Amazon.com.au:Customer reviews: CZUR Shine500 Pro Portable A4 Document Scanner USB 2.0 Fast Scanner with OCR Function for MacOS and Windows

There are 0 reviews and 0 ratings from Australia

Nature lover

Fast, small foot print, easy software and OCR functionality!

Reviewed in Canada on 5 October 2020

Years ago I had this thought that why is there no scanner that works like a camera.. put your document underneath and boom, it's scanned.

I was glad to see something like this is available. This CZUR Shine500 scanner comes in a few varieties. This particular one
➡is like a desk lamp.
➡Small foot print,
➡the camera arm can be folded down when not in use.
➡Instant preview. You put the document on the black mat that is included and you can instantly see how it is going to look like
➡Download the software going to the website, hook it up with USB-A cable (included) to your computer and that's all there is to it.
➡The software is very easy to understand
➡The quality is pretty good
➡The best part is that the software offers OCR - so you can scan your document into PDF, Word, Excel etc. Ideal for example, if you want to scan your receipts into word and copy it properly into excel to do your math. The quality of the scan is exceptional as you can see in my pics.
➡Comes with a foot paddle to scan (not a requirement). You can of course scan without it as well.

Limitations
-------------
➡No wifi - so it will need to be connected to your computer
➡Will require space - to lay down the mat and put your document on it to scan. so, while the size is compact when not in use, it's not the case "when in use"
➡Max scan limit is to A4 documents
➡It will not give you a good scan result if the scanner is placed in bright light... As you can see in my video
➡I have it connected to my computer. Every time I turn on my computer the scanner turns on (the lights on the scanner). Even though I press the button on the base to turn it off!! This is very annoying. I still need to figure out how to get rid of this.

This is ideal for small and fast jobs. As it is manual. This is ideal if you are not into complicated software. CZUR software is easy to understand and play around. This is ideal if you are ok with the limitations.

I have 3 different types of scanners now. One that comes with my printer, CZUR, and a multi-feeder Epson Workforce 200. Of all three, if you ask me which one you will prefer using the most, I will pick CZUR. Why, because it is near my computer, very fast and easy.

I hope you found my review helpful in whether to invest in CZUR scanner or not.

3 people found this helpful

Małgorzata Kosińska

Good quality scans but some issues for the scanner

Reviewed in Canada on 24 September 2020

The CZUR Shine500 Pro Portable A4 Document Scanner USB 2.0 Fast Scanner with OCR Function for MacOS and Windows results in some very nice scans...that are sideways and need rotating...all of them. If you set the scanner up with the black base mat the way it is shown, and use 8.5x11" paper set up in the document markers as shown, the document is sideways in the software and needs rotating...every document...which is really annoying.
The software comes on a disc. The SN for the software is on the bottom of the scanner (again, quite irritating). There is a download version, but not that easy to access.
The scanner is light and fairly portable, though doesn't fit into a computer bag because of the attached base.
It doesn't work without the software running and doesn't automatically open the software.
It has to be plugged into a computer or laptop to work - there is no option for memory card or stick.
So, overall, falls a bit short on the features for the price but the quality of the scans is quite nice.

One person found this helpful

Tom

Love the CZUR lineup of scanners, but would pass on this entry level model

Reviewed in Canada on 21 September 2020

Pros:
- Super solid build quality. Love the clean aesthetics. Love the metal finish on the scanner itself
- High DPI scanning with up to 300DPI
- Ability to use this not only for scanning, but as a top down view camera as well
- Has 2 bright, LED lights built into this for more even lighting of your documents
- Love the included foot pedal for hands free initiation of document scans
- Software is very robust and gives you a lot of options. The auto scanning functionality works really well - basically you can flip pages and have this scan each page automatically as you go through them. Converting to searchable PDF is quick and easy. The text processing is accurate.

Cons:
- No adjustability in the height of the scanner, with relatively limited scanning area as a result. Limited to single page, or combined page scanning. No option to do double page scanning (e.g. scanning two pages at once and removing the crease automatically with a textbook that’s been laid flat).
- Direct down bright lighting that’s built into this is not great. Glossy pages get a lot of reflection, side lighting is more ideal for scans

Overall:
I’m thoroughly impressed with CZUR’s line up of scanners. Their scanners make creating PDFS of physical textbooks and documents incredibly easy. The auto scan functionality is something I was particularly impressed with - it gives you the ability to simply flip through your textbook pages, and have this scan each page individually automatically. It achieves this by accurately determining the edges of the textbook, and is able to detect when you flip the page. It works really well in practice. My main issue with this is the limitations of this particular CZUR scanner.

