Alaris E1035 Desktop Scanner

DESKTOP SCANNERS seemed to be everywhere this past year, or maybe we've visited too many medical offices. Every visit requires scanning a license, insurance card, prescription card, or all of the above. As healthcare and other companies have moved to the cloud, the "going paperless" movement has received a huge boost with desktop scanners like the Alaris E1000 family, which are helping them jump the digitization hurdle with simplicity, flexibility, and efficiency.

The E1035 we evaluated scans up to 35 pages per minute, while the E1025 handles 25 ppm. The automatic document feeder (ADF) capacity is 80 sheets, and the Smart Touch software offers a variety of ways to send results to storage, applications, or directly to several cloud providers.

Getting Started

Alaris spun off from Kodak in 2013 but is still listed as a "Kodak Alaris" business. Nothing says Kodak on the E1035 except clear imaging. A wall wart provides power and a USB cable comes with the scanner.

The box also includes a CD but the install dialogue suggests you go online to get the latest drivers. Clients supported include Windows and multiple Linux distributions. The laptop we used as the client already had a TWAIN driver, which the E1035 happily used to send PDFs right out of the box. We updated the driver anyway.

The Smart Touch software must also be downloaded, and you must fill out a registration form to get a download link sent via email that expires in 120 hours. Capture Pro Software Limited Edition is "included," but the software only has a one-year temporary license. Luckily, the Smart Touch app does quite a bit.

The single-character display window on the scanner shows 1–9 for preconfigured jobs:

1. Color PDF
2. Black-and-White PDF
3. Black-and-White RTF
4. Color JPEG
5. Black-and-White Single Page TIFF
6. Black-and-White Multipage TIFF
7. Email Black-and-White PDF
8. Custom Color PDF
9. Custom Color File(s)

Luckily, the face of the scanner is large enough to tape a cheat sheet on to avoid confusion. You can also rename these shortcuts.

The app hides in the Hidden Icons box. You retrieve it by right-clicking on the E1035 scanner icon and choosing Configure. This scanner family uses the Perfect Page algorithm from Alaris for high-quality results of up to 600 dots per inch.

Each of the nine available shortcut options allows considerable flexibility. You can configure the destination to be a file or send it to a printer or fax/printer, e-mail, Box, Evernote, Google Drive, or SharePoint Online. You can add new links to SharePoint, web mail, or a custom application.

File types available are PDF Searchable, PDF, Word, Excel Workbook, RTF, TIFF and TIFF Multipage, JPEG, PNG, and BMP (really, BMP). You can name each individual scan manually as you save it, but that gets old fast. Smart Touch offers options for automatic file naming, including date and sequence number (2019-15-11(1).PDF, 2019-15-11(2).PDF, etc.), date and time stamp, barcode and sequence number, and barcode and timestamp. You can add a file name prefix if you prefer, like receipts or invoices.

Use and Enjoy

This configuration process might seem a bit lengthy, but it's common for scanners of this class. Plus, the provided options work well. Once configured, most scanning operations use a default setting, which, according to Alaris, is typically split between searchable PDF or scanning to a particular application, like your electronic medical record. Business cards and even laminated cards slide through easily. If something does jam (ours never did), pulling the tab on the faceplate provides full access to the scan path.

The scanner has an on/off button, but loading paper turns it on for you. Once the on/off button light stops blinking, adjust the scan job with the 1–9 up and down arrows if needed. Then just hit the right arrow icon to scan. Pages zip through, de-skew, and appear on the connected computer quickly.

In an age where everything can be hacked, the security-conscious will appreciate the E1035's dual-memory use. Settings, configurations, and calibration data are stored in nonvolatile memory. Image data is stored in volatile memory, so all data disappears when the system turns off. If someone steals or hacks your scanner, no data will be lost.