Comparison Canon DR-C225 vs Canon P-215

Small size scanners designed for maximum portability. Usually they are cylindrical or rectangular devices with a through slot through which the scanned document is passed during operation; thus, the size of such a scanner is much smaller than that of a traditional scanner, in which the entire document must be placed. Portable scanners tend to be of low resolution and are intended primarily for light tasks such as scanning text documents. They are well suited for use with laptops — in particular, the dimensions allow them to be transported in the same bag with a laptop computer.

The maximum image size that the scanner can process at one time, both horizontally and vertically. You should pay attention to this parameter if you need the exact dimensions of the scanner's working area, down to a millimetre: although standard formats are used to designate these dimensions (see "Format"), in fact the dimensions may differ from them.

The black and white scanning speed provided by the device. Usually, the maximum processing speed for an A4 sheet is indicated, i.e. speed at the lowest resolution. In fact, the speed is usually lower and depends on both the resolution and the size of the original material. The higher the scanning speed, the more convenient it is to work with the scanner; pay special attention to this parameter if you plan to work with numerous black and white images.

Colour scanning speed provided by the device. In fact, it depends on the selected resolution, colour depth and original dimensions; the characteristics most often indicate the speed for an A4 sheet at the minimum resolution and colour depth, i.e. maximum possible speed. If you only need to scan one or more sheets from time to time, high speed is not too critical, but for working with a large amount of materials, you should look for fast models.

The maximum number of pages that the scanner can process per day without overloading and the negative consequences associated with them. Most often indicated for A4 format. Even the most modest models of modern scanners have duty cycles measured in dozens of pages, which is quite enough for simple everyday tasks. Therefore, you should pay attention to this parameter if you have to scan numerous materials every day.

The maximum number of sheets of standard weight (80 g/m²) paper that can be placed in the scanner's auto feed system at a time. These systems are similar to those installed in printers: a stack of sheets is installed in a special tray, and each of them is fed in turn for scanning. It is worth paying attention to models with this function if you often have to work with numerous documents: you will not need to monitor the process and manually feed sheets — just load the originals into the automatic document feeder and press the button. Many document feeders, some flatbeds, and almost all combination scanners have an ADF (see "Type"). It works, however, only with separate sheets and cannot cope with larger media.

Availability of duplex scanning function in the device. Duplex scanning in this case means such an operating mode in which the scanner simultaneously captures an image from both sides of the processed medium (sheet of paper). The convenience of this feature is obvious: the media does not have to be turned over to scan each side separately, and the processing time is significantly reduced. Double-sided scanning is found mainly in the models of traction or combined type (see above), however, there are also flatbed scanners with this capability.

By default, the scanner is designed to work with reflective, i.e. opaque materials (such as paper). The slide module allows you to use the device for processing transparent materials, such as photographic film.

— From the network. The most common option is to connect to a conventional 230 V power supply. This power supply provides enough power to operate any, even the fastest and most performant scanners. Its disadvantage is, in fact, the need for an electrical network.

— From USB. Powered via USB port — the same through which it connects to the computer. This significantly increases the battery life of the scanner — in particular, it can be used with a laptop in places where there is no access to a 230 V network, which is especially important for portable models (see "Portable Design"). On the other hand, the performance of such devices is usually low, and the power of the USB port is not always enough for power supply (which is especially true when using USB hubs).

— Autonomous. Power supply of the scanner from its own batteries (accumulator or replaceable batteries). Such models are as autonomous as possible, because do not require a power cord to operate, and many of them are able to act as separate devices without being connected to a PC at all. Their disadvantage is the risk of switching off at the most inopportune moment due to the exhaustion of the charge — then you have to either change the batteries (which at least requires fresh ones) or recharge the battery (which takes time).