Rating: 
Summary: small size makes it ideal for new, niche uses
Review: EDITED: After one year of use, my earlier claims were overly optimistic. The hardware seems good, as far as it goes, but the software is ridiculously buggy and unreliable.
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First--this is not a flatbed scanner; so keep one handy. This is not a high-speed sheetfed either; don't try to use it for those purposes and things work out well. SOMETIMES.
Ideal for portable scanning--the kind of scanning where you go into a library, or an office, or other location. Use it as a fax replacement for printed docs, as an alternative to photocopying and carrying, as a convenient device for sorting and recording receipts, bills, and what-not while traveling on the go, and it works great.
Many earlier gripes compared this scanner to very different products--or simply slammed it for lack of support. (Concur: the support sucks, the downloads don't work - and reinstalling drivers adds SPYWARE - that BMupdate.exe is ugly).
The interface seems intermittent (REVISED: TOTALLY UNRELIABLE): sometimes, I have to unplug/replug the scanner after a particularly long job, and it seems pretty random. That slows things down, but isn't a fatal flaw.
Still, for real estate, student, legal, design, and other niches, this scanner is ideal. Don't like it for it's portability? Try lugging a flatbed or fullsize sheetfed + power supply to the library!
Rating: 
Summary: Use some sense.....
Review: GOOD review follows! First, this is NOT the best choice for PERFECT scans of photos or fragile documents. It does a perfectly adequate job with snapshots and newspaper clippings, an EXCEPTIONAL job with color or B/W letter-size material. It scans for fliing/fax, OCR or color images, up to 600 DPI.
If you are careful, you can easily feed sheets into this device without trouble. Be patient. It has an included software application that allows scanning multiple succesive sheets to one document, for convienence...but you can separate the pages later! Cool. Or you can group different scans to one document later. Cooler!
The image editing software is pretty darn good. Why? Because it has a decent selection of tools while not being overly complicated to use. You can use it as a desktop-type filing system too.
Some versions of the "Paperport" software export scans to PDF! If you understand what that means, you'll jump for joy...
But you know where the Strobe REALLY excels? You can quickly scan a document, drag it to Word and have about 95% immediately recognized as an editable Word file. Very little re-typing. How many times do you need some information IN your computer at school or work that exists only in a printed form? Wow! And you did this in about 30 seconds...
The Strobe is not perfect, but it does many jobs well enough to overlook that it is not the best solution of any ONE job. But it's the 90% solution for a TON of jobs! Buy it. You will not regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: WARNING
Review: I BOUGHT THE STROBE PRO LAST YEAR. MY WARNING IS THAT VISIONEER DOESN'T SEEM TO FEEL THAT SUPPORTING ITS PRODUCTS AFTER ONE YEAR IS IMPORTANT. THEY JUST COME OUT WITH A NEW MODEL AND EXPECT YOU TO BUY THAT. THE STROBE PRO NEVER REALLY WORKED WITH WINDOWS 2000 OR XP (THUS THE NEWER MODEL). ON TOP OF THAT THE FUNCTIONALITY AND QUALITY OF ITS SCANS IS POOR. I WOULD HIGHLY RECCOMEND AGAINST BUYING THESE PRODUCTS.
Rating:
Summary: Digitize Docs for Filing, Distrib. and Converting to Word
Review: I deal in legal documents and I was looking for a way of distributing signed copies to others in my company who are scattered in offices throughout the city. I also wanted to share copies of magazine articles to others on my team, and to digitally file all of the handouts and hard-copy presentations that people leave with me after meetings.Lastly, I was looking for a way of converting my ten-year-old daughter's homework assignments into Word documents - so that she could type the answers in alongside the questions - without having to retype the original handout! The Visioneer Strobe XP 100 sheet fed scanner, along with the included PaperPort 8 and Text Bridge Pro software, were just what the doctor ordered! The Visioneer Strobe XP 100 scanner fits neatly on my desk at work. I tuck it alongside my laptop's docking station where it takes up a minimal amount of desk space - yet is always conveniently located nearby for me to use when I need it. The sheet fed scanner handles letter and legal size paper with ease. And if one uses the enclosed clear sleeves, it will also handle photographs as well. The scanning speed isn't very fast. But the PaperPort software is very intuitive. And there are numerous controls available for cropping the document, straightening it if its crooked, and for cleaning off other blemishes such as pencil markings or small coffee stains from the image. Once the document is scanned, its image can then be converted automatically into various programs (such as Word, PowerPoint, PDF or TextBridge Pro) just by dragging-and-dropping the file over each program's visual icon located at the bottom of the PaperPort screen. To create a picture of the original document, I'll normally convert the image into a PDF file, which allows it to be opened and filed universally (in its original form) by almost everyone I know in my company. I've also loaded the PaperPort 8 and TextBridge Pro software on to my home PC where the former works just as well controlling my Microtek and HP flat bed scanners (which are both TWAIN compatible), as it does with my Strobe XP 100 at work. There are actually two ways to convert a scanned image into a Word file. The first - and least accurate method - is to convert the image directly from its scanned form into Word. A better method is to drag-and-drop the image into the TextBridge window first. TextBridge, as its name implies, translates the image into text - which is then more accurately converted into a Word document. A TextBridge icon conveniently appears as one of the options at the bottom of the PaperPort window, so making this conversion is a snap. After dragging-and-dropping, the file opens automatically in the TextBridge workspace, and then can be saved immediately as a Word document. After you do so, it will then open automatically on your desktop - as a Word document! The entire process from start to finish -- takes but a few seconds! My daughter and I have also scanned magazine articles, book passages, and already-printed web pages, which has allowed her to cut-and-paste portions of the articles for use directly into her book reports or homework assignments (with footnoted references, of course). And with kids nowadays getting so much homework, every little time saving trick is greatly appreciated! With its extremely small footprint, the Visioneer Strobe XP 100 allows me to have a scanner in my office where I otherwise couldn't accommodate it. It enables me to send documents digitally that I would've distributed instead via hard copy. And it allows me and everyone on my team -- to file and retrieve the documents electronically -- which saves time all of the way around! Lastly, and just as importantly, the versatile PaperPort 8 and TextBridge Pro software allows me to assist my daughter in completing her homework more quickly, so that she can do more important things - such as playing with her friends, or going to her music lessons or team sports practices which, of course -- is more of what her childhood should be all about! The Visioneer Strobe XP 100 and PaperPort software are thus a combination of products - sold together - that I highly, highly recommend! I don't know why I'd ever want to live without them!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Alternative to Fax!
