Ricoh ScanSnap iX1600 – Yahoo
his is the most recent version of the Ricoh ScanSnap iX1600, which was sold under the Fujitsu brand when we reviewed it on Jan. 19, 2021. Our original review is below, updated only to reflect the current Ricoh branding.
The Ricoh ScanSnap iX1600 ($495) is simply a terrific desktop document scanner. It’s a replacement for the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 we reviewed back in December 2018, and a direct competitor in both price and features to the Editors’ Choice–winning Brother ADS-2700W ($400). The iX1600 is relatively fast and highly accurate, and it comes with the well-regarded ScanSnap and ScanSnap Home software. This end of the field has many great products to choose from, but the iX1600 stands out with its excellent software bundle, performance, and ease of use, not to mention a very reasonable list price (though the ADS-2700W and other competitors are less expensive). That makes it our latest top pick among desktop document scanners for SOHO (small office, home office) users.
Compact, Friendly, and Powerful
Ricoh is launching two scanners together: the ScanSnap iX1600 and the iX1400. The latter is slightly slower than the iX1600 and lacks the intuitive color touchscreen and a few other features. Though the iX1600 costs $100 more, it’s a better value overall for the price.
Measuring 6.0 by 11.5 by 6.3 inches (HWD) with its trays closed and weighing 7.5 pounds, the iX1600 matches its iX1500 predecessor’s size and girth, and it’s not far off from several other entry-level models. These include the Brother ADS-2700W mentioned above, Epson’s WorkForce DS-575W Wireless Duplex Document Scanner ($400), and HP’s slightly bigger ScanJet Pro 3000 s3 Sheet-Feed Scanner ($400). Canon’s imageFormula DR-C230 Office Document Scanner ($495) weighs about 2 pounds less than the iX1600 but stands about 3.1 inches taller and 4 inches longer.
When you extend the trays to place them in service, all these machines increase in length by three times or more. Make sure your intended location for the scanner can accommodate it unfolded.
The iX1600 comes with a 50-sheet single-pass automatic document feeder (ADF). A 50-sheet ADF is the standard size for scanners in this price range; in fact, all the machines mentioned here so far have 50-page feeders, except Canon’s DR-C230, which holds 60 pages.
Most of these machines are designed to be configured and operated via bundled interface and document processing software, but they all come with onboard controls of varying complexity. Without question, the iX1600’s control panel is the largest, most elaborate, and most functional of them all. We’ll talk more about the ScanSnap interface and software a little later.
You can connect a single computer to the iX1600 via USB, or a computer, mobile device, or wireless network via Wi-Fi. The ScanSnap Connect app runs on most smartphones and tablets and has many of the features of the ScanSnap desktop app.
According to Ricoh, the iX1600’s daily duty cycle is 6,000 scans. That’s a higher rating than the DS-575W (4,000 scans), the DR-C230 and ScanJet 3000 (3,500 scans), or the ADS-2700W (3,000 scans). Considering that to scan 6,000 pages you’d have to load a 50-sheet ADF 120 times over the course of a day, it’s unlikely you’ll push the machine to anywhere near its formidable capacity.
