I've tried them both (Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S50 and Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500) and the winner is Fujitsu ScanSnap. In short, the reason is bad Epson software and horrendously, awful, incompetent support from Epson, while Fujitsu gets it right in both categories. Here are the details...
I've owned 2 ScanSnap scanners. When one of my older ones started acting up (not detecting paper), and when Fujitsu wanted roughly $200 to "repair" it (which probably consisted of putting in a new $10 plastic paper feed detector that a customer can't do themselves), I thought I'd try another brand. So I started out in my quest with the goal of finding something better than ScanSnap. I WANTED to love something else. I searched, read other reviews, and tried the Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S50.
The Epson is definitely more solid, although larger, than the ScanSnap. I was pleased with the large feed capacity on the Epson. It also has an LCD screen, where you can create macros (e.g. B&W scan at 300 dpi). So far so good. I was liking it on my first couple one-page tests. But here's where things went wrong...
Maybe I'm the only person in the world who wants to quickly scan, enter the folder and file name of my choice, and save to a PDF. Guess what? You can't do that with the Epson. I was shocked. It seems like that would be the most common task a user would want to perform. You have to scan to a pre-set folder (you can define it), using their default filename (something like img001.pdf or the mmddyyyy-hhmmss.pdf) and then rename it using Windows. I thought I must be missing something and I called tech support. More on that below...
With the Epson, I tried something I had done for years with the Fujitsu -- automatic color detection. With ScanSnap, including their new S1500, it CAN automatically detect any color on the page and then scan ONLY that page in color while leaving the other pages in B&W. But, with the Epson, there are 2 methods of scanning. With one method, there is NO automatic color detection. With the other method, it will scan all pages in color mode even if only 1 page has color. This causes unnecessary increase in file size.
I also noticed that the quality of scan wasn't as good with the Epson as with the ScanSnap. The Epson sometimes showed black edges around the piece of paper. If you print it out, you see the black edges, which looks dumb. And, the image appears fuzzy with the Epson, but more clear with the ScanSnap. Of course, anyone reading this will think I just didn't play with the settings, and it is possible I missed something. But, I tried all kinds of setting combinations and the Epson just didn't produce as good of a scan result as the Fujitsu, and even if you can improve it in a way I didn't try, the average user shouldn't have to do that; Scansnap was simply better.
I also had problems with the Epson pulling pages into the scanner at a slight angle. Now, I don't think either scanner is perfect at pulling in pages. I've replaced rollers and assemblies with ScanSnap to avoid the occasional double feed, and I wouldn't say they are perfect by any means. But, when I was hoping Epson would have a better feeding system, I was disappointed to see that it was pulling at an angle -- something I don't get with ScanSnap.
Then, the big problem for me was that the Epson software had a bug and would not scan >1 page into a single PDF file. Yeah, yeah, I know there is a setting about making a single PDF file with multiple pages, and I did have it set correctly. But, it didn't work when using their software utility for scanning. If I scanned 10 pages, only the first one showed in the PDF file. I already had Acrobat Professional installed, and I think that caused some driver problem, although it shouldn't have. The rest of my setup is a brand new Windows 7 clean machine. Other people don't seem to have this issue, but the scanner was worthless to me if I couldn't get Epson's help resolving the bug. So I called tech support, and that is when things went from bad to worse.
