Brother Compact Desktop Scanner, ADS-1200

Cumple con mis expectativas, es facil de usar, rapidez en el escaneo, buen equipo.

Me gustó, probé varios y creo que es el más simple de instalar el programa en tu PC o en tu lap.

I bought this scanner in order to make up for the inconvenience of using my older huge HP-Officejet Pro 8600 All-In-One printer. Its been a great scanner no question about it. But turning it on, waiting for it to warm up, and much of the time turning on my desktop computer, can have its drawbacks. I wanted something that I could connect to my laptop and quickly scan other documents, receipt, etc. I had been ‘eyeing’ many of these portable scanners via Amazon, most of which had these great reviews. After too much searching did I finally come down to this one which seemed to be the winner of cost and features. Despite the fact that the stupid mailman threw the package over my 7-foot fence and landed on the lawn, this Brother ADS-1200 seems to have worked okay. I am very happy with it and I am very impressed with its convenience and use. Although the Officejet Pro 8600 is still capable of scanning certain types of thicker media this smaller scanner will never be able to, it is the smaller receipts that this little one will not be beat. That older 8600 has already scanned thousands of items, it is time to give it a break. I am still on the early stages of using this smaller device, I am still learning from it. I mostly use it to scan smaller receipts which do come by the numbers. It will not scan narrow and excessively long receipts which I occasionally do get. These types of longer ones will get jammed and I usually cut them in half or so before I use several utility programs on my laptop to tailor them into a digital 8½ x 11 sheet. Everything so far went well. Some times you will get a lop-sided receipt but I found this freely downloadable Libre Office program having a feature to straighten them up. Although I have read a number of complaints from people buying this ADS-1200, to me I have found none. Interface software was a breeze to install. Again I am still on the learning phase of using this little beast and I will leave updates if necessary. One of things that left me breathless is how fast it scans small stacks of paper. It beats the 8600 Office Jet Pro hands down. Again – still too many features to use and explore. But so far it has been a life saver. Very, very happy with it. I am so glad I bought it.

Brother has always supplied great office products. This scanner amazed me from the time I opened the box. It was super compact, sturdy and well designed. Simple plug and play device. Unfolds into a scanner and card scanner. You do have to select either paper or card scanning on the top of the unit (not automatic) but then again its a compact inexpensive unit.

 This review is for the ADS-1200 ONLY. Many of the reviews I’ve read are for identical looking machines, but different model numbers and the reviews are quite misleading.

Pros: Once it’s set up and working it’s stupidly fast at scanning a stack of photos to your computer as individual .jpegs instead of one huge .pdf. Double sided sheet printing is just as quick and accuracy is excellent. It does come with the necessary USB cable to hook it up to your Windows, MAC or Linux computer. The unit is very small and compact, easily moved and fits in convenient places for use. The scan to USB feature works as advertised, but by default saves all scans as one .pdf.

Cons: No Wi-Fi. The ADS-1200 is either scan to thumbdrive or use the provided USB cord to your computer. The software to adjust your preferences is available for download from the Brother website as is the manual. Not much useful information comes in the box. The Windows software setup from Brother’s website took 45 minutes to finish on Windows 10. Drivers download and install on Mint Linux 21 took 45 seconds, but you have to hunt around for the Linux driver on Brothers website. Another problem is the manual makes no mention of Linux drivers and also often refers to a Model ADS-1700, which has a digital screen on it for settings. The ADS-1200 must have software installed on your computer in order to set your preferences or make adjustments for your media.

All said I’m very pleased with the performance and convenience of the ADS-1200 and hope it lasts through the multiple photo albums I need to digitize.