HP ScanJet Pro 2500 f1 Flatbed Scanner (L2747A)

Purchased b/c of COVID 19 and the stay at home directive. Running OS 10.15.3. The scanner comes with CD's which you need if you are running a Windows operating system. If you have a MAC, you connect the scanner to your MAC via the supplied USB cord and download 2 pieces of software. Do NOT download both at the same time. Rather, download the first set of drivers, install it and then go back to the HP support web page and download the second software patch. Trying to download both concurrently failed twice for me; the "one download at a time" worked fine. Once you install both sets of software from HP, the scanner is good to go. The scans are great, the speed (if that matters) is fast enough for a home machine. It has a modest footprint and so it is easy to set up in your home office. I wish it was bluetooth enabled, but alas it is not so the only "hassle" is connecting the scanner to your MAC before you initiate the scan. Other than that, drama free.

Even though this is an older scanner, it is getting more difficult to find dedicated flatbed scanners with an automatic document feeder and a twain interface. Previously, I had a Canon all-in-one machine which quit when the printer head failed so I no longer had a scanner. I did not want another all-in-one as I have another printer and mostly used the all-in-one as a scanner for a home business. I also hated paying the steep price for color ink and it appeared that just turning on my all-in-one used up some ink (just doing scanning and no printing resulted in loss of ink each month). In looking at other dedicated scanners, many do not have listed drivers for Win 10 whereas the HP's (2500 and 3500) had available drivers. Other scanners use the Paperport software which I had with a high-end Visioneer scanner and this software was not great. Finally, some of the newer dedicated scanners either did not have a Twain interface or were only flatbed scanners. Despite the high cost (usually $200+ versus <$100 for an all-in-one) for these dedicated scanners I narrowed it down to the HP 2500 or 3500. For the extra $200 to get networking and a slight increase in performance, I could not justify the HP3500 over the 2500. From the beginning, the HP2500 has performed better and faster than my previous all-in-one and I do not regret that my Canon all-in-one died. The included HP software works well, although I often just use Adobe Acrobat for twain scanning. Some purchasers claim they have problem with paper jams using the ADF. With all ADFs, you need to make sure that you do not overload the feeder and you need to fan the end you are going to feed in to make sure that no pages are stuck together. I have only had pages jam one time in the past 2 months using this scanner, and it turned out that pages were stuck together at the previous staple holes. Overall, this scanner, using both the flatbed and automatic document feeder, has performed better than expected on a PC using Windows 10. I have also scanned in photographs and the flatbed does an acceptable job for black & white and color photographs. Over the years, I have owned a variety of flatbed scanners (a brand I do not remember, 2 different canon photo, Epson), kodachrome (Nikon) and an ADF scanner (Visioneer) and this HP scanner has worked really well. I have also owned several HP priinters and I hope that this scanner has the longevity of my HP printers.

I have one of these at work and knew I wanted this model for home. Yes, sometimes it isn't always the greatest at feeding the paper without a little babysitting, but it doesn't happen all the time once you figure out how to meet its needs. I have scanned many items and am pleased with the quality it gives me. One of the things that sold me on it was how user-friendly it is. All of the software features are easily understood and provide convenience in working with documents and photos. I like the feature that allows it to read both sides in one feed. Being able to add additional scans to what was just scanned is a great feature for me. Even removing a jammed document is simple. I suggest once you've installed the unit and loaded the software that you re-start your computer. It has a tendency to not recognize the scanner until you do. Make sure you turn the scanner on before you click the scanner icon or you'll get the same message. It's a little annoying but no biggie. If you've dealt with difficult scanners before, you'll find this one to be a relief and a joy.