Oct. 5--Even though many phone numbers and e-mail addresses are just a Google search away, low-tech, paper business cards remain popular. So what's the best way to get contact information from the business card into your computer or phone?

One option is to buy a business-card scanner, a device that has been around for years. But I've always viewed them as an unnecessary expense not worth the trouble of setting up and using.

This week I tested two of these devices to see how they have evolved: the CardScan Executive ($260, CardScan.com), which has long been the market leader, and a newer competitor called NeatReceipts ($200 for PC, $180 for Mac, neatco.com). Besides the pricing, the key difference between the two is that the CardScan will only scan business cards while the NeatReceipts will scan business cards, receipts and documents.

For the first time, both companies have recently released Mac-compatible products. The scanner for the Mac versions of both devices is exactly the same as the PC version, so you only need one scanner if you have both a Mac and PC.

CardScan and NeatReceipts owners who use a PC can download the Mac software for free (and vice versa), though a NeatReceipts spokesman said that may change in the future. Also, the NeatReceipts Mac software is an "advance release" version, meaning it doesn't have many of the key features of the PC version, such as the ability to scan business cards or export reports to other programs.

A company spokesman said those features will be available early next year as a free software upgrade. Although there are differences between the PC and Mac versions of the CardScan software, the two programs have the same key features.

Both units are relatively small and draw their power from your computer's USB port so you can take them with you on a business trip and scan cards while you are on the plane. Both also let you import your scanned contacts into your Microsoft Outlook address book. Neither was completely accurate in placing information from the cards in the correct fields (name, title, company, phone, etc), but they were accurate enough that I only occasionally had to manually edit the information.

Setting each device up and learning how to use it takes at least 15 minutes and some trial and error. You can only scan one card at a time, though Neat Co., the maker of NeatReceipts, does have a more expensive product that lets you scan multiple cards at the same time.

CardScan is the best device if all you are looking to do is scan business cards.