlreg?ID=FR9TB
Right now, I'm hoping somebody soon comes up with a fairly reasonably priced digital camera arrangement that lets you adjust the camera through software and takes digital pictures instead of scanned images. Apparently, this kind of thing is becoming more popular for electronic archival purposes, but then they don't get integrated with OCR solutions (plus, they're geared for institutional consumers, not individuals.)
These people have one, but it seems overpriced to me, and doesn't save to anything but .txt (iirc.)
Reply
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