HP Scanjet Pro 3000 s2 Sheet-feed Scanner

As you might guess from its name, the HP Scanjet Pro 3000 s2 Sheet-fed Scanner ($449.99 direct) is the next generation version of the HP Scanjet Professional 3000 Sheet-feed Scanner, which HP has stopped making, but is still available on the Web at this writing. What you might not guess is that despite some minor changes to the hardware, the more significant improvements are in the software, with a new scan utility that makes scanning easier, faster, and a lot more convenient. The result is a much improved package that's well worth considering.

Like the HP 3000 before it, the 3000 s2 is meant as a personal desktop scanner for any size office. It offers the same 50-sheet capacity for the automatic document feeder (ADF) and the same ability to handle paper at up to 8.5 by 34 inches. According to HP, changes in the hardware are limited to minor issues, like improvements in the tray and control buttons. The scan utility, on the other hand, is new.

The original HP 3000 came with application programs, but no scan utility. When I reviewed it, I pointed out that using an application program to scan, convert a file to the format you want, and send it to a destination works well enough, but can be cumbersome. Very often, the more convenient approach is a utility that can scan, convert, and send the file to the right destination with a single command. The HP Easy Scan utility that comes with the 3000 s2 delivers precisely that convenience.

Basics, Setup, and Software
Like most personal desktop scanners, including the Epson Workforce Pro GT-S50 and the Editors' Choice Canon imageFormula DR-C125 for example, the 3000 s2 is small enough, at 6.5 by 11.2 by 6.3 inches (HWD) with the trays closed, so it can fit on your desk without taking up a lot of space. As is typical, you can keep the trays closed when you're not scanning.

I tested it on a system running Windows Vista. Setup was standard fare, consisting of installing the software and connecting it to the PC by USB cable. In addition to the HP Easy Scan utility, the setup program installs Twain, WIA, and ISIS drivers, which between them will let you scan from virtually any Windows program with a scan command. According to HP, you can also optionally install ReadIris Pro 14 for optical character recognition (OCR), Nuance PaperPort 14 for document management, and CardIris Pro 5 for business cards, although I didn't get any of those programs with the test unit.

HP Easy Scan offers a deceptively simple menu design that hides most of the scan options most of the time, but shows you just the ones you need, at just the point where you need to see them. It comes with a few scan profiles for common tasks, including scanning to searchable PDF (sPDF) format and saving on disk, scanning to sPDF format and sending to Google Drive, and scanning to image PDF format and sending as an email attachment. However, these predefined profiles only hint at the possibilities.

You can add more profiles than you can easily keep track of?I stopped at 30 total. For each one, you can mix and match your choice of file type (image PDF, sPDF, PDF/A, JPEG, TIF, Multipage TIF, DOCX, RTF, TXT, BMP), destination (E-mail, Folder, Printer, SharePoint, Google Drive, box, and Custom), and scan settings (including resolution and color). (The Custom destination lets you call up an exe, dll, or C file, which would include existing connectors, including, for example, the downloadable Evernote connector.) You can also choose options like scanning to as many as five destinations with a single scan.

Just as important, you can give each profile a name and description with up to 999 characters by my count, so you don't have to memorize which profile does what. To scan, you simply pick the right profile from the list. You can also designate a default profile for the scanner to call up when you press the Scan button on the front panel.

Performance
The 3000 s2 offers 600 pixel per inch (ppi) optical resolution, which is both typical for document scanners and far higher than you need. HP rates it at 20 pages per minute (ppm) for simplex (one-sided) scans and 40 images per minute (ipm) for duplex (two-sided) scans at 300 ppi for color, grayscale, and black and white. For my tests I used the default auto settings for both resolution and color.

The scan speed is good but not impressive. For scanning directly to image PDF files, I clocked it in simplex mode at 22.7 ppm, a bit faster than its rating. For duplex scanning, however, it slowed down to 16.9 ppm, or 33.7 ipm. In comparison, the Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S50 came in at 22.7 ppm and 45.5 ipm, while the Canon imageFormula DR-C125 managed an even faster 25.4 ppm for simplex and 50.0 ipm for duplex.

The 3000 s2 also adds time for recognizing text, with the total jumping from 1 minute 30 seconds for saving to an image PDF file to 2:29 for adding the OCR step and saving to sPDF format. The added time is typical for most scanners, but there are also a few, mostly from Canon and including the Canon DR-C125, that add text recognition without taking more time.

Text recognition accuracy is one of the 3000 s2's strongest points. On our OCR test, it read both our Times New Roman and Arial test pages at sizes as small as 6 points without a mistake. It also did well with additional fonts that we don't count as part of our official tests, because most scanners do so poorly with them. With two highly stylized fonts with thick strokes, for example, it read both at 10 points without a mistake.

I was not able to fully test the scanner for business card management, because the test unit came without the CardIris Pro software. However, I was able to confirm that its ADF can feed a stack of business cards without problems. I also confirmed that the double-feed detection works as promised, with the scanner stopping and alerting me when it fed two pages that I taped together to guarentee a double feed.

If the HP Scanjet Pro 3000 s2 were a little faster, it could easily be the desktop scanner to beat. As it is, it offers a lot to like, with excellent OCR accuracy, acceptable speed, and lots of flexibility for creating scan profiles. Keep in mind too that ease of use, with options like being able to scan to multiple destinations, can easily make up for a slower raw scan speed, making the overall process of scanning a lot faster. If you can take advantage of those features, the HP Scanjet Pro 3000 s2 may well be your preferred choice.

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