No question, HP's ScanJet Pro N4000 snw1 ($559) is a terrific midrange scanner for small offices and workgroups. Like its many competitors, including our Best of 2021 winner the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1600 and its fellow Editors' Choice recipient the Epson RapidReceipt RR-600W, this ScanJet is relatively fast, scans in highly accurate fashion, and supports plenty of connectivity options. Everything required for a four-star review recommendation, right? Right. Unfortunately for it, competition among low- to medium-volume sheetfed document scanners is formidable to the point of cutthroat; the Fujitsu and Epson earned our rare 4.5-star rating. The HP isn't really inferior—it's a great document scanner for most midrange applications—but it narrowly misses Editors' Choice honors.
Just Your 'Average Top-Notch' Document Scanner
Measuring 6.1 by 11.8 by 6.8 inches (HWD) with its trays closed and weighing 6.2 pounds, the ScanJet Pro N4000 snw1 is about average in both size and girth. It's within an inch or so and a pound or two of not only the RapidReceipt RR-600W and ScanSnap iX1600, but the Raven Select and Raven Original, the Canon imageFormula R50, and the Brother ImageCenter ADS-3600W, to name just a few competitors.
Most of these document scanners stretch upward and outward to two or three times their original length with trays extended for business. A couple of exceptions, such as the Canon ImageFormula DR-C225 II and the Fujitsu fi-800R, have smaller footprints thanks to U-shaped paper paths.
The input tray or automatic document feeder (ADF) folds down over the face of the machine and the control panel, which consists of a small array of buttons—Back, Home, and Help—anchored by a 2.8-inch color touch screen.
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From here, you can configure individual scans as needed, or select workflow profiles that contain all aspects of a scan job including simplex or duplex, resolution, file format, destination(s), and more. You manage profiles (HP calls them shortcuts) via the bundled HP Scan software, which we'll examine in a second.
The ScanJet Pro's maximum resolution is 600dpi. Its color depth is 24-bit external and 48-bit internal, with supported file-output formats including image PDF, PDF/A, searchable PDF, encrypted PDF, JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text (.txt), and rich text (.rtf). The minimum page size is 2 by 3 inches, and the maximum is 8.5 inches by 12.2 feet.
The N4000 snw1 features a 50-page ADF, which is relatively small and could slow you down if you need to refill it constantly. (The machine's daily duty cycle is 4,000 scans.) Those specs match those of the Canon R50 and Raven Original. The Brother ADS-3600W and Raven Select also have 50-page feeders, but daily cycles of a robust 5,000 and light-hitting 2,000 scans respectively. The Epson RR-600W and Fujitsu iX1600 combine 100-page ADFs with 4,000- and 6,000-scan duty cycles respectively.
Connecting to and Using the ScanJet Pro N4000
The HP scanner's standard interfaces are 10/100Base-T Ethernet, USB 3.0, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi Direct. The last, as you know, is a peer-to-peer networking protocol that lets you connect handheld mobile devices (i.e., smartphones and tablets) to the scanner without either it or them being part of the same network.
Ethernet and Wi-Fi are, of course, networking protocols that allow all computing devices on your network to access the scanner, while a USB cable creates a dedicated connection to a single computer. No matter which protocol you choose, the scanner interfaces via the downloadable HP Scan software.
For connecting the N4000 to third-party apps like Microsoft Word and Excel, Adobe Photoshop and Acrobat, and hundreds of others that support direct scanner input, HP throws in TWAIN and ISIS drivers.
Testing the ScanJet Pro N4000: As-Advertised Speeds, Impeccable Accuracy
HP rates this ScanJet Pro at 40 one-sided pages per minute (ppm) and 80 two-sided images per minute (or ipm, where each page side is counted as an image). Among our test group, the two Ravens and the Canon have the same rated speeds, while the Epson is rated at 35ppm/70ipm and Brother rates the ADS-3600W at 50ppm/100ipm.
I tested the N4000 snw1 over a USB 3.0 connection. Scanning was set for 300dpi resolution using HP Scan on our Intel Core i5 testbed running Windows 10 Pro. Our first test entails scanning, converting, and saving our one-sided 25-page and two-sided 25-page (50 sides) text documents to image PDF format. The HP processed the simplex and duplex documents at a respective average of 43.9ppm and 82.1ipm, slightly faster than its ratings.
As you'd expect, the identically rated Raven Original, Raven Select, and Canon R50 finished within 1ppm or 2ppm (or ipm) of the HP. The Epson RR-600W was slightly slower, and the Brother ADS-3600W somewhat faster.
Next, I clocked the ScanJet Pro as it scanned, converted, and saved our two-sided 25-page document to the more versatile searchable PDF format. All 50 page sides were digitized, converted, and saved to the desired format in 34 seconds—the fastest time in our test group, though not by much. (All the scanners averaged under 40 seconds.)
Speed is important, and being the fastest on the block is fine, but saving a few seconds here or there won't help if a scanner's optical character recognition (OCR) isn't accurate. Nowadays, except under extreme circumstances, you really shouldn’t have to budget any time at all for making corrections, whether you're using an inexpensive portable scanner or a high-volume office workhorse. The HP proved error-free down to 6 points in both our Arial (sans-serif) and Times New Roman (serif) font tests, which is impressive but frankly average. It's rare you'll encounter business documents with type smaller than 10 points. The N4000 earns extra kudos for the clarity with which it recognized several of the decorative typefaces we use during quality testing.
In any case, the HP's speed and accuracy are up there with the best in its class. That also held true when I challenged it and the HP Scan software with a stack of business cards: Like with most scanners in the ScanJet Pro's class, simply designed cards with few or no fancy fonts, graphics, or logos scanned more accurately than exotic ones. Overall, I've zero complaints about this ScanJet's performance.
A More-Than-Capable Midrange Document Scanner
Decent scanning speeds, terrific accuracy, an easy-to-use control panel and interface software—the HP ScanJet Pro N4000 snw1 checks all the boxes for a top-drawer sheetfed document scanner for busy home and small offices, as well as workgroups. Our only gripe is that its list price is $50 to $150 more than a few worthy competitors, which keeps it from Editors' Choice honors. But otherwise we can't think of a reason not to recommend the N4000 snw1 as an excellent alternative to our current document management favorites.
The HP ScanJet Pro N4000 snw1 is a capable midrange document scanner that's ideal for busy small and home offices.
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Sign up for other newslettersAbout William Harrel
Former Contributing Editor
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