Two Saturday Arrivals

     Saturday was a pretty exciting day for my family tree.  At 7:31 am, almost 12 hours after my sister arrived at the hospital, little baby Jasper arrived.  He's the first grand-baby for both sets of grandparents, and we're all really excited.  For those of you who didn't see this on Facebook, here's a cute little video of him:


     Secondly, I also received my Flip-Pal scanner.  Not really as exciting as a new human being, but still exciting in its own right.  I've been using it for a good bit at this point and I'm very happy with my purchase.

     I found the Flip-Pal very easy to use: put the batteries in (which are included), slide the on switch, put your photo on the plate, close the cover and push the green button.  If you want to scan something besides a 4.6 or smaller photo, you pull the cover off (a little tricky the first time, but easy after that) and lay the scanner face down, as shown in the photo.  The glass screen on the back allows you to easily frame your photo inside the scanning area.  The green scan button is on the side of the device, so it's still easily accessible.

     I think that most people who are familiar with all-in-one printers will be able to intuitively figure out how the device works.  And that's a good thing, because it doesn't come with any paper instructions.  Instead, the user guides are included as digital files on the SD Memory card that comes with the device and you have to put the SD card into your computer to access the files.  Until you figure this out, you're on your own.

     Also included on the SD card are a few pieces of software, the most important being EasyStitch.  This software allows you to take multiple scans of a larger image (like in the photo above), and then have the software put them together for you.  Here's an example of a photo that I took three separate scans of and used EasyStitch to put back together:

          I find using the Flip-Pal to be faster than scanning on my all-in-one or flatbed scanners.  I only have to use one device, instead of constantly moving back and forth between my computer and scanner.  I look forward to using it on a road trip as well.

     All together I'm very happy with the Flip-Pal Scanner.  There's really just one thing that I would like to see changed: it can be hard to pick up one handed (and for me, using the scanner one handed is simply the way I've been intuitively using it).  By this, I mean that the width of the scanner is just smaller than the width of my stretched fingers.  I can just barely get my fingers on either side of the scanner to pick it up.  It's also a little difficult to pick up on the side, as the sides are mostly flat, with just a small indention at the edge.  I would suggest that future versions of the scanner be shaped a little bit differently, with a narrower section on the end, like a paddle. Or it could have a bigger indention, that would allow you to wedge your fingers under the bottom of the scanner.

     Based on the past few days, I would recommend the Flip-Pal scanner to those in the market.  It's simple and easy to use, though I would recommend a few small design changes.