Some time ago PLANon released a nifty gadget called R700, it was a portable, hand held, full page scanner. It was interesting at it’s time but then it could only scan in black and white. Since then science moved forward and so did PLANon, now they proudly present the RC800, we’re talking about a 226 x 12 x 12 mm device, with a weight of 54g, using a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery that can be charged via USB, 8mb flash memory with the possibility to extend using a MicroSD memory card. With that you get four scanning modes: Black and White ->1bit, Grayscale -> 4/8bit, Color ->12bit, Hi color ->24bit.
The scanning settings can be easily selected using the two side buttons and the row of icons telling you what configuration you are using for the next scan. The icon row also give you information about the battery left, memory usage and also a led that indicates when you are scrolling too fast over the page.
The design is quite appealing, compact and solid, with pleasant colors and nice background LEDs for the icons, it comes with a leather zipped case that help you protect your newest gadget and be stylish in the same time. The scanning is easily done but sometimes you have to be careful especially on surfaces that aren’t exactly flat, that’s a minor issue anyhow. After you finish your scanning you have to download the pictures in to the computer via the USB cable and then use the PennScanner Control application to tweak the quality of the scanned content.
Bottom line DocuPen RC800 is a handy device that helps you when you’re in need and it’s also a cool gadget to own, the price is around 300$ so think about the ups and down and maybe give it a go.