Book People Archive

Re: Feedback requested on the Plustek OpticBook 3600 -- alternatives?

I also have the Plustek OpticBook scanner. Nick Hodson talked me into
it, and I'm sure if he were reading his email today he would have
offered up his usual insightful comments. But since he hasn't chimed
in yet, I will offer my thoughts...

- No, I couldn't find anything else with any useful features in this
price range.

- A different approach would be a digital camera, but Nick thinks (and
I agree) that the OpticBook is actually faster if you include the time
spent in book handling.

- Without modification, it will not scan right up to the binding, but
it's close. I could run a test, but I will guess within a quarter inch
or less.

- It is blazingly fast, at least compared to MY old scanner.

- The ergonomics of their little book scanning  software are very
helpful. You trigger the scan by hitting a button on the scanner,
right where your hands already are. Then it's ready for the next page
with no keyboard interaction.

- The automatic image rotation feature is a huge feature to someone
like me who isn't writing my own custom software to handle this.

It does not work with an older graphics program I use, and once or
twice on power-up it didn't seem to work. Recycling the power always
fixed it. And the included software is not 100% intuitive, nor
documented.

But on the whole I love it, and it has enabled me to scan library
books that I did not want to cut apart or flatten. And the high speed
is opening up new possibilities as well.

Charles Hall
Raleigh, NC