Brother - ADS-2700W Wireless High-Speed Color Duplex Desktop Document Scanner with Touchscreen LCD - White

I was happy to receive and test out this new scanner from Brother. For the past four years I have been using a sheet-fed scanner from Fujitsu and I have been very happy with it. But as time goes on, I wonder how much longer it will be supported through the annual “upgrades” from Apple. So that is my baseline for comparison. Fujitsu makes a comparable scanner and hopefully soon I’ll have the opportunity to test it as well. Setup This can vary depending on your intended usage. The setup is different (if only slightly) whether you are going to be using it as a wireless to mobile device, WiFi networked, wired networked, direct to a USB flash drive (rear USB port), WiFi Direct or a direct USB connection to your computer. Both Windows and Mac are supported on the desktop, on mobile they support iOS and Android. Right out of the box, my first attempt was to use the mobile app on my iPhone 8+. Simple download, search, link and viola I was able to scan a document straight to my iPhone. It happened so fast that I expected a low-resolution nasty scan. So I sent the file to my desktop and opened it there. Much to my surprise, the document was a 300 dpi full-color scan of a brochure. The quality was impressive. So then I wanted try it out on the desktop. I installed the software (more about that next paragraph) and after giving it the AP name and password, it immediately found the scanner on my WiFi network. I loaded a 16 page document and touched the color screen on the scanner with “To PC” and then “Start”. Sumbeatch! It started pulling the pages through so fast that I feared it might just shoot them across the room! I saw the file appear on my desktop. When I opened it, I was greeted with a high-quality, 300dpi color facsimile of my document. Turns out, nothing was wrong…..it was a SPEED DEMON! The page per minute (PPM) rate quoted by the promotional literature and on the website is 35 PPM. In my tests, I timed it from the moment that I pressed “Start” on the scanner to the moment it was finished processing and I had the complete file(s) on my computer. In that I found for 300 dpi Letter size it achieved 35.4 PPM. Better than quoted! But when switching to 600 dpi it was 9.8 PPM. For 4x6 photos at 300 dpi, 53.7 PPM; and for 600 dpi 19.1 PPM was the average. When you consider that the difference between 300 dpi and 600 dpi is not double, but four times the amount of data captured this is not bad at all. The maximum optical (real dot-for-dot capture) is 600 dpi. Software interpolation will create a simulated 1200 dpi, but this is not available through the basic interface. Rather, you have to use the TWAIN driver in other software to have this option. Software Their website lists the following software included: Nuance PaperPort 14SE (Windows), PageManager(Mac), NewSoft Presto! BizCard OCR (Win & Mac). But the software package that you download from the Brother website does not include any of these. You have to hunt around to find the links for download from their respective developers websites. This process really should be clarified as a less tech-savvy user may not find these at all. The base packages installs the configuration utility and the TWAIN driver. You can also pick the Support app and in the Utilities folder there is a Wireless Network Wizard available. I made use of the configuration utility extensively in my testing and was pleased with it’s operation. It will find and alter the configuration whether you’re connecting by USB to PC, USB flash drive, WiFi, or Ethernet. Its operation is straight-forward and gives a lot of options. I also discovered that when connected by WiFi or Ethernet, there is a built-in web configuration utility available from your browser. This is a very nice feature when not connected to the desktop. With it you can setup the network file location to save your scan to, setup various Cloud services and even setup the scanner to email your files to any address. But you must have unrestricted access to an SMTP server to make this happen. Most email providers do not allow this. Since I primarily use a Mac, that’s where my testing took place. The PageManager (PM) software is very similar in operation and function to PaperPort. So if you have used that in the past as I have, you’ll pick it up rather quickly. Figuring out how to OCR documents was the most difficult part and the results were mediocre at best. Accuracy is around 50% and it’s slow. Fortunately, since the driver is TWAIN compliant, I was able to scan and OCR from some 3rd party software that I already have. There’s also a serious bug in the PM software when using the Scan Button feature. All parts of the PM software show the appropriate English as set by my system. But for some reason the Scan Button menu shows only French. Presto really needs a fix for this. Hardware As I said before, the scanner drags the pages through quickly and with great ease. It also seems to handle a variety of paper sizes and types reliably and without jamming or excessive skewing. There were only two issues that I have uncovered that can present a problem with regard to paper types. First, if you are scanning a stack of cards (60lb) it will be sporadic in its ability to continuously grab them one after another. But this is not a major drawback, and the specs of the scanner clearly state that its design is for 14-29lb bond. The other minor issue was when scanning a stack of tear-off slips measuring 3.25” x 5.5” they would “skew” in the resulting image. I did not notice the slips twisting in the least as they fed through, but the images were significantly skewed by about 20 degrees. This only seemed to happen when the slips (since they are tear offs) had an irregular leading edge. This causes me to question; does the scanner/software have a “deskewing” routine? And if so, is that it’s incorrect attempt at resolving? Also, the scanner/driver does not seem to support any method of auto rotation of scans. If you scan something upside down or rotated, then the image will for sure be in that orientation. My other scanner does it’s best to correct for this with about 80% reliability. Also, I did notice on a few of the slips that ran full bleed, the edges were slightly cropped. Next up, let’s try some color photos. I altered the setting to force full color and 600 dpi scanning. As you would expect, the scan speed was reduced since I was capturing at least four times more data. In comparison with my other scanner, the colors were not as rich and vibrant. There were also occasional phantom lines that looked like the streaking that occurs from debris on the scanning element. But they ran horizontal instead of vertical so I can be sure that was not the source. Other software notes When scanning to an Excel file, I ran into issues with having to grant file access just to open them. Also, when I instructed PM to OCR to an Excel file, it opened Excel with the raw text of the file rather than a spreadsheet. (screenshot included) Summary The Brother ADS-2700W is a very fast sheet-fed scanner with good paper handling and decent color rendering. It is mostly limited by the bundled software, but if you have more robust needs better software is available at a reasonable price. I really appreciate the variety of transfer methods supported. (e.g. WiFi, Ethernet, USB PC, USB Flash) The menus are easy to navigate and it’s definitely a keeper. This scanner will be a welcome addition to my drive to become completely paperless.