For reference, the CZUR Shine 500 is one of their entry level models. It lacks the ability to height adjust the scanner, and so you are limited in terms of the amount of scanning area. As a result, this does NOT support the ability to scan flattened out textbooks and automatically removing the center crease. This is a massive draw back for me when you consider that this is really one of the main use cases of this type of scanner. I appreciate that this is entry level, and so you save a fair amount of money compared to their more expensive models, but I think for most use cases, this limitation will be a deal breaker. For people looking purely for single document scanning that’s fast and effective, this may work for you! Otherwise I’d recommend looking at one of their higher end options

One person found this helpful

Jason R.

Good hardware but the supporting software could use improvement.

Reviewed in Canada on 21 September 2020

The hardware itself is nice. It's well made, sits sturdily on the desk without taking up a lot of room when not in use and even doubles as an impromptu desk lamp when you're not using it for scanning. I'll talk more about the quality of scans below, but generally, with the right kinds of documents it is capable of producing good results faster and easier than using a traditional scanner. I love how it comes with a foot pedal that lets you quickly initiate scans hands free while you swap documents in and out from beneath the scanner. The foot scanner isn't a regular USB device in the sense that if you hook it up directly to your PC it isn't recognized as an input device so you can't really use it for anything else, but I didn't really expect to be able to either. Things kind of start to take a dive when you really get into the software though.

First thing I noticed about the CZUR Windows application is that it doesn't properly support High DPI displays, so Windows does what it can to upscale the UI the old fashioned way and it ends up giving you a blurry interface on a 4K monitor like mine. Also bizarrely the application is not a sizeable window, you can drag the window around and you can minimize it but you get no sizing handles on the edges so you can't make the window smaller so you can see it and other applications on the screen at the same time.

OCR is a slow (even on a quad core i7, if you're trying to do it for a lot of pages), manual process. I couldn't figure out how to get the app to OCR scans automatically as I went like all of my other traditional document scanners will do. In fact, I couldn't find an option to even automatically rotate the document into a position that makes sense. The scanner only fits A4 sized documents under the sensor horizontally, so if you're scanning a bunch of regular sized documents you'll end up with a bunch of files where they're all sideways and the CZUR app isn't smart enough to turn them the right way around for you (or even allow you to specify a rotation to apply to all documents for a session). You have to go and rotate them all yourself in the editing features after the fact, which is annoying.

The quality of the scans is either really good, or not great depending on what you're scanning. This thing will create super clear documents that are mostly text. The text is sharp, contrast is good etc. What it's not great for is Photos, Magazines or anything even remotely reflective/glossy. Regular room lighting isn't enough to get a proper scan without the lighting built into the scanner on at all, but even on the lowest dimmer level the scanner lights create bright reflective spots on even semi gloss materials and blows all the colours out. This definitely, from what I've seen using it so far, is not going to produce results that would allow you to use it as a photo scanner as well as a document scanner in case that's something you were thinking of doing (assuming you want good photo scans!).

The document edge detection in the software is not up to the standards I was expecting. Compared to apps like Microsoft Lens on mobile which does a pretty awesome job even in difficult situations in picking out the document from a background the CZUR application pretty much requires that you use the black background (included, it's like a mousepad material) or it just totally can't do it against the wood that I tried it with. Also, it has a very hard time figuring out the document edges if your documents have edges that are dark at all (even though to my eyes, it couldn't be clearer where the document ends and the background begins).

Anyway if you haven't guessed by now, I am pretty disappointed in the CZUR app that supports this scanner. It has a lot of missing functionality, gives you hardly any preferences to set, and the things it does do I feel other software out there does better - which this should do it really well since it is vital to using it as a document scanner. The good thing about software is that it can be improved over time, so I hope CZUR takes this feedback and makes some changes to improve it.

There is a lot to like about this document scanner, but there are also a lot of areas of improvement particularly on the software side of things. If your focus is mainly text documents, I think you'll be completely satisfied apart from the rotation problem - but I believe this is probably an easy thing for them to fix/improve so hopefully over time things like auto rotate will be added to the app.

