The Brother DSmobile DS-940DW is an off-road portable scanner . An evolution of the Brother DS-920DW that you can carry in your backpack or suitcase on any trip or have it in the corner of your desk to quickly digitize any document, business card, identity document or even receipts and tickets through a carrier sheet (sold separately).
One of its advantages is that this scanner can be used without the need for a mobile or PC, through the buttons and LED indicators that it has. In this case, the scans are sent directly to a microSD card . It can also be used via mobile with the Brother Print & Scan app or through a PC program. All this with high speeds that reach 30 pages per minute (15 sheets per minute) and handling all types of document thicknesses from 35grs to 270grs.
This equipment is available in the official Brother store for a price of 210 euros. I have had the opportunity to test the Brother DS-940DW in depth, this has been my experience.
index of contents
- Brother DSmobile DS-940DW datasheet
- Compact design and very easy to carry
- Cruising speed
- Three distinct uses
- A scanner with good battery to use anywhere
- Price and reviews
Brother DSmobile DS-940DW datasheet
| Kind of team | Compact, portable color scanner | |
| Outstanding features | Automatic double-sided document scanning Compatible with DNI and cards | |
| Buttons | Color / Mono button, Double-sided / Single-sided button, JPEG / PDF button, Start / Pause and Power button | |
| Scan speed | Up to 30 ppm (15 hpm) color or mono at 300 dpi | |
| Picture quality | Interpolated scan resolution: 1200 x 1200 dpi | |
| Connections | USB 3.0 type B, WiFi, WiFi Direct | |
| Formats | From 35 grams to 270 grams A4 sheets, invoices, laminated cards, ID | |
| Output options | Scan to email, file, OCR, image, Dropbox, Google Drive, scan to mobile, to microSD card | |
| Autonomy | Up to 1,200 charges | |
| Battery charge | In 2.6 hours | |
| Dimensions and weight | 377 x 162 x 76 mm (699 grams) | |
| Release date | Available | |
| Price | 210 euros |
Compact design and very easy to carry
The Brother DS-940DW is the perfect explanation of what a portable scanner is and should be . This equipment in the form of a bar is 37 centimeters long and weighs 700 grams, which makes it easy to carry it in the backpack or a briefcase without problem. Plus, it takes up very little desk space in your office and is less cumbersome than constantly having to use an MFP. In its design, you can see that utility has been sought: it is elegant but without any fanfare and a small panel has been added to the right where we have both the function buttons and the LED indicators . From here you can control the main functions of the scanner.
On the one hand, we have buttons on and off and to start and stop the scanning process. Then there are three other buttons higher up placed horizontally. These buttons toggle between color and mono, PDF or JPEG file, and double-sided or single-sided scanning. We also see four LED indicators in the upper area to indicate if there is a problem, to mark if we have inserted a microSD card, for the WiFi connection and for the battery status.
On the side of the scanner there is a tab to switch between access to the microSD, via cable to the PC or WiFi and a WPS button to connect to the WiFi without having to configure the password. By the way, the microSD card slot is located in the lower rear area, hidden from the naked eye.
For the introduction of paper or another type of document we have a slot on the front and a very intuitive guide with the different formats that the equipment can handle . These include documents in A4, B5, A5, A6 size and a specific format for business cards or identity documents. The documents we feed come out on the other side of the scanner. In addition, the Brother DS-940DW incorporates a tab that opens so that the paper comes out from the top and we can collect it more easily. On a personal note, I have to say that I liked the option without using the tray more, especially if we are working with several documents in the scanning process. And in this case, the sheets fall to the other side but are neat and the scanner is high enough so that they do not interfere with each other.
Cruising speed
You have to admit it. The Brother scanner is fast, very fast. It reaches a speed of 30 pages per minute or 15 sheets per minute . And its magic is that it is one of the few gadgets that I have tried and that really meet the promised figures (and here we can talk both about speed in printers and autonomy in laptops and other equipment).
