NeatReceipts Scanalizer Professional 2.5
Manufacturer: NeatReceipts Part number: 899061
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- This compact, intelligently designed sheet-fed scanner almost makes it a pleasure to generate expense reports and calculate itemized income tax deductions.
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Where to buy
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| Amazon.com Marketplace |  | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 12/08/2009 |
CNET editors' review
NeatReceipts Scanalizer Professional 2.5 price range: $104.95
- Reviewed by: Kristina Blachere
- Edited by: Elsa Wenzel
- Reviewed on: 03/24/2005
The good: Simple, intuitive software interface; can export files to Excel, Quicken, Acrobat, and more; helpful, well-written documentation and user tutorials.
The bad: Software doesn't recognize handwritten or faded receipts; more expensive than a basic flatbed scanner; shuns Mac users.
The bottom line: This compact, intelligently designed sheet-fed scanner almost makes it a pleasure to generate expense reports and calculate itemized income tax deductions.
The NeatReceipts scanner is a slim, harmonica-shaped device that measures 10.8 inches by 1.6 inches by 1.3 inches (WDH) and weighs a light 10.6 ounces. You feed pages up to 8.5 inches wide through one side of the device, and they come out the back. This scanner connects to a Windows PC via its USB 2.0 port through the included cable, and it comes with receipt-management software, a carrying pouch, a plastic base stand, and a wall-mounting device. We recommend using the wall mount, as you'll need plenty of clearance to scan those long slips of paper and prevent crooked paper feeds; with the scanner affixed to a wall, you can pop a recycling bin underneath to catch the receipts. (The IRS accepts scanned receipts, so you can dispose of yours once they're digitized--as long as you back up your files!)
Installing the NeatReceipts software is quick and easy, thanks to a well-written installation guide and the CD's helpful tutorials, which walk you through the layout of the software and hardware. The basic protocol: Hook up the scanner to your computer and launch the software, slide a receipt into the scanner, then click the prominently displayed Scan button within the program's main interface.
The software is organized into four main screens: Receipt Manager creates a one-line database entry for each receipt you scan, Expense Reports lets you create a new report into which you enter receipts, Drag And Drop lets you drag the receipts between windows, and Document Manager lets you scan other documents such as utility bills or contracts. The genius of the NeatReceipts software lies in its ability to search scanned receipts for common fields such as date of purchase, total, payment method, and vendor name. Once you've scanned a receipt, its image shows up in the Receipt Manager window, and data such as vendor name and amount appear to the right. Receipt Manager tallies each line automatically and keeps a running total along the bottom of the screen.
Because the software organizes receipts and generates expense reports, you can keep track of receipts for a tax year, a month of expenditures, or a specific business trip. Once you've scanned your receipts, you can drag them into an expense report, e-mail them to someone else who uses NeatReceipts, or export them as HTML or Rich Text format or to programs such as Microsoft Excel, Word, and Money; Intuit Quicken and QuickBooks; and Adobe Acrobat.
Of course, this software does have limitations; it will recognize any vendor already listed among the 500 in its database, but you must manually enter any unknown vendor. Once you've done that, however, NeatReceipts recognizes the vendor and autocompletes this field. The software is hopeless, however, at recognizing data from faded receipts, from noncomputerized cash registers (which means most mom-and-pop shops), and from those tiny receipts on shiny paper from the gas-station pump. In these cases, you can type the information, which, thanks to the software's autocomplete skills, consumes little time.
The scanner's default resolution is 300dpi, which makes for good quality scans so that the software can parse the data. The engine can scan text and images at up to 600dpi, and it works with any TWAIN-based imaging programs. NeatReceipts claims that its device will scan a receipt in about 10 seconds, but we found that if you factor in the software recognition time, actual scan speeds are closer to 25 to 40 seconds for big-box-retailer receipts of average length.
NeatReceipts comes with a one-year warranty that includes free phone support, but it's a toll call. Phone support hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday ET; e-mail support is available during these hours as well as on weekends. When we sent a few e-mail questions about the device to the support address, we got a reply in a matter of hours.
User reviews
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NeatReceipts Founder Responds
by rspero on April 12, 2005
Pros: Lots of uses and functionality, helps you get organized, saves you time, IRS accepted, reads data from receipts, free upgrades, free customer support
Cons: Not 100% when reading data, No Mac, Does not recognize hand written receipts
Summary: Hi -
My name is Rafi Spero and I am the founder of NeatReceipts. I wanted to take a moment to address some of the issues raised in this forum. ...Summary: Hi -
My name is Rafi Spero and I am the founder of NeatReceipts. I wanted to take a moment to address some of the issues raised in this forum.
1. We take customer support very seriously at NeatReceipts. We provide free technical support (phone or email), pay for shipping on returns and provide free updates and upgrades. We have always honored our 30 day money back guarantee.
2. I am not familiar with the problem of slick receipts. We switched scanners back in February which utilizes a different tracking system that pulls in documents when you scan. I personally tested the mechanism and can assure you that it works very well.
