I don't like using this. It might be true of other compact scanners, since I've only used this one, but I dislike how hard it is to line it up so that it feeds straight. As a result, it's always crooked so you always end up with dark strips at the top and sides of each scan.

Despite fitting MFPs with scanners for years, Brother has only recently launched its first stand-alone devices. The range of three business-orientated models includes an A3 document scanner and two USB-powered portable document scanners, of which the DS-700D is the more highly specified model.

We bought this for tracking and catagorizing receipts. It is just a scanner, returned for a Neat Receipt scanner. There was no program for doing what we wanted it to do. Our printer does just as good of a job and is wireless. If you just want a portable scanner this may work for you.

compact

An inexpensive portable scanner, but the competition is worth the extra cash

The Brother DS-700D ($200 street) is the least expensive portable scanner we've seen that can scan both sides of a page at once. This ability to duplex may be enough by itself to make the scanner worth considering, particularly if you're on a tight budget.

Gets power over USB cable; Duplex scanning (both sides at once); Comes with protective sleeves for scanning easily damaged originals

Manual feed only; Large and heavy for a portable scanner; Severe limits on scanning multiple document pages into one file

The Brother DS-700D is more suited to a business user who is often on the road.  Currently Brother is advertising this product at £234 while Amazon.co.uk has it listed at £197.  This mobile scanner requires a computer running Windows XP or Mac OS X 10.4 and later.

Brother has a good reputation with its scanners so I decided to pick this one up. This was a nice little scanner, easy to set up and worked fine for a couple of months. Recently I tried scanning a document and the whole page appeared black.

Duplex Scanning Saves Tim

Reliability Questionable

Much different to what I had expected. Very slow and whilst it is a plug-and-go type, it requires setting to change the format. It was supposed to scan in pdf but actually it did in photo format. This undermines the claim of it being a simple device. Returned it on the same day.

This scanner is easy to use and is quite fast for it's size. Really handy to carry around with a laptop. I like this much better than the flatbed type.

Need to practice to get the sheets to go in straight. Smaller than full-size sheets are even trickier; smaller items (like receipts) are impossible unless you use the plastic sleeve.

* duplex scanning * small; portable; no power brick required * easy to use * works well on photos

* tricky to feed sheets in straight * using plastic sleeve reduces contrast of scan * included software can be confusing * does not auto reverse upon jam * grey scale scan quality only so-so