I have used scanners since 1994 back in the days of Visioneer, in fact it was the same size as this one. And it worked very well.
At the office we use $5,000 Mitsubishi scanners that take a special card on the PCs they are connected to. They can scan 30 pages a minute at 300 DPI, which is fast.
For the home, however, I have used the various all-in-ones that use an ADF (automatic document feeder). Currently I have a Canon Pixma MX870 that cost me $150 at Staples. It scans quite well.
However, for emergencies and on the road these what I call "paper towel tube" scanners (because of their size) cannot be beat. They are fantastic when in a pinch you need a document converted into digital format.
E.g., trial lawyers use them to convert documents into digital format for use either immediately or the next trial day. I have seen these used during a trial recess (break) so that the lawyer can present a document on screen when they jury returns.
These are also good for making copies of documents such as government documents such as court records, especially when the copiers are down, that seems all the time.
If you don't have an all-in-one at home with a scanning function, these will fill the bill in terms of occasional scanning jobs, such as receipts.
Bonus Tip: What I suggest, so that you will force yourself to actually use this, is to set up a spot above your keyboard for the scanner to sit, connected and at the ready. If you have to drag it out every time you want to use it, you won't.
Since it has a small footprint it's nothing to have it sitting in front of the keyboard.
Bonus Tip: My all-in-one scanners do not scan small receipts through the rollers, I have to use the scanner "glass" or tray. That's kind of a hassle, so these little scanners scan receipts far better.
Bonus Tip: If the receipt is small and hard to scan (because it slips or whatever) get a plastic scanning sleeve they sell online that holds receipts to pass through the feed mechanism. The top is clear and the bottom of the sheet is grainy so that the rollers can grab on to sleeve.
As to quality, this Neat Receipts model is excellent.
I have had expensive scanners to compare it with. While a lot of them work fine, I find the main concern with any is that some companies totally drop the ball on driver updates.
Simply put, when a new OS comes out some manufacturers fail to roll out drivers so that the scanner will work on the new OS.
One scanner that comes to mind that was $300 in the day (and great until Windows Vista and 7 came out) was the Travelscan Pro series. I think the company's motive was to force you to buy a later model rather than provide drivers for the older models. And also the company changed hands so often, the level of support degraded with each changeover.
I don't know about Neat Receipts, the company, but the last time this was on Woot I bought one and have been very pleased.
I question why Woot has these, however. Is the company going under or being sold? Perhaps they are coming out with a new model?
In any event, at this price point I would not be concerned, you will get your money's worth regardless of driver updates. I suspect it will make it through Win 7, at least.
Bonus Tip: I use a consumer document management program called Paperport. Have been using it since the nineties. It's very good for even small office use. Check it out on eBay.
For home use get the older non-professional version, that will cost you about $30 or less.
For that kind of money you get a lot of features, including OCR into Word format and Form Typer (where you scan a form you have to fill out, such as an application.
After scanning you send it to the Form Typer and that sub-program detects where there a boxes that need to be filled in. You can then choose to type in the box or ignore it and move on to the next box.
Paperport also lets you convert documents from one format to another (JPG to PDF and back, for example).
Does Paperport recognize the Neat Receipts scanner? Absolutely. Connect your NRS via the included USB cable, open Paperport and it recognizes the NR scanner.
If I didn't have about four of these style scanners I'd buy another. But that's excessive. Then again, this is a great price for a portable scanner, so I might cave and get a few as presents for people I know could use them.
Some links: Other scanners:
http://www.ambir.com/products-catalog/scanners-document-scanners
http://tinyurl.com/24b3zjd
Paperport: (Trivia - When Visioneer and Paperport were on in the same, a full version of Paperport was included with the Visioneer scanner).
http://tinyurl.com/Paperport