All notes in my review are based on Windows 10 PC. Basic setup is a breeze and takes about ten minutes. Settings can be managed at either the scanner or remotely from the PC in the Brothers Setup/Management package that you need to download from Brother. Things I like right off the bat about the ADS-2700W: It’s size. A great choice for a cluttered desktop or for a student’s workspace. Wide range of networking from Wi-Fi, wired, USB to server based configurations. The network side is robust. The range of documents that can be scanned to include plastic coated cards, business card, photos as well as a long list of standard office sizes through its 50-page auto document feeder. Again, a robust list of supported documents. Scan to choices include File, USB flash memory drive, Image, Network, OCR, Email, FTP, Mobile Devices. Scanning formats include; JPEG, PDF, Secure PDF, Signed PDF, PDFA, And TIFF. Has crisp scanning resolutions of 600 dpi and interpolated 1200 dpi. Adding shortcuts to your mostly frequently used scanning destinations and configurations. LCD control panel is easy to use and setup logically. Have found that I must use firm pressure to engage a selection. Overall the Brother ADS-2700W is easy to use and compact for everyday use. Works well wired to a one computer, to small homegroup networks to use in server groups. ONE Great option for Group use is that Documents can be scanned directly to a Network Location/Folder or into Email. Highly flexible unit. If space is at premium and you need a highly flexible scanner check out the Brother ADS-2700W. Forgot to mention, this scanner is fast!

This little brother wireless scanner comes in a compact little package. The box includes the scanner and the getting started manuals. No usb cables are included and is expected to be setup wirelessly. The only assembly required is to click in the document feeder and plug the power in. The feed tray does not fold over the scanner and results in a small gap on the top of the scanner and exposes the internal glass to dust which could be avoided by design. The scanner software can be downloaded on desktop pc and includes software for business cards and document management. The scanner can be configured from the color display or by software. The remotesetup and paperport software can be found in Menu after installation. The main feature - scanning works really well and is very fast for the dpi it produces. I scanned a variety of documents including business cards and they ran through the feeder pretty quick and the resulting color and grayscale scans were outstanding quality. Overall an excellent scanner that creates high quality images.

The unit is supposed to be used as either wired or wireless. I have most of my devices set up on wireless, and this should be no exception. Out of the box, the unit seemed fairly intuitive. Power on, click the Wireless icon on the screen, set up the network connection. Then I went to Brother’s site to download the software. So far, everything is simple. I try to launch the software, called “Web Based Management”. It opens my browser window and tells me the site it is trying to find cannot be found. The instructions enclosed with the unit are quite sparse. So, I went to Brother’s site to troubleshoot. I found instructions on how to access via IP address. Tried that, could not find unit. Then I went through WLAN set up again. I double checked IP address. Still not found. I started an online chat with a very helpful representative from Brother that suggested I turn off my virus protection and firewall. I did so, and the IP address access appeared (the software still did not work). However, I was still unable to scan. If you click “to PC”, you need a wired connection. If you click “to Network”, it would tell me to open Web Based Management, which is the software I could not get to work. I decided to try again a different day. The next day, I tried the IP address I had bookmarked – didn’t work. Turned off my virus and firewall software, still doesn’t work. I went through the WLAN set up again, not working. Checked IP address and tried a different browser. Still cannot connect. Brother also offers an app to use the scanner with your mobile phone. I tried that instead of using the computer. The scanner is FAST. The fastest scanner I’ve ever seen. Granted, it was a simple letter, but it was much faster than either of my flatbed scanners. I had no issue with the document uploading to my phone and then saving it to my cloud drive. Image was clear and crisp. I then tried a full color postcard. Fast scan, image was great. No issues. I am giving it 4 total stars because of my frustration with the network connection. It would have been three, except for the great customer service and the FAST scanning power.

Needed a scanner for my remote worker status. Great machine, super fast, clear crisp images, and super easy to setup. Would recommend to anyone. My first purchase was an Epson couldnt return it fast enough then i found this gem.

Could not be happier with the purchase. In this new era of working remotely I needed something serviceable and fast - and easy to use is a bonus. Using it with a USB stick is the way I prefer. Had a problem with wifi which may have been an issue at my end. When things return to normal I intend to buy several for my office. No need to run back and forth to the commercial printer/scanners unless scans are 60 pages or above.

This scanner is a keeper! It is substantially faster than my older Brother scanner. "Substantially" means is rocks! The color is good. I hooked it up to a USB port and eventually I will use the wireless setup. I am using the scanner with my home office and so far is has behaved flawlessly.

I use this almost everyday to scan documents. You can create workflows that work for several types of scans. It produces good quality scans and is quick. Scans both sides and will rotate pages as needed. Great product and worth the price.