Tech support at Epson: I dealt with a level 1 tech support rep who asked me 101 unrelated questions, only to leave me on hold and never come back to the phone. I called back. The profile the first rep created was missing so they asked me 101 questions again. This person knew nothing about their product. I am not just being critical. He really didn't know how to perform a scan or anything. I had used the product for 2 hours and I knew far more about it than he did. I got bumped to level 2 support. I asked this next person if there was a way to scan, and type in the filename instead of using their default numeric names. He said no. I said "don't you do that when you scan papers at home?" He said he doesn't use a scanner at home. Hmmmm. The guys who are in charge of this product don't USE scanners so, of course, it shouldn't be a surprise to me that the software is so dumb. As for my "can't scan >1 page" issue, I had to get escalated again. My level 3 tech said I needed to hold on while he installed the softare! I said "you don't already have it installed?" He said he doesn't use this model scanner. Really? The level 3 rep hadn't used the software or hardware before? It was frustrating but comical. Level 3 didn't know how to solve the >1 page problem, so they said level 4 would have to help. How many levels were there? I was told level 4 would have to call me back within 24 hours. Well, no one called. 10 days later, I received an email (with my name typed incorrectly). It stated "Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response. If this issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may reopen it within the next 7 days. Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you." What service? They never called. The rest of the email was a generalized summary about how to perform a basic scan. They could care less about my problem of not being able to scan >1 page. So level 4 apparently doesn't know anything more than the basics either, but even worse, they don't care that a customer is still stuck unable to scan multiple pages. On a side note, even the basic email confirmed my belief that you can't type in your own filename when doing a quick scan. The email stated "In the Filename field you can change the Prefix part of the filename only. For example, if you enter Test, the filename will be Test001.pdf."
I had no choice but to send back the Epson and buy the ScanSnap S1500. Remember, I was trying NOT to give ScanSnap my money after their high price for a repair. But, I'm glad I did. Their newest software is fantastic. These guys must use their product because the software is very smart. There is a great demo video on YouTube that you should see. (By the way, there is no decent video published by Epson on YouTube.) It certainly lets you name a file anything you want at the time of scanning. These guys even came up with a neat feature that if you highlight a word with a yellow highlighter, it will use OCR and add that word to the metadata saved with the PDF file.
If I didn't tell you which scanner hardware was hiding behind each scanner, and I just asked you to rate the software experience with each software package, I'm confident you'd easily say the ScanSnap had the better software. Better yet, it does what you want (naming a file!!!!, only using color for the color pages, etc.) and more. It doesn't have the LCD screen, but the purpose of that (macros) is resolved by a software popup on the Fujitsu ScanSnap anyway. The ScanSnap software asks you what you want to do with the file and even lets you create profiles via software.
Now I called Fujitsu because I was stuck with a few things using their software. To my amazement, the first person who answered the phone (without a delay) did NOT ask me 101 questions to create a profile. He just started right in with helping me. He knew the product extremely well, answered my questions immediately, and was a technical person. I was on and off the call with 100% of my questions answered. I even called back another time for a follow-up question and that person was equally good.
I should note for people new to scanners that the pages/minute option for any scanner is deceiving unless you use the worst quality settings. If you use better quality settings, or OCR, all scanners take longer per page. But, they are still pretty fast.
People, I WANTED to love the Epson but the reality is that the ScanSnap is much better. And, Fujitsu gets the software right, and has people that actually know about the product if you call for help. They deserve your business far more than Epson.
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This item: Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 Instant PDF Sheet-Fed Scanner for PC
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This Item  Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 Instant PDF Sheet-Fed Scanner for PC | Recommendations  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $499.98 | $219.00 | $397.89 | $349.89 | $299.99 | -6% $329.99 List: $349.99 |
| Delivery | Get it Jun 5 - 11 | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 29 | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 29 | Get it May 28 - 29 | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 29 | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 29 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sold By | NINE ROYAL | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | TechGigs | Koncept Technologies | Amazon.com |
| scanner type | Document | Document | Document, Receipt | Document, Receipt | Document | Document, Receipt |
| sheet capacity | 50 | 60 | 50 | 1 | 50 | 50 |
| paper size | Letter, A4, A5, A6, Legal, A3 | A4, Letter, Legal | Up to 8.5"x14" | Letter, A4 | Letter | 2 x 2, 5 x 7, 8.5 x 11, 8.5 x 14.17, 11 x 17 |
| connectivity tech | USB | USB | USB, Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi, USB | USB | USB |
| optical sensor tech | CCD | CIS | CIS | CMOS | CCD | CIS |
| media type | Paper, Receipt, Business Card | USB | USB | USB | Paper | Paper, Business Card, Photo, Receipt, Post Card |
| resolution | 300 | 600 dpi | 600 | 300 dpi | 1200 dpi | 600 |
| light source type | CCFL | LED | LED | LED | LED | LED |
| min system requirement | Windows 7 | Windows 7 | Windows 11 / 10 (352-bit / 64-bit) and macOS Catalina 10.15 or later | [INSUFFICIENT DETAILS] | Windows 7 | Windows 11 / 10 (352-bit / 64-bit) and macOS Catalina 10.15 or later |
| wattage | 35 watts | — | 17 watts | — | — | 17 watts |
Product information
| Product Dimensions | 15.7 x 10.4 x 9.3 inches |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 9.85 pounds |
| ASIN | B001V9LQH0 |
| Item model number | PA03586-B005 |
| Customer Reviews |
4.2 out of 5 stars |
| Best Sellers Rank | #318,337 in Office Products (See Top 100 in Office Products) #409 in Document Scanners |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | December 19, 2005 |
| Manufacturer | Fujitsu Imaging |
Warranty & Support
Product Warranty: For warranty information about this product, please click here
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Holy cow, it's as good as it claims!
