Although I returned the product just prior to the end of the 30 day return period, I chose to write this review to offset many of the negative reviews that simply do not reflect my experience with the RC800.

I used the scanner off and on for nearly 30 days and found it to perform as advertised. You will want to buy a memory chip for it, but, (I bought two for the price of one at [...]) to maximize performance.

I contacted tech support the first day and found the personnel to be exceptionally cordial and helpful, as was the individual I spoke with in customer service. When I did choose to return the unit (see explanation below), I was treated professionally and my request was processed promptly. Within two days of receiving the returned product, Planon had credited my credit card with the full amount of the buy (less original shipping of about [...]–it cost about [...] to return it via UPS). Since Planon says it could take up to as long as 10 weeks for monies to be returned, I was prepared for a wait. But the process was as prompt and professional as any I have experienced with any company I deal with online.

My reason for returning the unit was due to the fact that the scanner lens or window, does not extend the entire length of the pen. So there is about a half inch (I don’t know the exact measurement) of the end of the pen that does not scan. This means that when you place the pen on a book page, the margin of the page must be sufficiently wide to allow you to get the scanning lens over the entire body of the text. Granted, you can scan laterally, from side to side, and let the OCR software rotate the page. But even this approach is limited by the size of the margin–if it is smaller than the thickness of the pen, you cannot place the pen in the margin deep enough to scan from the inner text margin to the outer.

While the quality of the scan is not as high as most flatbed scanners, you can expect to achieve a relatively high degree of accuracy with the scanner if the text you are copying is relatively clean and clear (and does not contain ancient typeface with ligatures between letters or broken type).

I found the unit to be well assembled, contrary to other reviewers. The plastic casing makes the pen light-weight but it does not appear to me to be of poor construction. There are things about the accompanying software I don’t like, but I could say the same thing about all software applications I use.

While I hope this review proves to be helpful toward enabling you to make an informed buying choice, should you have questions about my review, feel free to contact me at [...]. I’m a college professor, not an employee of Planon or of any of its competitors.

Two main problems.

1) It keeps cutting off, and

2) getting the scan straight is very hard.

If you pause for any length of time the scanner shuts completely off, then you have to go through the process of restarting. This causes your scan to end saving what is done up to that point in a file. In essence you have to start over. This is very anonying.

Because the scanner is so lightweight, it is very hard to guide it straight, thus the image is distorted. For my use, massive amounts of continuous paper (well logs), just didn’t work. Price is right though. Finally sent it back.

Fantastic quality scans, when it doesn’t shut off half-way across the page; hard to keep straight, even with the small rollers, and hard to manage near tight bindings–probably simpler on older, worn books, or ones with broken spines, but if you’re not worried about breaking book spines, stick with a flatbed.