VuPoint Solutions Magic Wand PDS-ST415-VPS

The VuPoint Solutions Magic Wand PDS-ST415-VPS ($90 street) shares a nearly identical name with the VuPoint Solutions Magic Wand PDS-ST415-VP ($100 street, 3.5 stars) that it's replaced in the VuPoint Solutions line. (There's an added S at the end of the model name, in case you missed it.) But don't make the mistake of thinking that the new scanner itself is nearly identical to the old one. Although there aren't a lot of changes, the differences are significant.

The main attraction for the earlier model was its portability. The PDS-ST415-VPS adds higher optical resolution, at a maximum 900 pixels per inch (ppi), and it adds more capable software, in the form of Abbyy FineReader 9.0 Sprint. That's enough to make the PDS-ST415-VPS a far more useful tool for portable scanning, and also one of the more attractive choices among wand scanners.

Size is Relative
As was true with the earlier PDS-ST415-VP, you could argue that at 1.2 by 10.1 by 1.2 inches (HWD) and 6.9 ounces, the PDS-ST415-VPS is too big to call a magic wand. It certainly doesn't fit the description as well as the PlanOn DocuPen Xtreme X05 ($369.99 direct 3. 5 stars), which actually looks like a wand. On the other hand, it's smaller than the more directly competitive Pandigital Handheld Wand Scanner (PanScn08) ($109.99 direct, 2.5 stars) that I recently reviewed.

Regardless of size, all of these wand scanners work essentially the same way, letting you start at the top or side of a page, and scan down or across in a single sweep. Rollers on the bottom of each scanner make it easy to sweep smoothly and evenly.

As is also typical for wand scanners, the PDS-ST415-VPS saves scans to memory, so you don't need a computer. To move the files to your computer later, you connect using the supplied USB cable, wait for the computer to recognize the microSD or microSDHC card in the scanner, and then copy the files. According to VuPoint Solutions, you can use cards with up to 32GB capacity. Unlike most of its competition, the PDS-ST415-VPS doesn't come with memory to scan to. However, it also costs enough less than those competitors, so you can easily buy a memory card with the savings and still have money left over.

Setup and Scanning
The PDS-ST415-VPS comes with two standard AA batteries. Basic setup consists of putting in the batteries and plugging in a memory card. In addition, you can optionally install Abbyy FineReader Sprint on your computer.

Scanning is easy. The scanner offers one button to cycle between 300, 600, and 900 ppi, and one to choose between JPG and image PDF format, with no other settings available. (All scans are in color.) Simply choose your settings, hit the scan button, and scan while keeping an eye on the scan status light. If it turns red, that means you were going too fast, and need to rescan.

Note that as with most wand scanners, the PDS-ST415-VPS doesn't give you any way to confirm you have a usable scan until you move the file to your computer, at which point it may be too late to rescan. However the status light does a good job of warning when you have to rescan, so that's not as much of an issue as it could be.

Scan Results
The software the PDS-ST415-VPS comes with is suitable for only two applications: optical character recognition (OCR) and document management. I tested it for both and was pleasantly surprised at how well it did.

For OCR, the combination of the scanner and FineReader Sprint managed to read our Times New Roman test page at sizes as small at 10 points without a mistake at the default 300 ppi and at 8 points without a mistake at 600 and 900 ppi. On our Arial test page, it passed at 10 points at 300 ppi as well, and at 5 points at 600 ppi. Even better, although the scanner creates a separate file for each page, FineReader adroitly combines the multiple pages into a single Word file or searchable PDF file for document management.

Although the scanner doesn't come with photo software, I tried scanning some 4-by-6s to get a sense of the photo scan capability. These were the only scans that gave me a problem, with the rollers refusing to roll smoothly on the photo paper. I was able to sidestep that issue by putting the photos in a plastic protective sleeve that came with another scanner, but most people won't have that option. Photo quality is also wanting, with colors on most photos coming out a little harsh, meaning both oversaturated and dark in terms of a hue-saturation-brightness model. Count the scanner as suitable for casual photo scanning only.

Whatever its shortcomings for photos, the VuPoint Solutions Magic Wand PDS-ST415-VPS is a strong contender for portable document scanning, in large part because of the software it comes with. Its balance of portability, price, ease of use, and capability make a compelling argument for choosing it. And it's only the lack of any easy way to confirm scan quality on the spot that keeps it from being an Editors' Choice.

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