Things to keep in mind before buying a scanner for your home office
Working from home, right? Your home office must be equipped with an ergonomic chair, computer desk, right technology, and so on. But wait, don’t you forget something? One of the core technologies for your home office is a scanner.
As used for home office purposes, scanners are multi-functional devices, limiting paper documents and maximizing workflow. Yeah, you know, getting all the documents into electronic format is the most prominent step for keeping yourself organized.
So, have you finally decided to buy a scanner for your home office for a paperless experience? Before buying this, you need to consider a few things to make your purchase more effective. Let’s get started!
1. The size and space of the scanner
If you want a scanner for your home office, considering size and space will allow you to buy the best one. Some home-office scanners could be enormously bulky and may not sit appropriately on your desk.
Therefore, you have to consider the size factor and the space you will keep it before shopping for a scanner. Are you looking for the best scanner brands for your home office? Epson are one of the best scanners if you don’t have a bigger workspace!
2. The scanner type
What do you prefer for your home office, a sheet-fed or a flatbed scanner? The flatbed type is highly flexible and can produce higher-quality images of your documents. Moreover, it lets you scan pages from magazines and books.
On the other hand, a sheet-fed scanner is much more budget-friendly than flatbed scanners and doesn’t need more of your home office space. But these scanners can generate medium-quality images compared to flatbed counterparts.
3. Assess the software in addition to the hardware
Every scanner contains software that operates the scanner. Most document scanning software comes loaded with excellent features, and some may not have good features. Therefore, assessing the scanning software before buying one is the best thing to keep in mind.
Software to the document scanner is identical to a car transmission. It implies the software controls how you operate the scanner and change its settings. You shouldn’t want to be regretful with your purchase if the software annoys you!
4. Compatibility with the PC
The next thing to keep in mind while buying a home-office scanner is the compatibility with the PC. You need to assess which scanner’s models are compatible with the PC, and some scanners work well with both Mac and Windows.
If you overlook those criteria, the chance is higher that your PC will be unable to detect the scanner. Therefore, it can affect the productivity and efficiency of your business. All the software and hardware devices in your home office must be working in harmony.
5. The dots per inch requirement
Are you in dire need of a scanner providing higher resolution? You will need to select a scanner with a maximized dpi for your home office. You only need a scanner with a high dpi if you’re a graphic designer.
Otherwise, a moderate dpi will work adequately for your office needs. It has been seen that businesses need a dpi of 600-1200 and a depth of 24-36 more than enough for their business operations.
6. Check the feed and speed
You must understand that scanners are often purchased in terms of their feed and speed. Therefore, you must not be surprised if you’ve ever seen a scanner brochure, which reads-Can scan 5000 pages throughout the day.
Although the scanners can scan those huge number of pages, you have to work 12 hours a day to scan that high volume. It would be best to remember that the scanners require an ideal work environment, for example, high-quality papers and appropriate work ambiance to cope with the duty cycles. Therefore, whenever you go shopping scanners, never get deceived by the numbers.
Concluding Words
In a nutshell, it can be seen that no one-size-fits-all approach works here! Therefore, for your clutter-free home office, buy that specific scanner, which offers great speed, and generates high-resolution images. So, plan ahead, learn about the specification of a document scanner, and bring an excellent scanner for your home office!
