An A4 scanner is a scanner that is capable of scanning A4 sized paper, which is in between an American/Canadian letter sized piece of paper and a Legal sized piece of paper from the same countries. You see, Canada and the United States are two of the only countries left that have not adopted the A series paper, which is a sort of world-wide accepted, universal paper sizing system that has been gaining popularity over the years.
It has been officially adopted by the U.N., as well as by most major and smaller countries. And while the United States and Canada still use a different set of paper measurements, this A4 size of paper still finds use for official documents and for documents that will be traveling overseas.
If you think that you will have the need to scan paper that is of this size, such as A4 paper, then you might have need of an A4 scanner. An A4 scanner can scan legal sized documents that are used in the United States and Canada, but they can also be used to scan the A4 sized documents, anything smaller, and sometimes bigger documents, depending on what model you get.
An A4 flatbed scanner might not be sold at every office retailer if you live in the United States. But anywhere else, this will be the default scanner that you will likely find on the shelf. And, even though they are not used very extensively in the Unites States and Canada, you can still find scanners that will work for this type of paper if you look hard enough, with much thanks to the internet.
In a bricks & mortar store, just make sure to ask a sales associate, or to read the box in order to figure out whether or not the scanner will work with A4 paper. You should never automatically assume that a scanner will work with A4 paper, though most scanners sold are actually A4 scanners, especially since they are used more and more these days.
A4 flatbed scanners are especially important to have if you do not live in the U.S. or Canada. They are almost a necessity anywhere else because A4 paper is the default paper used for writing letters, sending business reports, for filing information, and for about anything else.
A4 scanners are going to be a must in almost any office, and it is important that you are not left without one. Hey, A4 paper may not be much bigger than American legal paper, but it is going to be a pain if you need to scan that extra little but, and end up having to cut off the bottom!
A4 flatbed scanners, as well as A3 scanners, are pretty common, and you can get them in about any brand, with Plustek being one of the most popular. The major brands might be more pricy, but you will find that there are still entry level brands that anyone can afford.
Entry level A4 scanners will get the job done, but for work that is high definition in any way, you are going to want to get a good scanner that will last you awhile and give you good, high definition images.