SuperE

A wonderful alternative to flatbed document scanners, but it might not replace your phone

Reviewed in Canada on 23 September 2020

I estimate that I scan over 2000 pages a day, and for a long time I used to use flatbed scanners, then switched to scanners with auto-document feeders, then ultimately settled on simply using my phone as it offered the greatest versatility, convenience, and portability.

I think the CZUR Shine 500 PRO is ideal for someone who wants to replace their flatbed scanner or needs advanced OCR.

This unit is marketed as being a "portable" scanner, and while I agree that it's way more portable than some of the thicker flatbed scanners, I'd still opt for a thinner scanner (roughly the size of a laptop) over this design if my intention was to move it around from place to place.

That said, when not in use, the Shine 500 Pro takes up very little table space and the upright design uses only a very small footprint.

Included in the box is a USB cable to power the unit, a foot pedal (optional, but can be handy), a special scanning mat (really just a mousepad with some crop marks and cut so it fits around the base of the scanner), a software DVD, and instructions. I opted to download and install the software (approx. 500mb download) as the laptop I've been using this scanner with has no DVD drive.

The software is quite powerful and it allows you some pretty standard (cropping, image adjustment, etc.) and value-added features like powerful OCR (export to excel, searchable PDF, etc.).

You can set the software to scan manually, either by pushing the scan button on your PC or by pressing the foot pedal, or you can set it to scan when it detects a page-turning.

On your computer monitor, you will see a live feed of the scanning surface and as you place a document down you'll notice a yellow outline where it detects your document and where it ultimately crops it. I find that this happens instantly and the results have been far more accurate than most phone-based scanner apps.

You can batch scan as many documents as you like, and even scan the front and back of a document on a single page (2-up), but there are no options to stitch a long page together.

Scanning happens pretty fast and you can adjust the amount of light shining on your document using a physical knob on the scanner base. For most documents, this works just fine, but glossy pages are problematic as the reflections are quite noticeable. If you are scanning mostly standard paper documents, the Shine 500 Pro should be no problem. If you are scanning lots of glossy print, then I do suggest looking elsewhere or turning the built-in light OFF and using enough ambient light to brighten your pages.

Once you've scanned your documents, you have the option to export them as a PDF, searchable PDF, Word document (with OCR), Excel (with OCR) or a Tiff. JPG files are created when you scan, so no other "save" button needs to be pressed for that. At 5MP resolution, I find that the scan quality is excellent. If you are scanning photos or need extremely detailed scans, CZUR does have a 13MP model.

As I do not tend to scan books, I can't say how well this works for thicker objects.

Where the Shine 500 Pro lacks compared to using a phone-based scanner app, is the ability to quickly share/export scans to online services. For example, there is no export/share to Evernote, which is a software I use quite often. Some apps allow you to create a "watch folder" that you can save scans to and they should be automatically imported into your software, but not all of them do and this creates several extra steps.

Overall, the Shine 500 Pro is a high-quality, powerful document scanner that comes with a small footprint and is easy to move around. Where it really excels is OCR and if you are looking to convert documents into searchable/editable text, then it's a great option.

cornfedpig

Good for a very specific use

Reviewed in Canada on 12 October 2020

I have done document scanning professionally, and also have done it extensively in my household, so I have a lot of experience with different kinds of scanners and the upsides and downsides of the various kinds. I have lots of experience using photo negative and slide scanners, flatbed scanners, and document feed scanners. This CZUR scanner does a good job of scanning documents, transcribing text using OCR, and creating PDFs for larger documents. It doesn't do a good job at scanning photos or larger books.

The scanner itself is very small and compact. It's lightweight so it's quite easy to move locations in your home. It takes up only a little desk space. It is powered by the USB that connects it to your computer, so there is only one cable coming out of the scanner if you do not attach the optional foot pedal. Included is a mat to lay because the scanner with scanning dimensions and a notch cut out so you know exactly how to position it.

On the base of the scanner is a control for the light that shines on the documents to be scanned. The light does not need to be on to use the scanner, so if there is a lot of ambient light in the room you're working in you should be fine without it. The lights are very bright, and for glossy pages there is a lot of sheen on the resulting images.

Included is a CDROM with software on it, but if you are using a computer that was built sometime in the last 10 years, you probably don't have an optical drive. Luckily, you can download the software from the company's website. It's a 1.8GB download which I thought was enormous, but the software has a lot of features and options to correct images and export to various formats.