The scanning of cards like the DNI is really agile, nothing to do with the "artisan" way with the glass of a multifunction printer. With the Brother DS-940DW, just put the card in the slot and wait two or three seconds to have the double-sided scan . Precisely, a computer with these characteristics would lose a lot if it did not have the duplex mode automatically. When it comes to managing scanned documents, you can convert them into a PDF file or JPEG images. The interpolated resolution reaches 1,200 x 1,200 dpi.
And what about the allowed thicknesses? This Brother portable scanner is capable of handling formats from a thickness of 35g to 270g. Of course, if you want to scan documents such as tickets that have a very small thickness, it is recommended to have the carrier sheet that Brother sells separately.
Three distinct uses
The Brother DS-940DW has three distinct uses. These are accessed through the tab on the right side. The first position is the one that uses a microSD card (not included). This is the most comfortable option for not needing any type of external gadget such as mobile or laptop and it is the one that makes use of the buttons that we see at the top. Once you've inserted the microSD card, you can configure the scan to be in color or mono, in PDF or JPEG, single-sided or double-sided. The great advantage of this method is that it is possible to continue inserting sheets that we are going to scan with more speed than if you have to click on the mobile for the next sheet or on the PC itself. The negative part is that to see the result we have to wait to insert the card in another device, so we will not see the result of the scan immediately.
The second mode is the one that focuses on the connection with the PC (through the cable that includes the scanner). In this case, the greatest advantage is that it is the mode in which you will find the most available options. For example, you will be able to configure the quality of the scan beyond its standard resolution (up to a maximum of 1,200 x 1,200 dpi). In addition, you will also see the result as soon as the digitization is performed. But the most interesting thing is that once you finish with the scan you can send the documents directly through email or to a cloud service such as Drobpox, Google Drive or OneDrive. On the negative side, this mode is the least fast of the three since the scans take a few seconds to process and also to add new sheets you have to do a couple of clicks.
The third available mode is the one that makes use of WiFi. It is in this way that you can dip into the mobile and self - app Brother and configure e l scanner to use its WiFi Direct feature. That is, the scanner itself creates a WiFi network to which the mobile connects to start working. The biggest advantage of this mode is that it is very visual and practical. Every time you scan a sheet the program will ask you if you want to scan a second sheet and so on. Once you give the finished option, you will see a window with the thumbnails of the images and the option to edit them before saving them in PDF or JPEG format. It is a very simple but useful tool, since you can apply a quick crop to the document (for example, the DNI saves a lot of white space) and straighten the document in case something crooked has come out. You also have the option to share the scans quickly from this window through apps such as WhatsApp, Gmail, Google Drive and a long etcetera.There is no doubt that it is the most versatile option of the three.
A scanner with good battery to use anywhere
The Brother DS-940DW is designed to take it anywhere. For this, it has a rechargeable lithium ion battery with capacity for a maximum of 1,200 charges . The truth is that it is difficult to speak in terms of time, but the normal thing is that if you do not make a very exhaustive use of the equipment you can work for a whole day without having to connect it to the computer. By the way, the charge is done by means of a USB cable that is included in the same scanner and it takes just over two and a half hours to have the equipment complete again.
Price and reviews
The DS-940DW Brother is now available in the market for a price of 210 euros . It is a considerable investment if we consider that it is a very specific equipment and that there are multifunction printers that can get you out of trouble. The obvious thing is that this portable scanner is aimed at professionals who have to be working regularly with the scanning of all types of documents and who want a useful and very discreet gadget, which fits in any backpack or suitcase.
In that case, the performance is high, both for the scanning speed (up to 30 pages per minute and I would even say they fall short according to my tests) and for the comfort when working with the scanner. It is versatile by working both with a microSD card and through a mobile phone or PC and has good apps both on the mobile and through the PC. In short, a good professional cutting equipment to facilitate and speed up scanning.