3. Our price on our website is 229.95. You can purchase at a number of different web store fronts for 199.95 including: TigerDirect, CDW, TechDepot, Softmart, MobilePlanet, eCost, PC Mall and others.
4. Our software file is proprietary yet we work quite well with Quicken, Quickbooks, MS Money, PDF, Excel, Word, HTML and CSV. We currently support these applications for 2004. When we release our 2005 version (which all current users get a free upgrade to) we will support all applications listed above for 2005.
Again, we take our customers seriously and value their input and any issues they encounter. Feel free to email me directly at rspero@neatreceipts.com
Sincerely,
Rafi Spero24 out of 26 users found this user opinion helpful.
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I run my business with this Software
by OwenT on April 12, 2005
Pros: Scans and tracks receipts, catergorizes expenses
Cons: OCR could be faster
Summary: I've been using this scanner for a few months. I am in the construction business and use it for tracking expenses for each project I am working on. When ...
Summary: I've been using this scanner for a few months. I am in the construction business and use it for tracking expenses for each project I am working on. When I complete a project, I add a line in the software for labor and then print a report that becomes my bill. My clients get an invoice that includes great looking scans of each receipt plus detailed information on labor costs.
The scanner is very durable and the software is intuitive. It keeps me from losing receipts and forgetting to bill customers5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great product
by kwri on April 13, 2005
Pros: Easy to use, efficient
Cons: Doesnt read some faded receipts
Summary: One of the great things about NeatReceipts is it eliminates the hassle of dealing with large amounts of paper receipts. With NeatReceipts I can scan an image of receipt and ...
Summary: One of the great things about NeatReceipts is it eliminates the hassle of dealing with large amounts of paper receipts. With NeatReceipts I can scan an image of receipt and have the program extract the pertinent information from the receipts I need for my expense reports. It's as simple as that.
6 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Very quarky Software, Not for advanced users
by Gretsky99 on December 26, 2006
Pros: Slick design, Fast Scanning, full size scanning.
Cons: OCR Software Bad, Slow software (buggy Freezes), more.....
Summary: My Girlfriend bought me this for Christmas in hope of getting rid of all my reciepts.
At first I thought it seemed like a logical solution. As i began to ...Summary: My Girlfriend bought me this for Christmas in hope of getting rid of all my reciepts.
At first I thought it seemed like a logical solution. As i began to scan in reciepts I ran into these issues.
1.) Software memory hungry. Exteremly Slow
2.) OCR Software sub-par. Does not recognize the text well.
3.) Picture editing after scanning sub-par
4.) "CANNOT SAVE TO SERVER DIRECTLY" I was disappointed that i needed to have SQL installed locally when I have an SQL server. I know it can backup but i don't want the database on my PC. Not Enterprise friendly.
5.) Application freezes, lost work more then a few times. Waisted a ton of time. How is there no crash recovery. I though they said there was no reason to have a save button since its a DB. Someone dropped the ball in the programming. It should of saved up until the crash.
Overall i give only a plus to the Scanner itself. Other than that I think that its back to the drawing board with the software. And Back to my boxes goes my receipts.4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Don't get carried away
by Louster50 on December 24, 2006
Pros: Makes the job a bit more fun
Cons: Too often it reads it wrong
Summary: Before getting carried away by this little technological marvel one should consider its application after the novelty wears off. Of course, it's more fun to list one's expenses ...
Summary: Before getting carried away by this little technological marvel one should consider its application after the novelty wears off. Of course, it's more fun to list one's expenses using this product than entering all the data manually. However, after the first few hundreds inserts the fun ceases and when that happens the errors seem more pronounced and it too becomes laboruous to use. My experience shows that the product is only about 50% successful in reading the data from a credit card or cash receipt. Too often the device reads the date wrong or can't properly read the amount. I found this to be true regardless of the condition of the receipt. Of course, the better condition of the paper input the greater the chance for an accurate read, but not by much. I also didn't have success in analyzing the information after a scan using the "modify document" option. True the "modify" feature usually made the receipt darker and hence more readable, but that additional clarity didn't help the device to produce the correct input into the appropriate columns. I don't regret purchasing the machine since I have accumulated many hundreds if not thousands of receipts the information on which might be useful to me one day, and whatever I can use that will help alliviate the drudgery of inputting the data is a plus. However, I think the manufacturers should be a bit more forthright in touting the devices degree of accuracy and/or produce a device that has a higher degree of accuracy and reliability than the most current issue, which I beleive is NeatReceipts Professional v. 2.5.6.
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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BEWARE-Not compatible w/ Quicken 2005 and newer
by brergo on September 16, 2006
Pros: Small,lightweight scanner & simple easy to use software
Cons: Lack of integration w/ Quicken 2005 and newer versions
Summary: I purchased this product because it said it was compatible w/ Quicken, but upon installing it, I found that it is not compatible w/ Quicken versions 2005 and newer. As ...
