Review on 📸 Epson ES-50 Portable Sheets Document Scanner for PC and Mac - Workforce Edition by Ryan Sandell

I'm a bit confused. I REALLY love this handheld scanner, but there are a few features that make me question the design decisions behind it - and the desktop and mobile app versions work completely differently in countless ways that confuse me enough to write some Find product descriptions misleading. I work in Information Technology (IT) and I can't imagine how the average consumer hasn't racked their brains over some of the 'missing' features advertised in the product description, manual and on the box. , I mean Windows and Mac computers - Epson desktop app is called "ScanSmart" - "Mobile" would be iOS (iPhone/iPad) and Android (Samsung etc.) - Epson mobile app is called "DocumentScan" - "ScanSmart. and "DocumentScan" have completely different functions that make marketing materials and manuals questionable. PROS - Very portable (only 0.7 pounds) and compact - Battery powered and rechargeable via microUSB (using computer or phone/tablet USB power adapter) - Relatively fast scanning - Professional looking design - Scanning via WiFi (two options, more on that later ) or wired via USB - Ability to scan multiple pages and combine them into one file, rotate and delete individual pages - Excellent scan quality - Start/stop button for scanning without an application - Good but not professional color accuracy - Excellent optical character recognition (OCR) via a computer application (not available for mobile devices) to convert scanned images into searchable text (PDF, Word, Excel) – 600 dpi optical scan resolution (limited to 300 dpi in mobile applications). Marketing Claims 1200 dpi max resolution - scan to cloud options (not available for mobile devices) such as Dropbox and Google Drive (only Epson's own website mentions in a footnote that this is only available with the desktop app) - Small LCD display showing battery status, WiFi mode etc. - Scanning to desktop folder or Android app (not available for iOS. Scanned documents are saved in the app itself) - Scanning of documents up to width up to 8.5 inches and up to 72 inches (wow!) - Optional license available to scan receipts to convert text to QuickBooks, Excel, etc. (not available in mobile app) - Scan photo ID and business cards - Scan photos and confidential documents that you don't want to damage (with optional accessories) - Reasonable price - Scan preview on desktop and mobile applications. Automatic document feeder. Examples of calibration and maintenance sheets are included. ft- Customizable power saving settings- Multiple users can use the scanner wirelessly MINUS- Marketing materials and manual refer to features not available in mobile versions of Epson scanning software. This can be misleading as the limitations are not described anywhere (Revain and Epson website, product manual). More on that later. Versions of mobile apps are severely corrupted as follows: --- Scan resolution is limited to 300 dpi --- OCR (Scan to Searchable Text) is not available (only Epson's own website mentions this as a footnote) --- Scan to cloud is not available (although this feature may already be built into your mobile device) - No contrast/brightness adjustment options if you want to scan something darker - Full manual is only available via website (this can be seen as a good thing) . to. Saves trees) - An optional accessory (but not included) is highly recommended to scan photos and confidential documents that you don't want to damage - The mobile app version only allows you to connect directly over WiFi OR indirectly via your WiFi to connect to the scanner network. You cannot save both profiles in the application. You have to choose one or the other and that can be confusing for the average consumer. No memory card support for scanning directly to a memory card instead of a computer or mobile device. No automatic document feeder (each page has to be inserted manually by the user). You) SUMMARY Overall, I really like this portable scanner. It's fast, well made and very comfortable on the road. However, I'm very frustrated that the product description, marketing materials, product packaging, and manual don't mention any of the limitations that mobile apps have compared to desktop versions. This is directly related to false advertising, which is a major oversight by Epson. This could easily downgrade the product from 5 to 3 stars, but as it is the smallest, lightest and fastest scanner available at the time of writing this I am giving it 4 stars for good efforts since the marketing material was released. can easily be corrected. TIPS - EXCELLENT, Protective case available from Revain. Search "Caseling Hard Case ES-60W" - Advantages of the ES-60W over the cheaper ES-50: faster scanning, wireless scanning, automatic switching between wired USB and WiFi scanning, LCD status display - Can be used wirelessly with connected to the scanner, either through a direct connection or through a Wi-Fi network as follows: --- Direct connection: Turn the WiFI switch on the scanner to the right to enable wireless mode. Search for "DIRECT-70-EPSON-". WiFi name and connect to it. The exact name and password are printed on the bottom of the device. In this mode you do not need a wireless router. You just connect your phone/tablet/computer directly to the scanner --- Wi-Fi Network Connection: You can connect the scanner to your Wi-Fi network via the mobile app or desktop app and follow the instructions to connect your WiFi network -Set name and password. Your app will then automatically find the scanner once the device successfully connects to your network. The desktop application (Epson ScanSmart) and driver (which tells the computer how to interact with the scanner) can be downloaded from the Epson website. CD not included. The mobile app for iOS and Android is called "Epson DocumentScan". Insert the document face up and align it to the left. Envelopes and business cards must be oriented in a specific orientation (see illustrations in manual). Custom size documents should be used with Epson optional accessories. Or stick it on a whole sheet of paper. Slide the Wi-Fi switch to the right to turn on Wi-Fi mode. The desktop application has many more options and features, such as E.g.: scan resolution up to 1200 dpi, historical scan statistics. , document skew correction, contrast/brightness/gamma, firmware updates (which often include fixes/improvements to the device itself). To scan documents and make their text searchable in PDF, Word, or Excel format, use the optional software "Epson Scan OCR Component" with the program "Epson Software Update" on your computer. Please note that OCR (optical character recognition) is not available in mobile apps. Make sure you select "Searchable PDF" as the "Save" option. By default, it saves the scanned image in "PDF" format, which is not searchable. I hope you find these TIPS and HINTS helpful. If you liked the review and found it helpful, please click the Helpful button below to encourage me to write more. Thank you!