Review: I forgot to mention in my previous review (of 10/15/03) that I sometimes use my Visioneer Strobe XP 100 as an alternative to sending a fax. I work with several industrial design firms as part of my job, and we sometimes exchange thoughts by faxing the hand drawings of our ideas back-and-forth to each other. But with the XP 100, I can now send them my hand scribblings (or any other printed information) via e-mail instead. It only takes a moment to scan the drawing (or document), convert it to a PDF, and then forward it as an e-mail attachment to its destination. This allows the recipient to receive and view the drawing anywhere they have e-mail access, which is especially helpful if they're working from the road, at home, or any other location away from their office. Best of all, I can even send the drawing to multiple recipients simultaneously - making it easier for all of us to stay on the same page. Sending a fax is the slow and inefficient way to digitize and send information. Scanning it and forwarding it via e-mail is faster and much more effective. With the Visioneer Strobe XP 100 (which is also portable, and powered by the USB connection), I can now scan - and never have to fax again!
Rating:
Summary: 0 footprint. Great speed. Great product.
Review: I had purchased an xp 100 and within 2 months two of these scanners went bad on me(one was bad out of the box and the second started clicking after 10 or so uses). I immediately wrote Visioneer's Headquarters a letter explaining my dilema and after speaking to them, writing them a letter, and receiving an email was unable to make them see I was no longer interested in this particular model and wanted to upgrade to the XP 200 of course paying the full difference. (only to be informed they had totally revised the model I had two of and was only going to be able to offer me the exact same one....QUESTION - why redesign it if there was nothing wrong with it in the first place was my fighting argument.) They insisted I was the problem and I go through their upgrade program where I would loose over a $100.00 dollars. I am a computer technician by trade and can assure you I am not the problem. I am no longer a customer of Visioneer and will never recommend one to anyone I know. Their customer service dept was the worst I ever had the pleasure of dealing with. This was all due to the fact I wanted a little break on buying an upgrade with out getting burnt on a $100.00 after only having these two scanner for less than 3 months in total. Again I will never recommend a Visioneer scanner to anyone after dealling with their customer service dept.
Rating:
Summary: Vissioneer an irresponsible Company
Review: I had purchased an xp 100 and within 2 months two of these scanners went bad on me(one was bad out of the box and the second started clicking after 10 or so uses). I immediately wrote Visioneer's Headquarters a letter explaining my dilema and after speaking to them, writing them a letter, and receiving an email was unable to make them see I was no longer interested in this particular model and wanted to upgrade to the XP 200 of course paying the full difference. (only to be informed they had totally revised the model I had two of and was only going to be able to offer me the exact same one....QUESTION - why redesign it if there was nothing wrong with it in the first place was my fighting argument.) They insisted I was the problem and I go through their upgrade program where I would loose over a $100.00 dollars. I am a computer technician by trade and can assure you I am not the problem. I am no longer a customer of Visioneer and will never recommend one to anyone I know. Their customer service dept was the worst I ever had the pleasure of dealing with. This was all due to the fact I wanted a little break on buying an upgrade with out getting burnt on a $100.00 after only having these two scanner for less than 3 months in total. Again I will never recommend a Visioneer scanner to anyone after dealling with their customer service dept.
Rating:
Summary: Not good
Review: I have had a succession of Visioneer scanners, and each one has been more of a struggle than anything else. My XP 100 worked OK at first, but if I didn't use it for a while, it would lose its USB connection. Reinstalling everything seemed to be the only way to fix it. Then after 13 months (the warranty is one year), it lost its connection and won't work no matter what I tried. Tech support confirmed that it was dead but after the warranty expires Visioneer won't fix it. You have to trade it in for 25% off another scanner. Well, I am not getting another Visioneer scanner even for 75% off.
Rating:
Summary: So far, so good...
Review: I just installed the Strobe XP 100 scanner under Windows 2000 Pro. It was easy to install both software and hardware. This is my third Visioneer sheetfed scanner in 6 years. I have found them to be useful and reliable, but, as others will tell you, tech. support is weak. My advice is to try it and, if it works from the get-go, you will probably have a good experience. If you have problems with the installation, you may be better off sending it back and buying another brand.
Rating:
Summary: I am disappointed
Review: I purchased this scanner over a month ago and I have attempted to install it 3 times. I have removed it and reinstalled it twice. My computer even though it now sees the scanner it will not run. The help files are inaccessable through the help menu because it is looking for a file which I found on my harddrive but it wouldn't load. I am quite frustrated with it
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