The software also includes something that I really likes - a Visual Presenter mode which allows you to show an object or document in real time on your computer screen, add annotations and record video. It records sound as well. It doesn't record with a very smooth frame rate however, so it is not suitable to for making videos or anything like that - it would only be useful for live presentations or video recording where a smooth frame rate isn't critical.

I asked myself the question about why someone would purchase this over a traditional flatbed scanner, or even a document feed scanner for larger scans. If you need to scan something that's on the thicker side, it might be better to use this as opposed to a flatbed scanner so you don't have to crush the original book under the flatbed lid. However the thought of scanning more than a few pages with this scanner is daunting. If a two-pages read in the book is larger than the scanning area, it will scan whatever it can including half of another page, and then you have to manually crop the resulting image. Or, you have to manually select the area to be scanned beforehand. I suppose this would be the same as a flatbed scanner, and I will say it is much easier to manipulate documents without having to open a scanner lid.

This is not a good scanner for photographs. It isn't great at capturing colour or reproducing images at all, so if you are looking for a scanner for photos I highly recommend investigating a traditional flatbed scanner. It also seems to have a maximum DPI of only 300, and if you're scanning photos for preservation purposes you'll want at least double that resolution, and maybe even more.

What this scanner does do well is extract text form documents. It can export directly to a MS Word file, and the reproduction is very, very good. Different sizes styles and fonts are captured with good accuracy. If, however, you are looking to scan a large volume of documents, like household files or other 8.5x11-inch papers, I would recommend using a document feeder scanner. Those are much faster than this scanner and would provide better resolution scans than this scanner.

I could see this being a great addition to your home scanning setup if you are looking to digitize and preserve a large volume of fragile documents that you wouldn't want to feed through a document feeder, or go to the trouble or time of using a flatbed scanner. This scanner only takes a second or so to capture document, and with the foot pedal attached, it could make for a very, very efficient workflow for large volumes of delicate documents. For that reason, I have decided to give this scanner 4 stars out of 5. For large volumes of fragile documents, it's an excellent option. But if you need something for photos, or standard paperwork, a more conventional option of a flatbed scanner or document scanner would much better suit those purposes.

Elle

Very useful for scanning documents for work, school or personal purposes

Reviewed in Canada on 5 December 2020

If you’re a remote worker, school teacher or student, this is an invaluable tool and very easy to use with very little set-up required to get started. It’s not complicated to learn the software, it’s pretty intuitive and straightforward. The smart features are what really makes this stand out compared to traditional printer/scanners or those small portable scanners.

I’ve had to scan hundreds of documents for both person, school, and work purposes and I wish I’d had this a long time ago as it would have made quick work of this. I love that it can convert document images into text for you so it’s very useful if you need to save and digitize your school notes.

One thing I had thought to use this for was to quickly scan family photos but this is the biggest weak point for this scanner since it’s basically just a camera that takes high-quality photos of whatever you’re trying to scan. The lights on the scanner, which are great for illuminating books and documents, reflect on glossy photos resulting in glare and which makes taking it basically useless for digitizing family albums. It’s hard to totally eliminate light reflections in photos so the best I could do was reduce the glare. Use two light sources on opposing sides and angle them towards the photos at a 45-degree angle. Basically, depending on what your main purpose is, a regular flatbed scanner might be your best bet!

PROS
+ Very useful for students, teachers, small business owners
+ Easy to scan documents, receipts, work projects, schoolwork, etc.
+ Compatible with Zoom meetings (can perform like a projector)
+ Lightweight (4lbs), compact and portable for travel purposes
+ Easy to set-up. Plug and play right away!
+ Smart software - auto crop, smart paging, combine sides, etc.
+ Fast scans compared to using a printer/scanner or small portable document scanner
+ Comes with a foot pedal to activate scanner
+ Can convert documents to JPG, Searchable PDF, Word or Excel files

CONS
- You need good natural daylight conditions to scan photos. Glossy surfaces create glare from scanner light and overhead lights.
- Limited to A4 document size (8.27” x 11.75”)
- Tried it on Chromebook and it’s a no-go. Windows 10 laptop works perfectly with it though.

Evan

Just as good as scanning from your phone

Reviewed in Canada on 28 September 2020

The CZUR Shine 500 Pro is the most interesting scanner I have had the opportunity to use.