I got this in August for home use and I am pretty impressed so far! I use it specifically for electronic filing and as a substitute for a fax, not for photos or graphic arts. What I wanted was to grab a stack of papers, drop them in, press a button, and have a PDF just materialize in a directory without having to dork around making various selections in Windows. A low interaction electronic filing system. And that's exactly what I got! The scanner performance is pretty good in my opinion - probably 2 seconds per page, and it scans both sides at once. The biggest batch it scanned was almost 30 sheets. Blank pages are _usually_ removed and upside-down pages are _usually_ righted. I've fed it legal and letter pages in the same batch with skinny drug store receipts, glossy color flyers, etc. and it _usually_ handles them as you'd hope. The big gotcha here is that different length paper can confuse it into thinking it's pulled 2 sheets at once. This is resolved by putting the longest sheet first, by using the carrier sheet, or by manually correcting the misfeed. Outside of that specific case, I've only had it misfeed three or four times (out of 70-80 scans). Many of the "usuallys" can be tweaked in the software settings if you'd like to tinker. I can't comment much on the software. I basically set the DPI, OCR, and file handling settings once and it always does that when I push the scanner button. This set up was a pain and I don't even remember how I got it working. But now it works without hiccup. OCR takes up to ~5 minutes on a 20 page, text-heavy document (I have an Athlon II X4). Most other software features - such as automatically extracting contact information from business cards and storing it in a cardbase - I've never even tried. So all that's nice but how could a $400+ scanner make any kind of sense for regular ol' home use? Well, maybe it doesn't for you. Here's my situation: I'm a keeper. I keep all the paperwork for my auto maintenance, mortgage, taxes, yearly benefits elections, etc. I keep all my paystubs, drawings from my niece, etc. I have 14 years of such items. Whatever compulsion makes me do that, it's easier to appease than to fight. At least if the system is easy and reliable, which it has been so far! I already have a decent file cabinet to help keep things under control. For similar money, going electronic this time seemed smarter. Update (12/27/2011): Scanning color & pictures David Ventimiglia asked how well it scans certain color documents, so I've uploaded some samples. The images were scanned to jpeg (instead of PDF) but otherwise use the software defaults. In my opinion, the scans are great for electronic reference and record keeping, where you care more about the document content than the condition. That said, there are a couple issues with using this for pictures so we might as well look at them: * There's a thin purple streak on the left side of the magazine article. I see this on occasion with color pictures but not consistently and not on bright backgrounds. The streak is usually in the same place. I'm not sure if it's the scanner or the image processing software. * There's some streaking & discoloration at the leading edge of two items. The discoloration seems proportional to the glossiness of the material. The 4x6 is the worst, and it's pretty stiff paper and extremely glossy. That magazine article is compliant but still pretty glossy. I've tried some low-gloss coupon fliers and magazine pages and the problem doesn't appear there. In fact, today's the first time I've ever noticed it. I'm guessing it's reflectance from the scan lamp. In the end, I'm still pleased with the results from an eDocument perspective. But I would look to a quality photo scanner if you needed perfect pics!
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