Summary: I purchased this product because it said it was compatible w/ Quicken, but upon installing it, I found that it is not compatible w/ Quicken versions 2005 and newer. As of Q2005, Quicken does not import QIF files for most accounts. QIF is the format that NeatReceipts exports in. If they got it to be 100% compatible w/ Quicken, I'd deifnitely re-evaluate because it seems like a good product overall.
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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I recommend NeatReceipts
by antjames on April 13, 2005
Pros: Makes expense reporting easier
Cons: Cant use with Mac
Summary: NeatReceipts has worked very well for me. I've found it easy to use and quite efficient. It cuts off a lot of time in doing expense reports since it ...
Summary: NeatReceipts has worked very well for me. I've found it easy to use and quite efficient. It cuts off a lot of time in doing expense reports since it automatically places the information it scans from my receipts into my reports - no more tedious data entry. The 'mail to' email feature even allows me to send the reports directly from the software to my boss. I certainly recommend it.
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Its the neatest way to save receipts/docs
by lance1826 on April 12, 2005
Pros: User friendly, scanner is multipurpose, Making reports is so easy
Cons: Slightly Expensive, Cannot add own columns, Doesnt read faded receipts
Summary: My wife bought this for me, and I frankly, i didn't like she spending 200 bucks on this. But it just took me a few days to realize how ...
Summary: My wife bought this for me, and I frankly, i didn't like she spending 200 bucks on this. But it just took me a few days to realize how much time this was gonna save me.
The software works like my own little system with all my paperwork in it. Looking for receipts and documents is just like "click here...click there"
The scanner is nice. The image quaality of receipts seen on the screen is far better than you would expect from a normal scanner. Also the scanner is portable and feels sturdy when you hold it. The scanner works great with all other applpications as well.
User has to use only the columns that exist in the software. I use columns like 'project ID' and transaction ID to tag the receipts. It does not read anything from the faded receipts. Although one can just enter the information manually.
I bought it for 200 bucks, I still think thats expensive, but I knew I was losing atleast 100 bucks of reimbursable receipts every month. SO this works out way cheaper for me
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Moderate software, poor hardware, overpriced
by jabre on March 28, 2005
Pros: OCR for receipt management
Cons: Receipts slip while scanning, proprietary file format
Summary: Sounds good, but be weary. The price is extravagant and it should perform well for what you are expected to pay.
Hardware: Full page sheets feed through moderately well. But, ...Summary: Sounds good, but be weary. The price is extravagant and it should perform well for what you are expected to pay.
Hardware: Full page sheets feed through moderately well. But, slick receipts, which are what the product was intended for, slide around and scan very poorly.
Software: OK if you are willing to work exclusively within their software. But, the image format is proprietary. The export function is cumbersome. Interfacing to other software packages is not as automated as it should be and they do not even support Quicken 2005.
Support: Be very cautious. They promise a money back gaurantee. I put them to the test and found they failed. The did not honor the gaurantee and left me to pay for the return and dispute the charge on the credit card.
Mediocre software, poor hardware, non-trustworthy customer support.Updated
update 111Updated
Clarification on customer support:
Neatreceipts did not provide the return shipping as represented in their warranty. I received credit for purchse 3 weeks after they received the return.5 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.
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It scans perfectly; old and worn receipts become more legible.
by im515043 on April 17, 2008
Pros: Old and worn receipts scan to a clearer image. Set up is quick. Informative flash tutorials. Excellent customer service. Great forum and easily accessible. Small, compact and easily portable.
Cons: Importing of documents to program. Difficulty identifying email client.
Summary: I only paid $159 for mine at Costco.com however I received it with a damaged CD. No problem because I was able to download the latest version from their ...
Summary: I only paid $159 for mine at Costco.com however I received it with a damaged CD. No problem because I was able to download the latest version from their website although it was a slow download. Everything works perfectly so far although it wasn't clear how to email from the program or import documents. The search function only appears to work within the neat receipts program itself. Of course I just set it up and used it for the first time and have to learn the program more; it just seemed that a some function buttons didn't perform as they should such as email and search. If not for that I would give it a 10 but for now a 9.9. Great price, great value, great scanner!
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: NeatReceipts
- Part number: 899061
- Description: The NeatReceipts lightweight portable scanner is the perfect tool for the on-the-go professional. Sleek and durable, it looks as good on your desktop as it does in your briefcase.
General
- Type Sheetfed scanner - Portable
- Width 10.8 in
- Depth 1.6 in
- Height 1.3 in
- Weight 0.7 lbs
Scanner
- Scan Mode Single-pass
- Scan Element Type Contact Image Sensor
Media Handling
- Supported Media Type Plain paper
- Media Feeder Type Manual load
Storage
- Optical Storage None
Power
- Power Device Power supply
Software / System Requirements
- OS Required Microsoft Windows 2000 / XP
Manufacturer info
- NeatReceipts
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse NeatReceipts products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.neatreceipts.com/
- Address:
3401 Market Street, Philadelpha, PA 19104
