Neat Desk Scanner And Software - Just Say No

The Neat Company - Neat Desk : PDF Creator Software : Receipt Organize : OCR : NeatCo.com. Okay, I have Neat scanners at my desk at home and at the office. The scanners are competent, inexpensive, and Twain compatible. They work with any Twain software; which is a good thing, because the Neat software is a nightmare. Neat version 4 was buggy, slow to load, slow to work, and crashed often. My system has 2 Gigs of memory and a dual core chip; and the Neat software took over 80% of the processing power, making running other software alongside impossible. I had switched to Nuance's PaperPort Professional 12 a while back, and it works fine. I do all my document management with it, and I use it all day long, while running word processing, time and billing, web browser, email, and other stuff simultaneously. So, when a free upgrade to Version 5 of the Neat software came in the mail, I said why not? Well, it is still buggy, takes over all the system resources, and, on top of that, won't even install without several days of trying. Then, when I got it installed, it required online activation to run. But, wait, it gets better. The company offers a free upgrade; but, I had to email tech support to get the key. And, that took a couple of days. Then, the activation screen kept crashing. I finally got it activated, and it crashed without ever seeing any of my previously scanned documents. I seldom publish a no buy recommendation. This buggy software is an exception. Buy the Neat scanner if you want; at $379-$399, it is a bargain. But, don't use the software. 

Comments

[Chuck Newton]

I use a ScanSnap by Fujitu. I have had it a few years and it is flawless.

[twitter.com/HumanRacehorses]

The Neat software for the receipts scanner was similarly nightmarish. The software insisted on posting receipts to Quickbooks as "bills" (not as transactions.) Anyone who uses Quickbooks regularly realizes that this is uncomprehendingly insipid. Repeated emails, calls, and discussions on their forums lead me absolutely nowhere, and the scanner sits in a drawer except for travel where I might need a scanner --- as hardware, it's great. The software is just awful as you say.