Portable document scanners are nothing new, but Doxie’s latest scanner, the Doxie Go ($199, link), takes things to a whole new level by allowing you to scan documents and add them to your devices without ever involving a PC.
Overview
The Doxie Go is able to eliminate the need for a PC by saving scans to its own internal memory, and then transferring the scanned documents to your Mac, PC, or iPad (using Apple’s Digital Camera Connection Kit) whenever you connect it. You can also go completely PC-free by transferring your documents to a USB drive or SD card, eliminating the need to connect the Doxie Go to a USB port at all.
Design
From first glance, the Doxie Go struck me not only as a solid and well-built device, but an extremely attractive device as well, with a classic black-on-white appearance. The shell is small and compact enough to put in nearly any bag. It’s also extremely durable, and has enough heft to immediately give the impression of both quality and durability.
There’s also a built-in battery in the device that’s good for around 100 scans, and the battery is integrated into the device so seamlessly that you won’t even know its there unless you go looking for it. The two ports located on the back (a USB port and an SD card slot) are tastefully integrated and look natural.
Perhaps best of all from a design perspective is that the Doxie Go does not require any sort of power adapter at all. It supports itself with its own internal battery, and can be recharged through Mini USB when not in use. This is a win in itself.
Function
By default, the Doxie Go saves scans to its internal memory, however inserting an SD card or USB card causes the device to begin copying scans to that instead. I scanned about 40 documents – everything from business cards to color photos to sheets of text – and I found the quality of the scans to be very good in all cases – my documents all came through looking crisp and clean.
The Doxie Go can scan in either black and white or color, and in either 300 DPI or 600 DPI. Not only that, it’s smart enough to choose which settings are right for any document you insert, so you don’t have to worry about whether or not you have it set right before you begin.
While the Doxie Go isn’t exactly a speed demon (it takes 5-8 seconds per page to scan), the quality of its scans is exceptional, and the convenience of being able to take it anywhere with no need for a PC more than makes up for its minor lack in speed.
Software
As you might expect, the Doxie Go comes with its own scanning software for Mac or PC, which adds a lot to its functionality. Besides just importing scans from the device, the Doxie software can “staple” pages into groups, save the file in several different formats, or send the file to other programs, such as Adobe Photoshop, iPhoto, or Evernote.
The software also features excellent built-in OCR powered by ABBYY, which automatically detects text on a printed page, allowing you to create searchable PDFs, which can very much come in handy when trying to find a specific file. The software also comes with built-in cloud integration, letting you send your files to Doxie Cloud (a free image and document sharing service), or to services like Twitter, Google Docs, or Flickr.
Perhaps the best aspect of the software, however, is that its just as easy to use as the Doxie itself, requiring no advance knowledge to set up or use. It is, however, somewhat limited – it doesn’t automatically organize your files like NeatWorks (included with the NeatReceipts mobile scanner) does. But it does serve its basic function very well, which is to pull scans off of your Doxie.
Usability
The best aspect of the Doxie Go is just how seamlessly it works. After calibrating the device with the included calibration sheet (which only takes a few minutes) scanning business cards or documents is as simple as inserting them. You don’t even have to push a button. It begins working immediately.
What’s also especially useful is that you can connect the Doxie directly to your iPad using Apple’s Digital Camera Connection Kit, which sees the Doxie as a flash drive, and can save scanned documents directly to your Camera Roll.
The Doxie Go is quite simply a dream to use. I very rarely come across a product that is both highly functional and extremely easy to use, but the Doxie Go is that device. It’s one of the simplest devices I’ve ever used, yet it does its job extremely well at the same time. This is one very smart and very useful piece of gadgetry.
Verdict
I really love the Doxie. It’s such a simple and elegant solution for scanning documents, business cards, photos and more. While it’s not as feature-laden as something like the NeatReceipts (mostly due to the desktop software), it is a great deal simpler and more convenient.
The Doxie really only does one thing. It just scans. Because it only does one thing, it does it exceptionally well, and this is what makes the Doxie stand out as a truly exceptional device.
Rating & Information
Rating: 4.5/5[rating:4.5]
I award the Doxie Go four and a half out of five stars. It’s elegant, portable, extremely easy to use, and does its job very, very well. The only downside is that I wish its companion software for OS X and Windows did a bit more as far as organizing your files.
Doxie Go is available now for $199 (link), and I highly recommend it. Buy it. It’s affordable compared to competing portable scanners, and you won’t regret it. There’s also a WiFi-capable version available for $250. For more information, visit the Doxie website.
Pros
- Lightweight and portable
- Doesn’t require a PC
- Can hook directly to an iPad
- Extremely simple to use
- Very attractive and simple design
- High quality scans
Cons
- Desktop software could include more features
- Built-in battery only lasts for 100 scans
