ScanSoft PaperPort 11 Professional [OLD VERSION]

Review by Kermit the Frog for ScanSoft PaperPort 11 Professional [OLD VERSION]
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I have been using Paperport for years. Each upgrade has added nice new features but also bugs. But the bugs were minor and I could live with them.

Recently I received several ads in the mail and an email from Nuance to upgrade from v10 to 11. Ad sounded great and the price $99 was reasonable. So I figured “what the heck.” Clicked on the email link to upgrade and takes me to a non-existing website. Typed in the website link from the mail ad, again, no website. Probably should have clued me in, but I went against my best judgement and called Nuance to buy the download.

Installed the product. Registration didn’t work smoothly but wasn’t a big deal. Then I tried to scan a document. I checked the “Capture Assistant” box and clicked scan. Scanner does its thing then at the end of the first page, I get the famous Windows XP error box to report error to Microsoft. So I rebooted and tried again, without the Capture Assistant. Scanned my document OK this time. Sounds good, right?

Wrong. I have an automatic document feeder (ADF) which allows me to scan both sides of a document (at least in previous versions of Paperort). Wtih v11, I can only scan both sides automatically if I use Capture Assitant. Except whenever I use it, it crashes. Now I cannot take advantage of my ADF and have to scan 2-sided docuements page by page manually! That would be fine for a couple of pages but a nightmare for a 10-page (20-sides) docuemnt. So I should contact customer support for help, right?

Wrong again. You have to PAY for support. That would be fine it I’m don’t know how to use the product and need a little guidance. But I SHOULD NOT have to pay to report software crashes. And what if I pay for help and they can’t help me? Do I get my money back?

I sincerely hope an update soon will fix my problem. But I doubt it will happen since very few people will pay to let Nuance know about these issues. And if they don’t know about the bugs, they are unlikely going to fix them. Soon I will likely attempt to take advantage of my “30-day money back guarantee”. Probably have to pay a fee for that too!

Review by William W. Smith for ScanSoft PaperPort 11 Professional [OLD VERSION]
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If you want to manage both scanned and electronic documents, there is really no alternative to PaperPort. And that’s too bad, because this flawed product just goes on and on with little or no improvement.

What flaws? The major one is that the program has two completely separate modes of operation, organize or view. The thumbnails are too small to read, so you can’t label the document until you switch to the view mode to see what it is. Then, you have to go back to organize mode in order to apply the label, key words, what have you.

The next flaw is really a bug, but one that PaperPort perpetuates release after release. normally, you would want to sort your view of thumbnails by date, with the most recent ones on top. PaperPort pretends it can sort this way, but in fact when it indexes, it destroys the file dates of every file, rendering sort-by-date useless.

And this is emblematic of the company’s attitude, which seems to be “too bad.” As others have stated here, support is horrible and actually worse than no support at all. It is outsourced to India or the Philippines or somewhere, and those people know less about the product than you or I do. And you pay for it.

But getting back to my title, there really is no alternative. PaperPort is a perfect example of what happens when market forces are not at work. No one else competes in this space, so Nuance (I love that name) has no reason to improve it, other than to bring out meaningless expensive upgrades on some kind of schedule.

So if you have to organize your documents, this is all you have.

Review by W. J. Eisner for ScanSoft PaperPort 11 Professional [OLD VERSION]
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I’ve used Paper Port for several years, starting with the version that was bundled with the Visioneer Strobe Pro. It was the only game in town that I could find and, having learned how to use it, I stayed with it through version 10 pro. I have not had substantial problems with it that could not be solved using their knowledge base. But, after a recent reformat when I had to reinstall the software, I found I could not activate it. It was brought home to me again that Nuance’s policy of charging for all e-mail support after the first incident is no longer acceptable for a piece of relatively expensive, complex software that requires a certain level of computer expertise to install, run and maintain. I was thinking of upgrading to V. 11 but since v. 10 is fine for my needs as were versions 7, 8 and 9. I won’t throw another cent down that Nuance upgrade rathole unless and until they change their policy on supporting it. If you have a previous version of PP that is working and that serves your needs, stay with it. It is obvious, after reading the other reviews, good and bad, the Nuance has not yet learned the nuances of making an easy to use, reliable product nor has it learned how to provide the support that the people who pay for their software deserve. P.S. the activation problem turned out to be a server glitch on their end that I only learned about after chancing a call to their (free) Customer Service.

Review by Tatanta for ScanSoft PaperPort 11 Professional [OLD VERSION]
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I have been a user of PaperPort since it came bundled with Visioneer. With each successive upgrade the product became worse – more bloated, slower, and buggier. Simple things like remembering default scan settings don’t work. Now this version 11 crashes every time I scan. I have to force quit using Task Manager. And to report this to them I have to pay them. Totally unacceptable. I will never buy another version of this software again. Stay away. Be warned.

Review by M L BERNSTEIN for ScanSoft PaperPort 11 Professional [OLD VERSION]
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Be warned and take heed. Avoid my mistake in having purchased this “product”.

As the title states, this “product” is extremely disappointing. It is extremely buggy. As others have noted here, it causes frequent system crashes, it is intrinsically unstable as well and the PDF files that it produces are inconsistent and unreliable.

The Form Typer is a veritable abomination, totally unimproved over prior versions of this “product”, being totally unreliable, poorly controllable with unstable and unpredictable entry placement. These failures are all the more remarkable since control, reliability and stability are the very features that you would require to have in a product that would function as a “form typer”! You cannot precisely control or predict where your printed output will align. Happily, there are other products on the market that are precise.

This “product”, between the “freezes” and system crashes it causes, when it functions at all, is sluggish, even when compared with prior incarnations running on the same machine.

To make matters worse, this “product” is far overpriced in light of its horrible functionality, poor performance and reliability.

If, incredibly, you are still considering purchasing this pre-beta-level “product”, you should know that Nuance has gone to extreme lengths to prevent the user from installing its “product” on more than one machine.

Even the “product’s” “nag” screens are buggy! Once you have purchased, installed and registered the, I hesitate to call it “product”, you are repeatedly, and unpredictably, “nagged” to register it!

I have been a software professional and developer since 1966. My computer science students over the years easily have produced better, more reliable and stable software. In all my years in the business I have rarely if ever seen a “product” so unworthy of being put out the door and foisted on unsuspecting purchasers.

Don’t waste your money. Skip this product.