In 2009, my unofficial gadget of the year was Pandigital’s PhotoLink One-Touch 5-by-7 Scanner.

In a matter of seconds it scans prints measuring up to 5-by-7 directly onto a SD memory card (or into a computer).

Well, Pandigital has taken it one step further with the PANSCN06 Pandigital Personal Photo Scanner/Converter.

What makes this year’s model different from last year’s is photos up to 8 1/2-by-11 large can be scanned almost instantly.

I knew before I even opened the box that I would be a big fan of this gadget for consumers but I went through the motions anyway.

From unpacking the box to scanning a few dozen images took less than 10 minutes. This included 8-by-10 photos as well as smaller ones down to wallet sizes.