IT Pro Verdict

For the price, we’d have expected a better Windows software bundle, but the i1190 can’t be faulted for speed and output quality. It’s very easy to use, its smart colour LCD panel makes light work of walk-up scanning, and Kodak’s generous three-year hardware warranty can’t be ignored either.

Pros

+
Excellent paper handling; Blazing speeds;

Cons

-
Document management software bundles could be better; No Dropbox support;

Kodak's i1190 is built for substantial scanning jobs: along with a big 5,000-page daily duty cycle, it promises a scan speed of 40ppm in both colour and mono scans - and not only at 200dpi, but at 300dpi as well.

Our lab tests confirm the truth of Kodak's claims. Our mono and colour duplex scans of 50 bank statements averaged a perfect 40ppm at both resolutions. Like all scanners, the i1190 slowed down considerably at 600dpi, with mono and colour scans both dropping to 10ppm - but this remains better than many rivals.

Scan quality and accuracy at 200pdi is perfectly acceptable for document archiving purposes, however. Kodak's OCR capabilities are also impressive, with the i1190 producing highly accurate searchable PDFs and RTF files from our sheaf of statements.

On the top of the i1190 sits a highly legible backlit colour LCD panel. Unlike the Brother's display, this isn't a touchscreen, but it's still useful for showing the job selected and its name. Scan jobs are easy to select using the up and down soft-touch buttons; tap the right-hand arrow to start scanning. The i1190 also has a generous 75-page ADF, and its output tray can be stowed away when not in use.

Before using the scanner we had to download the Windows 10 drivers and firmware update tool from Kodak's support site. For Windows 10 hosts, we recommend using the latest full CD image instead of the older version in the box to avoid USB connection issues.

Once everything is installed, Kodak's Smart Touch utility sits in the background and strides into action when the scanner's start button is pressed. It streamlines scanning operations by assigning up to nine profiles, each with their own settings, such as simplex or duplex, colour or mono, resolution, anti-skew, hole-fill and blank-page skipping.

There are plenty of destination options to choose from, including scanning to local folders, creating searchable PDFs and sending output to local, network or fax printers. Email and SharePoint are also supported, while cloud destinations include Box, Evernote and Google Drive.

We had no problems registering a Smart Touch profile with our Google Drive account and choosing the cloud folder to which we wanted our scans sent. Although Dropbox isn't on the list, we were able to create a profile to scan directly to the local sync folder on the host PC.

Paper handling is impeccable, providing our tissue-thin courier waybills were inserted long side down. During all our statement-scanning tests, it jammed only once, but the ultrasonic detection was so quick that nothing was damaged.

Smart Touch can also detect barcodes and create a separate file each time it encounters one. The bundled Kodak Capture Pro Limited Edition software provides enhanced batch-scanning and document indexing, but you'll need the full version if you want more barcode-related features.

Alas, Windows users don't get the Nuance PaperPort and OmniPage document-management software with this model; Kodak includes it with only the i2420 model and above. The Smart Touch software doesn't support Macs at all, but to make up for this, Kodak offers the NewSoft Presto PageManager and BizCard Xpress software.

For the price, we'd have expected a better Windows software bundle, but the i1190 can't be faulted for speed and output quality. It's very easy to use, its smart colour LCD panel makes light work of walk-up scanning, and Kodak's generous three-year hardware warranty can't be ignored either.

This review originally appeared in PC Pro issue 263

Verdict

600dpi colour scanner

40ppm @ 200dpi and 300dpi mono/colour

Simplex/duplex

75-sheet ADF

5,000 pages per day

USB 2

External PSU

TWAIN, ISIS and WIA drivers

Kodak Smart Touch and Capture Pro LE Windows software

330 x 162 x 246mm (WDH, closed)

3yr replacement warranty

Dave is an IT consultant and freelance journalist specialising in hands-on reviews of computer networking products covering all market sectors from small businesses to enterprises. Founder of Binary Testing Ltd – the UK’s premier independent network testing laboratory - Dave has over 45 years of experience in the IT industry.

Dave has produced many thousands of in-depth business networking product reviews from his lab which have been reproduced globally. Writing for ITPro and its sister title, PC Pro, he covers all areas of business IT infrastructure, including servers, storage, network security, data protection, cloud, infrastructure and services.