IT Pro Verdict

The DR-6030C is reasonably priced for a production scanner, efficient and likely to prove highly reliable. It's easy to use, and easy to clear paper jams should they ever happen. As such, it's ideal for any organisation needing a user-friendly scanner capable of handling significant volumes.

By Simon Handby

published 18 January 2011

in Reviews

In landscape orientation, the scanner fed, ejected and processed a single A4 sheet in six seconds, slowing down only by fractions of a second as the resolution was increased. Connected via USB the pause between sheets depends on the host's speed and the options selected, but it's momentary for simplex jobs at 150dpi. With deskew disabled, we timed a stack of 100 sheets at six and a quarter minutes, suggesting that the scanner is quite happy to continue feeding as the driver processes previous pages.

We continued testing, feeding and refeeding the scruffiest media we could find, but we had no paper jams: we thus wouldn't expect them to be a regular occurence, but when they happen it's obvious how to open up the DR-6030C's central mechanism for removal. This is shaped like an 'L' lying on its back, allowing it to pivot up and out through 90 degrees to give brilliantly easy access to the whole paper path.

With a maximum resolution of 600dpi it's obvious that this scanner is optimised for documents, forms and other office work, but its image quality is surprisingly good. Scans are crisp even at the highest resolutions, and colours are faithful enough. Our only criticism is a slight loss of detail between subtly different, very light shades, but this simply isn't an issue for the intended use.

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After a brief career in corporate IT, Simon Handby combined his love of technology and writing when he made the move to Computer Shopper magazine. As a technology reviewer he's since tested everything from routers and switches, to smart air fryers and doorbells, and covered technology such as EVs, TVs, solar power and the singularity.

During more than 15 years as Shopper's long-time printer reviewer, Simon tried, tested and wrote up literally hundreds of home, small office and workgroup printers. He continues reviewing smart products and printers for a variety of publications, and has been an IT Pro contributor since 2010. Simon is almost never happier than when surrounded by printers and paper, applying his stopwatch and a seasoned eye to find the best performing, best value products for business users.