After installation you are prompted to enter the serial number which activates features specific to your model. I was hoping to scan recipes books after watching their tutorial videos only to find they are based on the CZUR Shine Ultra and not the 500 Pro. I was confused why I didn’t have a “Facing Pages” option like in the tutorial, it turns out this model is only for single A4 size pages. With the word “Pro” in the title, it should really be more capable. With the features of this model (or lack of) it should be titled Shine Lite rather than Pro.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn this device is USB powered and does not require a separate power supply. You can scan in manual mode where you press a button in the software or use the foot pedal; or by using auto-scan where it detects when you have turned the page.

I found myself using the scanner as a lamp while proofreading which is incredibly handy for when I am working from home and have questions about a document, I just have to hit the pedal and it is instantly scanned so I can text or email it to my coworkers.

The quality is hit or miss depending on the finish of the paper. When scanning glossy paper, reflections are visible in the final scan even when the light was set on low. However, regular B&W text on matte came out much better.

While I would like to give this a higher rating, I can get similar results (if not better) from using Photo Scan by Google Photos on my phone which eliminates glare at the time of scanning.

Pros
Simple to setup
Collapsible to an extent (the base is rather bulky and does not collapse)
Foot pedal for easy hands-free scanning
Extremely fast

Cons
Unable to scan books (this model only)
No auto-rotation for 8.5x11 (only scans in landscape)
Reflections on glossy paper
Not height adjustable (this model only)

McGadget

Great scanner. Very good quality scan and super fast.

Reviewed in Canada on 25 September 2020

This scanner works very well and I like the added lighting it provides for obtaining good scan quality. The foot pedal is a nice touch if one is scanning a lot of different pages or documents as you don't need to be at the keyboard while performing the task. The quality of the scanner build is very good. While technically it is portable as it folds up, it is a bit bulky and heavy for small laptop/tablet briefcases or bags. Nevertheless, it is portable compared to standard multifunction printers and dedicated flatbed scanners.

Setup of the hardware is easy. A usb cable for connecting to the computer is provided as well as the foot pedal control. The scan is instant as it is camera driven. The hardware is of very good quality. They even provide a black mat for a background for the items being scanned with a cutout for the scanning device. If you need it raised for larger scans than it was designed for, you would have to raise the unit manually by placing items, such as books or other flat objects, under the base.

I downloaded the CZUR Shine app from their support site to have the latest version (see images). It is not the most intuitive or smoothest to use but it works well. The scanner automatically zeroed in on the manual pages I was scanning for my test and outlined the target. I used the foot pedal to trigger scans and all worked well.

This scanner is ideal for mass or frequent scanning needs or for scanning items that do not lend themselves to a standard scanner or multifunction printer. I certainly appreciate the ease and speed of use compared to the older technologies.

Overall, I prefer this scanner for scanning purposes to other types of scanners I own including the portable wand type.

Heather

Excellent for online school; not ideal for artwork

Reviewed in Canada on 6 October 2020

Online school means we've found ourselves having to scan a lot of documents. And, while using the scanner in our printer is okay, this CZUR scanner is so simple to use that my son can easily manage it on his own. We've setting it up on his laptop and we store the CZUR near his workspace, so all he needs to do is plug it in and scan.

The device is essentially a camera on a stand with a black mat placed beneath it. Just line up the document on the black mat, load up the CZUR software, and the scanner scans the document in a matter of seconds. The quality of the scan is really good when it comes to documents, however we've found that colours are not true enough to use for artwork.

I also really like that the CZUR will capture video and ambient sound. So, you can record yourself doing something under the the camera and share it with others (like a tutorial or maybe showing someone how to solve a math problem). The quailty of the audio recording is good enough, but if you want something really professional, you'll want to take the video into some other software and add a voice-over track.

There is a foot pedal attachment that can be used to quickly scan a series of documents. Just move the document into place, press the pedal, and move on to the next document. The scan time is remarkable short and the quality (which can be adjusted in the software), is quite good.

Overall, we've found this to be a super handy device for what we need to accomplish right now.

5 star		59%
4 star		23%
3 star		8%
2 star		5%
1 star		5%

CZUR Shine500 Pro Portable A4 Document Scanner USB 2.0 Fast Scanner...

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CZUR Shine500 Pro Portable A4 Document Scanner USB 2.0 Fast Scanner with OCR Function for MacOS and Windows

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